De-Clutter my life in 2014

I touched on this last week in my 2014 goal post, but there is so much more to it.

Months ago I read this post titled, "Why I took all my kids toys away and why they won't get them back". And after reading it I felt like it just hung out in the back of my mind. For years I have slowly gotten rid of things I don't want or need. But I've saved a lot along the way. Things that I didn't really want, or use, but someone special gave it to me so I held onto it. Sound familiar? I think I'm not the only one with this problem.

Last year I asked my family to not buy presents for my kids because they flat out Do Not Need Them. I asked Travis' family to go easy for that same reason. I try to give ideas of things they can really use, rather than only "wants". Again this past Christmas I asked the same. I don't want people to buy things just to buy. These kids do not go without.

This is my living room just days after Christmas.

The crazy thing is that not only is this just half of the living room showing, it's far less than half of their toys. We have toys have we haven't opened from past birthdays, along with this Christmas that are just put away. And half of the toys are in the "family room" in the basement. (Also known as the place we put stuff that doesn't have a home.) This also doesn't include any of Zachary's toys, etc, or any toys that are in Tyler and Summer's room.

The toys are not the only problem. My scrapbook "area"- also in the family room has barely been touched since Summer was born. I've been collecting scrapbook stuff for well over 10 years, and it needs a massive clean out.

I still have prom dresses, two wedding dresses, a tote of Will's old clothes... Do these things hold special memories for me? Absolutely. Do I need them? Absolutely not.

My kitchen cupboards were pretty much overflowing with pans, baking sheets, mixing bowls, and have already been cleaned out and donated before December was over. The kids old clothes have been donated to the proper places and we only have their current sizes, and larger sizes that were handed down to us.

Board games and puzzles are overflowing our hallway closet, and my 11 year old freaks out at the thought of passing any of them to someone else. I have more blankets and yellow pillows than anyone wants or needs.

This Spring we will finally be finishing the "family room" in the basement, and it will become Tyler's bedroom. Everything that is currently in there will have to go, or find a new home. And thanks to Pinterest I have found lots of great storage and organization tips, but I can always use more!

What are your favorite ways to organize?  What organization/cleaning goals do you have for 2014?