Spring Cleaning - the Living Room ... ugh!

Okay, so it's Day Three of the Spring Cleaning Party on Simple Mom. I'm on my second day since I went with Casiday on a field trip yesterday. (Check out these guys! Pianafiddle was amazing!)

Days 2 & 3 are the living room ... and so I did about half of mine today. Cleaned out the drawers and cleaned off the shelves beside the TV. We have a lot of gaming system paraphenalia. A LOT! There was not a lot to throw away as I had already decluttered this room on Monday. But it took awhile to organize and clean.

Ultimately, I made the following decisions about the "stuff" in this room:

1. We use our gaming systems regularly so it's okay for the Wii Fit balance board and the Guitar Hero drums and guitars to be out. They are not in the center of the floor but we use them often enough that it makes no sense to give up valuable closet space for them. Plus, it is much easier to put them back where they belong when it is in the same room where we play with them. So, as you can see in the pictures, they are placed near the TV & gaming systems.

2. I have a basket by my end of the couch. It is not a very big basket but it holds my computer, a few books, note cards, etc. As long as it doesn't overflow, I am not too worried about what is in it. When it gets full, I'll go through it and toss the magazines, etc. and put away what I'm done using.

3. Scott's space is just that ... Scott's! As long as I can find the phone and the remotes when I need them, it is not worth my energy (and potential frustration!) to go through his stuff and figure out what he needs. He, too, has a basket by his chair and has agreed to try to keep his "stuff" in that basket and not all around his chair.

4. I don't mind dusting the things we love. So, the pipe collection, Norman Rockwell stuff, and the other things that are out are okay with me. It might be cluttered to others, but it is HOME for us and we like it that way.


So, those are my big conclusions for the day. Tomorrow I will be volunteering at Care Net so I will be another day behind on the Party. But Friday I plan to go through the books inside the cabinet and on the bookshelf behind the front door. That will be a HUGE project so I am not starting until I know I have time to finish the same day.

Below are the pictures from today. Happy Cleaning to all!!