My first Tackle it Tuesday! This is right up my alley. Motivation to do the things that don’t get done otherwise.
It is my goal for the week to get three clutter areas cleared. So then there will only be sixty or seventy more to go. Ha ha ha.
I’m not kidding. Look at my blog name.
I have the prettiest built-in-cabinet/hutch-type-thing in my breakfast nook. Its only fault is that it is a huge junk collector. (See how I made it sound like it is the inanimate object’s fault, rather than mine – I’m really good at that.)
Here’s the before:
And the after:
Less than ten minutes from start to finish.
Yes, I know there’s still a pile on it, but that’s hubby’s Bible Study stuff that he does every morning, and moving it would stress him. As I get better at this, I’m going to try to find another place for it. For now, I’m satisfied with it being there because it is something that actually gets used, not just piled. I thought about not including it in the pic, but my goal for this blog is to be COMPLETELY honest.
Here’s the lowdown.
Some of the stuff was trash, even things that are really cute and the kids might do someday.
And some things needed to be relocated, including the coffeemaker whose carafe we can’t find a replacement for (I guess it should actually be trash):
And last year’s leftover school supplies, some of which we could have used again this year, grrr. These go in the craft closet which is an entire two steps to the right from where they had been thrown.
And everything, yes EVERYTHING else went into the cabinet that was right next to this counter. I put it all away without even moving my feet.
And only one thing to make me scream. A locust shell/skin/whatever that my son had been keeping in the toy cage.
Check out other Tackle it Tuesday tasks here
When you said that most of the stuff on the counter went nearby I laughed. Instead of putting things where they go I dump them in one place until there is no more space to put them.
I love this blog. Love it. Honestly, I’m a neat-freak. I hate having cluttered spaces or a dirty kitchen, but the only reason my home is clean is because I always clean as I go. I have absolutely NO self-motivation!
Also, I’ve realized that when I estimate the time a task is going to take, I always estimate at least 5 minutes over. Don’t know why….
OK this is old.. but I have been rereading your blog .. I have never seen this one.. I can so relate, I have one to and it always fills up with junk!
you know it takes like 5 to 10 min to pick up and in our brain it takes longer lol.
Clutter spots at my house are the top of the microwave and the bay window. I just do NOT know what to do with mail, kids school papers, etc.
I like the idea of “tackle it Tuesday”!! I love your blog. Thanks for being real!
I found this blog from Pinterest. Love it. My house *should* be clean since it’s just my husband and I, no kids, and yet I fall behind all the time on sorting mail and other household tasks. One of my biggest habits I’m trying to change right now is to empty the dishwasher as soon as it’s clean/done so I can then put dirty dishes in there directly instead of piling things in the sink until I need to run dishwasher and then finding I have 1.5 dishwasher loads and still have dirty stuff in the sink. I generally keep the kitchen clean but keeping clutter from the living room and bedroom is a struggle. And don’t even get me started on the packing boxes from the basement (we moved into our home six years ago). I kid myself that as long as I keep up on laundry and the house tidied that I don’t have time to worry about decluttering. Silly me. I need the ‘Tackle it Tuesday” in my life to get some of the hidden spaces cleaned out as well. Thanks for writing and I can’t wait to catch up to current day and see how things change for you 🙂
I’m glad you found me! Welcome!
I just started reading your blog today and started backwards like you suggested. I just have to say that this post brought me to tears. It was such a comfort to see that I’m not alone in my slobbish ways and I appreciate your honesty more than you know! Maybe there is hope for me after all.
There is definitely hope! And welcome!
I’ve been reading your blog now for a little over a week, and we’re already seeing a big difference in our house! Thank you! I was initially following links in your posts to jump around your more “recent” projects, and searching for specific things you referenced (like the daily checklist), putting bits and pieces into place until I had about 20 open tabs of different directions my attention wanted to go with your blog posts. So towards the end of last week I closed all the tabs, went back to your very first post, and am now reading through the entire thing in order. I have several years of decluttering experience, yet somehow I’m seeing a bigger impact now than ever. I think it’s the Daily Checklist (which seems to be starting to rub off on my husband!) With baby #3 due within the next couple of weeks I am so grateful that I found you now!
Hi there
I have gradually been browsing your blog. I am actually in fact a neat freak always have been from a very very young age. I thoroughly clean house once a month. Windows curtains carpets etc. But I have one huge pain ..my husband is a construction worker runs his OWN business from home and his papers cover every single inch of three counter tops old books scream at me from waist to ceiling bookshelves in my family room he has covereda ddining table with loads of paper work and he frequently attempts to hit my dining and sitting room where I have formalmeals with his cclutter and of course. ….you me and we all know this …He is busy with every piece of paper covered with dust or no!!!!!! I Please help me diplomatically try find a way of querying bank and important house documents and generally trying to get his paperwork under control without him realising it’s ‘my’ idea and tossing rubbish which he has approved of. He is a procrastinater and hates organisation in itself but loves the fact that it’s sorted … i already unpacked a shelf of books put it in a box where we watch TV thinking I’d ask one book at a time but by the time we sit together I’m exhausted that time at night and dnt feel like it myself. Maybe a few minutes per weekend …..Please please help. I’m so organised usually my friends beg me to help them with routines and organisation and in fact ant my own place to blog but MAN this office/study…..I don’t want a divorce over it but I would love a candle clean area where he feels peaceful to work and leaves my eating areas alone !!!!! Obviously it’s a. Delicate matter with him. Which I respect he is comfortable like that where I feel claustrophobic. Many thanks Diana
Hi there. A big hello from Australia. I love your blog, especially your podcasts they make doing dishes a lot more fun. I would find a pretty basket / tray or decorative box for your husbands church stuff. If it gets used often and that’s where he is used to putting it make a “place” for it. It will look pretty too 😉
When you said there’s still a big pile in your after picture, I thought, “What pile?” I had to look closely at the picture again to see what you were talking about. I thought you meant the few items on the left. Then you mentioned your husband’s bible study books. I looked again and saw what you were talking about. Sigh… I just don’t see clutter. I don’t even see that “pile” as clutter. I don’t even see it as a pile. It’s just a few books or items that are sitting there, not bothering anybody…at least not me…This is why I can walk past piles of clutter in my house as happy as a clam, until somebody wants to come over.
Dana, I know this is really late to the game, but I’ve decided to read all your blog posts from day one, and here I am. When I saw your old carafe-less coffee maker destined for the trash, I thought of our local CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials). In 2022, they take things like old appliances and electronics and styrofoam and even old clothes and recycle the materials. There is a nominal charge for electronics and a small charge to get into the facility, but I feel better discarding non-working items when I know they’re not just going to a landfill. The challenge is to find a good place to gather together enough items to justify the nominal cost. They do end up stashed here and there, and I have to find the bits and pieces to take them all to the center. I discovered just the other day that I had missed a broken fan on my last trip. But it’s a good way to deal with all that stuff that you just can’t bear to throw in the trash, and can’t really find a way to fix it (I fixed that fan once, but it quit working a few weeks later). Or clothing with stains and tears that the thrift stores do not want.
We all have a certain tolerance for clutter, but eventually it reaches critical mass…and the avalanche of stuff buries us (hypothetically, I hope).