Massive Cleaning Project

Several weeks ago Joel & I started a massive cleaning project. We decided it was time to tackle the clutter (read: junk, garbage, stuff that hasn't been used in many years) in our basement. Our basement had become the place where we threw items when we didn't have time to deal with them. Over time, we had created large piles that were quite unsightly (I'm not exaggerating and didn't dare take a before picture for fear of being mocked!).

The cleaning project all started with the goal of making the finished area of our basement a play area for CJ. I was feeling like toys were taking over our main floor living rooms and decided the basement would be a good spot for some of the items.

We started by rearranging the furniture in the finished area of the basement and plan to buy an area rug, new futon cover, and also an electric fireplace to make it a cozy space where we will want to spend more time.

So one Friday night, Joel & I embarked on an adventure of sifting through the items that had been piled up in our basement. CJ went to G&G Bjorge's house and we picked him up around suppertime on Saturday. That gave Joel & I a big chunk of time to go through our treasures. Honestly, some of the items I came across were boxes of junk mail and old receipts that I had thrown in boxes when we had company coming over. Yep, I just divulged my secret! Lately I have come up with a better paper management plan (including a receipt & document scanner) so hopefully going forward I won't have as many issues with paper clutter on the counters.

Now back to my story. Joel & I love to keep packing boxes. Why? I don't have any idea. We had empty boxes in the crawl space and in the unfinished area of the basement. We ended up keeping a few for our future boxing needs, but we recycled several loads of cardboard boxes. That alone gave us much more storage space.

We decided we had to be tough and make decisions about what to keep, throw, and donate. We each have boxes of keepsake items and things we just couldn't part with (now in labeled boxes and stacked in the crawl space). We also made better use of the storage shelves in our basement, creating areas for items we use more often so they are easier to find.

So over the span of two weekends, Joel & I were able to get a large part of the cleaning & organizing done in the basement. We are still in the process of sorting through some items, but we have made so much progress this month on tackling our project. It's exciting!

Joel & I have agreed to do our very best to keep the basement semi-organized so that we don't have to go through this again in 10 years. Plus, in the end we had about 40 boxes to donate to the New Life Center (and still might have a few more).

This was all made possible by our wonderful parents! CJ went to G&G Bjorge's house for part of the first weekend and then the next weekend my parents were in town for a visit and kept CJ entertained. We are thankful for the time to work on our project (as we have found it isn't easy to tackle a large project with a preschooler in the room). So thanks again Moms & Dads, we appreciate you!

Here are a few photos of CJ & parents from a few weeks ago.

Doing many puzzles, see how they are all lined up? It is a signature sign CJ is involved...

Playing baseball - CJ is getting better with catching the ball, but throwing is still his best baseball skill!