Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Tossing It Out

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you probably saw me share a photo of a bunch of clothes on the floor yesterday.
Cleaning the Clutter Out! at Serenity Now

With baby #3 on the way during the upcoming holiday season, T has been laying on the pressure for me to take the time to really gut the upstairs, particularly the room of every organizer's worst nightmare Natalie's old nursery. 

I may have groaned a bit when T announced that he would have Monday off and wanted to begin the Great Purge of 2013. After I ran a couple of quick errands and a very quick stop at Starbucks , I couldn't avoid it any longer and made the trek upstairs. 

We started in our bedroom, where (admittedly) most of the problem was of my own doing. I hold on to clothes for way too long. As in, I still had some size 6 dresses in the back of the closet, and I have not been a size 6 in a very very very long time. I had managed to fit a surprisingly large amount of clothes in our long, skinny 1977 master bedroom closet. And that was after a purge a year or two ago. I had also "accidentally" forgotten to clear out the storage bins under our bed because it's dark under there and I just didn't feel like it.

Once I pulled a few things out and began tossing them on the floor in categories for donation (dresses, t-shirts, pjs, skirts, etc.), it occurred to me how silly it was to hold on to that pink wrap top that I could only hope to squeeze myself into with the help of some baby oil and a very large shoehorn. 

It started to feel really, really good to see the stuff pile up. Stuff I haven't worn and don't plan to wear. Stuff that will benefit other, skinnier people if I donate it.

We ended up with 4 jumbo sized trash bags full of just my clothes, as well as two baskets with odds and ends. All that from my closet and my bureau. Wow. And I didn't even start on the under the bed stuff until the euphoria of the significantly cleared out closet kicked in and it was too late to send more donations on to the Salvation Army. Once I finished that, I had cleared every single item of clothing from those under-the-bed storage totes and marked them for donation.

I still need to go through my vast, Imelda Marcos-sized shoe collection, but the girls' room and Natalie's old nursery (the new baby's room!) are also on the list. The nursery is gonna hurt because I've agreed to post some "Before" photos as part of an upcoming campaign. So, stay tuned if you want to commiserate, encourage, or silently judge me. 

Have you done any household purging lately? What was hard for you to let go of?

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3 comments:

  1. Good for you Amanda. We did a huge purge a couple years ago (mostly in the basement). I couldn't believe how much "stuff" was down there. 1-800-Got-Junk was a lifesaver. We had saved so many things from past home projects thinking we would need/use them...10 years later, umm...NOT! I purged my closet last year finally. It was hard. It meant coming to full terms with the fact that the days of getting those size 6 skinny jeans on without having to jump off the roof was not going to happen anymore. But, I am glad I did...because now I know that what is in there fits. I don't feel guilty because at 45 I no longer have a 21 year old's body. Keep up the good work. You will be so thrilled when it is done.

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  2. I did a HUGE purge before my son arrived almost a year ago. The big one that shocked me, I'd some how accumulated hundreds of books. I'm a big reader and apparently a little bit of a hoarder as my "can live without" stash took up the whole trunk and backseat of my Hyundai Sonata. We also did a huge Craig's List sell of some furniture to prepare for all the stuff that comes with a baby. It was an awesome feeling of accomplishment when all was said and done!

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  3. I'm in the middle of one now. It has been hard but I am making myself be honest about my stuff. Can I use it? No. It goes. If I am keeping it then there has to be a dedicated space/use for it. But with luck I'll have a whole extra room when I'm done!

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