How are you hanging friends? We are officially halfway through our Unclutter Your Nest and Lighten Your Load Boot Camp! Can I get an “Oh Yeah!”? Truth time…my energy and enthusiasm started flagging a bit this week, but I’m forcing myself to get a little uncluttering done every day. This week should be a little easier than the last 2 weeks. There was just SO much stuff in our bedrooms, offices and kitchens in general. That being said, I’m not saying that a playroom will be a piece of cake. Since my ‘babies’ are 16 and 19, it is much easier for me to get rid of lots of stuff that they have outgrown, but is still housed in their closets.
So grab your unclutter ‘kit’ and let’s get going. For each area:
See here for a list of places to donate your gently used items or recycle other items.
One of the best things about my home is that I have lots of storage space. One of the worst things about my home is that I have lots of storage space. Built-in cabinets are clutter magnets! You put stuff in them, shut the door and bam…no more clutter. Until you open them. I completely forgot to take a before photo of what was hiding in my built-in cabinets in my den, but suffice it to say that it was not a pretty sight. This is how bad it was though…I had the neighborhood bylaws/directory from a neighborhood we left 13 years ago. And if that’s not bad enough, I packed it up and moved it …twice. Needless to say, it is now ‘outa here’.
So open all the drawers and cabinets you have in these rooms, pick up each and every item and decide if it needs to stay in your home. Let the wise words of William Morris be your guiding mantra.
Donate:
Recycle:
Trash:
Everyone keeps different stuff in their laundry room. My laundry room is the room that we most use to go in and out of the house and is really our ‘command center’ Not only does it house our laundry stuff, but we have cubbies for the stuff we’ll need when we walk out the door. It’s an easy place to accumulate clutter. Junkmail easily gets stashed here, as does stuff that we just don’t know what to do with.
We have had a hummingbird feeder for years. The feeder has 4 pieces to it. When I went through the kitchen I found 2 of the pieces, on in my junk drawer and one in a cabinet. When I went through my laundry room I found the other 2 pieces. See, it’s that Christmas in January thing again!
Trash:
Donate:
There’s probably not a whole lot to donate in your laundry room, at least not in mine. But there a few things that I found to send to the Habitat Restore.
Recycle:
Trash:
Donate:
Take all your coats out of your closet and decide how many you have that serve the same purpose? How many raincoats do you have? How many windbreakers? Decide which ones you really love to wear and which ones really serve a purpose to you and then discard the rest. I promise that there is a homeless shelter or domestic violence shelter that will gladly accept your coats, especially now that it’s winter.
Look at your gloves, hats and scarves with the same discerning eye.
What else is in your coat closets? This is another area that can accumulate stuff without us really knowing it. What is in there that should be somewhere else, either in your home or someone else’s?
Donate:
After the unclutter of my coat closet, all that remains are a few less coats, hats and gloves. And I got rid of all the stuff that accumulated there because I could shut the door on it.
Bedroom and Bathrooms 206 pounds
Kitchen, Office and Craft Rooms 602 pounds
Den, Playroom, Laundry Room, Linen Closet and Coat Closet 157 pounds
965 pounds! ( Surely I can find 35 more pounds somewhere!)
Week 1: Bedrooms and Bathrooms
Week 2: Kitchen and Craft/Office Space
Week 3: Den/Living Room/Play Room/Coat Closet/Laundry Room
Where to Donate and Recycle Your Discards
Freezer and Refrigerator Organization that Works
Personalized Kitchen Drawer Organization
Organizing and Storage Ideas for an Uncluttered Bathroom
Organized Closets and Cabinets
Organized Office and Craft Room
Clutter-Free Kitchen and Organized Linen Storage
Technology and Digital Declutter Ideas – Week 1
Keep it going friends. We are getting close to the finish line! Isn’t your home breathing easier with X pounds of stuff taken out of it? Aren’t you breathing easier just knowing you have fewer things to tend?
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Until next time…
Hugs,
Design by Themeshift.
Katrin
January 18, 2016 at 10:11 amHi there friend! I see you’re still going strong! Good for you! I can imagine that uncluttering a toy or family room is quite challenging… my girls actually got inspired and sorted all their polly pocket with clothes and little extras plus houses etc. and labelled and tried to sell it on spanish craigslist….that was cute and I loved how organized they were about it! I hear what you say about having a lot of closets in a big house! We had a huge house and I loved all the storage and it always felt empty, so you can imagine, stuff going in more than out. So now, here in Spain, it’s way smaller and not much room to store, which makes it easy to immediately throw it out or donate… a big difference!
You are sooo close to half a ton Lynn! Amazing!!! Whoot Whoot!
lynn
January 22, 2016 at 2:53 pmSo, I never quite equated my ‘weight-loss’ to almost a ton until you said something. Holy cow! It’s been a good thing finding stuff I don’t need, as well as stuff I do need but didn’t know where it was. Thanks for dropping by. And…when does WD start?
Mary-the boondocks blog
January 19, 2016 at 10:52 amLynn you’re doing great!! That is a lot of weight. I was just looking at your pencils and had to laugh. I’ve noticed over the years that the kids always gravitated to certain colors and the poor yellow was never used. I usually tackle these things in the summer when the kids are on vacation, to make a fresh start for the school year. As for magazines, I managed to clean out a ton of them recently when I redid my wall unit.. Right now, I’m so bogged down in work I don’t have much time to declutter, but I’ll continue to follow you on your journey because you have some great ideas and tips. Things I wouldn’t think of… Oh I finally managed to take down the Christmas tree… does that count as decluttering?
lynn
January 22, 2016 at 2:45 pmHi Mary, I am making so much progress getting stuff out of my house. As pleased as I am, I am also a little embarrassed as to how many pounds of stuff we had accumulated under our roof. And as it relates to your Christmas tree…absolutely it counts. I just took down my front door wreath and put it away today…so I’m right with you.
Hugs and Kisses and wishes for a great weekend. Lynn