Clearing the Clutter

Yesterday, instead of blogging, I was going through the house with Mom and her realtor, and getting the low down on what needs to stay, and how much still needs to go. In a house as huge as Mom's (think ginormous....now double that and you'll have a good idea of the square footage we're dealing with) clutter can build without noticing it, since everything still (essentially) can have a place. But, we need to get this house down to bare bones if its going to be in show stopping shape. Yesterday I tackled the library (which my little family also uses as a family room) and organized the bookshelves to my hearts content. Sure it was a few hours of hard work (and sweaty! Yeah for the sweat challenge! ) but I LOVE organizing, simplifying my surroundings, but most of all, realizing the beauty in ordinary things. Books really can be show stopping art, but not if they're too crammed into the shelves. I cleared away a few BIG boxes of books, then I chose my favorites that would be highlighted in one way or another. As an added bonus, once the shelves were no longer over flowing with books, the room seemingly doubled in size.