It sounds like you have made lots of progress and in a short amount of time!

I stay in organize mode all year round, but I have a 3yr old and a 9yr old- so out with the old in with the new, constantly.
We recently sold/bought a home but we downsized. I donated, gave away, and sold tons of stuff for which we had no use. Now we are in the smaller house and it has made us realize how much "stuff" we have and don't need.
There aren't many reputable places to donate items where we live now so I use craigslist to sell anything of value and donate clothing and such directly to families we know that need help.
Ohhh, empty cabinets! I'm sending you my extra "stuff" since you have the space ;)

Good job on all of your hard work!!!

no thanks ..don't need the extra stuff. So you have a few lovely blessings helping you to organize eh? so sweet.
I have been in the same places that you have been so i relate..and I have used craigslist successfully to sell an amish made oak table and chair set and my MIL's house !!
I highly recommend it.
Today I bought a wall organizer, probably made for garages, but to hang things from with rubberized hooks and pegs that fit in different arrangements on a bar..the set had 4 16" bars that can be used alone or snapped together and several hooks and pegs that can go on the bars..they will hold things like brooms, shovels, etc..i needed one to hang brooms behind a door ..and it will only need one of the 4 sections..so i'll find other areas, house or sheds or garage to use the other ones for other things..hope to put that up tomnorrow

I try to stay on the decluttering all year long. Always have a bag or box to give away and when I pass GW I will drop it off or post on freecycle. There are a few drawers that have stuff in that hasn't been cleaned in a while and I was doing that the other day. Most of it isn't needed and that is why I wasn't going in those drawers.

I've been on my girls to keep their rooms cleaner and seems they are now getting rid of things then don't use.

I do have to redo my garage. I did it not that long ago but still have to much stuff so should go through it again.

This morning I put up one section of the organizer mentioned above that I bought at Home Depot, comes in 4 16" sections, I hung ONE section behind the laundry room door above, you can see with the door open (which it is most of the time) you don't see a thing behind it, but when it is moved toward closed, you can see that there was plenty of room for a "broom closet" behind that door, i hung two of the strips connected together inside the guest room closet and have the rest of our hanging cleaninig items on those (at the other end of our house), and the final section went out into the furnace building to hold a push broom, pitch fork, and furnace utensils..

I feel so much more organized..these items were just being stacked in a corner..not any more !!

Ronbre, you actually managed to make brooms and mops look attractive. LOL. You're an inspiration with your enthusiastic posts and photos. Keep them coming. I love looking at photos of what people do in their homes and hearing
about how thrilled they are with what they've achieved.
As for your empty spaces, just admire them for a while. It's a beautiful sight isn't it? I love the way a jammed packed cupboard can become half full only, with just a bit of sorting and organising.
I don't care if no-one but me ever sees behind the doors or in the drawers... having them look nice inside too, simply makes me feel good... a bit like wearing nice underwear I suppose. Even if no-one else knows or sees, you can walk around all day feeling like a million dollars.
Thanks for sharing
Cheers from lily

you know LIly you have a real point there..i've always thought that it is a great idea to place something beautiful inside of your cabinets, medicine chests, drawers, closets, etc that will be a surprise to those that open it and give them a smile..whether it be a liner, a photograph, a ribbon or sachet, just anything pretty, even the refrigerator, you can place the items you buy into a pretty bowl, if you have room, or a nice brightly lidded container, see through, to make the inside of the frig a joy to the eye..maybe tuck in a flower in a vase in the summer??

I have an antique secretary with a curved glass door on it..but the backing on the bookshelf area is really crappy looking, i have it in the dinette area of our kitchen, and have a lovely tea set in it..and i generally prop up pretty books to kinda hide the ugly backing, but i've been thinking either of decoupaging recipe pages or put some fabric or wrapping paper on the walls of the bookcase back, as they are so ugly..but it would have to be something that would easily strip off..as it is a valuable antique piece..my mother gave me..it has been sitting on my mind now for several weeks..i'm leaning toward finding some OLD cookbook pages that might be a little yellowed and decoupaging them on it..but haven't found a cookbook in that condition i'm willing to destroy...i have however heard about color copying the pages to do it..so i might lean toward that way..as i have some antique books, just don't want to cut them up..(did just put frsh ink in the copier)

ronbre, that's a very clever idea for the back of the bookcase!

thanks, i think that might be my next winter weary project to tackle when hubby is sleeping..just did mending while he was gone..dont' do much when he is around the house.

Ronbre, you can cut some foamcore that you buy at the craft stores and decorate that for the back of your bookcase. This way when you want to change it you can. You could even look at some nice scrapbooking paper, wall paper, the items are endless.

already did the thing look in the home decorating forum under rainy day, also in garden party..photos included..i took cookbook pages and put them on the bare wood unfinished walls of the bookcase part of the china cabinet..it looks OK

"Home Decorating" forum and "busy in a blizzard" thread.