Cleaning

I think I have the opposite of nesting... I have a desire to purge everything! I just want to have more space. I am feeling very claustrophobic in my house, especially the last little while with the weather turning colder and having to be inside longer. So - I decided to start tackling the problem head on.

I did the garage one day:
This is before....


and this is after. It still looks a little crazy with all the bikes and such, but it feels much better and is so much more functional.
I also tackled Eric's room. Oh boy was that knee deep in junk and treasures and old papers... It was rather overwhelming at times. I took everything - but the bed - out of his room and stashed it in the living room. Then I went through it all and junked some of it, DI'd some of it and sold some of it to Kid to Kid (he made 10$ - which is a lot for Kid to Kid) My goal was to make his room more clean up friendly. As it was - he was overwhelmed every time I told him to clean up.

Instead of cleaning up, he would stuff it in his toy box, behind his toy box and his favorite was to throw things under his bed, or on the top bunk - and then say he cleaned it up. I had had enough!!
There was just too much stuff. It was time to do something about the toys spilling out on the floor ALL of the TIME!!!
And here is the result of that day of labor. It is so refreshing to go into his room now.
The closet actually has a little extra space - not to fill - but to feel open :) There is a place for all of his toys and all of his toys have a place to rest. He knows exactly where to put them, and they each have their own box to live in now. It feels wonderful!!!
And the best thing about this set up... he's been able to clean his room, without crying, for an entire week - and it still looks like this. Now that's success. It's true - sometimes LESS is BETTER.
I also did Andrews room. I didn't take any pictures, it wasn't nearly such a job as Eric's. But it also feels much more open and I'm so excited. I actually WANT to go in their rooms now, where as before, I just felt frustrated all the time. I still have plenty of rooms on my list... Abby's, laundry, living room... but when I get it done, it will feel like a new home. I'm so excited!!