Doing a little house cleaning

Mark and I made an agreement when we moved into this house that whenever we bought something new- whatever it was- that something had to leave so that we didn't accumulate unwanted items (i.e. junk). It was quite obvious with many things that this idea had been overlooked for some time- mostly by me!

I have sat down to post a few blogs on our vacation, but I found myself unable to focus and get words down on screen because as I looked around, I kept seeing things that didn't have a place! Worst of all, I couldn't find the best place to start. I would go to start something and realize that I needed to do three other things before I could even start to organize the thing I went to do. So, when this happens, the crazy need-to-organize side of me comes out to play and inevitably a list is made of some kind. Fortunately, this time it actually helped me prioritize things without becoming overwhelmed. I decided the best place to start was our bedroom.

There were a few unfinished projects in our room that needed to be done before anything else in the house. I have been in limbo over that past few months figuring out what to do in our room. I have wanted to create a prayer space/reading nook where I could pray, read, mediate, journal, etc. In order to do this, I wanted for there to be very minimal furniture so that the room didn't look busy and cluttered. The easiest way I could figure to do this was to combine my dresser and closet into one area. Before I could do this, I HAD to get rid of some clothes and sort through what fit, what didn't, what I liked and what I didn't. SO, today was the day!

I waited for Kaley to go to sleep for the afternoon and then the real fun began. Out came every piece of clothing from the closet and went onto the bed. I put in a few organizational things into the closet and then started to sort through everything. After that was done and the clothes were in the closet, then I had to go through the dresser and do the same. The sad thing was, I got rid of about 2/3 of my clothes that I rarely ever wore! There were even a few maternity items in the mix and it has been 18 months since I have needed them.

In the end, everything fit perfectly! It took the entire time that Kaley slept, but it got finished. Unfortunately, now I need to figure out what I am going to do with the empty dresser and how to reorganize the space, but that is for another day.

Before picture:

After pictures: