Giving up Clutter for Lent...

There has been a lot of on-line discussion about 40 Bags in 40 Days.  Lent is a good time to clean things up both literally and spiritually.  I wasn't necessarily interested in getting rid of a certain number of bags, but we definitely had some areas that needed some attention.

Bob and I came up with a list of areas we wanted to tackle during Lent.  First up was the coat closet in the basement.  It is the catch all area when we come in from the garage and it always tends to be messy.  Coats for eight people, shoes for eight people, you get the idea.  We made a pact that we weren't going to save anything "just in case", we needed to be ruthless!  We threw out lots of junk, dog items for a dog we haven't had in two years, a plethora of reusable of shopping bags etc.

Though somethings are harder to throw away than others.  Here is my shameless mom brag:

 

Jacob was on the cover of our adoption agency newsletter when he first came home.  I ended up with lots of copies of the newsletter, and since then (2002!) we have had an abundance.  We have one framed and gave one to Jacob, but we finally recycled the rest.

Bob had the idea to get bins for all the shoes and now each person has their own container for their shoes.  Even though each week one of the kids had the responsibility to straighten the shoes, it would only be straightened for a little while and then it would be a disaster again.  We eliminated some of the shoes and made the rule that you can only keep what fits in your bin.  It looks great and it was super easy  for all the kids to find their shoes on Sunday morning.  Here is the finished result of the closet:

One project down, a few more to go:

1. Hall Closet
2. Basement Storage Shelves
3. Master Closet
4. Computer Area

Here's to less clutter!