A number of the stumps may put out new growth. I wonder to what extent this will contribute to new forest formation? As to this: " The stumps and roods of dead trees won't harm saplings." While true in the direct sense, I believe, the rotting high-carbon dead wood may tie up considerable nitrogen from the soil. Whether this has a significant impact on nitrogen availability that may impact new plantings I don't know. It may be that instead of trying to replant a whole forest, you guys could choose a number of 'specimen trees' to plant, focusing your efforts on several individual trees. Choose different species and it becomes a learning experience. After all, why would someone choose, oh, say, red oak over white oak, or either over sugar maple, and where does black gum fit into all this, and if tulip poplar grows so fast, big and tall and looks good why isn't is more 'popular' (couldn't resist), etc...? It's be interesting to have different scouts or scout groups research different tree options, including on here, sticking to native species, and 'make the case' for different trees in different habitats, and maybe even have them vote on choices. Even if you demand a mix, let's say you were going to plant 10 of 1 tree, 8 of another, 5 of another, 3, 2 and 1. Maybe they could pick which tree got more plantings? Richard.

This one is from my own sweet mom, who is mother to 9 of us. To save on bathroom storage space ~ which, let me tell you, was at a premium with 9 kids! ~ she gave us each a simple, inexpensive, plastic tool-type caddy to keep our own personal bathroom necessities (toothbrush, comb, brush, etc. ) in. They were stored on a shelf in our bedroom closets, to be carried in and then back again, as we needed them. This helped a lot to keep our bathrooms uncluttered and organized. Mom also bought one of this type of plastic baskets for each kid to catch of our dirty laundry. She wrote our names on each of them. The plastic made it easy to keep clean and the holes kept our dirty clothes somewhat aerated . . . which really helped with our brothers' stinky things (LOL). The handles made them easy to carry back and forth to our laundry room. Lynn

I am like Jan - can't stand clutter, even if it's behind the closed doors of a closet. Just too distracting for me. Unfortunately, my seemingly "raised in a barn" children don't seem to have inherited this gene :-) DH just took all three kids to visit his family during spring break two weeks ago. I had four days with the house all to myself and cleared out a ton of stuff, then reorganized quite a few spaces. You just seem to accumulate so much with kids in the house! When I was all done, I felt like I could breathe again! I had about 5 big garbage bags of stuff to dump, then filled up the back of my SUV with dontations for Goodwill. We have a drive-thru donation center nearby so it was pretty easy to have them take it all off my hands. I agree with the others who said this has been a great way to evaluate potential new purchases - every time I've been shopping in the last couple of weeks, I've really stopped to think about whether I absolutely need and/or love it. I've passed up or returned quite a few things lately! Still need to tackle the unfinished storage area in our basement. The main source of clutter there? Paint cans! I was truly embarassed to see how many partially-used gallons of paint I've piled up due to my eternal search for the "perfect" colors. I can't even tell you how many golds or warm yellows I have. Next step is to whittle them down to the colors we currently have on the walls and dry up/ dump the rest.

Did someone say "organize?!" I LOVE to organize and seeing everything where it should be. Everyone has great ideas. DD2 just did the Marie Kondo’d folding and her family is loving it. She also labeled containers in linen closet and kitchen pantry closet. DD1 has all drawers (9) in her vanity. Before ordering clear containers from The Container Store, she cut out pieces of paper to the various sizes, so she could see what would fit where (including contents after they were put in drawers). I liked her system so much after she finished, I borrowed one of each container and decided what would go in each of the master bathroom vanity. I visually like the clear containers vs white or black plastic. In the closet, I went to 3 Lowe's and purchased the cloth covered and lined boxes. Use them for shoes, extra clothing (I often will buy 2 of clothing I really like, putting 1 never worn piece away for another year/season), out of season items, seldom used items, etc. The ones up high also hold out of season shoes, and I switch out end of summer/winter. We swapped the old bathroom (no windows) and old closet (two windows), so while the closet looked large gutted, it is odd shaped. DH and a helper built it out to my specs. In my iPhone Notes, I have what is stored in each container, so it's easier to locate if needed (I really only do this twice a year.) I purchased dressers that will slide in/out (to access outlets) and built the closets around them/the dimensions. I also changed to the velvet hangers, which really made a difference in the number of clothes we could hang. I store my shoes in this tower. DHs are in the containers over his dresser. His clothes, here, go back to the corner. In the corner above, where the stool is, there is a scarf and belt slide out hanger (dead space, but made the most of it.) I buy things in bulk, so under the bathroom sinks I store things in frosted plastic containers with handle cut-outs purchased at Target (in store and online). They stack nicely since they have formed bottoms. They come in other colors also. I also use them in the laundry room cabinet for easy access and grouping things. I used the OXO Pop containers in the kitchen and laundry room, and also woven hyacinth baskets in lower kitchen pantries for bottled drinks/water. I just ordered more Rubbermaid cereal containers to store bird seed and peanuts. Takes us less space in laundry room cabinet. The best thing for organizing I did in the kitchen was my baking pan/dish drawer.