Looking down the barrel of a child’s dresser can be daunting if you’re not on top of the purging. I’m not on top of the purging. The situation gets especially gruesome after they have a growth spurt like Nico did last year. It seemed like every other week I was dumping clothing on the floor of the closet in a makeshift donate pile. If you think the closet looks bad in the before picture, you should have seen it before when it held 10-12 bags of baby/toddler clothing to donate. I donated the bags a few weeks ago to my friend’s charity garage sale, giving me enough light at the end of the tunnel to attack the clothes once again a few weeks later. You can see the insanely tall pile of clothing in my @pancakesfries Instagram history. I’d link to it, but Instagram wouldn’t give me the link to it last night.
This project wasn’t any fun, but it wasn’t terribly difficult, either. I only had to pull the 5T and a few straggler 4T. Doing that freed up two drawers in Nico’s dresser, and I no longer have to store his uniforms in a basket on the closet floor. I kept the basket in there, but am now using it to store old costumes for imaginative play. There is clothing hanging on the right side of the closet, but I’m pretty sure that is from the Mister’s purge last year. Looks I’ll need to make another trip to Goodwill. Third time this week! That’s what I’m doing differently this time–I have no illusions that I will have this massive, profitable garage sale like I thought I would last year. That sale never happened, and after almost a year our garage and closets were so stuffed we looked like hoarders. I’m having to purge and declutter the mess I made while purging and decluttering.
New here? For the next 31 days I�m living according to the famous William Morris quote, �Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.� You can learn more about the project here, and catch sneak peeks of my projects by following me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (I�m @pancakesfries).
I love purging! My husband is always putting the breaks on while I’m trying to throw something out. I can’t help it. I start imagining my life without piles of crap everywhere and I get inspired.
Today I purged my sons’ shoes AND put away/tossed 4 bags of miscellaneous crap that were gathered around my front door/living room (I have no explanation for why there are bags of crap around my house.. it’s just my life.). AND I moved all the boys’ books back on to their bookshelf in their room. I took them all out when my younger boy was at that book-ripping age. Now he’s almost 2-1/2 so I think they’re safe again.
I love this project!
That’s great, Robin! I have a habit of letting bags pile up, too. For me, it’s returns I need to make to various stores.
I’ve learned the hard way that clothes + garage sale is a set-up for huge disappointment. People believe nothing should cost more than, oh, a dime. Maybe a quarter for shoes. And yet the prices at Goodwill/Salvation Army seem pretty high for the general quality of stuff. Easier to just chuck the bags at the donation doors and speed away!
All this boy-purging is just reminding me that Tucker’s bedroom is overdue AGAIN for a thorough cleaning. I’m not excited.
Yes, yes, yes. I completely agree with you on the price discrepancy. At our last garage sale, a man confessed to me what the deal was (at least for him). He was going to take everything and turn around and sell it at the swap meet. He needed to buy at “wholesale” prices.
Are the drawers labeled?
I bow down to the master.
That’s my husband. He’s big on labeling everything. I like it–it really does make things easier!
Sounds very familiar – purging and decluttering the mess made while purging and decluttering! Thanks for the encouragement
Yeah, I really think our neighbors must think we are hoarders based on our garage. Oh, the irony!
We had the last of our garage sales for quite a while this summer. From here on out, it’s straight out the door. I always have trouble with that part, too — I think I’ll find someone who will need it, or give the resale shop a try first. You’ve just reminded me how much more free I’d feel by just GETTING IT OUT OF HERE.
Yep, that’s my new rule. Out of the closet, out of the house.
I have never had a garage sale, and I don’t plan to. It seems like so much work for not much payoff in the end. We are Goodwill donators all the way! The kids’ clothes are a never-ending chore, partially because it seems like there are so many categories. I have an older son and a younger daughter, so pyjamas, unisex clothes and outerwear are set aside to be handed down. Other clothes still in very nice shape are set aside to be handed down to friends; clothes still serviceable but not so nice-looking are set aside for Goodwill. So many piles, and they’re often just crammed into bags in various closets until the hand-over actually happens.