A few more days worth of effort starts to make a difference

 
This next day's focus was to sort through the clothes in these plastic bins. I filled several more bags for donation and soon had revealed more floor space. It was amazing to see the imprint two stacked on top of each other for years heavy bins left in the carpet. The fact that I could now actually walk up to the back bins on clear floor space was encouraging me to continue. Here's a good photo example of the excess: The top bin in the photo to the right is only as tall as the arm of the rocking chair next to it. The rest of that just starting to block the light coming in through the window is extra clothes that have sat stacked on top for ages.

The progress I'd made so far gave me the energy to keep going so the next day I sorted the pile of clothes on top and inside that top container blocking the window. I was able to refill the container itself along with several garbage bags full of clothing to donate. 

One of the things I'm finding other than how much dust is getting released from pulling everything out to sort is how much of a musty smell the extra clutter has brought into our home. I had to spend a few days leaving windows and closet doors open to air out.

The next big category of items focused on cleaning out was shoes. There was shoeboxes stacked 3 boxes high all across the top of the shelves, plus two rows stacked 3 pair high on a bottom shelf, plus an upright shoe tree on the floor. We also cleared out a different bedroom closet that had 3 rows of shoeboxes stacked 7 boxes high. Some of the shoes had been stacked in their boxes so long, they stuck to the cardboard inside the box. We added the shoes to the clothing donation bags and it took 3 weeks of recycling container curbside pick up to get rid of all the broken down shoe boxes. Cleaning out this much gave me the space to push other items out to the corners of the room and have open floor space to sort and refold clothes to pack down for donation.

Having only one big plastic bin left (the 4th still full bin had been moved aside and used for a spare place to house the extra donation bags) blocking my ability to walk all the way up to the windows, I was extra motivated to reach that milestone in the effort. After looking at each clothing item in that bin plus finding a shirt that was exactly like the one I was currently wearing, I repacked it to also fit the clothes still on the rocking chair. Then it too went out of the room to be added to the donation pile. To this day, I still walk all the way up to the windows in this room and just stand there looking out simply because I love the fact that I can now. No more trying to put back clean laundry by leaning over from 3 feet away.

Fueled by the progress already made, I continue with the cleanout

You never realize just how long a room is when you haven't seen 85% of its floor space in decades.

 

This 5 drawer cherry wood dresser and its matching 2 drawer nightstand (at this time sitting across the room filled with randomness) were my only bedroom furniture most of my childhood. We moved it out of my room before painting and stowed it in here after we were done because I finally got a full matching set of bedroom furniture for my own room. The rocking chair initially was in my brother's room hence its red cushions and then moved into my room only to come back here to stay when we painted. This dresser soon became filled with clothes storage as well. The dresser and its matching nightstand once emptied are now in a new home getting proper use with someone who was willing to haul them out of here and transport them to her home in exchange for getting new to her furniture free of charge. We researched charities for furniture donation like Habitat for Humanity but everyone said they'd only take it if we could transport it or at the very least haul it from the upstairs bedroom and out to the curb for pickup. 

Once the dresser was empty, I moved the rocking chair to sit against it so I could completely reach the rest of the shelves. It was quick work at this point to delegate the contents directly to the donation pile soon giving me several empty shelves.

The three shelves with items in the center section here are shelves momentarily designated for categories of items I'd found - stuffed animals, sweatpants, assistive devices, etc. They'd otherwise been cleaned out at this point as well.

And of course, I couldn't resist the chance at this point to grab a different perspective photo now standing with my back to the windows. It still amazes me to be standing there for this picture when before I could only walk into the room as far as where the toilet paper stack meets the sliding mirror closet doors. 

Finally seeing glimpses of the finished product

With a little help from simply piling some of the floor items like the nightstand and bags of cosmetics and bath products out in the living room for the time being, I was able to spread out a little more to sort the last large plastic container of clothes. I made quick work of sorting the pile of pants on the floor for donation and transferred the toilet paper stash onto the now empty bottom shelf by the window.

Seeing so much available floor space also meant I could really tell how much dust had been on and underneath everything piled up. Knowing this was decades worth of dust, I wanted to do a quick vacuuming to get up whatever I could. You never realize how satisfying it is to find two outlets on opposite sides of the room you didn't even remember were there until you do so because the room has majorly been cleaned out.

We moved the dresser and rocking chair aside to be able to vacuum around the whole room. I noticed the other day that a great side effect of all this effort is I'm seeing some great arm definition forming from all the heavy lifting. The ability to stand in the middle of this room in the first place weeks before was unfathomable so to do so now and touch both walls felt amazing! 

That's not a sun spot on the rocking chair cushion, it's coated in dust. 

