I want to know how much junk mail, magazines, coupons, or newspapers you got rid of last week! Growing up we had a coupon drawer and that thing would get so packed because we’d forget to clean it out! I know my parents are better about it now but it’s amazing how quickly those papers can accumulate.
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 36: Desk Drawers
I don’t know if you noticed a couple weeks ago when we decluttered the desk surface but we don’t have drawers in our desk. But we do have a kitchen cart (that has never actually been located in the kitchen) that we used for make shift desk drawers. Inside we stored all those items that you’d find in regular desk drawers: post it notes, pens and pencils, charging cords, instruction manuals, and then every other random item we didn’t know where to put. That’s what desk drawers are for, right? Right?
When we had plans to move this cart to our storage space we cleaned out the drawers. But then the cart wouldn’t fit down the hallway or through the doorway. Instead we’ve moved it out to our garage so now it has a new purpose, but I’ll get to that at the end. First up, what did we find to toss, donate, or move elsewhere?
I moved the envelopes to my craft shelves because if I’m using an envelope I’m most likely making a card so they should be with all the cardstock and other card making supplies. The inhalers were dead (and Micah’s from 15+ years ago) so those went in the trash. Lots of the older electronic components were placed in the donation pile. Camera lens moved to the camera bag. Easy stuff. Those metal pieces? I have no idea what those are even for. I think some are brackets for shelves we don’t have but if we haven’t needed them in the 3 years we’ve been living here and who knows how long before that then I’ll think we’ll survive without them.
Once we got these drawers cleaned out we of course realized the cart would not fit where we wanted it to go. But at the beginning of August Micah’s parents came up and his dad helped us get it out to the garage. So now we are using it for extra storage and work space out there. The drawers make great storage for electrical cords right now. Look how cleaned out they are! 😉
Okay, so this example of decluttering doesn’t exactly work for everyone but I bet you can find a few things to toss or donate in your drawers. Show them off! Tell me how many items you were able to purge this week!
Share a picture on social media with the hashtag #clutterbusterchallenge of what you found to declutter.
Come back next week for week 37 as we tackle the ever multiplying craft supplies. Are you a scrapbooker? What about a knitter or crocheter? Do you sew? Paint? Sculpt? Whatever your craft of choice I’m sure there are some supplies you can sort through and eliminate excess or unusable items, or perhaps find some extras to donate. I bet lots of classrooms would love some extra craft supplies!
