Day 12--Upstairs Hallway
Before
So I packed these boxes of extra bedding and kid clothing close to a year ago. They just needed to be put in our crawl space with the other kid stuff. I just hadn't gotten to it. A couple of items were stuck on top, but not much. It literally took 5 minutes to clean. Gotta love it!
After
I LOVE not having boxes to be seen as you look up my stairs...it's always the first thing anyone sees...and is a sure sign of a cluttered house. Yippee! Cluttered no more! :) We can actually reach the light switch without sliding our hand behind the boxes. We got sick of sliding our hand behind that we actually stopped using the light. That, and the light bulbs burned out and there seemed to be no need to replace them. As you can tell in the picture, the 3 light bulbs were replaced, and I re-hung 2 of our smoke alarms that were hanging from the ceiling since we painted our house...before we moved in...a little over 2 years ago. Pretty pathetic, but now it is done :)
Day 13--Girls Closet & Under the Bed
Before (Upper)
Before (Lower)
There are more of those dang Huggies boxes. I love them to pack up old clothing (or clothing that is out of season), but time got away from me and I never put them in our crawl space. As you can see, the girls shoved more stuff in the bottom of the closet, and you couldn't even close the door. In fact, they had to stand on the junk under the clothing to get to their clothing. Sad. At least with our current cleaning regimen, we will hit up their room really good once a week and make sure THIS doesn't happen again. :)
After (Upper)
After (Lower)
Day 14--Freezer Inside + BONUS Fridge/Freezer Outside
Before
Let me just tell you that Mike was furious every time that he had to open the freezer. Why you might ask? Something...if not multiple somethings fell out at him and smashed his toes EVERY single time! It got a little...ok...A LOT crazy in there. I honestly didn't know everything that was in there. Almost, but not quite. I threw some stuff away, added a couple of tubs (there was already one tub on the top shelf...but can you see it? NOPE!), and VOILA!
After
Much easier to find what I am looking for...and NOTHING falls out!
Before (Outside Freezer)
After (Outside Freezer)
It is still pretty full, but I re-organized everything so it's easier to get to without stuff falling out everytime I pull on something. I also found a little extra space...whereas before, there was none.
Before (Outside Fridge)
After (Outside Fridge)
We don't use the fridge part too much, so I mainly re-organized and wiped it clean. I went ahead and got the outside fridge/freezer cleaned because I was doing my monthly shopping trip the next day and I wanted to make sure I had room for everything I needed to buy.Day 15--Coat Closet
Before
After
This closet wasn't too bad, but I did add a couple of small tubs to organize winter hats and gloves, and I got rid of a bunch of jackets (going to the D.I.). I also re-organized the stuff around the vacuum so that it all fits more nicely. 
Day 16--Sides of Pantry
Before (Right Side)
After (Right Side)
I was SO glad to do this side. It always seems to creep closer to our side door making it hard to open the door. YAY!
Before (Left Side)
After (Left Side)
It wasn't too bad, but nice again to have it neat and compact.Day 17/18--Brenda's Clothing in the Closet + DOUBLE BONUS Shoes in the Closet, Mike's Clothing, and Dresser Drawers
Before
After
At first glance, it doesn't look much different, but the stuff on the top left was left as is because it was as it should be. The white basket was gone through, and all of the sweaters have been gone through and quite a few were put in the donate pile. I had also gone through and gotten rid of a lot of my clothing when I did Cooper's closet since some of my clothing is in his closet. I did however find the rest of my smaller clothing, tried everything I needed to on, and donated a ton of stuff! Now I have "new" stuff in my closet and the older stuff is gone. Sweet! I got really lucky and caught Mike at a great moment, so he went through all of his clothing (closet and dresser) and his shoes. This is one happy wife!
Before
After
We donated multiple pairs of shoes. I wish I could have fit 3 racks in here, but I used my space well. I stacked shoes, put all of my boots on the right, and I even used the space under the racks to put more shoes. I have about 4-5 more pairs of shoes that may be donated, but I'm not quite sure yet, so I kept them. Not for sentimental value, but because I want to keep my old tennies to use as work shoes as my newer ones are for running. But do I really need both pairs? I also have 2 pairs of sandals that are super close to each other in style, but again, do I really need both pairs? I also have some Sketcher sandal/tennis shoe bottoms that have been super well used. They're my favorite...but are wearing out. The alternative is flip flops, but I can't wear flip flops to school. They have been retired for the summer, but I think I'll have to make them survive one more school year and then I'll replace them both next summer. Now tell me this...do I have an above average, average, or below average amount of shoes (21 pairs + a pair of slippers)? I think I'm average. Half or more of them I've had for close to 10+ years so I'm not a shoe addict, and I don't shop for them often. I always hear of people finding new shoes every week or so. I'm definitely NOT one of those people. Mike was giving me a hard time...that is why I ask. :)
I really wish I had taken a picture of the 3 over flowing boxes, 2 large bags, and huge stack of coats (pictured above by the coat closet) that were donated to the D.I. on Saturday. It felt so good, not only to be able to get rid of that much stuff in our home, but to know that they will find a new home with someone who will need them and love them again. :)
I found these shoe racks at Sam's Club. I bought one to see how it was. They are really sturdy and seem to be higher quality, so I went back and bought a second one for our closet, one for Cooper's closet, and one to help organize a few things under our stairs in the crawl space. As I have thought about it some more...I may buy 5 more to do some more re-organizing under my crawl space. I have a bunch of home improvement stuff to the right of the stairs (3 racks) and some space next to my current food storage (2 racks stacked) because the food is taking over the aisle that we use to get to everything. 2 racks won't completely cut it...but it would help immensely. I should have taken a before picture of under the stairs, but just imagine everything thrown in a big pile that you have to dig through to find anything. Ok, it wasn't really that bad, but close. I will get a picture of the re-organized space under my stairs tomorrow...along with pictures to show you the 2 other spaces that need some help.
Now where to find the $100 to do so quickly before they sell out. You never know if they're going to restock something like this...and the shoe racks I've seen elsewhere are either super expensive, or a piece of junk. Any ideas?
