.png)
First of all a small disclaimer! My daughter and I already started to clear some things out of the roof at the start of lockdown but I didn't take photographs (kicking myself now!) This blog starts with some actual floorspace which I can promise you wasn't visible at all a few weeks earlier!
The after the before pictures, but not the after, after pictures!!!
When my daughter and I had been sorting through earlier in the lockdown we had removed a lot of empty boxes and bags of things I would never want to use like old vertical blinds and some fabric from an old three piece suite (why???) This is what helped create the space in the centre and made the job look more manageable! I had also tried to pull together each persons own piles so they weren't in different parts of the roof.
So this time the first job was to get each of us to go through our own piles of 'stuff' and decide what it was we really wanted to keep and what could be given away or recycled. I can categorically say there is little scope for resale in our roof space!! My youngest son, and the least sentimental of us all, was first - he would happily get rid of EVERYTHING! I did ask him to save a couple of things but there isn't much in his tote box at all!
(if you want to read about our Personal Memory Tote Boxes, please have a look at my previous blog https://www.lindajharper.com/post/personal-memory-boxes )
Next came his twin brother - totally the opposite! He had already filled his tote box before it reached the roof! As he went through his things he managed to edit the pile a little bit.
TIP - pointed out by both twins - some of the project books from primary school seemed to have more input from the teacher than from the boys themselves, neither boy saw the value in keeping these books, as they didn't represent their own work.
Next came yours truly. I have definitely become less sentimental over the years as far as keeping things is concerned. Don't get me wrong I can cry at the drop of a hat - The Repair Shop gets me nearly every time, but I don't seem to need to hold onto 'things' like I once did.
My daughter is still going through her things, and she will be storing more up there as she has moved back home for the year, and my partner enjoys holding onto his memories in boxes more than most of us, so he has plenty of boxes left up there!!
Once the more personal things were sorted as much as they could be I moved onto the shelves at the back of the roof space. These could be put to much better use. The top shelf has stayed pretty much the same , lots of maps and travel books, with just a few additions which were randomly laying around elsewhere in the roof space! The other shelves now have some childrens books which hold happy memories for all of us,some cookbooks, which are referred to but not regularly, and my collection of Miss Read books which I adore! There is also a remote control car which has seen better days but I am assured will go again(!)
It was pretty much a case of working my way back from the shelf end towards the hatch after this. I managed to put like items together - photographs, a projector, screen and a couple of boxes of videos and home videos are now all close together as are my partners boxes.
I am really happy with how it has turned out. So far. The Christmas end is still to be tackled and we have decided to put more boarding down in the rest of the roof space but I think we can be proud of what we have achieved! All together I would say this has taken about two full days, on and off to complete. It was VERY hot up there so I would advise not starting a job like this on a very sunny day like we did! Yet again not a job to underestimate - especially if you want to go through items that have sentimental value to you. But you know what I am going to say! Please contact me if you want any help, drop me an email, message me or chat to me using the bubble on my website x
The almost but not quite finished after picture!! (look at that picture of me!! Does anyone remember Pob?!!!)