Free the Freezer from Frost...Finally

 January is a good time to defrost the deep freeze. Everything can be boxed up and set outside where the temps were plenty cold for the few hours it took to clear the frost in freezer.
















Unplugged and left to thaw.  It didn't take long to loosen the frost chunks and remove them.  Then the inside was scrubbed and dried and we were ready to start it up and fill it again.












Didn't find too much mystery meat or other overly frozen unidentified
items. Only had to toss a couple items. A bit more organized and
a lot of room left.

We removed a bunch of the boxes to sweep the floor and scrubbed the top of the deep freeze.
The boxes will need to be inventoried and sorted before being neatly placed back under the stairs.
The goal is to have the room and floor be clear like the photo below. (Easy access to the ice cream!!)

The Furnace Room is full of storage boxes. The storage boxes are full of stuff. We tackled our first box of stuff: The Wrapping Paper Box.

You know all those nice little gift bags we use to give birthday presents, Christmas gifts, anniversary presents, graduation gifts, Valentine's, Easter, etc? We've amassed quite a collection. We save the bags we get to use when we give gifts. As you can see from the photo, the box is over stuffed.  Quite often we run down to the box, grab a bag and a handful of tissue as we are heading out to whatever event we are attending with a gift. The contents get muddled and the lid is rarely replaced. When we get gifts we simply stuff them in the box.

Well, as part of our cleanup of the Furnace Room, we tackled the gift box. Badly crumpled and torn bags and ripped tissue was sent to the recycling bin. The good bags were sorted by size and neatly stacked in the Wrapping Box. The tissue was ironed, folded, sorted by color and put in a clear shoebox inside the Wrapping Box! The lid fits.  All is well!

Starting the New Year!

For several years we've made a similar resolution: Be More Organized!

This year we are going to document our efforts. We plan to tackle some of the 'untouched' and 'cluttered' areas of our home each month. We'll spend about 20 minutes a day each in each area and document our progress here.  Hopefully this will keep us motivated with accountability, and allow us to view our progress (and success!)

As the seasons change, we may shift our focus to the outdoor areas, and include our gardens. To start out though, we'll visit our furnace/utility room. No complete makeover is expected, just a good old fashioned spring cleaning and reorganization. Perhaps we will find some lost treasures! At least we will recover and make more useable an important space in our home!