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}

40 bags: week four

It's week four! At this point, my 40 bags daily to-do item has become a natural, even favorite, part of my everyday routine.

I find purging, cleaning, and organizing to be good for the soul.

{And I realize the 40 bags challenge is more about purging than anything else, but I inevitably find myself cleaning the space after it's emptied and organizing what's left post-purge.}

Feel free to call me crazy.

Day 22: main floor toys.

Most of the toys are stored in the kids' rooms because toys on the main floor make Mommy crazy but some of them, especially Mady's, still reside in our living areas. I love nothing more than dumping out all the toy baskets into a giant heap, ditching the junk, putting pieces back together, and returning everything to it's correct place.

Day 23: shoes.

I've been purging shoes along the way, especially during mudroom day and my/Matt's closet day, but I still found a few stragglers. 

Six more pairs out the door.

Day 24: TV cabinets.

We're not big DVD people (and our CD's are all stored on our computer) so there wasn't a ton to sort through here. Love these brown DVD boxes from Ikea for keeping everything in order.

Day 25: our van.

I'm lucky enough to be married to a guy who values a clean vehicle so usually things don't get too bad in this department. I did remove some trash and random trinkets and then I vacuumed and wiped everything down. I found this little caddy in the garage, cleaned it up, and filled it with the random items that are usually just rolling around on the floor. (Thanks again, Pinterest. I owe you big.)

Days 26 & 27: the garage.

I broke this into two days but ended up doing it all in one day 

(it took me an entire morning). I capitalized on this crazy, crazy 80-degrees-in-March-in-Michigan weather and employed an assistant (she does great work and only charges 25 cents).

Garage toys. Sigh. Three kids at three different stages 

(and a hubby who loves to bike) means we have a lot of different modes of transportation housed in our garage. 

Thank goodness for a third stall.

Balls. Sand buckets. Small toys. Oh my.

Big tubs make it easy for little hands to aim, shoot, and hopefully score.

Out with the snowpants (I couldn't quite work up the nerve to put the boots away) and in with the baseball gloves.

Bonus points: I swept the floors and hosed everything down.

Now to see if spring sticks...if it does, we're ready!

{Linking Up}

40 bags: week three

Seven more days of the 40 bags challenge have come and gone.

I continued on with upstairs (bedroom/bathroom) projects.

Day 15: my jewelry.

I have an organizer thing-y I found at Marshalls in a drawer in our bedroom and this Ikea rail + s-hooks behind my closet door.

Day 16: our nightstands. 

Matt chipped in and helped me clear out some paper-related clutter.

I love crossing things off the list!

Day 17: upstairs linen closet.

I overhauled this area a while back, but clutter has a way of creeping back in. See you later sunscreen circa 2003!

Day 18: kids' bathroom.

This turned into more of an exercise in deep-cleaning (ummm...blue toothpaste e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e), but I did toss some old baby washcloths, icky toothbrushes, and worn-out bath toys. 

I also dropped off my second load of stuff to Love INC.

Day 19: Dylan's bedroom.

He's the neatest of the three, but I still moved out a pile of clothes, a stack of books, and a bag of junk (McDonald's Happy Meal toys!?)

Side note: last summer's toy organization project is still working well!

Day 20: Ella's bedroom.

She's my messy one, and it's been a parenting lesson to let her be her (within reason). The weather was beautiful yesterday so after I tackled Dylan's room I kept going and did Ella's too. 

Besides the purge treatment, their rooms also got freshly washed bedding and dusted surfaces. Glorious!

Day 21: Mady's bedroom

I've been working hard on organizing this space and making it a fun place to play since our baby isn't really a baby anymore but an energetic toddler. Her toys were pre-purged a couple of weeks ago, and I cleared out some clothes that no longer fit (it's so tempting to put away all the winter stuff too!) I love these Ikea drawer organizers for keeping track of the little stuff.

* * * * *

We're over halfway there, and I'm still having as much fun as I was on day one. I realize this might make me a little bit odd, but it helps that I have been able to get through most of the days' tasks in about half an hour (some of them like the kids' rooms took me longer). 

One day at a time, one space at a time, one bag at a time, 

and I'm starting to see some results just in time for spring.

A prayer (@stevenargue): 

Help me find the way by 

going up through down; 

finding through letting go; 

filling through emptying.

{Linking Up}