(Side Note: Until the separate Paris Blog feed gets all setup in the next few weeks, both posts will be fed into this/current feed. Hang tight, you might just enjoy the content! And, in case you missed it – we’re moving to Paris! As noted before, both Bobbie and Ray will be posting to this, and in this case it’s Bobbie. The author name at the top of the feed should show you which one of us is posting, or on the site, at the bottom of the post.)
Once we received the final word on Ray’s new job and we knew we would be moving overseas, “Operation House Cleaning” was immediately put into motion. The mission was simply to clean up the house, and de-clutter it as much as possible so we could show it on the rental market. The below photo is at the peak of moving items into a spare bedroom for sorting.
Since The Boss lived the lush life as a bachelor here in the DC area for close to 6 years before I came crashing in, he had lots of great space in his house to store all of his… well, stuff. Then once I showed up and moved in I brought with me more stuff. Thus when you put the two of us together you get a lot of stuff.
With the guest room closets packed with everything from Halloween costumes to large stock pots, and the attic stuffed to the brim with suitcases, bike boxes, and childhood memorabilia we decided (as per the photo above) to just tear everything out of their storage places and start ruthlessly deciding what will stay and what will go!
Slowly but surely the giant pile started to dwindle and new smaller piles started to form.
Soon we were staging new piles in the garage. These were categorized as “garbage”, “recycling”, and “Salvation Army”.
Yup, my car made more trips where the back was packed to the brim than I can even count!
But like I said, slowly but surely things started to clear up. Until finally the worst of the storm had passed!
I’d like to take a moment here for an instant replay.
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This was a proud moment for me! We came, and we conquered. Sadly, celebrations didn’t last long, we still had the kitchen to take on.
But just like the upstairs, the kitchen also weathered the storm!
Some of the cookbooks, however, didn’t. Soon family and friends were receiving picture texts and email messages similar to below with the one liner “first come, first serve”.
There were other victims of the move as well. This one, I’m not sure I’ll ever quite recover from. My pet Sharky didn’t make it. Don’t worry, there might be a future pet Sharky in our new place…
The last thing that we did to make the house as de-cluttered as possible was to make a few trips to our rental storage space to drop off large ticket items we didn’t want in the house for the time being. Ray himself, was one of those big ticket items that I brought to get stored.
We’ll talk more about all our fun experience with the storage unit and our brush with the life of Storage Wars – there’s an entire underworld to storage units we never knew existed!
In the end, the house was sparkling and spacious, and ready for potential renters to view. But just like a cheesy prime time TV show, you’ll have to wait until next time to see the photos of the house finale!
Thanks for reading!
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Gah! I couldn’t even imagine doing all of that. But, I guess when it’s your only option, you pull on the big girl pants and get it done. Must feel nice to lighten the load though, right? And just think of all the space for fun Paris things now! 🙂
No easy feat, but I’m inspired and impressed. Great work!
8 Pc’s
7 Motherboards
6 Flash Cards
5 Hard Drives
4 Keyboards
3 Memory Sticks
2 Monitors
A partridge in a pear tree.
Have fun in Paris…
Just looking at these photos is making me dread ever discovering how much junk is in my house! My partner and I only moved last September (in together for the first time, gah) and I know that we have already accumulated so much stuff thanks to housewarming parties, Christmas and everyone just thinking they can get rid of their old stuff through us. But I’m glad to see that you got through it all and hope you are enjoying your move to Paris.
Thanks for the great post. I will recommend it to all my friends.
~ Norbury Carpet Cleaners Ltd.
Fantastic article thanks for sharing 🙂
The before -> after difference is amazing. Great post I enjoyed reading it and it’s perfectly arranged. Thanks!
I admire your patience and motivation. Thanks for helping me realize I can also clean up my house and feel happier about myself.
Wow! The results are just… Wow! Well done! 🙂
Ohh its too good and no doubt you have done a great job i like your patience and inspiration..ill be remembered.
🙂 🙂 thanks for show us how we can clean our home….nice
yay!!!!! i am so glad you share this tips….
Great Job.. clean up the house – 8 Years of Stuff!
Hey you have done good job I like your patience and inspiration. Thanks for sharing great tips to clean home easily.
Waw, Great blog . Very much interesting and informative post. Thanks for sharing.
OMG, I had this problem with my husband’s parents. The garage, the kitchen and the bedroom were buried under billion of unnecessary things. I watched a TV show and it showed that this condition is a mental disorder…
Wow! What a big difference before and ofter! Nice job! 🙂
What the hell is going on there…but after the cleaning restoration, the result is awesome. Great job!
Best wishes,
Erica
That is very funny post 😀
What?! It’s a strange story :/
Very strange…
In my opinion, it is an Obsessive–compulsive disorder. A lot of people have this problem…
Thanks for such wonderful thoughts you shared.
Nice!
Its true that every time in the end of the lease, we will have a hard time but you guys have done your work smoothly. There are people who doesn’t want to get into the trouble and hire professional cleaners. either way the result will be the same. i think the best part while cleaning by yourself is the moment that we spend in the rooms and taking care of the things.
Nice Post! thanks for sharing Every day cleaning a house is very important. When a house is clean then it will effects good on all health and on the entire family. A dirty house is a germs house and it spread germs in all the house. When our house is cleaned then it improves clarity and deters stress.
merci
Oh, it’s awesome to do the cleaning, de-cluttering and organizing the house by yourself. I loved it. Thanks for the share.
8yrs – I can’t imagine how the de-cluttering and cleaning had gone. Best wishes.
Thanks for sharing with us great information. Your explanation is amazing regarding this topic. I also follow Merit cleaning for home cleaning and office cleaning purposes. They provide great information regarding professional or commercial home cleaning services. You can also add this blog to your article.