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Oops . . . I Think I Just Decluttered Something

November 5, 2010 By Dana White | 14 Comments

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Last week, I did the Big Kitchen Scrub-Down.

I didn’t take a before picture, because I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference. The issue we were dealing with was grime, not clutter, and would that even show up in a photo?

I should have known better.

First of all, the difference is truly huge. I’m guessing it would have shown up.

Guessing.

Because I’m not about to go back and sprinkle dirt and dead bugs in my window just to see.

But I’m also frustrated that I didn’t take a before picture, because I have no idea how to put back all of the stuff that was displayed in my kitchen window.

My mother creates most of the little tableau-thingys around my house. Really, there aren’t a lot of them because most surfaces collect clutter quickly and the clutter swallows up the art.

But my kitchen window is different. It’s a rare place where it makes sense to have a display of breakable items. No one runs by and knocks into it, because it’s completely inaccessible. So inaccessible that you have to literally climb up on the counter and stand behind the sink to get to it.

Hence the dead bugs.

My mother had artistically placed quite a few pretties up there. But after I got them down to dust them (ok, ok . . . to scrub off the glued-on-by-kitchen-grease dust), I had no idea how to put them back and not have it look like a big mess.

I started by putting up my favorites, and then realized that I was ok with how it looked.

So, I stopped. Total unintentional decluttering.

But I’m not sure it counts because I didn’t actually get rid of the stuff. It’s under the kitchen sink.

Related Posts:

Read Newer Post How to Clean a Messy House . . . and Get It Ready for Guests! (with a Printable Checklist)
Read Older Post How Much Can A Slob Do In Fifteen Minutes?

Filed Under: decluttering | 14 Comments

Comments

  1. BusyMommy says

    November 5, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    Looking at the picture, it looks pretty awesome. You don't need your mom to do your decorating for you, you do a perfectly good job yourself!! 🙂

    Reply
  2. From The Heart Online says

    November 6, 2010 at 2:07 am

    LOL. I love your writing. … and confessions of things we all deal with whether we admit it or not. … so you're not going to sprinkle dirt and dead bugs in the window just to see? Aww C'mon. ;P

    Reply
  3. Barbara says

    November 7, 2010 at 5:23 pm

    This looks wonderful. You are doing a great job
    "coming clean".
    BarbaraG

    Reply
  4. Marni's Organized Mess says

    November 7, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    I always take before shots of everything now that I blog. I don't always use them for a blog, but hey! If it's messy, why not get a pic in case I have an after shot a month from now?

    Sort of dorky, but it works.

    I love your honesty!

    Come on over and say "hi" will ya? Maybe "like" me on Facebook? I recently set up a page, you can find it here:
    http://facebook.com/MarnisOrganizedMess

    Reply
  5. Nony the Slob says

    November 8, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    THanks for the encouragement, everyone!

    Reply
  6. shirley says

    January 2, 2012 at 5:21 pm

    quick tip: an odd number of items (like the 5 in your grouping) gives a more casual feeling, while an even number of items gives a more formal feeling.
    two observations: 1. you are definitely NOT a formal type person, so you did that JUST RIGHT!
    2. you DID declutter, because you are ROTATING your pretties in and out of storage. you can take out the ones under the sink later on when you want to “change things up”.
    GREAT JOB!!!

    Reply
    • Nony says

      January 2, 2012 at 8:49 pm

      I LOVE this comment! Such a great tip about the odd/even thing. And how did you know I’m not a formal type???

      Reply
      • shirley says

        January 2, 2012 at 9:22 pm

        just a lucky guess? 😀

        Reply
    • Robyn Gaffel says

      April 30, 2015 at 8:38 am

      I am just learning this method. Not all out at once and a freshen up sometimes. I have even learnt to put away the everyday ornaments when its Christmas and redecorate in a Yule theme. I am a fast learner – only took me a lifetime!

      Reply
  7. Katie Ann says

    January 19, 2015 at 6:01 pm

    Happily getting my decluttering inspriation for today. THANKS!

    Reply
  8. kayMI says

    April 13, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    I love blue glass also…..great way not always up and down…LIKE ALOT

    Reply
  9. janice says

    April 30, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    you just inspired me to take before pictures

    Reply
  10. Anne says

    November 1, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    I love the idea of before and after photos. These are so encouraging to me! It’s amazing to me what I can see in photos that I just don’t see in real time.

    Reply
  11. Karen says

    August 31, 2019 at 1:39 pm

    I always try to take a ‘before’ photo of the backs of things that have cords if I plan to move them for cleaning or relocating. Not so much for a comparison of the dust factor before and after (which there is usually a lot) but so I can plug stuff back in correctly if I knock it loose while moving it around. This has saved me major frustration several times over the years!

    Reply

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