When we moved into our house, it came with some surprises: 20+ cans of old paint, a screen door and a swinging door that now live in our basement, old cabinet doors and windows with removable window panes (???). I still have no idea how central vacuuming works, but we have all the hoses and attachments for those, too.

I finally got a chance to get rid of it all this past week, along with turning off the heat and opening the windows for the first time in forever. Here’s what went down:

• The window panes were moved and the cabinet doors were tossed. We definitely don’t have a need for an assortment of old cabinet doors. I did keep the panes and two of the larger cabinet doors because they were wood, in good condition and painted white. No idea if they’ll find their way into a project somewhere along the line.
• We’re in year 2 of resuscitating the back yard. We re-seeded and de-weeded everything, along with cleaning up our side yards overrun with ivy.
• I cleaned and organized our half basement/garage. We don’t have any built-in shelves, so we brought down a wire rack to keep plant food, weed and yard sprays, and all of the other stray bottles. The tools, mower and trimmer now have a home, along with my furniture refinishing project.
• A trip to Goodwill and recycling. We have three boxes of stuff in our spare room for Goodwill. I don’t think the recycling center has ever seen so many old paint cans or leftover computer equipment. Our parents are quintessential pack rats, so every time we bring something new into the house, we try to get rid of something as well.
• Getting this off the counters. When my grandparents remodeled their kitchen last year, they wanted everything to have a place and nothing extraneous would be on the counter tops. We’ve adopted the same mentality.

Minimalism at its best, but we’ve got a long way to go.

Happy Spring Cleaning!