The House Purge

We moved into our new house about six months ago, and about four months ago I re-injured my knee to the point of being unable to walk safely down the stairs into the basement.  As I organized the rest of the house, I packed up things we didn't need and had my husband bring them downstairs to join the many many boxes that had yet to be unpacked from the move.  Well, yesterday we had a laundry emergency so I cautiously made my way downstairs to find the basement packed floor to ceiling with boxes.  It was bad.  It looked like a hoarder's house.  It was embarrassing.

While the kids were napping, I began to go through these boxes, ruthlessly making piles to give away or throw away.  I decided that the only boxes permitted in the basement would be seasonal clothing and holiday stuff.  Any decorations that we had in our old house that would not work here had to go.  Personal things that I kept as keepsakes had to go unless they could be displayed.  If it wasn't something useful, it wasn't something we could keep.

I am a very emotional, sentimental person, so this wasn't easy to do, but seriously, what am I going to do with the baby's first shoes?  Frame them?  I'm just not that kind of girl, so into the donation pile they went.

I made a good dent, but definitely didn't finish going through all of the boxes.  With knee surgery on my knee looming in the next few weeks, I decided to set myself a goal of unpacking one box during nap time, and one box after they go to bed at night.  This seems reasonable and manageable, and something that I wish I had done right when we moved in as I would be long since done by now.

Since my injury, I've been slowly chugging along in the rest of the house, purging purging purging, so there are no unused items hanging about anywhere but the basement, and finishing that is going to feel SO good.

I'd like to invite you to join me in a house purge.  You will feel so refreshed by it, I promise.  And as an added bonus it will make your daily housework take a lot less time.  To get you started, here is a sample 30 day roadmap for your house purge.  Enjoy!  And don't forget, as you clean out one area, clean it up and organize what is left!  For one month, commit to spend an hour on this each day, unless you are really really having fun and want to do more :-)

Day One - Mom's closet and dresser.  Remove all seasonal clothes, and place them neatly into a box.  Only pack items that fit, are in good condition, and you know you will use.  Otherwise, toss it or donate it.  Label the box completely, and store it.

Day Two - Dad's closet and dresser.  Do the same as you did in Mom's closet.

Day Three - Kid One's room.  Do the same as you did in Mom's closet.  Place a paper bag on the floor of your child's closet for outgrown items, and in the future, immediately place outgrown items in there for donation or storage for hand me downs.

Day Four - Kid Two's closet and dresser.  Do the same as you did in Kid One's room.

Day Five - Linen closets.  Remove all stained, ripped, excess, or not frequently used towels, blankets, and sheets, and donate them to a homeless shelter or animal shelter.  Keep three sets of sheets for each adult/teenage bed, and five sets of sheets per child (to have extras in case of accidents.)

Day Six - Bathrooms.  Remove all expired or unused items from the medicine cabinets and under the sink.  Be ruthless when going through your makeup and hair care products.  If you don't use it daily, don't keep it!  Makeup should be replaced something like every six months, so chances are you need to throw pretty much everything away and start over.

Day Seven - Toys.  This would be a good day to get the kids out of the house so they don't see this.  My kids are too young to remember if something is gone, but they would sure get upset if they saw something going into the trash.  Get rid of anything that is broken, isn't age appropriate, or isn't loved.  A lot of donation places won't accept used toys, so you might need to call around.  If not, try to give them to a friend or family member.  Separate out 1/3 of the remaining toys and put them into storage.  Once a week, rotate those toys in, and store another 1/3 of the toys.  This will keep your kids playing with what they have.

Day Eight - Kitchen.  Oh my, this is one of the areas you weren't looking forward to tackling I bet.  But don't worry, you get two days for this one!  How many pots and pans do you really need?  I can't answer that for you, but probably not nearly as many as you have, and ditto for serving platters and utensils.  Get rid of them!!!  Dump your junk drawer!  Vases?  Two, maybe three.  Toss ripped and stained dish towels and place mats.  Only keep what you use and love.  Don't forget to wipe down inside the cabinets and drawers as you go, saving yourself time later!