It's not easy to see in this picture but one should probably vacuum under their furniture more often. Discovered a who knows how old fecal remnant from one of our former cats.

It was so much easier to work now that I could fully stand in front of the shelving unit and further sort items. It's amazing what a simple change vacuuming the space made for my drive and my lungs. You can tell in this picture how high that one pile of yarn was tucked into the corner between the shelving unit and the wall.

It's been a long time if ever I've seen this carpet looking so bright red

Coming out of the closet... with clothes that is

Now that nothing was blocking the space in front of the sliding mirror doors, I could finally open the closet and get started cleaning that out. It too was filled with clothes and purses but also household goods like linens and CD/DVDs. 

Time to start sorting all over again. Clothes to donate got piled on the floor. Clothes I wanted to keep got added to the hangers on that same bottom rod in the shelves I was using before. 

No that's not a person or a chair under those clothes, that's solely a pile of clothes that came out of this closet and are now going into donation bags.

Once all the clothes were off hangers and off the floor of the closet, I found the pile of purses underneath.

Can you tell what the preferred color and pattern was while buying all these bags?

I donated about half of this pile and was able to store the rest of the empty purses tucked sideways into the Princess Cruises themed tote bag that used to hold cosmetics. Now it sits neatly on the bottom of the closet. Next step was to take the clothes in this bottom space I'd been saving and hang them with room to spare in the closet.

Along the top shelves in the closet I cleared out sealed tablecloths/cloth napkins and sheet sets for donation. I sorted out the CDs we had in those boxes and out in the living room by a portable boombox narrowing down duplicates and ones I no longer wanted. We sold a handful to a used music store for a small amount of money and donated the rest. The ones I kept I then sorted into the previously used shoeboxes so that each box had a specific category of CD type. Then they got stored together on the middle shelf for easy access whenever desired. The now cleared higher shelf worked out great for stowing various items I'd found within the room like a spare hairdryer and electric toothbrush.

To this day it shocks me to realize that of all those clothes in this room and a spare closet in the hallway have been narrowed down to just what you see in these two finished closet pictures.

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.

The end product - revealing a functional walk in pantry

 After not being able to walk into this room past about 5 steps up the center of the room, jamming toes stepping too close to full storage containers, and breaking my back to lean over from afar to toss clean laundry on top of a towering pile for decades, I was so tempted to drop down on this now open floor space and do some carpet snow angels. I still may do that but I have stood in the middle of the room a time or two since this effort was finished simply admiring the difference. As we work to clean out the rest of the house, I find myself thriving in the effort and especially in the result it brings. It's gotten to the point where we can actually see the end in sight as far as cleaning out everything we no longer want and reorganizing what we're keeping to be more functional. Part of me is giddy at the thought of having a space that functions for me and is absent of claustrophobic clutter. I'm someone who does best under an ordered space and set routine and am now working to make this home fit my needs. I noticed the other day that once we finish in a space and I do a routine cleaning, we no longer have an attack of the dust bunny brigade within a day or two. However, the other part of me sees the end of this effort coming close and dreading the task I've thrown myself into with vigor no longer being needed. 

On to the big reveal - one of the tips I tell those who want to coupon, yes you're going to be building a stockpile but no you don't need to devote whole rooms/basements/garages to the effort. If you only have a small closet or a corner of a spare room, shop smart so that you're utilizing that space you do have smartly. Now with this shelving unit and a spare cleaned out room, I no longer have to keep certain categories throughout the house. Everything is together in one space and steps away from a room in which it will get used. Each shelf has a category of items and is lined up in a way that still forces us into using the oldest item first. Seeing everything together has also left me thinking two different ways; either wow I didn't realize I had that many body washes, or wow I thought I had a whole lot more snack items.

Here is what the room looked like at the beginning:

And now - keeping in mind this doesn't include our regular food pantry closet that houses 1-2 of everyday items. What is here food wise is extra from that. 

These drink packs (there's 3 multipacks of flavored water tucked into that corner as well) will be up off the floor as they get used. Decided to keep the Sparkling Ice flavored water and iced tea bottles to drink myself rather than donate. Once they're gone, I won't be buying anymore. Gave up trying to drink and donated the grape flavored Gatorade and Snapple flavored lemonade. Unless of course @VitaminWater Zero feels called to sponsor me or send some product. :)

Still toying with the idea of a slender rolling cart with shelves like they make for fitting between the wall and the washing machine in order to put away the individual chip bags.

Otherwise everything in this room is up off the floor and put away neatly without having to be crammed in or forced. I catch myself walking in and up to look out the windows just because I can now. I noticed the other day that it's been so long for the sun to reach the carpet that now it refracts red tinted beams of sunlight across the hall. 

A clutter free functional open space with space to move around and a lot less dust in the air has given us finally room to breathe.