Welcome to another edition of Fly On The Wall, hosted by Karen of Baking In A Tornado. Today, nine bloggers are inviting you into their homes for a peek at what you might see if you were a busy body fly buzzing around their house.
My family thinks I've lost my mind because I've spent the past month doing a belated but thorough spring cleaning job around the house. This is probably the first time in 10 years that I actually went through every single closet, drawer and shelf to clean out the clutter. What inspired me to do this? After my mother passed away, my family had to go through all of her things to clear out her house. It was not only emotionally challenging for us but also exhausting, because there was so much STUFF that none of us knew what to do with. The experience made me think of my own kids and all the junk they'd have to clear at of my home once I passed away. You see, I'm a pack rat who hangs onto everything: clothes worn back in the 90's (never mind that they were three sizes too small---I was certain I'd fit into them one day....uh-huh....right....), several year's worth of magazine subscriptions, kitchen tools still wrapped in plastic, hundreds of paperback books that I've already read (but thought I'd have the time to read again in the future---laughable, I know), piles of old papers, notes, cards, and various mementos from people I hardly remember.
Looking at 10 years of accumulated crap, I felt the sudden urge to purge all the unnecessary items taking up space in my home. "Minimize" became my favorite word (especially since I started watching nonstop episodes of "Tiny House, Big Living" on HGTV). I was a woman obsessed, and my husband steered clear as I filled garbage bag after garbage bag with junk. I'm talking at least 20 lawn-size plastic bags full of STUFF. Some of the items that were still in excellent condition were sold during a a rainy garage sale or donated to a charitable organization. Whatever was left went to the dump.
I feel cleansed of all my clutter impurities and free from the ghosts of 90's era clothing......and it feels GREAT. After all that hard work, it was time to hang out with family and have FUN. For this Fly On The Wall post, I don't have clever little snippets of conversation to share with you, but I DO have photographic evidence of Doyle Shenanigans that went on once the cleaning overhaul was complete:
Be sure to click on these links for a peek into some other homes:
Baking In A Tornado http://www.bakinginatornado.com
Menopausal Mother http://www.menopausalmom.com/
Go Mama O http://www.gomamao.com
Spatulas on Parade http://spatulasonparade.blogsp ot.com/
Searching for Sanity http://singlemumplusone.blogsp ot.com
Never Ever Give Up Hope http://batteredhope.blogspot.c om
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy http://dinoheromommy.com/
The Bergham Chronicles http://berghamchronicles.blogs pot.com/
When I Grow Up http://kimberlyyavorski.com/ whenigrowup/
I just spent a week with my mom who was also complaining about all the "stuff." That meant that I brought some of it home (mostly photos).
ReplyDeleteHa-Ha! Moms have a way of doing that!
DeleteLOVE the photographic Fly on the Wall.
ReplyDeleteI look around my house all the time and think I need to start clearing out crap. So far I've been able to wait it out. Although now you've got me feeling guilty.
Do it---I cannot tell you how GREAT it feels to live clutter-free. And I actually know where EVERYTHING is now in my house!!!
DeleteAll those great pics, so amazing, I snorted out loud. It must be such a wonderful feeling to be clutter free.
ReplyDeleteIt's GLORIOUS!
DeleteLove the pics, Marcia! :) good for you for clearing out clutter. I've been purging lately, too and it feels great. Still have some work to do though. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI just found a cluttered drawer in my bathroom today that I totally forgot to clean out. This will be my project for tomorrow!
DeleteYou did such a fabulous job decluttering, congratulations! Your "after-work party" was more than deserved!
ReplyDeletePS: I hate to be the killjoy here, but the 90s are actually more than 10 years ago ;-)
NOOOOO don't tell me that!!!
Delete--will your family adopt me?
ReplyDeleteYou must be Italian! xxx
I think I must have Italian roots somewhere down the line. And yes, I would adopt you in a heartbeat!
DeleteIt DOES feel good eliminating things, especially those things belonging to your spouse.
ReplyDeleteHa-Ha you are so wicked! But yes, I DID get rid of most of my husband's ratty old t-shirts!
DeleteI can't imagine how awesome that must have felt to get rid of all that stuff. I am one who cleans out closets at least once a month and keep very little I don't use. Drives my husband nuts - he's a pack rat so I have to remove his crap, hide it for awhile so I know he isn't missing it and then dispose of it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea! My husband hangs onto old mail that he receives---notifications he thinks we might need to remember. Heck no---I throw it all out when he isn't looking.
DeleteMy daughters always want me to clear out the "junk" in this house and I usually reply with what "junk" are you talking about because I bet it isn't "junk" to me I did go through a large box of stuff and tossed out a lot of stuff but seriously I don't think I have that much junk, I properly do but at this stage it isn't junk to me it is stuff
ReplyDelete"One man's junk is another man's treasure." I totally believe that!
DeleteHilarious! And so true that purging is therapy. My poor mother-in-law constantly warns me that we will need a dumpster when she's gone. You are setting a better example!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying---hopefully my kids won't be pack rats!
DeleteMarsha, I totally know what you mean... now that I have the opportunity to work from home in the very near future, I had to declutter... purge... I was in shock of all the things I had. I have a new friend who has done a great deal of many things for me who actually finds, fixes and sells used items, I gave her a great deal of my things I never use and it felt so good to get rid of so many things... I feel like I still have more but I am always working on it... xox Congratulations on being able to purge ... it is a lot of work xox
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of work but so worth it! Don't get overwhelmed---just take one room at a time.
DeleteI have this spring cleaning quite often and most of the time, it is kids' stuff that I am ready to throw away fast rather than my own :P I am mean, no?
ReplyDeleteBut you have thought quite far...haven't you? That's wise and sane actually. and some of these tiny stuff, it's hard to part with them...oh and the 3 sizes smaller clothes, tell me about it. Right now, I am saving one size smaller...let's see how fat I get...LOL
Ha-Ha! I had no problem getting rid of the kid's stuff---that was a big part of my clutter issue!
DeleteAh. Our house is also filled with "stuff". It gets to me but there's nothing you can do when it's not yours.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. Very hard to get others to budge when you want to declutter!
DeleteWe're doing a purge at my house too. We've already had to hire one skip bin, and I'll be hiring a second one soon because the first one wasn't nearly big enough. The sad thing is we did this six years ago, we just forgot the part where we don't bring more crap into the house once we've done the purge. Hopefully we've learned better now, but I'm not holding my breath.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, I never thought about that. I better not see anyone in this family bringing MORE stuff back in! Yikes!
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