Slow But Sure - Organization Update

I told you recently I was taking the 31 Day Organizational Challenge over at OrgJunkie.com.

Now is the time for me to report on my progress. S - L - O - W. That's how it's going. I took on a big huge humongous project, amidst other on-going projects. Maybe I'm crazy, but in the long run, all the chaos will be worth it. I'm bound and determined to get the storage room cleaned out, straightened up, and used to store only what it should be storing.

 At the beginning of the month I printed out Laura's Organizing PROCESS and jotted down a few notes and goals.  How does this space need to be used? What do I really want to keep and what can I let go? Setting categories of items needing to be stored will help me in the organizing step later. 

 OK! Are you ready? Do you have the courage? Sure you can handle this? I'm going to let you see behind that closed door!

 Once you've cleared the cobwebs away, venture forth! But remember:

 Past the furnace, down the long dark aisle, you'll find a treasure trove of stuff, collections, memories. . . and. . . plenty of junk.

view from the opposite end of that aisle, looking back at the door we just walked through

 Now, after you've recovered from the shock of the nightmare-behind-the-door, I'll give you the update on my planning and progress.

 

Here is the 'BEFORE' look at the first section of shelving you see when you walk in. It holds our collection of jigsaw puzzles and not-so-popular games, extra book storage (including a few of hubby's college/engineering/reference books) as well as past homeschool records/papers.

The kids helped me clear it ALL out - and now look at them!

 

Beautiful, Glorious Space!!!

Where did everything go? We hauled it all out to the floor in the middle of the  TV room and sorted through it. I was on a mission and so did not get photos of every pile and every item, but if it was broken or missing parts, out it went. If no one uses it, to the donate piles it went.

  

You can see in the pic above some of what is leaving this house --  (1) Passing on jigsaw puzzles to other family members to enjoy. (2) Trash! 2 large bags full and a box-turned-racecar filled. WootWoot! (3) games puzzles and dress up items heading to the thrift store.

This is just the beginning folks! We are continuing the Remove and Purge phase of this big project. We've been filling this space for a dozen years now. That adds up to a lot of stuff. And when you haven't taken time to maintain and set to order what you've been collecting and storing, well, it is important to take time and do the job right. I'll be posting at the end of the week with another update, sharing more about the hows and whats and whys of it all.

In the meantime, you can see how others are doing with this 31 Day Challenge at the 2nd Progress Link Up.

Changing Things Up Around Here

You all know our third child was married recently (yes, I need to say this often, just to get used to the idea). It was a joyful occasion, a bitter-sweet occasion. We are happy for her, happy our family is growing, but we miss her. She was my right-hand-woman for quite some time and now I feel a little 'off', a little handi-capped. Her siblings miss her. We have an odd number of people in this household now, weird!

And so, as a distraction, and to set things up for the younger ones to get more focused attention from their Mama, we are diving into the Great Bedroom Switch-er-oo!

The two youngest boys are moving from here . . .

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 . . . to here:

after we change these Pepto-Pink Pony walls  . . .

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 . . . to these Rough-and-Tough Old West Cowboy walls.

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The two youngest girls have moved from their Pretty and Pink room to their big sister's Old-but-Still-Cool-and-Hip room.

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But before we finish The Big Switcheroo, two things have to happen. One - Big Sis has to come get the rest of her stuff! And two - Mom has to clean out the storage room.

You know, that room, behind that closed door, way downstairs, in that dark back corner of the basement?

Yeah, that one. Where everything that has no home is shoved, where everything that belongs to those who've moved on is piled, where everything that everyone has outgrown is saved - for who/what/when no one really knows!!!

March is the month for the OrgJunkie's Annual Organizational Challenge and I'm committing my storage room (before it commits me!).  Every Friday this month you can stop in here, or over at OrgJunkie.com to peek at my progress and the progress of others taking the challenge. And then on March 31, we'll have The Big Reveal, so stay tuned!

this post is linked up the the 31 Day Organizational Challenge introduction