Spring Cleaning - Feb. 2008

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Spring Cleaning

So I'm finally free from school, at least for the next 2 weeks. I really enjoyed the discussions in my last class, although I lost a lot of motivation during the final week. I'm not sure this particular instructor actually read our papers, because there were a few I turned in that were, well, to put it mildly, not exactly my best work, but I still managed to receive full credit. So knowing that even if I chose not to turn in my project in the last week I would still pass the class with a B, it left me very little motivation to finish that paper. But thankfully, it's all done now, and I can focus on much more exciting things...like massive spring cleaning!

I know, I know, what kind of sick person could actually be enthused about spring cleaning?! And under any other circumstances I too would cringe at the thought of extra cleaning duty, but right now every little chore is one more step closer to selling our home! Which is exactly why I took a break from school to devote the next few weeks to ridding our home of everything unnecessary, boxing up as much as I can, finishing all the painting, installing new carpet, and several other odds and ends.

So I began yesterday by cleaning out the garage to make room for as much as possible. From there, I removed the barstools, white recliner, throw rug and end table from the living room. Now it looks very empty with just a sofa and TV/entertainment center...but that's the whole idea, to make the house look as big as possible.

This room has not yet been painted, so you'll notice several white spots on the walls where I've been patching all the little nicks, dents, etc. in the walls before they're ready to paint. Also, notice KW enjoying one of his new favorite movies, Lilo & Stitch, (favorite: definition - a movie we must watch every single day and often multiple times on those days, only a select few movies hold this title at any given time).

From there I ventured into LA and KW's bedroom and took out everything except for the bed, dresser, and a few toys. Everything else has been boxed up and placed in the garage to make it easier when we get the new carpet so there's all that much less to move.

There's one down side to getting our home ready to sell, particularly when it comes to painting. It's the standard to paint your walls a rather neutral color to appeal to most buyers, but to me this makes our home look so boring, so dull, and so un-lived-in. I love dark colors and normally our home is painted with bright, dark, beautiful colors and designs in all the rooms. But now, one by one each room is losing all of its personality and becoming so un-cozy. Take for example, LA and KW's room before:

A perfect shade of little girl pink in a princess castle design with hand painted flowers, butterflies, and dragonflies all around. This room is so warm, rich and cozy. It has life and personality. Now, take a look at their room after the transformation:

It's very overcast & cloudy outside today, so this picture is somewhat dark. A light tan/khaki color now covers the walls, a neutral bedspread in place, and the childish curtains have been removed. Do I like the new wall color? Yes, but not ever for a child's bedroom. To me, this room is a new blank canvas just waiting (screaming) to be painted so it can once again come to life with a whole new personality! I guess maybe that's what makes this so appealing to buyers, because it allows them to think of the new colors they want to put in that room.

The kids have really noticed the change too, maybe that's why I'm having such a hard time finding the motivation to paint over their bathroom.

The bottom half of the walls are a very deep, dark, rich navy blue that adds such life and character to this room. I just hate to part to with it. Need more proof? Take a look at IK's room before:

A rich, deep red topped with a sports ball wall paper that so perfectly says "all boy" in this room. Yes, the top half was khaki colored, but it was also filled with press & stick sports balls, posters and hand drawings IK has made. This room has so much life. And now, drab city:

The only saving, comforting thought here is that our new home will be a totally new blank canvas just waiting for us to paint it with tons of personality! IK has already told me several times he wants his red walls back!

Okay, enough moping over that already. So after finishing LA's & KW's bedroom, I folded the huge mountain of laundry SD had so wonderfully washed & dried for me (VERY out of the norm for him, PLUS washing tons of dishes in the kitchen the past few days, but I'll take it!!!) and then I went on to remove the very large futon and IK's drumset from the office, which makes that room seem sooooo much larger. I also got rid of SD's huge collection of soda cans finally dropping them off at a local recycling center for a whopping $21.50 (at $0.40 per lb).

Today's project list? I'm going to attack EJ's bedroom and pick up some boxes to clear out the kitchen as much as possible. What's the scariest place in my house right now? The pantry!!!

What is all that on the middle shelf? A very messy collection of recipes just dying to be organized. Which is perfect timing since there's a couple recipes I need to find and make this weekend. They're in there somewhere! We're getting much closer...one room at a time.