Well, I just almost finished a huge-0 project...the dreaded laundry room. When we built this house, we had these basic plans of a 24x50, I added 10 feet in length, and 4 in width, (it's two stories), and put in a laundry room...just drew it up on graph paper, and submitted it with the original plans to an architect, and voila, we had bigger house plans...and a laundry room! That was just amazing...we only had five kids when we moved in, but it didn't take long to fill up that laundry room! It has hanging racks and shelves, and oh dear, with baby after baby and kids galore, the things we shoved into that room! We keep cases of seltzers and gallons of water, the jug of vinegar, cleaning products, the rice, potatoes, onions...extra jars of peanut butter when I buy 14 jars for $1 each...the re-usable grocery bags and the oodles of Target bags, a cooler, the instant pot, the Kitchen Aid, the electric popcorn popper, a coffee maker, the food dehydrator, the meat grinder, the food processor, extra paper towels and toilet paper, toys and treats and birthday gifts I buy and don't know where else to put...the bag of recycle-ables. The food saver, and the sous-vide, a box of little paints, light bulbs...the vacuum cleaners and mops and brooms...(how on earth did we end up with THREE Swifter mops?!). Oh, there are seasonal tablecloths and placemats, and snow pants, and clothes for the grandchildren if they need a change, some cute dresses from when the girls were little, and lots of my clothes.
You can shuffle and organize of that stuff, but it ends up a mess again...so I got radical this time. I don't have sixteen kids in the house anymore, and I don't need enough extra bedding for an army! There were years when every towel, every comforter, was needed and used...we never had enough. I took one of the hanging racks out, and bought another big black shelving unit from Walmart. This meant getting rid of so many things. I am NOT a hoarder, I get serious satisfaction from downsizing and letting go, but sometimes it is hard to get over the mindset: we're going to need this someday. Or, that one of the kids is going to need it. But if they are grown and on their own, they can figure it out. I don't need to save a stack of warm blankets just in case. I kept some of course, but there are like five or six garbage bags full of stuff to donate...because taking my clothes off that rack meant putting them in my closet where they belong, which meant taking lots out of my closet (some of my DREAM clothes finally are being donated...the dresses that are too snug "for now", that I'm tired of waiting to fit into...)...I also cleaned out the hall closed, because there was a mix of the same stuff in there as in the laundry room...
and...IT FEELS FANTASTIC, light, and wonderful. I'm not fully finished, still have a few bins in there to go through, and all the stuff to bring to the thrift store, but wow.
When I had all the kids here through the years, they were always neat and clean and well dressed, but shh, behind the scenes...aka the laundry room, not so much, ha. You can't do everything, you have to pick and choose, and I chose what I chose, and we had tons of fun and went on spontaneous outings....no regrets.
My mother used to tell me to enjoy the craziness, because some day it would be too quiet. She raised the seven of us, and then...it got quiet at her house. I didn't believe that would happen to me. But, it has happened. Camille is doing schoolwork, sometimes the sweet sounds of her violin, and the dogs bark at the mailman, and Paul comes out for more coffee...I spend days going out and about with Kathryn, or having Grace and the kids over, so it's not always quiet...but sometimes, it really is...
Camille and I do have a date today, to go to the library...so bye for now.
8 comments:
I love the old pic of the kids. I feel like that when I look back at pictures of our kids when they were little.
Good for you on the cleaning. Bob and I were just talking about that last night, how whenever we get rid of something, we need it. It does make it hard to get rid of things!
Could you draw us all a floor plan, pretty please?!
I will never tire of your Christmas tree pics!
And love your little ones!
Old photos are so fun to see! So when do we get to see your amazing laundry room? I'm jealous! All I have is a laundry closet. xo
Hi Della! That was a really good sort and toss ☺️It does feel really good. It is just amazing the junk we keep?? You can have it for years and NEVER use it, and the minute you get rid of you want it!! Why is that?? 🤣🤣
I love all your pictures……..your tree is lovely! All your kiddie pictures are just treasures………..lovely family 🥰
Marilyn from Canada 🇨🇦
Mari, I know! I'm getting rid of all these blankets, what if something happens and we need them?
A floor plan? Well, our house is a giant rectangle, built simply by my brothers and Paul. Maybe I'll sketch out a floor plan, it's not very exciting. :)
Billie Jo, thank you.
Terri, you don't want to see the laundry room...I am thankful for it though.
Marilyn, it does feel good to have less, and once you do a clean out like that, you really think twice or three times whether you really need what you're contemplating buying. Less is more. And thank you. :)
I'm excited for your floor plan because I did the exact same thing when we built 20 years ago. I drew up the plan and took it to an architect....
Kristine the Kanadiangirl
LOVE THIS!!! Way to go, Della. I also am working on decluttering and getting rid of whatever does not actually benefit me or my family. I've discovered that I'm a squirrel by nature, more focused on organizing and storing things than actually using them, LOL. I haven't been a great housekeeper, partly because I'm a working mom, but also because it's literally too much stuff for me to take care of. So I'm chipping away at it: one drawer, one bin at a time. My goal is to get it down to a level that my girls and I can actually manage to keep tidy (most of the time, ha ha). I really need this before the holidays!
I also love that you took your kids on outings instead of always staying home and cleaning. It's so good for kids to get out and I'm working on that too.
Happy December 1st and your tree looks lovely.
Joy from Salem
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