Toy Shelf - Organizing Round-Up

This month, I was inspired by the Monthly Organizing Round-Up at Organizing Junkie. For the month of May, it was all about a surface or shelf.

I decided to tackle the shelving for all the kid's toys and books. I have tried to organize this area several time in the last year, but have never quite been successful. The biggest problem is that there is TOO MUCH STUFF!

Before trying to organize everything, I really needed to PURGE. I took everything out, sorted it all into keep and clear out piles, then put the keepers back in an organized way. I cleared out one box of books and puzzles, and a garbage-size bag of toys and stuffed animals.

The before and after pictures tell the whole story.

Before the big purge...

After the purge, organization and redistribution ...

Now every item has a home and there is room to spare on the book shelves and in the toy bins. Thanks to Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for inspiring me to keep working at getting my home in order.

Less Is Best

Create in Me a Clean Heart - Week 21
~ This weekly devotional can be found on Facebook; the group is called "A Clean Heart." ~

"Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife."

Proverbs 17:1

This week's devotional was a perfect reminder of the benefits of all the purging I have been doing for the last several weeks - less is best. There is a freedom and peace in not having so much clutter and stuff to maintain.

I originally meditated on this devotion last Sunday, but have prayed this prayer several times this week - as I sorted through the clothes I had saved from the kids, as I got rid of all the maternity clothes I had "just in case", as I purged the book cases of books I meant to read but never have.

Yesterday we sold all the stuff we had purged in a yard sale. There was no sense of loss, just a feeling of peace and joy as everything we sold our extra "baggage" to people who will hopefully enjoying using it. God has been so faithful!

We still have a long way to go before we have purged every area of our home, but I am encouraged and know that God will answer every time I cry out for help.

Lord,
I have saved too many things over the years and, as a result, I have too much clutter. I have attached to much value and meaning to ‘things’ and have a hard time letting go. Release me from these feelings that prevent me from getting my home in order. Guide me so that I know what to keep and what to clear out. Teach me to trust you for all that I need, so that I can get rid of the things that I haven’t used, looked at, taken out, or needed in years. Give me peace as I purge our home of all this stuff. Thank you for your blessings and for your provision in all our needs.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.

Yard Sale Day!

Today was our YARD SALE!

This was the culmination of all our weeks of preparation. Around 7am this morning, we began carrying out the piles of stuff that were ready for the sale. The crowds started around 8:30am and continued strong until about 1pm.

While I was running the sale, my hubby was playing the kids. He came out around 10:30am to catch some pictures. Below are some shots the sale in progress. By this point, we had already sold a significant amount of stuff.

This is an overview of our portion of the yard sale.

This is a closer shot of some miscellaneous tables.
It looks like a mess, but it was fairly well organized.

The weather was wonderful ... not to hot, not to cold, and NO RAIN!

I took everyone's advise and kept prices low to make things to really move. There were a few times that I probably should have charged a little more, but my biggest goal was to get rid of all this stuff.

And the final numbers? We sold about 70% of the stuff and we made $362.50 in our yard sale! Now I am exhausted ...

Blitz-It Friday

I had great plans for blitzing yesterday, but never made the time for it. I have been focusing on purging so much that I have been neglecting the cleaning. Our apartment is in desperate need of some serious cleaning. But that is not for today. Maybe next week, after this yard sale is over.

I attempted to use the blitz for sorting and clearing out. It was great for the first few minutes, but quickly became too involved and emotional. The timer just added stress instead of motivation, so I had to stop it. I guess there are some things that I just can't blitz.

This morning, I had 20 minutes to blitz some simple cleaning and pick up. Here is what I was able to accomplish:

• Loaded the dishwasher


• Washed the pots & pans


• Wiped the stove top & counters


• Picked up all the toys in the dining and living room


• Folded and put away a load of the kid's laundry


• Emptied the diaper pail


• Partially cleared off the kitchen table and top of the book case

It was a brief cleaning session; next week I need to do some serious cleaning.

Check out more great blitzing at Organized Everyday.

T-minus 2 days

Today was a productive day. And I have pictures of the linen closet, both before and after.

~ STORAGE UNIT ~

My hubby and I headed down to the storage unit today to sort those four boxes I discovered yesterday. We reduced the four boxes of stuff down to two boxes; the other two boxes are ready for the yard sale.

