40 bags in 40 days: week 1

Perhaps you've seen the prompts floating around the interwebs somewhere lately about cleaning out forty spaces in your home over the forty days of lent? And perhaps this is the first time you're hearing about it. Either way, I heard about it and was like, "Heck yeah I'm going to do that!" It was the prompt I needed to get some clutter out of the house and get things in order (hopefully) before Graham gets here.

So, while I didn't exactly get a whole week's worth done this first week, we did start cleaning out our house. I started easy with my bathroom cabinet. Y'all, I had sunscreen buried in there that had expired in 2011. Most everything in this cabinet went in the trash.

The nursery was our first pass through at cleaning out before we can get in there and paint. It was almost fun because a lot of things in there were the boys' things, so we made a game out of it with them. We also packed a rather large box full of things to donate. And this room is definitely on our list for a couple more passthroughs for sure.

The last place I hit up this month was our linen closet (and part of the second closet in our bathroom, which I should be able to share next week). I'm almost ashamed to admit that we were apparently hoarders of sheets and towels. No lie, I packed up probably six sets of sheets to donate and at least 20 towels. I did a little research before getting rid of things, and most people suggested two sets of sheets – one for on the bed, and a spare for when the others are in the wash. Um, duh. And same for towels. Have one set in use (per person) and another ready to go in the closet. This makes all the sense in the world, but it was above my head before I started. Anyway, three garbage bags to donate from this closet. And there are still a few things to add back in here, but that will happen as other places get their day in the spotlight.

While I'm excited to continue and see what else we can de-clutter, there's the real part of life and being seven months pregnant and exhausted at the end of the day. So... this project may take a little longer than the allotted forty days. But we're going for it!