The Great Purge… 57 Days and Counting

Let me paint you a picture.

It’s Sunday. The sun is out. I’ve got a garbage bag in one hand and what appears to be a Star Wars Millennium Falcon wall decal in the other… and I am absolutely at peace with the universe.

This weekend we went to war with our house. And we won.

Four bedrooms… packed. Two bathrooms… stripped like a hotel that ran out of budget. Walls blank. Closets running on fumes. The kids have their labeled bins because Nicole is the kind of person who labels things and I have learned to appreciate this quality over the years. The garage looks like a very enthusiastic yard sale threw up on itself and honestly… I could not be more proud.

We have a complete Star Wars themed bedroom essentially waiting for its next young Jedi. Gallon bags of Legos that I personally spent approximately 4,000 hours stepping on in the dark at 2am. Gaming room decor. Posters. Books. Stuff. So much stuff. All of it in the garage now instead of in our lives… and let me tell you something about that.

This is not our first rodeo. We have done this before… Rid of it All… Liberation from Stuff… Can we do an Elsa blog… and most recently The COVID post. Each time we leave with less. Each time it gets easier. Each time the relief is bigger.”

The house takes about five minutes to clean now.

FIVE. MINUTES.

I did not know this was possible. I thought cleaning a house was a lifestyle… a calling… a Saturday sentence. Turns out it was just the stuff. Get rid of the stuff and suddenly you are living in what I can only describe as a very peaceful Japanese minimalist dream. Nicole walks through and it stays clean. I walk through and it stays clean. The kids walk through and… okay it does not stay perfectly clean but significantly better. We are all winners here.

The living room has furniture and vibes. Nothing else. The hallway closets are completely empty which every time I open them gives me a small but meaningful joy that I cannot fully explain to you but encourage you to try for yourself. Extra sheets donated. Kitchen counters bare… cabinets still intact because Nicole is not quite ready for paper plates and I respect the process.

The basement is the final boss. Workout equipment. Nicole’s bakery corner. Avilene helped sort everything into bags for the garage sale which was genuinely adorable and I am not just saying that.

We rented a storage unit. Six cubic yards of mulch arriving Wednesday because apparently we are also landscaping now. Mowed today. Realtor came by with a contractor… new carpet for Avilene’s room… fresh paint out front… deck repairs. The house is becoming what it needs to be for someone else to love it.

Nicole is researching mail forwarding and cell phone plans and what Poppy needs for international travel. She started a new Korean drama. She is also going back through years of blog posts updating the SEO so new people can find us… which feels exactly right because we have a lot of story left to tell and we would very much like some company for it.

Our people know. Family. Friends. Most of them… because they have watched us do this before… because they know exactly who we are and what we want out of life… are for the most part excited and supporting. Zero shock. We have one life to live… live it well and full.

57 days.

The garage is full. The house is light. We are ready.

KAJA. 🌍🐾

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Q: How do you actually start clearing out a whole house before a big move? A: One room at a time with a garbage bag in one hand and absolutely zero sentimentality about the Star Wars wall decals. Start with the easiest spaces first — bathrooms hallway closets spare rooms. Build momentum. By the time you get to the harder stuff the relief you have already felt from the easy wins carries you through. Also label everything. Nicole labeled everything. Nicole was right.

Q: Does getting rid of all your stuff actually make you happier? A: We have done this enough times now to say with complete confidence — yes. Every single time. The house takes five minutes to clean. Five. We do not know why we did not do this sooner and we say that every time we do it which suggests we never fully learn but always enjoy the lesson.

Q: What do you do with all the stuff you are getting rid of? A: Garage sale for the things with value. Donate for everything else. The Star Wars bedroom goes to whoever wants it most. The Legos go to whoever has the patience for them because I have permanently lost mine. The sentimental stuff gets one honest look and then either makes the bin or makes the garage sale pile. There is no in between at 57 days out.

Q: How do your kids handle watching their stuff get packed up and sold? A: Better than the adults honestly. They filled their bins first. They moved things to the garage without being asked. They have already mentally moved on to Europe which is either excellent parenting or excellent kids or probably both. We are going with both.

Q: How do you know when you have enough stuff to actually need a storage unit? A: When the garage is full and you still have a basement to go through. That is your answer. We rented the unit. Zero regrets. Some things earn their storage fee and the bins of what we are keeping absolutely do.