A Room A Week, A Bag A Day

Does anyone else feel like they have too much stuff?  Today I'm kicking off a 6 week challenge titled, "A Room A Week, A Bag A Day"  Here's how it works...

Each WEEK I will select a room in my house to declutter, organize, clean, etc. etc. Each DAY I will commit to getting rid of 1 bag of  unnecessary stuff.  The bag does not have to come from the room I'm working on.  My logic for this rule is that my worst room will need many bags removed before I can even think about organizing and cleaning it- I will save that room for last.

Now, lets define 1 BAG.  My goal is to have others join my challenge. Hopefully we can inspire and motivate each other.  Because we are all at different levels of hoarding- one person may be able to remove a garbage bag size of stuff each day, another may only have a ziplock bag worth of stuff.  Personally, I have over 5,000 square feet of living space, which is full of stuff, so I  will strive for a garbage bag size each day, with a minimum of a grocery bag size.  If it's a bag it counts, no matter how big or how small.

I will be documenting my progress Monday-Thursday including photos of my bags and their weight.  I'm curious to know how much I can get rid of in 6 weeks!

What do we do with all of our bags of stuff?  Some of our bags will be filled with trash, which can be recycled or thrown away.  However, there will also be some items that we personally don't want anymore, but have lots of life left to them.  I'm planning a garage sale in conjunction with my backyard sale for December 18th and 19th.  I will be taking most of my items to the sale.  Some items I will be selling as I go on Facebook and ebay.  Anyone who joins the challenge is welcome to join the sale as well.  We have a huge following for our backyard sale and we will do all the advertising and signage.  You will just have to commit to set up and price your items as well as be present at the sale to actually sell your items.  I'm hoping this will give all of us a little extra Christmas money.

So who's in?  Let me know with a comment if you'll be participating.  Let's make this holiday season a little less stressful by cleaning up and clearing out our clutter!  Here's the results for Day 1

Day 1 November 2nd, 2015

The Room:

This week I've chosen my family room.  Problem areas include my computer cabinet...

and my built in shelves.  These haven't been properly styled for at least a year!

I also have dark rough hewn beams that love to collect dust.   I will be cleaning this room  top to bottom this week and I'll post the results on Monday!  

The Bag:

Today my bag came from "the blue cabinet"  This is located in my kitchen and is where everything paper like lands.  

Here's what my kitchen table looked like after sorting and cleaning each drawer...

 And here's my bag.  Weighing in at a whooping 16 1/2 pound this is mostly recycle paper (all important documents were shredded) and a tiny amount of regular garbage!

And here's the after of the blue cabinet...

I feel so much lighter!  Seriously, give it a try.  Remember we all have different levels of clutter.  If you're in a 3 room apartment you can choose half a room a week.  If your house is mostly clean and organized, try doing detail work like paint touch ups and wall washing.  It's up to you.  Let's motivate and inspire each other to make our homes a heaven on earth.

See you next time, Kelly.