Massive Basement Clean Up

It's happening! It's really really happening! Keith and I took the plunge and committed ourselves to cleaning out our basement once and for all! As soon as we moved in, we stored everything in the basement to deal with "later" and later began to look like "forever". But now we have a very special reason to clean it out and that's to make a space for Logan to play in.

Before:
Our basement looked like an episode of Hoarders. It was embarrassing how we let it go. Things just added up over the years.

Day 1: 

On Friday night, my baby brother Uncle Rob came down and hauled as much stuff out of the basement as he could before it got dark. It took about 2 hours and we made a small dent. It was overwhelming. The strategy was to take everything outside and start over new as though we were moving in for the first time. What we couldn't/didn't use in 2 years had to be donated, sold or trashed. We had so many cans of paint too.

Day 2: 

On Saturday, our town was having their annual town-wide yard sale and we took advantage of that . People were on a mission and we got bombarded as we were setting up. Keith wheeled and dealed. I wore Logan using the Ergo which doubled as my money bag ;) We spent about 5 hours out there.

We were very successful! We sold all the big ticket items and then some. I couldn't believe how many people bought cans of paint that were leftover from my projects. I did make 2 purchases of my own though; an over sized map of the United States that was laminated and a beautiful teal suitcase from 1960 that was in perfect condition! Here's my little guy in it. I thought I could use it as a photo prop or store Logan's keepsakes in.

After:

The morning of the yard sale, I spent 2 hours cleaning, gathering up loose change and nails or screws. I bagged up 2 bags of trash and hauled more stuff out to sell. I still can't believe how good it looks! You can actually see the floors and walls again.

Here's the Before again.

Day 3:

We always do family activities with Logan on the weekends so Sunday morning we went apple, pumpkin and veggie picking with some friends and their children. It was such a wonderful day! When we got home, I decide to spend little more time sorting everything we took out of the basement and wore Logan on my back in the Ergo. Trash is on Tuesday and Recycle is on Wednesdays which is why I was in a hurry to chip away at it. I scheduled a donation pick up by the VVA for Friday. I always find it motivating to have a set deadline.  

I sorted things into different categories:

- Donate

- Trash

- Recycle

- Scrap Metal

- Keep

Things are certainly looking a lot better outside. I couldn't be happier.

Total time spent: 10 hours

Yard Sale

After watching numerous episodes of Clean House, we had this urge to clean out our own house. We went under the rule that if we haven't used it in a year, we're selling it. The crazy thing is I put out 17 bags (handbags, shoulder bags and purses) that I didn't want. That means, I still have more bags at home that I DO want. I'm not one of those addictive shoppers, but I just accumulated so much (birthdays, sales, etc). Today we sold: some clothes, purse, drafting table, model airplanes, roll and fold bike, my collection of furbies, winnie the pooh wall art, picture frames, keyboard, guiter books, bread maker, garden hose.

Here are some photos throughout the day.



I gardened and cleaned out the attic and basement during the day. My Sarah Bernhardt peony bloomed. It's so fragrant.



Keith's mom gave us pieces of cactus. I put it on the far side of the house where it's most dry and sunny. Just lay it on the soil and it will root.



I cut many of the blooms off the large peony. Don't they look like giant lollipops?



Keith's mom also gave me more of this firecracker plant which I threw in front of the air conditioner to camouflage it. Next year, it will fill out a great deal more.



Spiderwort - I dug these up from the side of my neighbor's shed. They grow like day lilies, but have small purple flowers. It doesn't look very good now, but next year when they come back they will look much nicer.



The yard is really coming along. I've been able to spread a lot of things around and hopefully it will fill in next year.

Yard Sale Finds

It was "Treasure Day" in a neighboring town where the entire town participates in a yard sale. They are especially good when it's in a "posher" neighborhood because their junk is nicer junk! Yard sales are great places to find useful discounted things or things that you would rather not spend too much money on. I was hesitant because my mom raised me not to "take home people's junk" because it was perceived as greedy or lack of pride/confidence in one's self to acquire what one wants. But when my sister-in-law told me how she got Uggs for .50 cents, my interest was peaked. That's not greedy. That's awesome (and saves money)!

Well, here are my finds!

Lamp $6 - I've been needing one badly for some time now.



$10 Bolt of fabric - This lady bought it and meant to make drapes, but never got around to it. It was a decent enough pattern and there was plenty of it.



Mirror $3 - I've been looking for a large mirror to put on the wall over a console. I'm debating whether I should spray paint it silver or black for the living room.



Oversized Spoon and Fork Wall Decor $1.00 for both - Compared to Pottery Barn. I thought this would be cool to hang in the kitchen when it's complete. I'll spray paint them to the accent color I use.



Coffee Table $1.00 - For the seating around on the deck. I've been looking for something like this. For $1, it's going to sit outdoors anyway.



I also got current issues of Martha Stewart Living and BHG for .50cents each. And another small mirror for $1.00 for the hallway.

In other news, my geranium is blooming.



We found plastic edging at the Christmas tree shop for $6/25 feet. I put it along the North side of the house because the soil is constantly eroding there.



These trees really needed some nurturing and we winded up cutting all the bottom stems off. They look like lollipops now.