The past few weeks, I have been in a major cleaning mood. Maybe it’s because I’m Type A. Maybe it’s because I can’t stand things in piles. Maybe it’s because I’ve been cooped up in the house for months.
No matter the reason, I have gone through each room in our house and given it the cleaning and organization it needed!
Kitchen
It’s kind of funny what puts you over the edge. When I opened a cupboard a few weeks ago, I was attacked by tupperware. A few days later, I went to get an ingredient for dinner and found canned goods that were two years old (oops). Needless to say, it was time to clean! I went through each cupboard and drawer, getting rid of the items we don’t use or that were expired. It was wonderful! We have more room in the cupboards and I can actually find the lids to things!
Bedroom
Our bedroom got a massive cleaning due to us finally getting a new bed! We tore down the old one and it was replaced with a lovely King-size bed. Along with the cleaning, I went through our closet to start weed out the clothes and shoes I no longer wear. (This will happen again when I switch the winter clothes with summer clothes – which will hopefully be soon!) Now I just have to have Brent do the same!
Office
Since we moved my office set-up around a few months ago, things have stayed pretty organized. However, after meeting with our tax guy, it was nice to finally move the 2013 receipts out! I went back through files to weed out the papers I no longer needed and put new inspirational quotes on my bulletin board.
My office also has the closet that holds all of my workout clothes. Like the bedroom, I went through and started a pile of the items I haven’t worn in awhile. (I did keep out a few long sleeve items to use as ‘throwaway’ clothes for races.) I have been using a closet organizer for some of my clothes, but I changed things up and hung up my skirts. I didn’t realize how many I had!
Bathrooms
These were actually the easiest, because I tend to give them a thorough cleaning every month. Along with the normal scrubbing, I went through the cabinets and got rid of all the products we don’t use. I don’t know how many bottles of lotion I threw out! Next on the list is replacing make-up, because I hate to admit how long I’ve had the items I use.
Basement
This was the beast I was dreading to battle. We haven’t really cleaned our basement since we built the house and it has become our catch-all for everything. For about 45 minutes at a time, I have been going down there and getting some cleaning done. I bought totes to start storing things in along with garbage bags for things we no longer need to keep.
So far, I have things organized in areas – things to store, Christmas decorations, boxes (for electronics, etc.), workout equipment and things to pitch. Within the next few weeks, Brent and I will be using a Shop-Vac to vacuum the floor and then I will move things to a more permanent location. I’m even debating shelves for all those totes! However, I’m most excited to create our home gym. The ideas are flowing!
Garage
Since it has been so cold, the garage is still on my to-do list. We have a ton of boxes that need to be torn down, along with many other items to bring to our local recycle center. Then comes the moving of everything in order to sweep out the entire place. My goal is also to bring in more shelves so that we can create a little extra room.
After all of this, I made two trips with a vehicle full of items to donate to our local shelter. We also have a bunch of junk items to get rid of – maybe a dumpster is in order! Let me tell you, it feels great to get rid of the clutter and junk, and get things cleaned and organized!
