We want to replace our flooring, but I can't mentally go to the place where we move everything! I have been slowly editing my closet over the past few weeks. Yesterday I cleaned out the garage, hooray for spring cleaning!
Here's where I can offer some Auntie Leila like advice. I have always found that clearing everything out of a space is the best place to start! I know it's a hard hurdle to jump over and you have to have someplace out of the way to put things if we are talking about cleaning out a whole room of stuff and not just a dresser. Piling it all in your living room is not going to do anything but make a bigger mess. But taking everything out of our closet and piling it all in the spare room has been such a motivating factor in two ways.
First, it was appalling to me to see the amount of stuff that came out of our closet. Not clothes, mind you! Those went on our bed. I'm talking the stuff I had stored on the upper shelves and the built in shelves (that are now no more). I admit, I am pretty good at organizing my storage spaces and not leaving a lot of wasted space. But that means when you see the amount of stuff that came off those shelves and see it spread across the floor of a room, it's certainly a lesson in humility.
The second effect that clearing out a space has is you see it so empty and open and you really start to question whether or not you want to just pile everything back in it again. I can tell you, looking at those empty shelves just makes me loathe to pack it all back up there. Since we have a wait before the closet floor goes in, we will move some of it back but I am going to be very selective about what stays and what goes. My goal is to get rid of a 1/3 of it!
Anyway, those are my thoughts on how to go about clearing out a space whether it be a garage or a junk drawer. If you can find a way to clear everything out of the room (excepting large furniture items, of course, go for it! It's like starting over with that blank slate you had when you first moved in.
That's funny - you, Auntie Lelia and Archbishop Dolan (because I think he's kinda cool) are the only three blogs in my reader during Lent!
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right. I need to go ahead and rip off the band aid! My husband wants to replace the flooring in the entire house - last summer I asked him to wait a year and now he is murmuring about it again.
So far I have completely emptied, cleaned and reorganized the pantry, garage, and kitchen cabinets. But moving the contents of every room makes me want to pack the kids in the rv and disappear until it is over!
OK, if my husband wanted to do the whole house at one time, I think I would be checking into RV rentals as well! :) But what a wonderful gift he wants to give his family!
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