Purging and Organizing

I undertook a huge project when my internet failed. I have a massive walk-in closet that has slowly shrunk in size during the year I have lived here. I started to fear for my safety when walking into the closet and I decided it was time to fix that.

The first step was to e-mail the ex-husband's new wife and tell her that the next time the kids went to spend time with them, I would pack up everything the kids need in Albuquerque and they were welcome to keep it all there. I realized that every time the kids come back, their bags basically stay packed until the next time when the exact same stuff makes the trip back to Albuquerque. Senseless, I tell you. And it takes up my closet space.

So then, I went through each box in my closet and sorted, tossed and organized mercilessly. If it's not useful or very meaningful, I threw it out. I was holding on to a bunch of useless garbage and I hadn't even realized it. I lost track of how many trips I made to the dumpster with two big bags of trash each time. I also filled the cargo space of the vehicle with stuff to donate to Goodwill. I even got the kids in on the action and made them pick out toys to give away.

When I was finished with our bedrooms and closets, I still wasn't quite satisfied so I went on to the bathrooms and kitchen. I have two more bags to take to Goodwill after all of that and I've tossed another half dozen bags into the dumpster.

As a reward for all my hard work, I'm re-doing my bedroom. I found a duvet cover and pillow shams that I really like, added a couple of throw pillows I made and one I couldn't make and some new curtains. It's coming together and I love it.

Part of this project is redistributing furniture. I have a headboard and dresser set that belonged to Great Grandma Eddy. I've had them since I got married 10 years ago. They're special to me because they belonged to her but they take up a lot of room in my already too small bedroom. The solution: give them to Jennifer and Caleb who need furniture for their guest room. So we are doing that this afternoon.

I was going to invest in a small chest of drawers for our pajamas and things that don't hang in the closet but I realized I don't need to. As a result of purging my closet contents, I have more space for clothes -- can you believe it?! -- so I bought a hanging organizer to hold those things.

The last phase of this spring cleaning and organizing will be to go through the kids' toys again while they are still gone. They did well and picked two medium-sized boxes worth of stuff to give away. But they still have too much stuff; with Samuel's birthday party coming in a couple of weeks and the other two having birthdays next month and this summer, we'll have way too many toys. Time to toss and give away.

I end up tossing and organizing roughly once a year and it always amazes me how much stuff I can collect in 12 to 18 months. It's staggering. And I am, by no means, a pack rat. I've never gone through each and every part of my house all at once, though. This feels pretty amazing.