Saturday, June 26, 2010

Time for the Big REVEAL!








Ta-dahhhhhhhhhhhh!
;-)

Isn't it lovely!?!

Yes, it did take quite a few weeks to finish!
But OH so worth it!

The kids "lockers"

Gary built fishing pole racks and hung additional shelving for the tackle boxes.



And organized a bazillion tools!


We now have a much needed "extra" pantry!


Does this wall even need an explanation? 

Okay, now for a little Q&A.
Funny nobody really asked much during the contest.
But we got lots of questions AFTER!  ;-)
How did it get like this?



Well, first off, we're not hoarders!
;-)
(Although, we've seen the show.
And it's scarey!)

I won't go into too much detail.
But, in short, Mason and Evan's entire life belongings had been in a storage unit that was not being paid on.
And it was all going to be thrown out.
Gary drove to Florida, tried to sort out as best as he could, but there were just too many boxes.
So, he rented a U-haul and brought everything up here...
...to our garage!
Over the years, we went through and found the boys belongings that they wanted to keep. 
Their baby albums, etc.
And unfortunately, we also needed to sort through and sell some items in an attempt to recover some of the huge debt incurred from paying off the storage unit and driving a U-haul a bazillion miles.

Just as we were windling down that pile.
..On the day Gary and I flew out of Guatemala with the twins.
My aunt passed away.
And she had graciously left us most of her stuff - to sell off to offset some of the adoption cost.
We were super grateful, but low on time.
So, once again....
U-haul + garage = storage unit!

We were very busy raising 4 boys.

And then, my dad passed away.

Then, my brother.

And more "Stuff" just kept getting shoved into the garage,
...in the hopes that we would eventually get to it.
Sort it out.
Sell what needed to be sold
and keep what needed to be kept.
Donate/trash the rest.

We were way overwhelmed!
And that's why we are SOOOOOO
Grateful to ALL of you who voted and solicited (shamelessly) for additional votes or us!

And SOOO grateful to Lite 98, Clutter Cleaner, and The Closet Factory!

Over the last few months, Gary and I have been going through room by room and keeping up with the decluttering!  Mason's room is now a nice little office/craft room.  Our closets are not overflowing anymore.
It feels good to be able to "breath" in our "space!"

So, in case, we haven't said it enough....
THANK YOU!!!


6 comments:

Hannah said...

That looks awesome!! I think it is funny that people thought you were hoarders :)

Deb said...

WOW...great job! Lots of hard work and what a reward! :)

Laurie said...

That is awesome! I love me some Closet Factory! We did our closets before the Princess came home! Best $$$ ever spent!

Bobbi said...

It looks great!!! I think life gets away with all of us!! No judging here, just super yeahs!

Jordan and Chandra Smith said...

I am jeaous!! We have out grown the house we are in, and stuck here, until my husbands graduates from his MBA program in Dec. and gets a new job- I am praying it happens sooner than later!!! Unti then, I feel like we are in a cluttered mess, and I am always falling behind!! It looks amazing!! (Oh and I got the clothes at the Children's Place)

Christine Hanlon said...

Donna, how exciting! Thanks for sharing.