Big Plans. Big, Big, Plans

What is it about the day after Christmas that brings about a desire no, a need, to organize? Is it the impending new year with all its resolutions? Is it because by the time Christmas is over you have spent so much time in your house that you are confident that you can make it all better with just a few baskets and bins? Or, is it because of the sheer amount of crap that your kids received that is now strewn across your living room? Ding, ding, ding!

No matter what I do. the kids' stuff somehow comes out on top. I literally picked up my house four times yesterday. Four times! And still, when the boys went to bed it was like I never touched it. I stayed up until 11:00 last night, picking up AGAIN. And by seven this morning there it was, laughing at me. I have picked up at least twice today and I am currently sitting here, blogging, looking at their toys. Still!

It's not like the kids haven't picked up their toys every time I tell them to. They have. We just have too much stuff and nowhere to put it.

The frustration, and a touch of anxiety because of the clutter (is that normal?) have set into motion some big plans for the future storage and organization of stuff, as well as the sheer amount of stuff that will be kept in this house. That's right! It's purge and organization time baby!

I have already spent four hours in the basement tossing, boxing up for donation, consolidating, and shelving everything I could get my hands on. That was probably when the final living room destruction happened. The Hubs isn't feeling great and apparently wasn't up to battling the clutter. I am not ready to show the progress down there because Christmas decorations are still out so I have to keep all of their storage boxes easily accessible.

The mud room closet is also the bane of my existence right now.The close cousin of the living room clutter monster. The older, beer bellied, stinky cheese close cousin. I spent a few hours on that problem too, but was sidelined when the snow started falling quickly (who knew it was supposed to snow?). Wait until you see the before pics you will completely understand where I am coming from. But until I get my act together here is a sneak peak at the plans.

Anyway, those are my number one and number two (out of 60 or 70) priority plans for dealing with all of our crap. Do you have any organization plans? Or any ideas you'd like to share? I need all the help I can get.