We are still working hard with our purge and clean and re-organize. And it’s going great. It really is. Here’s a few of the pictures I couldn’t get uploaded on Monday.  (Peruse at your own risk.)

Our upstairs consists of the Ladybug’s tiny bedroom. A small bathroom. The boys not so big room. (Seeing a theme here?) and what I guess is technically the “loft.” The open, designated space at the top of the stairs. One day it will probably be a sitting room, library, and sewing space.

But  right now, it’s the Playroom.

This chaos is what I started out with last Friday.

The upstairs is pretty kid-safe, so we tend to be a little (ok, probably a lot) lenient on them playing up there unsupervised. Our house is small. If they’re doing something they should be, you can usually hear them through the floor (or not hear them, as the case may be.)  And we do have some very firm rules we’ve enforced consistently to maintain control.

• Absolutely no playing in the bathroom. Ever. You potty, wash hands, and get out. (There was an unfortunate series of events involving toothpaste and Selsun Blue. Once.)
• Absolutely no food, snacks, gum, candy, treats, fruit, fruit snacks, leftovers, crackers, suckers, juice, juice pouches, water, water bottles, drinks, cans, cups, or other ingestable forms of anything are allowed upstairs. (There was an unfortunate series of events involving honey and Crystal Lite powered mixers. Once.)
• Absolutely no pens, pencils, colored pencils, markers, crayons, giant-overized pencils, white-board markers, chalk, paint, paintbrushes, scissors, glue, tape, glue dots, glitter pens, glitter glue pens, or any other writing utensils or craft supplies are allowed upstairs. (There was a sticker incident. Once. And a pen incident.)

The first pass eliminated everything that was trash or didn't belong upstairs to begin with. Everything broken, missing parts, or just plain ole' junk.

This mess is also a confluence of the regular holiday chaos. The keyboard belongs downstairs, but the Christmas tree was in it’s usual spot. The top of the playhouse/barn that Mr. Fix-It built them is also stacked to the ceiling with Christmas boxes that needed to be put away. And we’ve been home a lot more than usual so the playing has been far ranging and involved a wider spectrum of toys than usual. But it was still totally out of control and partially (ok, mostly) my fault from just general neglect.

Playroom messes rarely (ok, ok, never) get better if you just close your eyes and go back downstairs. (As a matter of fact, they can actually get worse and worse, if you can imagine!)

The second pass involved sorting keeps from donates, and then putting like with like.

But this post is title “Part 1” because we’re not stopping with just neat this time. Oh no. We’re going with an all out transformation. We’re growing up over here. We’re learning new habits about how to respect our home and our possessions. We’re going to use our spaces more efficiently and simplify down to that which is precious, rather than just that which is mine. We’re going to use our spaces to encourage the growth of our minds and character, as well as enjoy ourselves.

This? Over. Gone. Done. Finished. What's new? Respecting our home and possessions.

I’ll also be writing about some of the budget-friendly steps we’re taking because our budget is very small. Very small. As in, practically nothing other than paint if we can help it. Most of our work is re-organizing and re-purposing. We’re “shopping” our own house. See that red chair? It’s going to be come our reading nook chair out by the window in the Playroom (no more little pink table and chairs).

We’re so excited. The better it looks as we go along, the more enthusiastic the kids and I are about it. More pictures to come!

Do you have any big home projects on the horizons for the New Year?