So it seems the start time for remodeling our basement has moved up by nearly two months. Rather than beginning in late February or early March the contractors may be able to squeeze us in the first week of January. That means stepping up my game and digging everything out of the basement much earlier than expected.
Today I tackled the pantry. We don’t keep a lot of food in the basement, but we do store two or three shelves of excess items like spare bottles of ketchup, salad dressing, sauces and seasonings. Our kitchen is incredibly small so we don’t have a whole lot of room for storing anything but the bare necessities. I managed to move things around ever so slightly in an upstairs closet to make room for the surplus. While we probably won’t need any of these items during construction I didn’t like the idea of leaving food in a place that is bound to fill with dust and debris.
I also carried up a box or two full of glass items that might have incurred damage during construction. I initially planned to migrate these upstairs, but after digging through everything I changed my mind and decided to donate them instead. We haven’t touched many of these things in years and it seems silly to find new storage places for things we simply aren’t using. Some of these items were rather expensive. I’m certain the priciest were cut glass vases and drinking cups that cost at least $100 when purchased new. It pained me to get rid of them, but I am hopeful they will find a new home where they can be used much more frequently.
My pregnancy is beginning to catch up with me. Last week I could have walked up and down the steps a hundred times. Today I was tired after just a few trips. I decided it’s probably not wise to haul too much more stuff out of the basement. Whatever is left down there will probably remain. I may place a few last things in plastic tubs, but after that I’m officially finished. At least for the time being. I know there are at least a few other toys I could donate without making a dent in our overall toy pile, but for now they will be boxed up. After the remodeling is complete I’ll probably pass them on to another family.
Upstairs I bought a new elfa shelf to further organize the little room we use for storage. I put it where the filing cabinet used to reside. It wasn’t cheap. I spent just over $175 for the shelves and corresponding parts, but that corner of our world is now neatly organized. We needed a more efficient way to store towels, sheets and other bedding so I bought an extra wide version, which serves its purpose quite perfectly.
I also bought a few square containers to corral toys. I bought three at $5.99 each. This still isn’t the best solution, but for now it freed up much needed floor space. My son is getting better about putting his toys away before heading upstairs so that’s definitely helping too.
We bought a new bed for our little guy with hopes that he’ll happily hand over his crib and a new dresser for the baby’s room. That added another $900 to the overall total.
As I mentioned in my last post I set a deadline of December 31st for all nesting, but it seems I only have four more days until we head out of town so I am clearly running out of time to do much more. As I look around the rooms I cannot believe all that I have organized and purged. I want to focus the next three months on spending time as a family of three. Removing the clutter from our lives will definitely help me make mental and physical space for that.
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