OK, first of all, let me hear it for all the door ninjas out there! Double thump to the chest! (If you’re confused, go here.) I loved your responses to my last post! And thanks for all your ideas and links! :)
It’s about this time every year that I get the BUG. I usually purge throughout the year but it’s the spring that I feel the need to GET RID OF EVERYTHING.
And this year, I think the guys at Goodwill think I actually have. ;) When I drive up they’re all, “What up Sarah?!” Cause I’ve been there so much lately.
It started earlier this year when we decided to start finishing the basement. It was then that I realized we had a ridiculous amount of stuff down there. I mean really. Reedonkulous.
So back in February I started…little bits at a time. I feel like it’s all I’ve done for months –- I’ve definitely had a one track mine lately. I told myself no new projects till I was DONE. Done ridding our home of all the EXTRA. You know, decrapifying. :)
A couple of months ago we had nine plastic shelving units in our basement – ranging from four to five shelves each. Most of them were in my craft area:
And a few more were in the Bub’s toy area:
Well. With every white plastic shelf I was able to get rid of, my desire to purge got stronger – I was on. a. roll! The contents of one shelving unit went into the DIY craft table:
I still have plenty of spaces left for bins if I need them – I even ended up sorting all of the seasonal crafty stuff into bins as well. LOVE it!
A bunch more of the stuff on the shelves went into my new storage room:
And now that the bases for the dining room built ins are installed (Dad and I installed them last weekend), I filled up those babies!:
Now the nine shelves are down to…drum roll please…TWO! I broke them down into three smaller ones so the Bub can reach all of his toys:
THAT’S IT!! Even the boy joined in and purged a bunch of his stuff. (There’s still one more bin of big toys that don’t fit on the shelves.)
The basement looks almost completely finished in that pic, doesn’t it? Priming makes a big difference! I can’t get over how different this side of the room looks from just a few months ago:
Yeah, I know real walls (and ceilings) help a bit. :)
My goal overall was to have every bit of my stuff – tools (went up the garage awhile back), decor stuff and craft supplies to be completely out of sight. I wanted to be able to close doors and have them put away.
If I’ve said it 20 times I’ve said it…20 times. ;) Getting rid of stuff is one of the BEST feelings – and it’s FREE baby! I do think hard on each item when deciding whether to keep it or not – and even with all we’ve gotten rid of, there’s still plenty left. ;) I rarely regret giving up stuff -- I can count on one had the number of times I’ve wanted/needed something later.
SO worth it.
I made a pledge last year that I wouldn’t buy another storage bin and I haven’t. (Even for Christmas stuff, and that’s hard for me!) If I bring things in, I try to move things out. Try is the key word.
There are two awesomesauce parts of this year’s purge – first that our house is lighter. The second is that it’s OVER and I have all kinds of DIY projects I cannot WAIT to get started on!! Stay tuned.
Does spring do the same to you? Does your house lose weight every March and April? Don’t you wish losing five pounds was as easy as dropping it off to Goodwill? :)
love getting rid of things too...better then keeping them and sitting around all day trying to have a yard sale! i have to ask who's face is that the pic of your son's toy rack? lol gave me a chuckle!!
ReplyDeleteDECRAPITFICATION! I love it! I'm gonna use that word more often when I tell my teenagers to clean their room....."Go DECRAPIFY your room!"
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness- a big amen to the dropping off 5 pounds at Goodwill!!
ReplyDeleteI love your decrapification posts every year- they always encouage and inspire me ;-). I am feeling convicted right now about my Christmas bins.....there are a lot of them..
I, too, love the DECRAPIFICATION! Family thought that was funny. And the first post about the face in the toy shelves....I hadn't even noticed! Went back to look again and there he was! LOL Love the progress you've made. Looks great and very functional! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference some walls and a ceiling can make! Looks great! I'm going to toy decrapify next week and then it's on to the garage...I hate my neighbors seeing my messy garage.
ReplyDeleteJust that time of year to lighten and freshen up.
Awww man. I wish my Goodwill guys would know me by name. Mine just give me a blank stare and say, "Weren't you here like 15 years ago?" Hmmm..might wanna decrapify soon. LOVING the walls! Funny how actual walls and a ceiling can make such a difference, eh?
ReplyDeleteI've been working on a purge lately too. ESPECIALLY with my kids outgrown clothes. Oy Vey!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, sadly, I do wish that losing 5lbs was that easy.
http://thisthatandtheother-justjenn.blogspot.com/
You inspire me. Thanks for sharing your home with all of us :)
ReplyDeleteDECRAPIFY - love it! We are moving house in 6 weeks and my goal is to purge BEFORE we move - major task but plan to tackle it one room/cupboard/shelf at a time - just need to overcome this malignant case of procrastination that has plagued me for the past year or so... Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteOh, I totally got the bug! In fact, I've been writing all about it on my blog just to keep me accountable. Plus, we're moving in a few weeks so it helps me avoid hauling around bucketloads of junk! It is so freeing to get rid of what I've dubbed the "jiggly, jiggly" of our home! Here's my last post:http://www.homeforhireblog.com/2012/04/after.html
ReplyDeleteWhere are you located????
