January recap: Fix It Month

I designated January as the month I was going to fix all the things in my house that were broken, in need of repair, or just didn't work as they were.  It was a big list.

Some of my problems were fixed by simply moving the furniture around, like the living room.  Other problems were fixed by replacing the offending item, such as the pair of kitchen shears with broken handles, or replacing the all the green playroom bins I didn't like with navy blue ones.  I bought new lamps, new art, new bedspreads, new rugs, new curtains and new dining chairs. I have yet to share most of these new things with you, but I will soon.

The big Fix It project, though, was the garage.  I do not have a head-on picture of the insanely packed garage, only this one taken from the doorway into the house the day we moved in:

It was packed floor to ceiling, front to back.  Sooooooo much stuff.

I purged and purged and purged.  So many rounds of purging.  (See them here, here, here, here and here).

You know, I got rid of an unbelievable amount of stuff.  I didn't take that many pictures, and my "after" pictures are not nicely staged or beautifully organized.  You might look at my garage and think, you know, there's still kind of a lot of stuff in there.

(Ignore the red armchair; that usually lives in my living room but I dragged it out to the garage so that Princess could prop up her leg and watch the ipad while I walked on the treadmill.)

Yes, there is still a lot of stuff in there.  Hand me down children's clothing, Christmas stuff, a sewing machine, my craft closet, an air mattress, four bicycles, two scooters, ten folding chairs, four laundry baskets, a tool shelf, art supplies, the shoe cubbies, the filing cabinet, the printer, the treadmill, two bookshelves....I could outfit a new family with most of the basic necessities.

BUT.  When I started?  I could have outfitted and furnished AN ENTIRE VILLAGE of families.  It has taken me the better part of a year, but I have gotten rid of a garage, an attic, and a basement worth of stuff.

This is the first time in ten years that I don't have an attic, a basement and a garage full of stuff.  When we move out of here, this will be the first place where the moving estimator doesn't say "this won't be too expensive...oh wait...you have a storage unit and a basement and garage full of stuff I haven't seen yet?"

I'm not done yet.  There's more to be done, and I'm working on it, bit by little bit.

I have plans for February, too.  February is the Spend No Money Month.  In January I spent quite a bit Fixing All the Things.  Since its really difficult to take a three year old with a broken leg shopping, it seems like the stay-at-home-with-broken-leg month will coincide nicely with a spending moratorium.