500 Item Decluttering Challenge

I know, it's Tuesday and I normally have a recipe to share on Tuesdays, but as I mentioned yesterday, I haven't been cooking too much the past couple of weeks.  Instead, I've been working on getting rid of some clutter from around the house.

You may remember that I challenged myself to remove 500 items from my home this past Spring.  While I failed to follow up on the blog for the final 2 weeks of my challenge, I was successful in the challenge itself!
At the end of the month, I managed to sell, donate or throw away more than 500 items!  That's what really matters, right?

I wish I could say that after those 500 items were gone from the house, that this place was spotless and immaculate (with the occasional goldfish cracker between the sofa cushions and fruit snack on the floor) but sadly, it's still looking like the makings of a Hoarder's episode in my basement.

With Grace now being the perfect age for arts and crafts, I need to toddler proof our basement so we can crack out the finger paints, markers, glitter...all of that messy stuff I don't want in my living room or kitchen!  Currently, we do that stuff outside, but when the weather turns cold we'll need to do that stuff inside.

In addition to an arts and crafts station for Grace, I need to clear out some space for me to "work".  When we first moved into this house, Joe set up a wonderful craft area for me downstairs.  And, for about a year, I really enjoyed working in that space.  When I was pregnant with Grace, I had really bad morning sickness that prevented me from venturing too far from the bathroom.  By the time the morning sickness was over, there were other issues that prevented me from spending much time on my feet.  Fast forward to now, my craft area is filled with stuff I just don't know what to do with.  Stuff that should be packed away in the attic, sold on ebay, or just needs to be thrown away.  That is my goal now.

By the end of August, I'd like to have another 500+ items removed from the house!  I'll keep y'all posted on my progress each week...on Tuesdays.  My goal is 100 items per week.  If y'all want to join in, I can set up a linky and we can all share photos of our 100 items before they leave the house!  Let me know!

My Spring Cleaning Decluttering Challenge: Update #1

Last week, I told you all about my spring cleaning decluttering challenge.  Since that post, my main focus has been ridding my house of 100 items that are no longer used, needed or even wanted.  It has become an obsession! 

The first week of my challenge went really well!  I started by setting up a series of boxes.  One for donating, one for keeping and one for selling.  I also made sure to keep a large trash can handy! 

I'm pleased to say that I was able to box up 100 items to be donated to the local thrift shop!  Two boxes worth of items!  It felt so good to load those boxes into the back of the truck on Monday morning!

I also managed to sell a bunch of stuff online.  If you haven't heard about Facebook Yard Sales yet, I suggest you check them out!  My friend Lisa told me about Facebook Yard Sales in her area and recommended that I try to find local ONLINE yard sales in my area.  I'm so glad I did!  After staying up late a few nights last week, listing a few things each night, I was able to sell 15 items and have several sales pending.  It's a lot of work, but the extra cash will go towards some of our summer activities. 

I must say, this is a big project!  Bigger than I thought it would be!  115 items really didn't make a dent in the mess that is called my basement. 

Be sure to check back next week for another update on my spring cleaning decluttering challenge! 

Spring Cleaning Decluttering Challenge

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't mentioned weightloss in a while.  Well, that's because I haven't been doing much to in the way of trying to lose weight.  It's been an on-going battle within myself to behave myself by eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep.  Since it's been such a struggle, I've been moody and depressed because I feel as if I'm failing....well, because that's what's happening.  I'm failing.  So, I put the entire concept on the back burner for a bit so I can focus on other things with a positive outlook! 

Other things, like decluttering this house! 

I recently read about this a "100 Things" Decluttering Challenge.  The author of the article shares how they declutter their home from time to time, using a "100 things" method.  By spending a weekend sorting through some stuff around the house and vowing to get 100 items out of the house in some way! 

I LOVE this idea! 

With spring on the way, I've been feeling antsy to do some spring cleaning.  We have a variety of problem areas that seem to attract the most junk and I am challenging myself to work on 2 of those clutter magnets! 

Our basement is the black hole for clutter.  Stuff gets tossed down to the basement to be dealt with at a later time and since it's out of sight, it's usually out of mind.  That is, until every time I do a load of laundry (our washer and dryer are in our un-finished basement) and I have to climb over some neglected pile of junk that was left there. 

The second problem spot that I want to tackle is our spare bedroom.  I want to move Grace's bed into that room and use her current bedroom as her playroom.  But none of that is going to happen as long as the room is full of junk (piles books, paperwork waiting to be filed, off season clothing, or clothing that no longer fits).  The room needs to be cleared out so we can paint, install shelves to the closet and get her bed set up in there. 

To rid our home of 100 things, I'll be sorting through items in both of those problem spots.  I've set up a box to place all items we wish to donate to our local charity shop, a box for items that I'd like to sell, and another box for items I'll pass along to other family members.  I've also got a large trash can just waiting to be filled to the brim of items not worthy of passing along to anyone else. 

So, for the entire month of March, I plan on eliminating clutter from our lives.  100 items per week for 5 weeks or until the clutter is gone...whichever comes first! 

500 items in a month might sound like a lot, but I've already started sorting through some items to sell (more about that in another post) and already have 32 items in my "sell pile"!  I've also started a donate pile but haven't counted those items yet. 

Someone once told me that a cluttered life can contribute to weight problems, so I'm hoping that decluttering my house will help me wrap my brain around this whole weight loss issue once and for all. 

