Spring Cleaning Day ONE...sort of.

So last week I posted about Spring Cleaning Week. Well, I'm still on Day One. I knew I would be going slowly but this is ridiculous!! Day one is basically decluttering the surfaces in each room in your house (but not venturing into closests/drawers yet). I knew I had a ton of junk to get rid of, but this has been even harder than I expected. Especially because I'm not really willing to put the rest of my life on hold to get this done.

I decided to start in the girls' room, because it is always such a disaster and I really want them to be able to not only pick up their room but to enjoy their own clean clear space! Perhaps that was a mistake. It was really hard to get rid of their stuff. Some of it I feel guilty about because it was a gift or something, and some of it was just too sentimental. You're supposed to sort everything into 2 boxes, a Give Away box and a Sell box. I got a Get Rid Of box (to either put into a future garage sale or dump at a thrift store, depending on what I'm up for), a Goes In Another Room box (I always need one of those), and a Maybe box for those things I think I should probably get rid of but just can't bear to.

In the girls' room, I got stuck right away when putting away the dolls/stuffed animals. I've saved a couple of old Cabbage Patch dolls and clothes, and put them in their room for Stella to play with. She has only played with them a couple of times in the last couple of years. I should get rid of them. I tried to put them in the Give Away box....but I couldn't do it. Could. Not. I actually started to cry. Yes, picture me sitting in the middle of their room completely surrounded by piles of toys and just general crap, holding these ratty old dolls and crying my eyes out. I am a mess! Thank goodness for that Maybe box, I threw them in there as quick as I could and tried to move on. That was only the beginning. It was really hard. But it wasn't all bad, there were lots of obvious things to get rid of, like dress-up clothes that were too small and/or ripped, and obvious things to keep, like dolls knit for them by their grandmother and pillows made for them by their auntie.

I've been thinking about why it was so hard for me to get rid of a lot of their stuff. Certainly some of it was guilt over getting rid of things that were gifts (even minor ones). Some of it was things they'd once enjoyed but had moved past, but for some reason reminded me of a certain period in their lives. Then there are the things from my childhood that I'd saved for them, I don't know if I am trying to cling to my childhood or what. I just took a deep breath and threw some of it into Give Away and some of it into Maybe. Once I finally finished their room I was shot. That was all I could handle for one day.

But now that it's done (other than the closets and stuff that I'll have to go through), it is so wonderful in there. I put up some of Stella's artwork on the wall that I'd been saving for that purpose. Kept just a few special items out on top of the dresser and bookshelf. Stella was in awe, she was so happy and thanked me profusely, saying, "It's so beautiful, Mommy!" over and over. :) Now it makes me feel simultaneously happy and peaceful when I go in there. It really motivated me to keep going with the rest of the house.

Of course, there have been other days where I just could not face it, days where I am stressed and upset about other things, distracted by tired grumpy children, etc...I could come up with all manner of excuses. And so it is, over a week later and still on Day One. But I am not letting myself get discouraged or give up. I am going to see this through. I know I'm doing this a lot more thoroughly than what is asked for in SimpleMom's plan for day one, but I think it's important for me. At this point I still have the master bedroom left, which I am sort of putting off because I feel zero inspiration on how to make it nice, and the guest room. The guest room is home to lots of boxes in various states of organisation from my previous decluttering attempts, the pack n play so M can nap in there, and the broken guest bed frame (the mattress is leaning up against the wall). It is truly too scary to even think about. I'll worry about that room later!

Here are some pictures. I only got pics of the girls' room and the living/dining rooms. And the living/dining "after" pictures aren't very good, sorry about that! I couldn't get a picture until after dark, and we don't have very good lighting in there!


Girls' Room:

My little helper.

The "after" doesn't look all that much more organised. The books do not seem to stay on the shelf longer than 7.3 seconds...

Stella's artwork.

Cross stitch made by my mom for my sis and I - awwwww!

Diaper changing area (no "before" pic, but trust me, there was no room for diaper changing on there!).

Living Room:

Until recently (*ahem* last week) this shelf was completely cluttered with Christmas decorations! Look how lovely and open it looks now. (Mom, recognize the bead trees?!)

Dining Room:

(I dread cleaning inside this cabinet...)

Bonus kitchen shot...This gives you a taste of the frightening state my kitchen was in, I am too ashamed to post any other pictures of this room!