Operation G.R.O.S.

Over the last year or so, husband and I have been going through what I have affectionately named Operation G.R.O.S.  Also known as Get Rid of Shit Stuff.  We started this process about a year ago when we just started looking around the house at full closets, cabinets, drawers, and the garage.  It's really amazing how much STUFF you accumulate over the years of your life.  We both had full apartments when we got married and moved into this house.  Our family and friends were extremely generous with wedding and shower gifts when we got married.  And we've both tried to empty some of our 'kid stuff' out of our parents house.  We have slightly different versions of this - I still have a closet at home that's full of high school photos, prom albums, college memorabilia, and the like.  Husband's mom moved from the house he grew up in to Richmond about 6 years ago, and at that time we went through all of his old stuff and packed it up into Rubbermaid containers.  Just in the last few months, those containers have arrived at our house....

It's really unbelievable how much stuff we have!  And I even pride myself on making regular trips to Goodwill with household items as well as clothes.  Well.  Apparently not enough trips...

A few weekends ago we graciously turned down our friends' invitations and locked ourselves into the office.  The goal was to pair down - 2 desks to 1, 3 file cabinets to 1, and 2 bookshelves to 1.

Before...

Can you tell we're both only children?  We had 2 of EVERYTHING.  Two desks, 2 staplers, 2 desk lamps and 2 chairs...

During....

We threw out 8 trash bags of crap.  And had 2 more to be shredded!  I had phone and water bills from my college apartment - I'm pretty sure those can go!

We didn't totally meet our goal of reducing the furniture numbers, but came pretty close.  We are down to one desk, the big black file cabinet, but kept the 2 book shelves.  But the cool part is that we were able to move an extra bed into the room!  A couple of years ago my cousin got married and gave me lots of furniture, including a queen bed for our guest room.  We've not been able to tried to get rid of the other mattresses so they've just been leaning against the wall in the lower level rec room.  So now we have a day-bed to relax on in the office, plus extra space for guests!  We slept on it just a couple of weeks when my parents visited since we had a friend staying with us for a month in the guest room.  It's great to have an extra sleeping/lounging space, and will certainly come in handy during the holidays.  

We still have a little work to do with the rearranging of photos on the walls, rehanging my diploma (I have to attempt to share the space with husband's two), and get used to sharing one desk/file cabinet/bookshelf.  But so far we are enjoying the new arrangement!

Operation G.R.O.S is certainly not over.  We have a massive pile of Goodwill, Craigslist, and eBay items in the basement just waiting for new homes!  Plus we need to tackle the boxes and Rubbermaid containers that husband has been storing in our basement. And honestly, it's important for us to continue to clean out - declutering and getting rid of things you no longer use makes your home more livable, plus will help whenever the time comes to move!