I have to admit, the only thing keeping me focused as I declutter is the fact that I feel obligated to bring all of you Half My Stuff Saturday each week.  I was all over the place this week decluttering different spaces, but never one room until I realized I better get on the ball and do a room for Half My Stuff!

So, as always, when there’s dire decluttering needed, I call my mom.

This time the emergency was the girls’ room. Bad does not even begin to describe the state of the room on any given day.  They clean it, but moments later, it is a mess.  They are paper collectors, stuffed animal collectors, and trash collectors…literally.  As in, I put it in the trash, and one child in particular digs it back out.  Taking out the trash around here requires stealth!

This room has been rather neglected since we finished painting and putting up border.  I had put all the girls’ stuff in a big box and that box ended up overflowing.  I am so glad all of you got me motivated to tackle this room!

Here’s the BEFORE:

They had JUST cleaned it the day before!  It is obvious TOO MUCH STUFF was the culprit here!

The hardest part of cleaning this room is keeping the girls out of the room–the Trash Digger in particular!  But, we managed to persevere and get the job done.

Here’s an overview of what we did:

Once upon a time, I had a set limit as to how many stuffed animals could live on each bed.  At some point, I got lax on that.  So, one of the first things we did was remove all the stuffed animals and put all but 2 or so downstairs where the stuffed animals belong. The top bunk child was sleeping with something like 10 animals!

We also pulled all the papers out from under the bed and tidied up the beds.

My 4 year old son shares this room with his sisters until his younger brother is more accustomed to sleeping in his new toddler bed.  The 4 year old’s toddler bed had been sticking out in this room like a sore thumb.  We managed to get it pushed up against the wall at the foot of the girls’ bunk beds.

That left space against the same wall for a shelving system I had downstairs that wasn’t serving any real purpose.  We brought that up and organized toys and things that most often find their way into the girls’ room.

I hung Megan’s horse coat rack above the shelf so we could keep hats and bags there.  The top shelf has a basket for crocheting and a plastic tub for paper dolls (the girls’ latest craze).  On the second shelf are their 18″ dolls and a basket for clothes.  Bottom shelf contains stamps, beads, and favorite magazines. {as you can see, Micah pulled a fast one on me before I snapped this picture by turning the yellow magazine holder around!}

The closet mess you saw was really yet another paper overflow mess, so I got that under control and got rid of some shoes, and ended with this:

Long ago, we gave up on the closet doors staying on their track, but I don’t mind an open closet as long as it is neat!  The wicker chest contains stationery and keepsakes…mostly of the Megan sort. {have any of you guessed yet which child is the collector???}

I also made a printed copy of the photo of the shelf and hung it next to the shelf so the girls can tidy it on their own. This was an idea I got from somewhere I can’t remember right now.  At first, I thought it was a little cheesy, but I totally see the merit in it now!  Can’t wait to see if it actually works!

While mom was here I toted 3 boxes of books and 8 bags of miscellaneous stuff to the thrift store down the street!  If it hadn’t been so thrilling to finally rid myself of that clutter, I might have found it somewhat depressing, considering no one ought to have that much “junk.”

One full bag of trash and one full bag of thrift store goods came from the girls’ room alone, so as for whether or not I got rid of half THEIR stuff…yes, I believe I did!  Maybe they will sleep better too!