Purging the Clutter!

We are on a massive purge around the house. Not sure if it's a January thing or the fact that our house seems to be getting smaller by the week, but I realized the other day that I've been moving stuff around to different places in the house for years. With each rearrangement, I somehow expect to find more space and of course, all I'm doing is moving the mess around. Organization systems have become the bane of my existence. I have at least four different ways of doing just about any household management task but none seem to get followed consistently. I have empty plastic tubs, drawers and filing cabinets in closets throughout the house and piling up in the (unusable) garage.

The clutter really sneaks up on a household! I did a massive FlyLady upheaval of our home about 8 or 9 years ago and we really only had the bare minimum. Of course, multiple military relocations were also a great opportunity to sort through stuff, but those days are behind us. This house has been our home for almost 6 years now; the longest I've lived in any one house since the age of 7. (Wow, I guess that makes it soon to be the longest I've ever lived in one place!)

I have found myself in the last month or so dreaming about a bigger house... this goes completely against our 7-year plan of paying of ALL debt (mortgage included) and living below our means. Really, as Tim pointed out recently, the kids are half grown. In another 7 1/2 years, Ryland will be off to college and Kaela is only 2 years behind him. 9 or 10 years from now will having that bigger house to the two of us be worth the debt? I know, I know, someone out there is chomping at the bit to remind me that kids are bouncing back home more and more these days and the average family has kids living with mom and dad well into their 20s and even 30s. Sorry, Ryland and Kaela - your days here are numbered. You might get one bounce-back, but it will be a short one if that!

So I decided recently that if we're not getting a bigger house, the only solution is to eliminate about 50% of what we have. #1 new rule: we're not storing anything! (with the exception of camping stuff and seasonal decorations - all that goes underneath the house anyway). If it's not being used, we will find a use for it, or it is gone! For example, we've been storing the bridge to our entertainment center in our coat closet for about 3 years now. The bookcases have been at the end of the hall. No more! All the pieces are back together as a unit, other than one of the small DVD cabinets, which makes a perfect side table by the sofa. Now the entertainment center fits the space it belongs in and we don't have to purchase a side table. We also had one too many large pieces of furniture for our small, open floorplan. Solution - we gifted the love seat to some friends of ours who are making great use of it and really loving it! We've made two Goodwill runs in the past week with many more to come, I'm sure. Even Kaela is getting on the bandwagon - she has her dollhouse posted on the local swap meet page. It takes up an entire corner of her room and rarely gets played with.

I spent an entire day this past weekend sorting through the contents of our computer desk. Tim's laptop had recently made it's own home, precariously perched on the arm of the sofa. I had visions of it falling off and crashing ($2000 MacBook Pro - please don't fall!). I gave up long ago on nagging him to put it back in the computer desk - he likes his spot on the sofa and likes his computer plugged into the wall there when he's using it. So - we moved a small 3-drawer chest from the bedroom (that was overflowing with surplus bathroom/beauty supplies), emptied it out and drilled a hole in the back for cords. Now we each have a drawer for our electronics, with hidden plug-ins, and an extra drawer for the usual by-the-front door stuff (my running gloves and pouch, headphones, etc).

I'm feeling motivated, but short on time! In addition to the purging spree, we are also in the middle of repainting our kitchen cabinets and replacing our carpet and kitchen linoleum with laminate flooring. Sometimes I wish I didn't need sleep... but I love it too much to give it up ;)