Clean House- My New Obsession

My new guilty pleasure/obsession: Clean House with Niecy Nash.  I watch it on Netflix.. Wow does it ever inspire you to clean out and pitch out. It's so sad to see how some of the families live- and to hear why. I was struck by how many people collect/horde items from a specific time in their lives. One man was hoarding 1960's memorabilia- it finally came out that the 60's for him had been a great time in his childhood, prior to his parents' divorce and losing contact with his father.

It also struck me that each and every hoarder/mess-maker without fail mentioned that their parents were the same way. Well, that did it for me! I do not want our kids to grow up with any of that. With Clean House playing in the background, out came the boxes and boy did they ever get filled quick! My husband needed a bit more motivation- 3 episodes of A&E's Hoarders did the trick.  Here's the first wave of boxes we filled:

Granted, a couple of the boxes are small, but it's so embarrassing that we let that much accumulate in what is basically a thousand square foot house. What's even more embarrassing is that we aren't done yet.We got rid of about 15 boxes in 3 weeks time. And there is more to go.

While I was at it, I figured some good old fashioned organization never hurt anyone. It' sort of awesome to be able to find the stuff you need, when you need it.

Now to get rid of it:I've never had any luck with garage sales. Our house is hard to find and I hate storing stuff. I'd really rather just give it to charity. I'd also rather not cart it around. So I donate to Northwest Center. If you are local, you can sign up and request a pick up here. Just tag the boxes, stick them outside, and their nice driver will come spirit them away. Love it! If you live in a larger town, Goodwill and Salvation Army may well offer pickup services. If you have a metric ton of crap, than 1-800-got-junk would probably be a great bet for you. They'll even load it!

To keep it clean: it's certainly not the prettiest solution, but I keep a cardboard box in the kitchen, master closet, and kids room. If something needs donating, it goes straight into the box instead of taking up precious space in our home. Periodically, I'll consolidate the boxes and out they go! My downfall- paperwork. I hate to file so once a month, I have to get a big sack and just purge my desk. What's the hardest thing for you to organize/keep clean?