Cleaning out the clutter

MoneySavingMom is having a “Clear out the Clutter” challenge in preparation for her annual garage sale.  The timing couldn’t be better!  I already have a garage (or “tag”) sale stash, and now that I know what my apartment in Brooklyn has to offer for space and storage, I can make better choices in clearing out my clutter.  Here’s what I accomplished yesterday…

My goal was to clean out from underneath our bed.  That will be pretty much our only storage space in NYC, and there are several unneeded items currently “living” there.  I also wanted to reduce my crafting supplies. 

I started in the living room and emptied these:

It’s an entertainment center that we have been using for decor, and we are not taking it to NY.  I condensed, threw away, and moved the stuff into the cabinet under our bookshelf.

Scrapbooking and stamping supplies – from this:
(double wide four drawer cart)

to this:
 
(single wide three drawer cart)

It was actually a trade off because I switched the scrapbooking supplies for Elaine’s items, but it better organized both of them, and the four drawer cart is in nicer condition to sit out in a room as a “dresser.”  The three drawer cart will fit in the tiny closet in the new apartment.

Eliminated:
 
(wheeled scrapbooking storage).  Reduced supplies to fit into one bag instead of two. 

Rubber Stamps – from two of these:

(tiny three drawer box) to only one. 

Emptied:

(under the bed storage container).  It had yarn and crochet patterns in it.  I gave the yarn to my pastor’s wife, reduced the patterns to my favorites, and now the container is ready to be repurposed in Brooklyn.

And I also threw away three shoeboxes of sermon tapes!

Elaine: “Yay Mom!  You go!  But what are these strange devices?  I’ve never seen them before!”
Mommy:   “That’s because they’re outdated.  We use CD’s now.  Time to get into the 21st century!”

So…maybe it is strange to broadcast my clutter to all of my blogland readers and Facebook friends.  But I felt accomplished after yesterday, and like living in Brooklyn was just a little bit more attainable.  I’m not done yet!  But I probably won’t put up pictures of everything!  The under-the-bed box was filled with trash to be taken out at the end of my day.  What a relief!