ReplyDeleteYou really do inspire! Your blog was one of or maybe the first one I started reading and still by far my favorite! I was already feeling the itch to decrapify my laundry room which is where all the decor I tire of goes to die, lol! Maybe now I can get to it this weekend with your inspiration :)
ReplyDeleteAWESOME! Great job! Doesn't that feel so nice??? Can't wait to see the finished product!! And I'm DYING to see the dining/sitting room!!
ReplyDeleteMy decrapification happened in the form of a tornado on March 2, 2012...but you know...it has been liberating. Yes - we are without a home right now. Yes - we are living without anything that is "ours" because it is all gone. Yes - it has been hard...but it has taught us all something very important. To take care of the things you hold dear because you never know when they may be taken from you.
ReplyDeleteOur family of four has every single piece of clothing in one closet and one dresser. My 11 year old daughter has everything she treasures in an old Avon shipping box that we covered with contact paper. And my 17 year old has decided that for now - he is happy not having strings to "things" - because he is leaving for basic training in just a few months.
Our homecoming is scheduled for Christimas 2012...to our brand new home...and we are thrilled. But each and every thing that crosses my doorway will be things that we love, we need and we use. No more crap to decrapify the next spring.
Tiffany
Decrapification is a great word. It describes quite a bit of my life lately. My wife, son and I recently moved - not far, just a few blocks really. And the decrapification has taken front and center of everything we did.
ReplyDeleteWe downsized from a small two-bedroom apartment to a smaller one-bedroom apartment, so no amount of clever tricks would get us out of a serious purge effort. You're right though, it does feel great. So much stuff just cluttering our life - things we havent used for way too long and probably weren't going to again anytime soon.
1. Yes, spring does that to me but I've been so busy that I haven't gotten to it yet. This has resulted in me feeling like my apartment is going to collapse in on me. I am managing to get a big set of e-waste out this weekend.
ReplyDelete2. I was not aware there's another person in this world who uses the word reedonkulous.
I love to get rid of things also and pretty much do it all year round. I have a box for Goodwill donations and when it fills I take it in(which happens every week or two). Feels so good to only have what you actually use! Unfortunately my hubby has quite a hard time with it- so for now I have to do a lot of convincing for him to let go of things.
ReplyDeleteI have been doing this as well! I started with our clothes. I dropped off four black garbage bags to goodwill and returned toddler clothes to my SIL. Then I did the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator after a trip to IKEA for containers. The latest was the craft room. I'm finally getting rid of a huge box of fabric that has taken up precious floor space. I've also decided to not be a fabric hoarder. That cleared out a ton. Feels SO GOOD!!!! I can't wait until your basement is finished. I would love to have a basement.
ReplyDeleteI love it, totally inspired to purge and become a Door Ninja too!!!
ReplyDeleteLove that term, ha, ha, ha! I am going to use it in my house!! LOL I am in that mode as well. It's what I do starting in the spring and all through summer.
ReplyDeleteNice job! Congratulations!
We're going to decrapify our basement in these next two weeks. It almost feels overwhelming though!! I'm hoping to have a garage sale to get rid of a bunch (so I can then use the money to buy more!).
ReplyDeleteThere is something so freeing about a good house purge...I moved into my latest home a year ago and got rid of a ton of stuff on the way in and it was amazing!!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteYou have been my inspiration to do a serious decrapification of my own house. Our basement is all developed, but over the years more and more stuff from upstairs makes its way into the basement. We now have bins under the pool table where it used to have none. My goal is to get back to having the basement back to the way it was when we first had it finished. Right now it looks like I could be on the Hoarder as I have everything pulled out from the storage room and am sorting through every bin. I hope I do as well as you have done. Thats my goal.
YES! Girl, you would be so so proud of all the decrapifying I've been doing this week. I've made two trips to Salvation Army and took about 20 books to the used bookstore...will take 20 more next week (you can only take 20 at a time, and I like the credit) ;)
ReplyDeleteCan't believe how you whittled down those shelves. Awesome! My major issue is all of the girls' old clothes. I can't make myself get rid of them b/c we're in considering trying for baby #3 (not any time soon) and I'd hate it if we had a third girl and had to go out and re-buy clothes. :s Such a dilemma!! But the clothes are PILED up in the guest room. It's awful.
At any rate, you should be so proud of yourself. I'm off to do some more decrapifying now!! ;)
Some day your kids will thank you for decrapifing as you go. Mine will curse me.
ReplyDelete~Bliss~
we all could "decrapify" a little...I just LOVE that word..it gave me a giggle! I think our local Goodwill has a wing named after me after I moved!
ReplyDeletehaha....have a great weekend! :)
I've been on the decrapification bandwagon too and it is the BEST feeling. It almost feels like you've redorated when a space is clear of the clutter. Still on the mission. Can't wait to be done.
