The Christmas Clean out

I get crazy wild hairs in my you know what sometimes. I decided (just a few short weeks before Christmas) that our attic and guest room closet needed to be cleaned out. I have an incredible knack for timing.

Everything that we dont have a place for gets tossed into either the attic or closet. I think I've attempted a clean out before but this time it was for real! Probably because I realized that we wouldn't be able to get the big Christmas tree out of the attic unless we cleaned out some things. AND since Santa will soon be here, we needed to get rid of some old toys.


Lantis went out of town for a week before Thanksgiving and I decided the closet would be my chore. It was packed with cocktail and dressy dresses that call for special occasions and several of my old pageant dresses and lots of my old school projects and boards. (I have an interior design degree for those who dont know and in school we were required to do projects, drawings and color boards that take up way too much space...and took up way too much of my social time back then) So....most of that stuff had to go.

I cleared out the closet and then the attic. I took re-sale-able things to a consignment shop, I made a big Hannah Home pile (which still needs to be picked up) and I made a trash pile (which is still waiting on L to dispose of). I also have a few things still sitting in wait in either the attic or closet that need to be put on craigslist or in our next yard sale. Now the closet and attic are in much better shape and Lantis came home to a much less cluttered home. :)

In addition to the clean out I also was able to get most of the Christmas decor up while Lantis was gone, so he not only came home to a cleaner house, but a decorated one. Funny that when he's gone I get tons accomplished...just saying...

Over the four day weekend we just had I guess the cleaning spirit came over Lantis as well and he started cleaning out the garage! It looks cleaner than it ever has! The tools are all put away and on shelves or in cabinets. The riding toys are all neatly arranged, the old HVAC tools have been sent on to a new owner (YAY!), the golf/hunting/and tailgating stuff has all been neatly put away, and the Costco area (the shelves where I keep our bulk food, paper products, and cleaning supplies) has been neatly organized--so much so that it freed up a couple of extra shelves for Hudsons smaller outdoor toys.

We still have a lot that we probably don't need and could get rid of. I still have a few more boxes and things to sort through but I think I've done as much as I'm going to do before the end of the year. This will suffice for now.

Its amazing what 5 years in a home and a baby will do to your storage areas.

Now...we're redecorating the living room. I know. This was a very sudden project. I have wanted new tables in the living room for awhile and Lantis said if we could sell them we could start over. Lo and behold, I mentioned to a friend that I wanted to sell them and they wanted to buy them! We just delivered all of our occasional tables--coffee table, end tables, and console table--to our friends over the weekend. Currently we have no tables or surfaces in our living room so I hope no one comes in and expects to have somewhere to set down their drink. :) I have no idea what I'm going to get to replace those things. I did buy a new rug, I'm moving some of our artwork and paintings around to make things feel new, the stereo is holding up a lamp, installed a new TV and I'm shopping for tables. That's as far as we've come so far. I will keep you updated on project clean out and redecorate. I'll post pics when I'm finished!