Cleaning Rampage!!!

I've taken the idea of Spring Cleaning and applied it to the complete disaster areas in my 2 bedroom apartment.  Once you take a look at the photos, you will see why I was afraid to have anyone over.  With the motivation of a contest, anything is possible.  I will give you the run-down of what I have done, any tips that I have to share and the bumps that I have occurred along the way.  I hope that you guys are proud of me, because that was a crap-load of work!  I feel a million times better, now that everything looks better, too.  Sit back, enjoy the fact that you weren't the one living in this mess, and enjoy my cleaning rampage.  

Okay, wow.  Horrendous.  No need to tell me, lol.  This is basically the drop-off area for all things that never get put away.  Brand new stuff, dog food, never-used appliances, a freakin' BBQ grill.  *Sigh*  I basically took a look at the big picture and started to take it apart piece by piece.  I know where everything belongs, so it just took the dedication to get it there.

*TIP*  Never look at a problem as a WHOLE.  Take it step by step, with the goal of seeing your end product.  It can be easily overwhelming, things will only start looking better when you take some deep breathes and take your time.  Once you've eased into the process, time will become lost and everything will find its place.

This was part of my rampage.  What the hell, why not?  Gave me an opportunity to put things up high that we don't use, and bring the stuff low enough for me to reach, in terms of things that are used, and need to be.  We don't have a cabinet in the bathroom, so with this re-organization, I was able to put a little medicine wheel in there.  NICE.  

*TIP* No need to keep vital things out of reach.  Just move the things that you haven't used in a while, to make room for the things that you need help reaching.  It should make life easier!  Plus - if you find 100% honey at the dollar store, you should make your own honey-bear army, like mine.

This gave me the opportunity to see what I really had in there.  I don't know if you guys have ever torn that cupboard apart...but I found some cool stuff.  I re-organized and prioritized by what I use most.  The food processor is in the back because it scares me and looks like a pain in the ass to wash.  The cool stuff is in front!  Although, living with the new arrangement has made me want to tweak some things.  For one...that "all edges pan", it needs to go in the back.  Husband made cornbread and left the crusted and corn-bread-filled-crumbly pan for me to wash.  Now I hate that thing.  

*TIP* Feel free to re-visit something that you've already worked on.  Because it's a new arrangement, you may find reason to tweak it to better situate.  No worries!  Just don't stress over it.  Most of the work has already been done, just remember that!

Awesome, I just reorganized my cups and stuff!  I moved the Crystal Skull Vodka shot glasses up to the top shelf because of the strange things that happened during the last drunkenness.  Got rid of some stuff that we don't use, nor care to keep.  Plus, I ended up with extra space!  Imagine that!

*TIP* I found it lots of fun to switch to my "spring" glasses.  I had been using the retro Coca Cola glasses that my grandma had hidden away.  But I've switched to the retro flower cups to add some spice!

No wonder I was never excited to cook.  I couldn't do anything!  I totally cleaned up this area with ease.  It was easy because most of that crap belongs elsewhere.  If you watch the video,  it's funny to see how many times my red towel moves while I am cleaning.  I know that you may never be able to find it, but I had a little green house thing in the far corner.  I un-buried it and made it into a little "luck shrine" because I love luck, I love genies, so I put my little golden Aladdin Lamp thingy in it.  Whenever I walk by, now, it reminds me of how lucky I am.  On a side note...my pets can now see the light of un-clutter.  I have two tanks.  3 frogs.  

*TIP*  I think you should make your own shrine to remind yourself of how lucky you are.  Put it in an area that you are in often, so that it serves as a daily reminder and it makes you smile.

Now, the last steps in my rampage were the long counter top and the area on the other side of that wall.  On the inside of the kitchen, it's the table.  Over here...different story!  A lot of these boxes are things that I never unpacked from moving two years ago.  They were still with my parents and they recently said "come get your stuff".  So I did.  And I went through, got rid of things that I didn't need and I put things away that I wanted to hold onto.  A big part of this was getting things hung up on walls.  I never knew how much space would be saved, just by hanging things up! It was very rewarding to see those things on the walls, having empty storage boxes and getting rid of things that I didn't need to save.  Plus..the counter...WAY BETTER.  And I can get to it.  That's a good thing.

*TIP*  Wow, if you have things lying around that need to be hung up...get them on the wall.  You will be amazed how those things free up space in your living areas.  And don't be afraid to let go of your photo of your graduating class.  Or the dog stuffed animal that those people signed in all the wrong places with sharpies.  It was nice to look back, then I said farewell.  It was difficult.  But I see that my husband has survived without them...so why not me?  :)