Day Ten - Living room.  This should be a nice easy day after the kitchen fiasco.  Sift through your DVDs and donate or sell anything you don't watch.  This might be a nice time to take down your curtains or blinds and wash them.

Day Eleven - Garage.  Once again, you get a few days for this one.  Let's say three.  Pay special attention to items you are storing that may be hazardous, and dispose of them properly.  Many towns have hazardous disposal days.

Day Fourteen - Garage again.  This time though, the focus is on organizing what is left.

Day Fifteen - Attic.  Oh dear.  Well, let's be generous and give you five days for the attic.  Open every single box, and get rid of it if you don't use it.  Anything you are keeping, repack neatly and label the box so you can easily find the items in it.

Day Twenty - Dining room.  Let's have an easy day after all of the work you put into the attic.

Day Twenty One - Paperwork.  Get rid of all papers that are no longer pertinent.  Any pay stubs or tax forms older than seven years (double check that first!) get rid of.  Enter business cards into a database in your computer, and toss all receipts and miscellaneous pieces of junk.  Get a nice filing system for what is left.

Day Twenty Two - Basement.  Another big one.  Let's have five days again.  Once again, open every single box, and get rid of it if you don't use it.  Anything you are keeping, repack neatly and label the box so you can easily find the items in it.

Day Twenty Seven - Books.  Adult books and children's books.  Used books can definitely be donated, so don't throw these away!

Day Twenty Eight - Hall closet or entry way.  Remove any unseasonal items, and pack away with the unseasonal items from the closets.  Donate anything that doesn't fit, toss anything in poor repair.  Allot one jacket hook and one spot for shoes in this area for the items most commonly used, and remove everything else to bedroom closets.

Day Twenty Nine - Random rooms that have not been covered.  Office?  Play room?

Day Thirty - Miscellaneous spots.  Walk around the house and look for the areas you haven't hit yet.  Your night stand?  Your jewelry box?  I'm sure you can still find plenty.

And hopefully that is it!  Now, keep your house looking this good, and start all over again tomorrow, but instead of an hour, give it five minutes a day.  Five minutes to quickly look through an area, clear it of junk, and give it a cleaning.  You'll still need to do your daily cleaning, but you'll never again open your silverware drawer and tell yourself that you'll get to those accumulated crumbs tomorrow.

The Drop In

I am going to deviate completely from my typical posts.  I am going to gripe a bit about something that bothers me, but that I don't really get to be honest about in real life; the drop in visit.  I know, I know, it seems like a really silly thing to be bothered about, but it really really bothers me.  Here's why.

1. I have a 10 month old and a 2 year old.  Pretty much, someone is ALWAYS sleeping.  If I knew we were expecting company, I would at least put the dogs outside so they didn't bark.  Also, I could ask the expected guests not to ring the doorbell.  If you want to piss me off unreasonably, wake up my kids.

2. Our house is always pretty clean.  But you know how it goes; the one time the place looks like a pigsty is when people show up unannounced.  I take a lot of pride in keeping a nice home, and I want it to look respectable when visitors see it.

3.  The same goes for the girls.  I'd rather they not be dirty faced and still in last night's pajamas if you don't mind.

4.  I like to entertain, and I want to do it properly.  If time permits, I'd love to have something baking in the oven and the coffee freshly perked.  When I am scrambling to offer guests something that isn't goldfish or bunny shaped, I feel completely out of sorts.

5.  If you know me, you know that I am kind of a controlled person.  Surprises aren't necessarily good in my world.

6.  We live a solid 30 minutes away from anyone who'd be coming to visit us.  We are in the middle of nowhere.  There is NO reason for any one to be in the neighborhood.  To my mind, this means that we should get a phone call 30 minutes in advance saying "Hey, we are coming over!" This is short notice, but sufficient.  If we lived in a neighborhood, I would be expecting visitors more frequently, so I wouldn't be so bothered by it.

Ok, I apologize for the purposeless rant. I needed to get it out so that I am not actually rude to anyone in person.