Sharing the wealth with others

Now that we had emptied the big furniture pieces in the room and had floor space to move around in, we posted pictures on the Next Door website offering to give both the tall dresser and nightstand away to someone willing to haul it themselves out of our house. Once they were gone, we had a completely open floor space except for the rocking chair that we wanted to keep. It was so rewarding to be able to walk completely into the room and reach the windows to open them. That afghan I now have draped over the rocking chair was made for me by my mom when I was a baby. I found it folded over in the packed closet so it is now proudly on display. 

On the bottom of the spare closet in the hallway once all the clothes were removed from the hanging rod, I found several old blankets and this large king size bedspread from my parents' old bed. I may have gotten a little giddy at the fact that this floor was so clear I could spread out their entire bedspread for folding again neatly. It now sits on the floor of the closet in this room in case we ever need a spare blanket.

Next came a touch up for the old rocking chair formerly covered in clothes, and now evident dust. Plus a little spot of dried cat hairball mess that took some work to clean. I untied the cushions and wiped down the seat, legs, and spindles with a dust cloth. This picture below shows the difference between the back cushion freshly vacuumed and the seat cushion still to be done. I also did a quick pass with the vacuum crevice tool on the rocking chair before retying the cushions. 

After a redo of vacuuming the carpet for a final time and reassembling the rocking chair, I relocated the chair from its old position facing out straight next to the shelves to sitting sideways in the opposite corner. Now it looks inviting as a place to sit and relax rather than storage. 

Throughout this process I came across several personal possessions that needed to be kept so I dedicated one of the small narrower shelves to hold them. This started out being the bottom shelf but I later moved it to the smaller shelf above this one.

Now with a room completely clear of items I didn't want to keep, I had the open space to start bringing in what I wanted to start storing in this room. Before I share that final reveal, here's a breakdown of all we helped with the items we removed.

1) A nice woman from the Next Door website now has a new to her dresser and nightstand.

2) Various vitamins and medications along with healthcare items went to our former doctor who works with a charity.

3) Nine containers of yarn, cross-stitch, and supplies went to 3 separate people who crochet for babies and children in hospitals.

4) Some books and some CDs were sold but the bulk was donated.

5) Makeup and skincare was donated to my alma mater to be used as after prom party prizes.

6) Dolls and stuffed animals were donated to the local police precinct for them to use when interacting with a distressed child on the job.

7) Two to three bags full of non perishable food went to a local church's food bank.

8) We used a local community yard sale group on Facebook to sell various household goods.

9) We've used the Pickup Please service that benefits Veterans to pick up several rounds of clothing and household goods.