Spring Cleaning

These pictures have nothing to do with my post… they are just uber cute.  

So, before we moved to Germany we moved every year for three consecutive years… which is a huge pain in the you know what.  But in some ways ONE way it was nice because it forced me to go through every single item we owned… every year... and decide if we were keeping it, selling it, storing it, donating it, or trashing it.  And then after we moved and set up house, everything was in its proper organized place, a fresh start.

Well, for the first time in quite awhile, we are actually staying put for a few years.  Which I TOTALLY love.    We've been here over a year and don't plan on going anywhere for a couple more. I can actually relax a little.

But, it's amazing how quickly order evolves into chaos... and how much STUFF we've accumulated in just one year.   Every closet in every room and drawer in every dresser and shelf in every cupboard is in desperate need of a good cleaning and reorganizing.  A "spring cleaning" if you will.

Here's the problem.  I have like ZERO motivation to get it done.  There are like a kajillion things I'd rather do than clean out my kitchen cupboards. For instance, I'd rather 

read a book

read a book to my child

go outside

plant some flowers

plan or daydream about our next trip

cuddle with Jamesy Wamesy

play a game with Caroline

read a book… did I already mention that?

go to a park

go for a walk

take a nap

Yeah… the list goes on.

The problems associated with this type of project are these:

1.  Nobody cares if I do it.  Ben has a very high tolerance for clutter and disorganization… and my children are totally oblivious.  And no one else is coming to my house to go through my closets.

2.  I'm not getting paid

3.  Even if I do it, there's a high probability that nobody will notice

4.  I'm not held accountable to anyone.

5.  It is extremely boring drudgery

So last week as I was trying to get myself all psyched about doing it, I thought, maybe if I BLOG about it and post some before and after pictures, it'll get me moving.

So, I did. The first thing I tackled was the laundry room.  Are you ready for the before picture?  It's pretty embarrassing.

Yeah, it was getting to the point where we couldn't even walk in there. 

So, it took just under two hours and I had a brand new laundry room:

And I'm happy to report Ben DID notice.  

Next was my closet.  Note:  I did not do this on the same day.  Or even the next day.  That's how much time I need to recover between jobs.

Before:

And after:

And the nursery.  Really, there's no words for the state it was in:

And after:

There's still a long way to go… but for now, hanging out in the laundry room or James' room is pretty sweet.  What gets you motivated to do this sort of thing?  I need HELP!