ReplyDeleteToo funny you used the word "awesomesauce", that has been my new word lately. My husband and sister just laugh at me. Happy Friday!
Love this post! Decluttering is really so much fun once you get into it! I love your idea of using the cubby shelves as the base for a table. I'll have to do that someday. (going on the list of diy projects for someday...)
ReplyDeleteSO awesome - I am going through our house, one room at a time and it really IS the best feeling ever!
ReplyDeleteI have been hit by the clean-out bug, too! We have a huge pile of clothes, kitchen items, and other odds and ends that I need to sort through so we can donate. I'm very excited to clean out that back room!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI just love what you did with the basement. We our moving into our first home next week, and I have been looking for ideas to make the basement more usable and less scary.
I've been slowly but surely going through and purging. We just moved into our new house last year so yes we did purge a lot before the move but we ran out of time and just moved a bunch of *everything* that we didn't need anymore.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. After I finished my laundry room and everything was so clean and organized, I started traveling to other rooms to start the purge. This weekend is the "list the furniture on Craigslist" event. I hate that part, may end up just driving it to goodwill. Have a great day!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I have been trying to clean out my basement (and have been donating a lot of stuff), but I have a long ways to go! Your post gives me some inspiration that maybe I can get it done!
ReplyDeleteI've also been pinning ideas for a cheap basement remodel on Pinterest. I've been thinking of maybe only drywalling the walls and putting a floor epoxy on the floors. I could use some suggestions on what to do!
P.S. For cheap basement remodeling ideas, check out my Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/momhomeguide/
ReplyDeleteYour blog is an inspiration for interior decorating and organizing. I'll try this at home. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOMG I actually spit a bit of Diet Pepsi out when I read your title. LOVE it! Since it is one of my goals for 2012 it really hit home and made me laugh. Good job on the de-crappifying. :)
ReplyDeleteOh Honey, our home is losing TONS of weight and I mean that literally!!! We have a DUMPSTER in our driveway as I type! We are moving and LOTS of stuff is going to Goodwill, and in the trash. It feels FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I even feel lighter;):) Your room is looking amazing! XO, Pinky
ReplyDeleteOh, Sarah- I have the world's largest decrapification project ahead of me. I'm getting married in September, and his mother needs to be moved out of the main house and into the MIL apartment next door. She's had free rein of the house and it's outta control (a lot bit of a hoarder). I have to figure out where all her crap has to go, so I can move mine in. And so much work to be done to the main house so that it meets some kind of a housekeeping standard. None have been in existence for a while....grr. Keep on keepin' on, my dear - you're such an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI get such a sense of accomplishment form purging! :) I used to hang on to anything and everything then at some point you just run out of space. We moved into our new home last May and I cut down a lot... but there's still a lot to go!
ReplyDeleteI think I need to tell you how badly I wish I lived near your Goodwill :) then I would watch for your decraping post and make a mad dash!! I am actually trying to bring stuff in as we just bought our first home and need to fill some space! (military family! so excited to know I will be in this house for longer than 3 years!!! whoot!!)
ReplyDeleteMisty K.
Wow! Congrats on the big purge! Looks like you have everything so organized now!
ReplyDeleteI love that feeling too!
Can't wait to see the dining room progress, and how the basement turns out!
xo-Lisa
I love this! I just finished "decrapifying" yesterday, and this weekend I am looking forward to starting the project era of the year! Woo! :-)
ReplyDeletehaha...yes, the guys at Goodwill are becoming friends too! I decrapify all the time. last time I had a 12-pack of coke in the the back he said "ymmmm....I love coke" in an awesome Carribbean accent, and we shared a coke! Love it...they have a great attitude at my Goodwill!
ReplyDeleteHA! Wish I could leave five (or six) pounds at Goodwill!
ReplyDeleteLove decrapifying!! We moved recently and I swore nothing would come that I didn't LOVE or NEED. Amazing how much stuff comes nowhere near any of those criteria!!
Thanks for the nice post
ReplyDeleteThank God I'm not alone! I have been feeling the exact same way since February too, getting rid of so much. It is a freeing sensation. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI am getting ready to do a major purge--getting married and combining household collections (his of 39 years and mine of 31). I use to think moving every few years helped--exhausting, but good. Enjoyed reading and seeing how you de-cluttered. Good work!
ReplyDeleteGreat Post, Great Site!
ReplyDeleteWould be honored to have you as the newest Join of the (soon-to-be) largest Blogger Members Directory.
~Regards
I've been purging since November and still have a ways to go.
ReplyDelete:) I am in the middle of it. ALWAYS. 4 garbage bags of clothing went away, plus the high chair and other baby things no longer needed (sniff sniff and yay all at once)
ReplyDeleteI love decrapifying! I just can't figure out how so much stuff ACCUMULATES!!!!
Good evening,
ReplyDeleteI too, am in the process of some serious destash here. Does anyone want to buy a couple of twin beds??!
Have a great week! ~Natalie