Wow, I can’t believe that was all in the closet!

I wanted you all to know that I have not given up on my mission to “Clean up my act for 2011”.  First, I thought it might take a week, then a month or two and now I am finally accepting the fact it could take all year.  I look at my de-cluttering process as some might look at an exercise plan.  I am literally starting at the beginning and I can’t expect instant results.  I am not going to shed 100 pounds of clutter fast.  It is going to take time.   Up to this point,  I have had the best results focusing on a counter top here and a drawer there.  I have created space to put stuff away.  It’s made all of the difference in the world.   The bathroom counter and the bedroom dresser have stayed tidy for several weeks now. For a visual you can look at “Checkout the Progress”

The most important thing is, I need to be realistic with myself about how often I am going to clean and how much time I am going to spend doing it.   I am not going to clean out a closet every day.  I am not going to clean an entire room  all at once.   A woman has to prioritize.  Workouts, family time, and work are all going to come first.   I almost have to pencil in cleaning time like an appointment. 

In the first messy house video,  my husband specifically mentions a shoe rack in our bedroom that is a total eyesore.  That shoe rack is now gone.   The dust left behind: unbelievable.  You can actually see it flying around in the video.  I am still debating if I should share the footage.   I was on a mission the morning we videotaped.  I had just gotten out of bed and I don’t know what’s scarier, the closet, dusty shoe rack or me.

Just a couple days after we loaded up our donate bags we received a call from a charity offering to pick up our stuff.   So it’s all out of the house.  Thank you to Frienship Ventures.  There is still a long way to go and many more donate bags to fill.  I am sure many of the items I was on the fence about in the video will probably end up getting donated in my next round of cleaning. 

I actually enjoyed myself going through the closet. I found so many things I had forgotten about. It was like shopping without spending money.  Not to mention all of the clothing items with memories attached.   That’s the next blog.    If our old clothes could talk!!