The great cleanout!

I spent nearly six hours cleaning Maddie's room today. There isn't a nook or cranny that I didn't clean out. The biggest challenge was her closet. She has a built-in closet system with eight drawers, nine separate shelves, and three hanging bars. The drawers were packed so full some of them wouldn't close and the floor was piled with more clothes that wouldn't fit in the drawers. There were things hanging on the bars that I had never seen before (hand-me-downs from friends) and the shelves were packed with Maddie's treasures. I first pulled everything out of all of the drawers, checked sizes and removed anything that I knew wouldn't fit her or that I knew she just wouldn't wear (usually Jordan's hand-me-downs - they're not always Maddie's style). I then sorted everything by article and then color. After replacing the well-liked items that actually fit her and piling the rest in the hallway (for the Salvation Army), I could tackle the multitude of bags and boxes filled with treasures. If you know Maddie, you know she's always carrying a bag or a purse, sometimes both. I filled three bags with trash and donated 165 articles of clothing. The room looks great.

Keep watching the show Hoarders - in about 15-20 years, you'll see Maddie's story. Most of the clothes in the pile are things she wouldn't part with at the end of the past few seasons or things she insisted still fit her (she wears a 12 and some of those things were size 6).