Full Scale De-Clutter Mode

Yep, I'm in a complete clean, organize and de-clutter mode. I just hope I can keep up the momentum!

We will be entertaining a German exchange student for three weeks. For me, there's nothing like the idea of a stranger in my house for three weeks to motivate me to tackle projects I've put off for some time.

I'm ready to do it anyway. With both of my daughters moving off to college (next one leaves in August), I'm ready to re-claim some of my space and have some satisfaction knowing it just might stay clean and orderly for a while! Let me dream. It's simply time to go through everything. I've been working on it slowly, but with our guest's arrival in five days... I've kicked in to high gear.

I've gone through my office completely. The only thing I haven't touched are my hubby's old filing cabinets. Those are his to sort through.

I've removed two boxes of books I no longer need nor want. If hubby will go through, his we'd lighten the load on our bookshelves and make room for more books! We love books. It's hard to sort through them because they were all invited into my home for a reason... but for many they've served their purpose and I no longer refer to them. So, it's time for them to find a new home. I'll list them on my Amazon.com merchandise account. If they don't sell in a short time, I'll donate them somewhere. After all, the point of de-cluttering is to remove the items.

I've sorted through my craft cabinets and organized my supplies. I now know what I have on hand for creating home made Christmas gifts this year. I'm pretty well stocked. I also organized my gift wrap and gift bags. Everything is easier to get to and because of this I won't spend money buying things unnecessarily. I have plenty of gift bags which I can re-use. I was also pleased to see that I have plenty of Easter ribbon and such for Easter baskets this year.

I'll be going through my closet next and will probably have a few bags of old clothes to donate to the local charity. Who knows what else I may find in there? I noticed some silk flowers poking off the top shelf a bit ago... perhaps they could go into an Easter basket...

So, it seems that my cleaning and organizing is coming at an opportune time. Not only am I preparing for our guest, but I'll also be able to conserve expenses by knowing what items I have available for various purposes. And, freeing up space... which just feels better than disorganized clutter chaos lurking behind cabinet doors. When I reach the pantry, I'll make out a menu list based upon the items I have on hand and then just shop for the few things I may be missing.

I think maybe I should do this more frequently.

Or... not.