Operation DD (Declutter and Decorate) Part 1!

      WARNING extra long post ahead! You might want to grab a snack and cup of tea before you jump in!

 Well, I've been a bad girl and haven't posted for more than a week! Oops! Well, back on track then, this morning I sent Gabe and Cady outside to play in all the  fresh new snow while I continued on my new project, Operation DD (Declutter and Decorate)!

Of course when they came in, they NEEDED hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles!

On to my Project!

   I've been really inspired lately by reading a few of my favorite blogs, like Erin's Sunny Side Up  and Sarah's Clover Lane and The Nester's Nesting Place. All these women are mothers of at least three kids and they all have beautiful homes that I just love looking at pictures of to get inspired. Now, the one that really hooked me the other day was a series on Clover Lane called Declutter: 40 bags in 40 days. Basically, last year she made her Lent Resolution to get rid of 40 bags of  "stuff" (be it garbage, Goodwill, etc). So although I would love to do this for Lent, the fact of the matter is, my house can't wait that long to be decluttered! Not because I am super duper gung-ho to do this (it ain't going to be pretty people) but because our house is actually up for sale and has been for awhile. 

The other thing I admire about Sarah is her house is so nicely decorated and tidy and she has FIVE kids! Four of which are boys! And reading through I found out she does it all by herself, painting and everything. She does these all in small increments so that they don't get overwhelming, which is exactly what I need to do.

So, this week, I walked around and wrote up a list of things in each room that needs to be done. And I started my project in our Master bedroom. Usually that is the last room I deal with, so it was pretty bad.  These are the "before" pics

I almost forgot to take a before picture and had already started stripping the bed!

The blue thing on the bed is a recycling bag :) and apparently I need to clean my camera lens!



One end of the hallway where I put the decluttered stuff.



And the other end.

And so far I've gotten rid of 7 bags/boxes of stuff from that room alone 2 bags of garbage, 1 bag of recycling, 2 bags/boxes of stuff to Salvation Army (we don't have a Goodwill) and two boxes of stuff that belongs elsewhere in the house.YAY, it feels soooo good! The decorating part will be challenging as this is a log house built in the early '80s with a LOT of wood panelling and ugly carpets but here is my list so far:

Master Bedroom
- Clean out closet 
-take old computer out of closet
-Paint non log walls and ceiling?
-Unify picture frames
-Declutter!!
-paint dressers
-paint window sills
-figure out some kind of headboard.
- weed out unwanted/unworn clothes
-larger shades for lamps?
-rearrange room
-change plugs and light switch covers ( hubby can do those ones, I don't mess with wires and such :)

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me and wish me luck on my next endeavor, the upstairs bathroom!

PS I'll try and post "after" declutter pictures next post!