Clear the Clutter: 40 Bags Update 3

*Sorry that this update is coming a week late. I never did hear from the support department of WordPress. But I think I have it fixed for now. Thanks for being patient!

**********************************************

In these two weeks, I collected all my bags from one room:  the office/craft room. As in the current dumping ground in our house. It’s right off the garage, and I’ve hung up a curtain to separate it from the dining room. Which means that when we get home with large things, they get dropped into the office. Or when we’re hosting, all the stuff that’s not easy to put away gets thrown into a bag and dumped in the office. Not to mention the fact that I have a TON of crafting/sewing supplies.

It was time for a serious cleaning job!

This time though, I had reinforcements. My sister, Shannon, came over to help me around the house (she picked up on me stressing about getting things ready for the baby and offered to help–love her!). So off to the pits of the office! She helped me move some of the furniture into better places… actually I helped her and she did most of the hard work, because she’d yell at me for being 8 1/2 months pregnant and moving furniture. Shan rehung pictures, covered a little cabinet with fabric, shredded papers, and held up a shelf while I ran the drill.

Pretend you don't see the spackle that I haven't touched up yet

But there comes a point in purging that someone who doesn’t use the room can’t help with. So while I went through all sorts of things, she kept me company (she was hemming some pants). And kept me working. Translation:  she kept me in the room and not giving up to go watch tv!

So here’s how we did:

28.  Office (extra little table that didn’t end up fitting in the nursery)
27.  Office (bag of things to return to Target because I’m terrible about making sure to return things in a timely manner)
26. Office (filing cabinet–lots of extra bills, papers, etc that got shredded)
25. Office (empty wine bottles–I put candles in these and use them for centerpieces, but I had too many. So any that couldn’t fit in the wine holder had to go)
24.  Office (magazines and books for Half Price Books)
23. Office (bag of random trash)
22. Office (bag of random trash)
21. Office (scraps too small to do much with went in the trash)
20. Office (several yard+ fabrics that were donated)
19. Office (several yard+ fabrics:  4 bolts, so 2 bags)
18. Office (bag of shredded papers to recycling–these were the ones already stacked on my shredder)
17. Office (paint cans–these were ones still being used in the house so they were consolidated to much smaller containers)
16. Office (paint cans–there were 5 paint cans that got consolidated so I’m counting it twice)
15.  Office (paint cans–these we don’t use anymore so they’re going to be donated…when I can find a place to take them!)

Look how nice it is! From completely stacked to the top to half that. Logan's much happier about it.

*******************************************************

14. Guest room (wrapping paper, bags, tissue paper to toss and donate—goal before the baby comes:  finally get the gift wrap station hung)
13. Kitchen (some nonperishables that went to my school’s food bank)
12. Extra decorating box (old set of curtains, candles)
11. Linen closet (shower curtain, miscellaneous pillow cases, another crummy towel)
10. My dresser (pre-pregnancy unmentionables to toss—these will eventually get replaced, but still)
9. My dresser (more “regular clothes)
8. My dresser (“regular” clothes that I don’t need to be wearing anymore)

**********************************************************

7. Nursery (lots of packaging trash from all the beautiful gifts from the shower)
6. Nursery (extra clothes for the wrong season, batting to go back to Shannon, and a diaper tub for Grandma’s house)
5. Nursery (extra swing to give to another set of friends expecting their first baby)
4. Linen closet (I tend to collect all the little samples from hotels, but how many do you really need? And some less-than-great-towels went too)
3. Bookshelves throughout the house (off to Half Price Books)
2. Guest room closet (emptying out that dumping ground for some really random things to head to Goodwill)
1. From all over the house (a whole bag of random things that go back to school)

AND, Shannon loaded up her trunk with all the things going to Goodwill, so they aren’t even in the guest room anymore. I feel like I should also count a bag from all the dog hair that we dusted and swept up (Smokey sleeps in that room), but that just makes me sound like a really bad housekeeper!

Here's the state of the guest room bed. I have 5 weeks to get it cleaned up so my mom can stay here when the baby comes. I'll make it, right?

Keep up your purging too!