40 bags: week six

Easter is on Sunday!

Lent is drawing to a close, and along with it my 40 bags challenge.

This has definitely been a marathon, not a sprint.

I am happy to say that I made it through my entire list and in doing so I have touched just about everything single material possession we own.

{The fact that it took me 40 days to do this is a story all it's own. #firstworldproblems}

Day 35: basement {round one}.

Our basement is currently unfinished, and it tends to collect stuff. 

We had some mouse-y house guests a few months ago which inspired a pretty good-sized purge (I swear I'm not a hoarder! Bad rodents can happen to good people!) I'm amazed how every time I set out on a new basement purge, I can always find a couple boxes of stuff to move on out. 

For round one, I focused on putting things away (there is a system - mostly labeled - I just have to remember to stick with it) and cleared out some old toys and random trash.

Day 36: holiday stuff.

Our Christmas stuff was starting to take over a bit. I'm a practical girl so I find it kind of strange that we store all this stuff year round so we can haul it out for one month of enjoyment. I condensed our stash down to the things I really love and parted ways with some of the riff raff. Everything fits on one shelf in the storage room now. And yes, I am quite proud of the kiddos' personal ornament boxes.

Day 37: kids' clothes bins.

I keep an empty laundry basket upstairs in Mady's closet and then whenever someone outgrows something I throw it in there and deal with it on a later date. Today was that date. The bigger kids are slowing down growth-wise, but Mady still needs frequent wardrobe switches.

(She's already moving into 3T! Put a book on her head!)

I am trying not to hold on to clothes any more besides the sizes between Ella and Mady. My boy clothes supply is pretty much zilch at this point and once a couple more baby girls show up on the scene, I should be able to clear those out as well. I love passing things on to friends, otherwise I sell some of the nicer things at a twice-yearly mom-to-mom sale or donate them to a local charity.

Day 38: basement {round two}.

Clean, uncluttered stairs! Oh my! 

I'm guessing this hasn't happened since we moved in four years ago. 

I have a bad habit of setting things on the stairs instead of actually walking them all the way down and putting them away. [Despite what your impression of me might be, I am an innately a lazy creature.]

For round two, I tried to purge a little bit deeper. I'm happy to say that basement stuff (i.e. Christmas ornaments, kids' clothing bins, random home decor, tools & paint, wrapping paper, winter gear, and luggage) is now contained to "just" the storage room.

Day 39: miscellaneous, etc.

Because I had combined a couple of days earlier on, I ended up with two days leftover at the end. I figured a catch-all type day wouldn't be a bad idea, so I spent this day walking around the house looking for spaces I  missed the first time around. 

Places I had missed: the half bath, the sofa table in the "formal" dining room/office (this room has major identity issues), and the cedar chest in our room (now streamlined to house our tree skirt + stockings, baby blanket keepsakes, and an alternate duvet cover.)

Day 40: final pass + donation drop-off.

This is the third load to-be-donated in the past 40 days (this isn't all of it either...I took this picture mid-loading). There were some slightly bigger items I had posted on Craigslist throughout the process and anything that didn't sell in the 40 days is getting donated today as well. Freedom!

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A part of me wishes I would have kept a running tally of bags including items sold, donated, and trashed. There is something about knowing a concrete number that would have been very satisfying. What I do know for sure, however, is that every where I turn I see less cluttered, more streamlined, better organized spaces. 

And for right now, that is more than enough.

{Linking Up}