Since I'm currently not driving, Joe is going to have to help out with getting this stuff out of the house.  We'll plan to drop off items to the charity shop on his days off.  Some weeks, the items may not actually get to the shop, but will at least be boxed up and ready to be on their way! 

Check back next Thursday to see how the first week of my challenge has gone!  Or if you like, join me in the "100 Things Challenge"! 


I'll be linking this post to the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• The Weekly Round Up

Cleaning with Vinegar: removing mold in the bathroom

Do you get mold on the walls and ceiling of your bathroom?  We do and it's gross. 

When we lived in our apartment, we didn't have a vent/fan in the bathroom.  We tried to keep the window open in the bathroom to help keep it aired out, but the mold still formed, especially in the winter when we didn't keep the window open as often.  I sprayed the ceiling with bleach every couple of weeks and that seemed to help. 

The vent/fan in the bathroom in our house is old.  Very old. It still works, but I'm guessing not as well as a new one would.  So, we get mold.  I was spraying with bleach for a while, but now that we have Grace, I don't want to be spraying bleach as often as I did in the apartment. 

In the March 2010 issue of Family Circle magazine there was an article about cleaning the bathroom.  I almost didn't read it.  I was thinking to myself that there's just no hope for our bathroom.  Instead of skipping the article  completely, I read the little snippet about cleaning the bathroom walls and ceiling.

The article suggests a two-part solution to getting rid of mold. 

1. Wipe distilled white vinegar onto the mold with a sponge.  Wait 15 minutes and repeat.  Let the vinegar work overnight. 
2.  The next day, use a sponge to apply hydrogen peroxide on the moldy areas to eliminate any stains form the mold and to prevent it from returning. 

Let me just say, I've heard of using vinegar for removing mold before.  I've tried using vinegar in a spray bottle and spraying it on the ceiling instead of bleach, it didn't seem to work. 

I decided to try this the night before we were expecting company about two months ago.  I wiped the spots with vinegar and saw the mold disappear right before my eyes!  I only had the time to do the first step, since company was arriving the next day and I didn't get the chance to follow-up with the peroxide.  Almost two months later, I still didn't get the chance to use the peroxide, but the mold is still gone! 

Wiping the mold seemed to do the trick.   Just like you would have to wipe away any dirt or grime on your floors or vanity tops.  Makes sense. 

I do see one little spot of mold starting to come back.  It's the spot above my shower.  I had a difficult time reaching it and I know I didn't do as good of a job scrubbing that spot as I did the other spots.  I'm sure if I scrubbed better and followed up with the peroxide that spot would not be coming back....at least not so soon!

I'll be linking this post to Homemaker Monday. 

Works For Me Wednesday ~ Cleaning Edition ~ Avoiding Meat Leaks While Thawing

Kristen (We Are THAT Family) is looking for cleaning tips for this week's Works For Me Wednesday carnival. Since I'm not always really on top of things in the cleaning department, I'm not sure I qualify for giving cleaning tips this week! But here goes......

I'm not real good at keeping myself on a household schedule. You know, baking on Monday, laundry on Tuesday, clean floors on Wednesday....... I just can't do it. I'm a procrastinator. Truly, I am. I married a procrastinator, too. So, you can just imagine. (For those of you that know us in real life....quit laughing!)

Lately, I've been trying my best to at least be one step ahead of the actual mess. You know, the thing that causes cleaning!

One of my least favorite jobs (besides scrubbing the toilet, folding laundry, mopping the floors......you get the idea) is cleaning out the refrigerator. It's bad enough having to clean it out on a good day, let alone after something leaked while thawing on the bottom shelf. Ick!

Cleaning the fridge after a "meat leak" is the worst! The bottom shelf in my fridge doesn't have a smooth surface. It has a bunch of grooves in it making it difficult/annoying to clean. Then, if it was a really bad leak, there's the chance that it seeped into the veggie bins below not only making the chore more of an annoyance, it adds the possibility of cross contamination.

I've put one of dinner plates under the frozen items in the past, but somehow whatever corner of the package has a small pin sized hole in it, is the corner that doesn't fit onto the plate and leaks still occur.

After several "meat leaks" in my fridge, I thought of a solution. I put whatever item I am thawing into a clean dishpan and then place that on my bottom shelf of the fridge. It's deep enough to catch any messy leaks and it's much easier to clean the dish pan that it is to clean the fridge and veggie bins!

Walmart has a not too big, not too small sized dish pan in their housewares section. I think I paid less than $2 for the one I use.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a large pork loin out of the freezer. It was huge! Almost 7 lbs and the length of my arm! Needless to say, it wouldn't fit into my dish pan. I almost didn't worry about it leaking since it was vacuum packed and sealed. But then I decided that it wasn't worth the risk. I didn't not want to have to scrub the fridge out that night if it leaked.

I looked around the basement and garage in search of something I could slide under the pork loin, but that would also fit on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. I found a box that I brought my canned goods home in from Aldi. You know, the boxes that have the fronts cut out. Sam's, Costco and BJs have these boxes too. Anyway, I cut the sides of the box down and made a "tray" out of the box. About 3 inches deep. It was a long enough box to hold the pork loin perfectly and fit just right on the shelf.

I'm so glad that I didn't skip putting something under the pork loin, because it did leak, into the box. Not enough to seep all the way through, so clean up was simple...I just threw the box away!