Being the week of Thanksgiving , the challenge of time and temperature were against me this week to de-clutter my garage. As you can see, the temperature outside was 10 degrees! 
Because of the temperature, I decided to forget the garage and tackle the basement!
We live in a ranch style home so our basement is long and spread out, which is perfect for our family!
Welcome to the Mancave!!
Here is the view as you walk down the steps to ENTER the MANCAVE!
This side of the room is supposed to be a “family room” set up. Notice that there is no rhyme or reason to the furniture….the couch was moved so close to the tv in order to play X-box up close and personal. Oh yes, check out the murphy bed that didn’t ever get put back into it’s closet.
Check out this view…
Here’s the other side of the room. The room is “L”shaped.
To the left there is a long hallway….bathroom on the right, bedroom on the left…mess at the end!
Close up of the mess at the end…this is the “kitchenette”area
another view of the kitchenette area…a few years ago we actually lived in our basement for 3 months while our kitchen upstairs was being remodeled. This kitchenette area was a life saver!!! (the cabinets were from our old kitchen! ) To see our kitchen remodel process click HERE
The kitchenette is next to the messy “gym.” My kids love this space. It doesn’t get much use anymore, but I see a few balls have gotten loose from the tub!
My week has been absolutely crazy getting ready for Thanksgiving, picking up kids from college and finally taking one of my kids to an extensive doctor appointment. My sweet, sweet, 12 year old daughter who knew I was worried about finishing this challenge surprised me while I was gone by de-cluttering the basement! Can you even believe it????
Here are the results of the wonderful job that she did!
She re-arranged the furniture, folded the blankets and organized all of the video games…
She cleaned out the chinchilla’s cage…
Picked up the kitchenette area…
and the gym…
and when she was done, she played a little ping pong with her brother. See… Kids are capable of so much more than we think!!
She is an ANGEL!!!!
After watching me de-clutter for 13 weeks, I think she’s learned a few things!
Thank you, Mary, for this challenge! My house is neater, more efficient, but more importantly, simplified!!
What a sweet girl!! Your work the past 13 weeks has been amazing. Your daughter has learned so much from you. She did an incredible job! Wish you were close enough that I could stop by with a plate of cookies. You guys deserve a treat!
Mary
Cookies…YES!!! It was such a shock to see the basement de-cluttered after being gone for a few hours! What a way to end the challenge! I sure hope you will have more challenges for us….you’re an inspiration to so many!
Your daughter did a wonderful job! We must be in the same weather pattern …. Cold!
Yes…..COLD and SNOW!!!
Wow–I loooove all that space you have! It looks great (although it didn’t look very messy to me in the first place, lol!)
We sure appreciate the space too! Nice to have all kids downstairs and quiet upstairs =)