A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that twice a year we do a big, huge clean out, once around the new year and once again around the time school ends.
Last week was our first full week out of school so we geared up for the big task of completely cleaning out the kids room, decluttering, and preparing for the summer ahead.
Move Out
I begin by removing everything but large furniture items such as beds and dressers. I leave the clothing in the bedroom as well.
There’s truly no turning back once you’ve decided to move everything out of a room which is why I suggest starting with such a bold move.
Handling and removing everything forces me to look realistically at our possession and assess what we should keep and remove. I also really enjoy working with the clean slate of an empty bedroom.
We used the garage to house everything we removed but an extra bedroom, living room, or covered outdoor area can work just as well.
Scrub and Paint
After everything is removed I get a bucket of hot soapy water and wipe down the doors, walls, baseboards, exteriors of furniture, and floors if they are hardwood, otherwise vacuum.
Definitely move the beds away from the wall to clean the wall and the floor beneath the bed. Use microfiber, it will actually remove the dirt rather than simply spreading it around.
Next I clean the windows inside and out with glass cleaner. Lastly, touch up paint the dings and scratches.
Rearrange
Now is a good time to consider rearranging furniture while the room is empty.
When I pulled the triple bunk away from the wall the kids began to beg me to move it to another part of the room but alas it’s so gigantic there’s nowhere else it fits.
I consulted my husband and between the five of us, we decided to cut up our triple bunk. With the help of a skillsaw, my husband was able to simply cut off the top bunk and we used the piece as a twin bed for my youngest who is thrilled to have her own solitary bed. The older two kids took what was left of the structure.
We love how it opened up the room, letting in more natural light and getting in and out of bed much easier.
The hooks and paper pockets at the head of the triple bunk were sacrificed, something we’ll have to address before school starts in the Fall.
Move In
I set up three tables in the garage and the kids went through their items choosing items to return to their room. A give-away pile and a trash pile were designated. Three folding tables were whittled down to one table and a book box. These are items we plan to keep but don’t need in the bedroom at the moment.
While this entire process can be completed in one day we took several days to move back in and deal with our clutter.
The result was a brighter, cleaner, tidier bedroom and the kids (and mom) are thoroughly pleased.
I’ll wrap of my Simple (and small) Living series next week. If you have questions you would like me to answer, please leave them in the comments. It has been a delight to share my life here at Thankful Moms.
Sarah
If you’ve missed any of the posts in Sarah’s series, you can find the very first one here, Simple (and small) Living Vol. 1.
Be sure to enter to win a $100 Visa gift card on the post Oh, My Aching Head. A winner will be randomly selected from the comments.
I’ll be back on Thursday with a post about our new adventure into foster care – exciting, and a bit crazy too.
Lisa