Major Organizing Time
I've been getting overwhelmed with the amount of STUFF we have. It's just amazing...people give us stuff all the time, hand me down clothes for the kids, toys for the kids- and I really appreciate everything I'm given, but sometimes we have more than we can handle! . I am always trying to weed stuff out, but sometimes the amount of stuff coming in is coming in at a much faster rate than the stuff going out, so the other day, I decided to do some deep cleaning!
I went through Bonnie's and Caleb's rooms and found 6 hefty bags full of toys, books, etc that they did not need anymore, and took them to the Salvation Army. I encouraged them while we were packing it all up, that it would be much easier to clean their rooms with less stuff in it (and besides, some other child could get the toys and really appreciate them). They liked the idea of not having so much to clean so accepted and got rid of a lot.
I also was able to find 4 hefty bags full of mostly Bonnie's older clothes, and took them to the laundromat to wash them (they had been sitting in the closet for a while and I didn't want them to smell), and got rid of those too. It feels so good to get rid of stuff that we don't need!
Today, I took a gift card someone gave me for Office Max, and I bought 20 cardboard file boxes, which I will be using to organize different things in the house with. It was only 40.00 for all of these boxes... much cheaper than those plastic storage boxes. It took me about 30 minutes to assemble them all...here they are:
So today, I'll be trying to get them all labeled and filled!
I went through Bonnie's and Caleb's rooms and found 6 hefty bags full of toys, books, etc that they did not need anymore, and took them to the Salvation Army. I encouraged them while we were packing it all up, that it would be much easier to clean their rooms with less stuff in it (and besides, some other child could get the toys and really appreciate them). They liked the idea of not having so much to clean so accepted and got rid of a lot.
I also was able to find 4 hefty bags full of mostly Bonnie's older clothes, and took them to the laundromat to wash them (they had been sitting in the closet for a while and I didn't want them to smell), and got rid of those too. It feels so good to get rid of stuff that we don't need!
Today, I took a gift card someone gave me for Office Max, and I bought 20 cardboard file boxes, which I will be using to organize different things in the house with. It was only 40.00 for all of these boxes... much cheaper than those plastic storage boxes. It took me about 30 minutes to assemble them all...here they are:
So today, I'll be trying to get them all labeled and filled!
Great idea. We moved recently and purged a lot of stuff so we didn't have to move it all. Somehow it seems we still have way too much. Also, I am tagging you for a photo meme. You always have great pics so I'm sure yours will be a fun one.
* open the 4th picture folder in your computer.
* open the 4th picture folder in that folder and post it on your blog.
* explain the picture.
* tag 4 other bloggers to do the same (you can notify them in their comments section).
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Congratulations on a job well done! I LOVE the feeling when I'm done sorting and organizing. You are teaching your children a good lesson - that "stuff" is not what's important in life.
By the looks of all those boxes, are you sure you got rid of enough?
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Janet, I don't know what I'll put in them yet! I got the idea from a book I read and I'm sure I can find some use for them. We don't actually have enough toys to fit in even half of them, anymore. lol
If I can't find enough to put in them, I'll save it till I do. I plan to use these boxes for things in the entire house! Wish me luck! (notice I'm still on the computer. Cause I'm procrastinating. lol)
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Wow, great job! I know how that is, getting things that are nice to get but do we really "need" it?
Though it may be tiring at times, organizing is something that gives great satisfaction! Keep up the good work!
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Great Job Bethany!!! It sure does feel good to get organized.
I recently went through and did a big organization similar to your box thing. I got the idea from a book by Emily Barnes that my mom has. She indexes the content of every box on little cards so you can flip through the cards instead of looking through a box to find what you need.
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I was thinking of getting boxes like that, but do you have any idea how well they stack when full? Just wonder what their crush weight is.
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Bethany,
I love this idea! We've done something similar in the past but not on such a grand scale. The one thing I really liked is we covered them with fabric/wallpaper scrapes to match the room where they were located to help match the decor! We also had a label stating the contents but they were smaller boxes (large boot boxes and computer paper boxes.) Oh, we also spray painted some using metallic paint for our eldest (9 at the time, almost 15 now.)
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Wow, that sounds like a great deal! Even better deal because it was bought witha gift card, therefore free, right?
We couple probably use something like those to organize all of the Christmas stuff we buy every year after Christmas lol
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wow that is alote of bankers boxes. They are great though. It feels so good to clean out and organize. Kind of goes hand in hand with the new year. Good for you.
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I have also been on an organizing kick (every single night-with most other hobbies etc. forgotten about) for about three months. The more I organize, the more I like it. I guess my standards for organization have been raised, and so the whole house is getting an overhaul! The "kick" is showing no signs of slowing down, however, it's back to school for me next week, so...
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Oh my goodness, that is quite a lot of stuff! I am delurking today...I've been reading your blog for at least a year but I don't think I've ever commented before. : )
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