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How bad was going through your cleaning supplies last week? Did you find bottles or jugs to dispose of properly or did you find that you only have the items you really need? Did you find new places to keep your cleaning supplies? After cleaning out under our kitchen sink it’s actually somewhat refreshing to open it up because it’s not a cluttered mess. I suppose that is the point of all this decluttering 😉
If you are just joining us, here’s the deal:
I still had this mindset of decluttering being a big ol’ chore up until a few months ago when I read this fantastic post from Nony at A Slob Comes Clean. It was like a huge light went off in my brain! Decluttering is simply the act of getting rid of what doesn’t belong, isn’t needed, or belongs in the trash. It doesn’t mean buying a whole slew of new bins for your things to go in or coming up with some type of system that you hope will change your life – that’s organizing. It’s a whole different ball game. Right now, I’m in the game of decluttering. I just want things GONE.
When there’s less stuff, especially less of what has no purpose in your home anymore, organizing can often happen naturally. You won’t be cramming thirty towels into the closet because you only need ten and they fit nicely. You don’t need to dig through a tub of medicines to find what you need only to keep coming across bottles that are long since expired.
Here’s my challenge: Each week, take on ONE area of your home. I’ve already made the list for you so that part is done. Go to the area, throw away trash, put items that you no longer need but are still in good condition into a donation box, and put other items where they belong. Simple!
You can read more about the challenge on the week one post.
Week 15: Master Bedroom Nightstands
I have been both looking forward to and dreading this week. I knew how bad we needed this. I’ve known it for months, if not longer. My drawers are an easy place to toss things that I’m not sure what to do with anymore. It was a place I kept all my items dealing with pregnancy and nursing for the last 9 years. It was where I tossed books and old phones, pens, candy, hair ties, and medications. It was BAD.
I started by pulling out all the garbage. Dozens of nursing pads (um, I haven’t worn those in about a year), several papers, lots of hold slips from the library, used tissues from various colds and illnesses (yuck!) and many, many, old expired stool softener pills that spilled during one of my many pregnancies that I never bothered to clean up. There’s some TMI for ya! All in the trash.
I found lots of hair items, both for me and Mercedes. Those all got returned to the bathroom or put in a donation box if they no longer fit. I put the pens and pencils away where they belonged, trashed the remote to an old digital photo frame we no longer have, and put the little tiny hospital bands from the twins in my scrapbooking supplies. Someday I’ll get those put in a shadow box…
Cough drops, icy hot, and thermometer in the medicine bin, baby hair brush in the donation box, lanolin in a pile to offer to nursing friends, nail clipper to the bathroom, tennis ball to the laundry room (for drying comforters and pillows), and chap sticks back into my night stand.
Along with the chap sticks I put two books, two coloring books, and a journal in my drawer plus a few writing utensils. Now I can find what I need when I open this up!
Oh, and check out the other random item I found – a remote to a window A/C unit from our old house. Oops! Hopefully the new owners made due without it. I almost feel like putting it in their mailbox but that might be weird.
We did Micah’s side as well but other than a before and after picture I totally spaced on taking a picture of the things we found to toss! Many credit cards to places we no longer have or need accounts with anymore, LOTS of old chap stick tubes, and many library hold slips all found their way to the trash bin and shredder. He had cleaned his drawer out a few months ago so it wasn’t nearly as bad as mine. At least now both our sides look nicer!
Best of luck cleaning out your nightstands! Will you be cleaning the drawers or the surfaces? How many hidden items do you think you will find?
Share a picture in the comments or on social media with the hashtag #clutterbusterchallenge of what you found to declutter.
Come back next week for week 16 of the Clutter Buster Challenge when we go under the master bed to see what is hiding. If you don’t have an under the bed space or if it doesn’t need attention perhaps there is a different area in the master bedroom you can declutter instead!
If you are looking for a better way of keeping on top of your homemaking tasks now that you are steamrolling through all this decluttering you might be interested in a new course from Humorous Homemaking. Home Management How To: A Guide to Daily Success is open now! I’ve got a post about my experience with this course here but this is a great course for you to take control of all the household tasks in a way that is tailored specifically to your family and life.
