Organizing Our Basement

This is the first house we have ever lived in with a basement and we sure do love the extra space.  It is an unfinished basement so it's perfect for storage.  We also have a game table that flips around for billiards, ping pong and air hockey. 

Over the last year our basement slowly started to look like a junk yard.  Stuff was piling up all over the place until it was a big mess.  Whenever someone wanted something down there, we'd dig around till we found it and then not take the time to put things back properly. 

So today I decided to tackle the whole mess once and for all.  My sons helped me and together we showed that basement who was boss.  :)
A few minutes after we started working, I remembered to snap some before pictures!  I'm so glad I did because it became a motivation factor to remind the kids how fun it would be to see the amazing transformation in before and after pictures.  It's a BIG basement so there are a several pictures. 

Before

(Unfortunately this shot was a bit blurry.)

After

Before

After

Before

After

We started at 9:30am in the morning and then we took a lunch break and played a card game (Rat-a-Tat-Cat) at noon.  Then we continued our basement overhaul right after lunch so we wouldn't lose any steam.  

Here are some panorama shots! 

Before

After

The first thing we did was sort items that were alike into different piles. We had piles for arts, crafts, Christmas decor, sentimental stuff, sports equipment, and so on.  We put all the odd pieces of furniture into one corner. 

We finished at 3:30pm and we were SO glad to be done! Every single box, bag, plastic bin and basket was gone through. Now I know exactly what we have and where to find it. 

Before

After

We also ended up with a BIG pile of trash and a BIG pile of Donate/Sell items.  

My next spring cleaning project is the master bedroom closet. I have a lot of work to do in there, too, and can't wait to get that done.  It feels great to get things buttoned up and beautiful. 

When we were done, the kids and I relaxed on the couch and had chocolate cake and watched a little comedy tv. We like vintage tv shows, so we watched an episode of the Dick Van Dyke show on netflix.  Then I soaked my sore muscles in a hot bath.  Later on, my husband got home early and surprised me with beautiful red roses!   He is too sweet for words.  He went down to the basement and admired all our hard work and was so proud of us.  

Here are my beautiful flowers from my sweetie!  Such a sweet ending to a long day. :)