From Dana:
A few weeks ago Shandra texted asking if Shirley or I wanted a large red plastic toy box they were looking to get rid of. Marc and I considered it and thought it would be a good fit for the basement.
They brought the toy box to Wichita with them at thanksgiving. And guess what? It was full of toys!! My immediate thought was what are we going to do with all this stuff?!! We were already feeling like we had too much toys/stuff. Shandra reassured me that she didn't care at all what we did with them - keep, give to Shirley, give away, throw away, whatever. But, it just seemed so overwhelming and daunting.
So, loaded down with a toy box full of toys heading back to our house, seemingly bursting at the seams with stuff (in our opinion), Marc and I started brainstorming what we could do to ease the full-ness, clutter-ish feeling at our house on our drive home from Wichita.
We agreed not to get a Christmas tree this year for the sheer "where would we put it?" factor, knowing it would add more stress than cheer. (The compromise is a lit garland around the window to help the festive ambiance.) We thought through some of the rooms and things in them that could stand to go.
One thing was this awesome yet cumbersome and unused chest in our room (inherited from Katie, when she was getting rid of it for the same reasons, I believe). It was storing a twin comforter and sheet and that was it! And was taking up space in a small area.
With Marc's help, I cleaned out the toys in the box and kept about 30% of the stuff and gave the rest to Shirley to sort through. And then, added all Cole's previous toys and stuck it on the wall in the living room. Not where we want it to stay, but where it is right now.
He can't really reach the bottom of the box. I wonder if he'll ever fall in?
I feel like organizing our house and purging it of clutter is a never ending process and one that I often feel is too daunting to attack. I'm thinking of making it one of my 2015 goals (if I have 2015 goals). I'm grateful for a smaller house that makes me deal with my stuff instead of just stash it (even though I try).
So glad you were able to pass on the chest. Don't you worry about doing that for one second! I love getting stuff out of my home. I agree that I am in that overwhelming stage with you. We have way too much stuff in our basement and I am dying to sort through it all. Just doesn't seem to be the wonderful time to do that when the counters are loaded with dishes and the laundry is overflowing (sorry fly lady, I failed).
ReplyDelete