40 Bags :: Catching Up

So it turns out I'm loving the purging process this summer, but not so much loving the blogging that goes along with it. I committed to it at the beginning because I knew it would keep me accountable, but I have been kept plenty accountable by the lovely ladies in our private Facebook group. 

{Our group recently did something new and fun -- we put everyone's name into a hat who had completed 10 spaces, which is where we should be at at the end of Week 3, and drew for a Starbucks gift card. 15 of us have made it to that mark!}

In an effort to get caught up here on the blog, I'm going to quickly touch on the spaces I've been working through. 12 more spaces total crossed off the list.

The garage. Mady is officially a two-wheeler as of this summer, so good-bye tricycle and toddler garage toys. I also returned a ladder, a sign, a table, and a bin to their rightful owners. Check out the way the sunlight is shining down on our overflowing trash can!?!

The bathrooms and upstairs linen closet. Our master bath was the worst -- the drawers all needed a good cleaning -- but all 3 1/2 baths got some TLC. More than anything, I am committed to using up our bathroom goods (shampoo, body wash, detangler, etc.) before buying anything more! I also, unrelated to 40 Bags, freshened things up with some new bath mats, towels, and the like. It feels downright spa-like these days.

The girls' rooms. I spent one day on their clothes (closet and dresser) and one day on the rest of the stuff in their rooms. Our girls are hoarders, no doubt about it. I debated working on Ella's room while she was at day camp last week but as a 7 year old, going on 13, I wasn't sure how much she would appreciate that. Luckily, she went into organizing mode herself without me saying anything (maybe it's contagious?!) and she did a great job doing most of the work herself.

Mady's room. Top left: a purge in process. Top right: little girls are all lip gloss and plastic jewelry. Bottom left: all the 4T's are out the door. When did my baby get so big? Bottom right: the after!

And the rest of it: the laundry room cupboards (before & after, above), the kids' craft supplies (yes, I did spend an entire afternoon testing markers and recycling old coloring books), and our nightstands/built-in drawers (Matt's boxers and my jewelry reside in the same drawer. It makes perfect sense to us).

23 spaces down, 17 to go. I'm ahead of pace but once I get going it's hard to stop. Love the feeling of being surrounded by all of these purged, un-cluttered spaces; love sending all these bags packing.