It’s been a few days since Christmas, and Dave and I are almost finished with our long list of holiday parties {just one more on New Year’s Day}.
And if your parties were anything like ours, you probably left with a lot more stuff than you arrived with…right? I know I was amazed at how spoiled Nora was this Christmas {she’s almost completely covered with gifts in the picture below!}
So even though I took my own advice and got rid of a bunch of stuff BEFORE the holidays, we’ve gotten rid of even more since then… and I’m guessing you might be able to purge a few more things too!
Dave and I both went through our closets again, I purged a few things from the kitchen, we cleaned out the fridge, and I also went through our stash of gift wrap {it was getting a bit overwhelming!}
For those of you who have kids, this is a great exercise to do with them too because it’s often easier for them to get rid of their older things now that their new items are sitting right in front of them 🙂
Here are a few resources to help you organize and purge:
Oh, and here’s a link to a post I wrote last year about my goal to purge something every month of 2011. I’m happy to say I followed through with that goal, and our house is much “lighter” because of it!
I know I’m excited to bring our donations to the local thrift store and to start the New Year with a little more breathing room in our cabinets and closets!
Leilani says
Andrea,
Great post. First on one of my clients list…. The pantry with expiration dates going back to the 90’s. That was to make room for the new baking stuff from Christmas 🙂
Andrea says
Yikes — the 90’s!!! I once helped a clients organize her pantry and she had several canned goods from the 80’s {and this was just 2 years ago!!}
Melissa says
First on my purge list — Christmas ornaments and decorations! When I pulled them all together for this year, I discovered that there were a lot of things that I used to once love which have lost their appeal. So, I’m not going to store them… I’m going to purge them!
Jen R says
The fridge got a purge when we got home yesterday from Xmas at my parents, it was nearly empty but a few more things went into the bin and a good scrub up took place. Agree Xmas decos down and culled today for sure 🙂
Deni Wilson says
Well, I started purging at the beginning of the week, just going through the house doing the rapid purge as you suggested and Wow, what a difference! Instead of purging and cleaning at the same time it seems to go alot better. I have already cleared out alot but today I tackled the toughest room in the house, my son’s room. I nearly filled up my husband’s trailor! I also read recently a quote, “Only own things you know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. That has helped me to let go of some “ok” things. Thanks for the motivation! P.S. Nora is beautiful!!!
Theresa says
I have been tackling LONG over-due purging missions here. The hall/linen closet (LOVE SPACE BAGS!), the living room armoir (dumping ground), closet and dressers. I have already sent three huge bags to Goodwill and six huge bags to the trash!
Now to just keep those guys in my house from dragging more in. =)
Happy New Year and kiss that baby girl!
Andrea says
Sounds like you’ve been really productive Theresa! Keep it up 🙂
And yes, I’ll make sure to give Nora a few more kisses!
Paulette says
After Christmas, I usually catch the “purge” bug and I also want those Christmas decorations down before New Year’s Eve. Your site sure encourages me, Andrea. Such a cute pic of Nora behind the gifts…precious baby!
Andrea says
Thanks Paulette,
We still have one more Christmas party so our decorations have to stay up for now… and I’ll be honest, I’m kind of dreading the day I have to take them all down. It seem like too much work now that I have a baby!