They can beat me down and win the battle, but I’ll win the war. I hope. My first step in putting all this moving craziness and the crazy movers behind me was to tackle the play room. I did this yesterday and am pleased with the results so far.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Our lovely MDF bookshelves and plastic bins all nice and neat.
Today I tackled the office. They didn’t slash and dump in there, but it was full. Bursting at the seams. I didn’t take a before picture, which I now regret. Haven’t taken the after picture either, but believe me, you’d be impressed.
I’m still in purge mode. I don’t think I’ll ever get out of it. I’ve been purging since we left Virginia in the summer of 2006. How is it that there are still things to get rid of? I’m becoming ever more ruthless. I actually want to get down to a minimal amount of stuff. That’s still going to be a lot though. We’re a family of four, two of those being kids. There will always be junk with kids around. I’m determined not to hoard anything though. Linens? We’re down to what’s on the beds and maybe an extra set of sheets. Towels? A set of six. Yes, just six. Do we need more? No. So I don’t have more. Clothes? I’m in the closet right now being all ruthless with things I thought “I might wear if I ever have a job again.” Please. If I ever have an outside job again I won’t be young enough to wear those things. Evening gowns? Some are going because I’m not 20 any more and my taste in evening wear has changed. Too many socks? Gone. Lotions, potions and other girly stuff I absolutely love but have too much of? Bye bye. Trinkets lying around the house? They’re on their way out. All the stuff stuffed into cabinets and drawers that we only look at when we move? Getting ready to get rid of them. We have the memories of all of that stuff. Why do we need the stuff? Scrapbooking materials? On their way out as well. Digital scrapbooking is the rage in this household. And it means no mess while I scrapbook.
Land fill crap fast food toys that never get played with and are always of ugly characters that my girls would never watch in real life and are made in China so they’re probably full of lead or poison anyway? WILL NOT ENTER THE HOUSE. I threw every single one of them away before we left Missouri. Just don’t tell Reagan. She hasn’t noticed. She also hasn’t noticed that half of her stuffed animal collection is gone. I threw out 6+ trash bags of junk from her room before we moved and she doesn’t know about any of it. She wasn’t there.
I’m not anti-consumerism. I love buying things. Right now I’m paring my buying down to clothes, shoes, magazines and technology. All can be revolved on a regular basis without being missed once gone.
Whew! That was cathartic. Now I must get back to overcoming. And I must find a way to get Du on board.
Not So SAHM 
I still can’t believe your movers slashed and dumped like that but the play room looks great!
We are still constantly getting rid of stuff too…it feels great doesn’t it? I notice that i tend to buy storage bins that I then don’t have a place for because now that so much stuff is gone a lot of them are empty and sitting around.
That. Playroom. Ugh! Did you cry when you saw it? I would scream, then collapse on the floor in tears.
You are my soul sister! I am such a garbage freak! My husband is a hoarder, and I’m quick to throw things away so I don’t have to deal with clutter.
And the scrapbook thing? I SO need to research digital scrapbooking! I should take a picture of my table in the family room. It is covered in trash–uh, I mean, scrapbook supplies.
That room looks great. AWESOME job! I still can’t fathom that someone actually did that. (Dirty word, dirty word, even dirtier word.)
I hear ya on decluttering. I go through fits and starts a couple times a year with Salvation Army/Goodwill getting a trunkful each time.
But they’ll pry my scrapbook stuff outta my cold dead hands. Right after I turn loose of my power tools …
Get Du on board? Get Du on board? (That’s with an incredulous tone). I left the dock 5 years ago but had to circle the boat back around for the rest of my family… I had to get a bigger boat to pick them up in as there was more stuff to pick up 🙂
OK, so I have a few too many T-shirts but those have memories! OK, so I keep every possible fastener and backups of hardware items in the garage–but when I need a whatchamacallit to fix something around the house, isn’t it nice to have those in the garage instead of have to go buy one?
We will reduce our footprint – I’m glad my darling Vicki (and me) are finally there 🙂
First of all, AWESOME job on organizing the playroom. What a huge improvement!!
I’ve been in purge mood lately, too. With three kids in a small space, I know you know how much extra stuff we have. Coming home from my grandma’s house, I realized how few things we have in comparison. She still has a cabinet full of nail polish from when I was a little girl!! And don’t even get me started on HER linen closet and kitchen cupboards. WHEW!
Right there with ya, girl…I’ve been purging all week. How many stuffed animals can 2 girls have, I ask?
Now if only I can tackle my closet. You seem to be quite adept at organizing and such…wanna come here and brave the abyss that anchors my bedroom & bath?
You are Wonder-Woman! What an inspiration to those of us almost old enough to be your mother. Jason made it home yestarday -what a blessing to have him reunited with his family 🙂
tres impressive. rock on, i think i’ll go get rid of some stuff, too. there’s a charity on our area that will come get stuff, and they’re coming tomorrow. woot!