Simplify.

As you know we recently overhauled Ronan's room and ever since, Asha has wanted to "sleep-over" in it. Ronan has no problem with this, since he doesn't like being alone (Jordan was the same way, despite their constant bickering about wanting their own room)
Of course I put this all down to the "coolness" of Ronan's room but actually, Asha's room is an overwhelming mess of stuff. She saves every piece of paper and string (it's the crafter in her;-)and despite me planning the room with buckets of buckets and cubbies and drawers, everything is shoved in to any available space and that includes floor.
I had a conversation with Asha that surprised me and reinforced a general rule of how I live my own life.

Me:Why do you like Ronan's room?
A: He doesn't have stuff everywhere.It's easier to clean up.
Me: Would you like your room to be easier to clean?
A:....stares blankly, like she wants to say Duh but knows I don't like that so much.
Me: are you willing to get rid of stuff so it is easier to clean?
A: Yes
Me: How about if we get rid of everything!! Just leave some notebooks and pencils?(I will keep the stuff in storage in case you change your mind and if we don't miss it, we'll donate it.)
A: Sure, then I could have a desk?
Me: That was easy, but I don't have money for a desk right now.
A: I do....

And she proceeds to browse the IKEA catalog as my heart swells with pride, my baby loves IKEA too.

So I donned my industrial overalls, not really but it was a showerless, sports bra kind of project and we went to work.

One large bag of trash, 3 bags for the DI and about 3 moving boxes of "stuff" to keep in storage (in case this experiment doesn't work)And we are done.



Well I thought I was done until I climbed up into the bed to change the sheets and unloaded this lot. She has 39 kids, 42 if you count the 3 dead ones she has in a box complete with headstone (Hobbs loved them too much)
It wasn't as hard as I thought, she didn't flinch as I packed up and threw out all kinds of stuff. At one point I had a rock and a ball in my hand and she said "you can get rid of that" I did and she immediately corrected "NOT the ROCK!!"



So here it is: All but 3 of these buckets are empty.

She color organized all her markers and crayons.




And finally she opted for this table because it was only $20, she hasn't picked a chair yet 'cos she'd like a lime green one.
I'm thinking I need to make a cool notice board for above the desk :)....my next project.