Progress With 40 Bags In 40 Days

I made some great progress with 40 bags in 40 days here over the last few weeks! Decluttering feels so good and I can’t believe what an impact this project has had on our home- check it out!

lent challenge- 40 bags in 40 days

 

(I shared my first week with this project here, and today I’m sharing days 5-11.)

On day 5, I tackled the laundry room.

day 5

Interestingly enough, I know the before and after pictures don’t look that dramatic, but this was a time-consuming project. Not only did all the stuff on the dryer take awhile to put away, but the whole laundry room was covered in dust/dryer lent and had to be scrubbed down. I got rid of an entire bag of trash- mostly empty laundry soap bottles and piles of dryer lent. Now there’s hardly anything on these shelves at all. I’m always thinking my house is “lacking storage” but this is a testimony to having too much stuff, not needing more space.

I’ve been getting a lot more laundry done since cleaning this room because I don’t dread going in there anymore. And it’s certainly a lot easier to get it done when there’s nothing on the floor obstructing me.

Then on day 6, I cleaned out my purse which was also VERY overdue. I got rid of about half a bag of trash, which Lydia said didn’t count. Then she said it repeatedly. After the 4th or 5th time she said it, I told her that I would, indeed, inform my readers of her disapproval of this project. So there. I told you.

day 6

It’s been over a week now that the purse has been cleaned out, and it’s GREAT! I can find everything I need, and it weighs about half what it weighed before.

Moving onto day 9. (I know, I know, it’s out of order… just bear with me.)

The master bathroom- it feels great to have it under control again! And I did get rid of 1 bag of trash.

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day 9

And now, for the master bedroom. Try not to judge. 😉

days 7 8 10 11

This room was a DOOZIE! I had lost complete control during Christmas, and never re-claimed this room. Ever notice how once you loose control of a space, no one bothers putting anything away anymore, making it EXPONENTIALLY worse?! Well, that’s what happened in here. It’s really even worse than the before picture looks because all of the laundry is piled up and the dresser is totally empty. Plus, everything was totally covered in dust.

Here’s the master bedroom in progress- as you can see, I had some little helpers. Couldn’t do it without ’em! <3

master bedroom in progress

Given that we have a newer house that was built with a ridiculously large master bedroom, I like my family to be able to actually USE this space. And now we can again. 🙂

purple master bedroom 2

I’ve had some requests on Instagram to do a home tour (which I’ve always wanted to do anyway) so I’ve decided to do one here in Easter when I’m finished with 40 days in 40 bags. 🙂 So you’ll get to see some better pictures of everything soon.

purple master bedroom

Remember, it is NOT too late to join in if you’re feeling called to do so! Just start where you are- you can still get rid of more than 20 bags before Lent is over! 🙂

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Comments

  1. Ann-Marie says

    This is awesome! Well done! I love that there was a bottle of glue on the bathroom sink, because, of course! The amount of random that ends up all over my house never ceases to amaze me. Bravo to you and I look forward to the home tour!

  2. Thank you for sharing. My situation is a bit different than yours as we are changing 4 rooms around to make for a working space for me that will double as an art center for my son. It can get so overwhelming when I look at the whole picture, but I will be trying this. May God bless you in an unexpected way!

  3. Thank you for sharing your progress! I have also hoped to do 40 Days 40 Bags for Lent, but have not been quite as successful. I’ve maybe put 10 bags together. This is pretty much entirely due to tiredness and headaches that have come along with my 5th pregnancy. But I’m working on it! Thank you for the inspiration 🙂

  4. This is inspiration for me thank you! Question what pattern did you use for the beautiful quilt on your bedroom wall?

    Blessings to you and your family!

    • My mother-in-law just made it up. I really love this quilt- it’s probably my favorite one ever! 🙂

  5. Your posts have been very inspiring. I’m trying to declutter too. So far I haven’t been able to work everyday, but I know it will be at least 40 bags by the end of Lent.
    Thanks for posting your progress!
    God Bless you and your family!

    • I also don’t do it every day, but I tend to make several days worth of progress when I do work on it. 🙂

  6. I am excited to finish 40 Bags in 40 Days!

  7. Teri vanderpool says

    We have cleaned out 25 things. And have gotten rid of 60 (!!!) Bags or things. My big storage closet is awesome now. We’ve worked hard and had fun and even found stuff that has been hiding for decades. The most fun was to clean out the tarantula cage and put in all new substrate. This has been a good Lenten discipline.

  8. Sarah Delima says

    What a great idea. I just showed my husband! We have accumulated so much and we don’t have space anymore. Told him nobody can’t we our beautiful 1930s home because the first thing they see is our clutter.

  9. Lacy, I’m so far behind on my blog reader but I wanted to pop in and give you some solidarity love over Lydia’s comment about your purse. First, it TOTALLY counts.:p Second, I’m seriously thinking of starting a support group for moms of 8-9-10 year old girls … I’m a little scared of what 12-13-14 will be like! (lots of praying, I’m sure) I’m starting to work on plans for this year’s summer school (VBS at our parish) and I’m reminded of how much I appreciate all you do!