Boxes and bags and bins...oh my!

I'm thinking the picture above may give you a bit of a hint what this post is about. Yep, I have decided to clean the cellar and rid myself of a lot of stuff that is no longer needed. Oh and bear in mind that I have been making this decision for quite some time. Have actually worked at it occasionally too. And yet, still the memories, the good, the bad and the ugly remain in all these boxes, bags and bins...

What's that you say? This doesn't look like a lot of stuff? You are right, it doesn't, there's a bike, maybe 5 boxes and 2 rubber maid bins..so what's the big deal, right?

Well...this is not even IN my cellar yet,,this is the stuff that is to the right of my actual cellar door. It is here because I have no room in my cellar for it.

Have I mentioned yet that my cellar measures approx. 16'x20'???

Let's enter the room now, shall we?

Pictures are a little out of order, so just follow along..be careful to stick close, we might not find you again if you wander off from the group!

This first photo is the right side of the room as soon as you enter, part of it that is.

This is the first part of that side of the room, starts right against the wall when you enter and continues past the stuff in the previous photo
Until you reach the center aisle! The only REAL space to walk around in, The rest of the room has a 6-8" space along the walls that you have to kind of slide along to move around the room. The other way is to move boxes out of your path as you advance through the room. The problem with that is you might find yourself blocked on the far side of the room with no way out, except to move all the boxes again. Ask me how I know...lol
the following photo is the stack of stuff along the wall to the extreme right of the room...such a neat stacking job too, don't you think?
The view of the right side of the room from the doorway
and the view of the left..straight ahead from the doorway....see the small space between the wall and boxes? That continues around the perimeter of the room, it isn't always clear sliding around the walls either, as you can see in this photo, sometimes you need to do a sideways crawl over things that are in the way...

Did I mention my cellar is approx. 16'x20'?? I think I did, but thought I would tell you again. Did I tell you I have a lot of stuff??

Yes, I will admit to having a bit of a hoarding problem going on here, in case you haven't noticed! In all fairness though, some of this stuff does belong to my daughter and grandson, when I am done ridding myself of what I have been keeping, I'll take another shot so we can see how much of this is actually theirs.

Would you believe that I have already sold stuff from here? Last Columbus Day I had a 3 day yard sale and sold off maybe 4 boxes of stuff. Then my daughter moved and took quite a few boxes too. But for some reason, the cellar doesn't seem to get any emptier. If anything I seem to have LESS room than before, which is why I now have to stack stuff outside the door!

Could these boxes be reproducing??? I'm not sure, but something is going on here. I work and work and never seem to clear any space at all. And I am being RUTHLESS now. Gone are the slightly molding almost empty journals my son had to keep in 1st grade (btw, he is 20 now), also in the trash and picked up today, all the receipts I have come across so far that date back to 1984 (and older!!) I think it's safe to throw these away now, don't you?
And I can't remember why I was saving the box full of used Styrofoam cups, almost empty rolls of toilet paper, empty tape rolls, ripped bags, empty chip bags, crumpled bags from Mickey D's...well you get the idea right? I can only assume that while moving we put all our trash into this box, so we wouldn't litter or leave a mess behind, and somehow, this box got taped up and stored! Judging from the condition of the stuff inside, stored for many many years too.

Boy is my face red right now.

Of course there are also the boxes of stuff that *might be needed someday* like the sink faucet, and the wooden furniture legs that don't go to any piece of furniture that I own, and Lord knows that someday I may really really need the old cracked teething ring that belonged to one of my kids!

My face just gets redder and redder...

Naturally there is SOME good stuff down here. Like a gazillion books, from preschool age to my criminal law books from college. You name a type of book and we more than likely have it stored in our cellar! Also magazines..don't even let me get started on the magazines. And if you need a stuffed animal to cuddle up with, there is, no lie, 2 sailor duffel bags, a huge black plastic bag (BIGGER than the 30 gal ones) and at least 2 boxes FULL of stuffed animals.

So now you know. I have been spending the last few days going through boxes. Sometimes in disgust. Sometimes with laughter. And very often with tears, as I uncover some long lost memory, my 1st born's Christening outfit, the huge clay rose my daughter made me for Mother's Day in 1st grade, the 2 blue and 1 pink teeny t-shirts they were sent home from the hospital in, the card that my youngest made me when he was 8.......you know the kind of things I mean.
They are the hardest to let go and those boxes take the longest to sort through, but so far, in the last 4 days, I have managed to whittle 8 boxes, 2 bags and1 suitcase down to one box and 1 bin to sell, and 1 rubber maid bin to keep.

Hopefully by Labor Day, I will have an almost empty space....if I can control my urge to fill it up again and if the darn things stop being so naughty when I am not around and multiplying!

Til next time.....

Cathy