Junk Out Week 5

This week I needed to tackle my entry, again. I think this area needs to have a quarterly clean-out, if not a monthly one. The up side of having a nice big entry, especially for a large family, is having a nice big space for coats and boots and shoes and stuff. The down side of having a nice big entry is having a nice big space for coats and boots and shoes and stuff. Space in my home is like a vacuum, it sucks in stuff.

We have 2 new puppies, who happen to be growing very quickly. They also happen to still be in training, if you know what I mean. (No, not training to sit still in church...) With puppies and their accidents, I'm taking bleach water to the floor pretty frequently, and it would help if there was not a pile of excess coats or misplaced mittens to work around, or worse, to pick up and run through the washing machine... ick.

I've had a few extraneous things in the entry for a while now, just waiting to be sorted through and tossed or donated, or in the case of the extra curtain rods that have been forgotten in the corner, put with the sewing stuff to be used with the puppet theater, once I pick up some cheap satin and/or velvet remnants at Mill End.

• The big extra air matress needed putting back in the closet. It was on the floor, where it really didn't belong, for far too long...
• A couple extra coats needed passing on the the thrift store,
• same with the unused rain coat.
• The boots needed organizing
• and the shoes needed sorting.
• The extra basket needed a new home under the stairs, for collecting toys waiting to go back upstairs.

And the floor needed to be mopped, again. And naybe again, for good measure.

The entry is the 1st thing people see when they enter our home. I know it should be a priority on the cleaning list and yet it seems so easy for me to let that area become overwhelmed with disorganized clutter. Our extra coat hooks have helped, as there are just too many sweaters, jackets, and coats for our little closet in a family this size. I have yet to find the perfect thing to tackle the shoe situation, but I keep trying! My latest idea is to keep a basket and just let them dig for pairs, as I don't have enough room for enough special shoe racks. I'm not sure how long it will last, bit it's working for now.

What about you? Did you get any Junk Out this week? Remember, the linky is kept open all week, so you can come back and link up any time you get to posting your decluttering progress.