~ LINEN CLOSET ~

This afternoon I finally tackled the linen closet. I now have a much better idea of all the toiletries and cleaning supplies that I have, need to use up, and make sure not to purchase more for the next two months.

Here is the linen closet before I started.

I cleared out two boxes of items for the yard sale, and threw out one bag of garbage. Then I took a little extra time to organize everything.

Here is a picture of the closet after my efforts.

~ BOOKSHELF ~

While I was clearing the linen closet, my husband purged the bookshelf in our bedroom. After clearing out a large stack of books, he packed up the remaining books for storage. Now the bookshelf is empty and ready to be sold in the yard sale.


Only one day left to purging items for the yard sale. I have a few areas on my list still left to sort, but I don't expect to have much time. Most of the day will be spent gathering the large items like the bookshelves, desk, etc. that will be sold in the yard sale.

T-minus 3 days

There are only three days left? We have really only cleared out about half the stuff we need to eliminate. But it will still be a good size sale. We will just need to recruit some friends to join us in our second yard sale in July to make sure it is big enough to attract the necessary attention.

~ STORAGE UNIT ~

I hit our storage unit again today, but only had about 20 minutes to spend sorting and purging. I did manage to sort our wire shelving unit and add a large box of potting and gardening stuff to the yard sale pile.

I also located six boxes of random stuff that will need to be sorted. I brought one of the boxes up to our apartment and purged half of the contents. Maybe I'll get to the other five boxes tomorrow.

~ CD RACK ~

My hubby and I started to sort through all the CD's we have, and the new collection of music that they kids have accumulated. So far, our clear-out pile is small, but we have only gone through about half the CD's. Everything we are keeping has to go into a box now because we are selling the rack in the sale on Saturday!


With only two days left, I am aware that there is not enough time to finish the areas that I had hoped to complete, but I am pleased with the amount we have accomplished and feel ready for this sale to be here.

T-minus 5 days

My hubby graduated from Seminary this weekend and is now officially on summer break before starting his PhD work in the fall. He had tons of work to do, both in his business and preparing to start his dissertation, but has volunteered to spend some serious time getting ready for the yard sale.

~ KID'S CLOSET ~

Today we hit the kid's closet ... again. The good news is that we finally finished our first pass of their closet. The bad news is that there is still so much stuff ... but the rest will have to wait until the next pass when we are actually packing.

We pulled out all the stuff we needed to sort through and put the kids down for their afternoon nap. Then we started purging.

My hubby tackled all the games. This box is full of games that we haven't played in a while, and can find easily when we return from Scotland in three years (but I might have to keep Boggle).


I started sorting through all the kid's stuff that was in the closet - puzzles, toys, books, art supplies and more. Of the two full storage containers, I cleared out an entire container. The remaining container is not full and most of it will be cleared out at the end of the summer when we move.

Here is the container of stuff that we are putting in the yard sale.

~ KID'S BEDROOM ~

In the kid's room, we have a metal trunk that is always full of stuff. It was my intention to clear out the trunk and put it in the yard sale. However, once the trunk was empty and sitting pretty in our living room, I decided that we didn't have to get rid of it.

This old army trunk has served us well through the years. I picked it up at a yard sale for $5 back in my college days. I've painted it several times -- right now its a well-worn navy blue. It has been used as a bench, as a coffee table, and for random storage. I took a good look at this sturdy, old trunk and realize I still really like it.

But we did clear out all the stuff that has been stored in it for the last several years.

~ PLAY AREA ~

When we finished the games and the trunk, there was still a sleepy silence from the bedroom and I decided to hit the play area again. This is my third pass of this area and I still only cleared out one bag full of toys. There are so many books and toys that we are not going to store for the next few years, but the kids need to keep busy for the next few months before the move.

Below is the final picture of all that we cleared out today.

We are quickly running out of time, but we have great progress. I have a list with a few more key areas to hit.

In the mean time, I better start thinking about how to set up this yard sale and how to price everything; and remember all those crazy details of yard sales like having change on hand.

Do you have any tips you learned about successful yard sales? Anything you did right (or wrong) or would do differently next time? Or maybe something you really liked (or disliked) about yard sales you have visited? Please share your wisdom and insight.