It’s time again to go back over my decluttering progress for the past month.
The picture above isn’t everything I got rid of, but it’s a good example. Lots of dinky, piddly things left the house. Dinky, piddly things can really add up.
April wasn’t as exciting as March, which included some major, long-overdue projects. It’s easy to have piles and piles of things to donate when you’re sifting through years worth of piles.
In April, the big-purge-needed spaces I tackled were small.
Two junk drawers.
Their entire contents fit into one paper sack. But the results were big, because now I can actually use these drawers!
My other efforts for the month included maintenance decluttering. Normal people would probably call that just . . . maintenance. But I have a knack for letting things pile up quickly, and I seem to have to view it as a small project to keep it from becoming a block-out-the-entire-weekend event.
This month I:
Cleaned out the shoved-in-there-at-the-last-minute-before-my-daughter’s-birthday-party items from the Master Bedroom. I did it only four days after the party.
This is big for me.
I tend to shove things in there, and leave them there.
For a very long time.
Organized my bathroom drawer. It was a drawer that was pretty much useless because it was so full of . . . ummm . . . stuff. I pitched hair products and make-up and all kinds of junk that I really didn’t need.
Decluttered one small random drawer in the kitchen. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve opened it since I cleaned it out. I don’t really use it much. But the knowledge that the drawer is clean and has a little extra room in it somehow makes my mind feel more at ease. Now . . . if I did think of something that needed its very own drawer, I’d know just where to put it.
Crawled around in, and pulled stuff out of, our vehicle. Our humongous, endless-capacity-for-collecting-stuff Suburban. I don’t think you’re supposed to refer to cleaning out your car as decluttering. Y’know, because it isn’t a storage space. But for us, it was decluttering. (If you haven’t read that post, you should click there just to see how good-natured my hubby is for letting me talk him into a Hysterical Laughter Reenactment Picture to put on my blog.)
Cleared off the Dining Room table. Not glamorous. Not terribly life-changing, other than that it makes me feel good to see a totally cleared table. And if I didn’t clear it off, it would eventually turn into a life-changing project.
How did you do this month? I do love to read about your progress, and I love having a reason to stop and think about how much I’ve done.
If you haven’t made much progress this month, that’s ok. I’m fully expecting for the next several months to slow waaayyyy down for me in the area of decluttering. The kids will be out of school for the summer, and they’ll take priority over maniacal purging.
Please feel free to link up a blog post below, or to share about your progress or frustrations in the comments.
If you do link up, please mention and link back to A Slob Comes Clean within your post. You can say something like, “I’ll be linking this up over at A Slob Comes Clean.” If you don’t know how to do that, email me at aslobcomesclean @ gmail dot com and I’ll be happy to help.
Those seem, individually, like small projects, but they really add up! Way to go! I gave away some maternity clothes. It was either that or move them to the storage unit. I opted for hand-me-downing! It's not much, but it's a start.
I had to laugh when I read your comment about shoving items in the master bedroom before a party. Been there – done that 🙂 Right now my 'junk area' is the desk downstairs. I'll need to tackle that at some point. Congratulations on your accomplishments.
I've never had a monthly decluttering goal, but this month I decided to give it a try after reading the blog Live Renewed. She challenged her readers to rid their homes of 100 items just in April. There was no way I thought I could do it, but I actually got rid of 115 things! It is crazy, but 48 of those things were just from the BATHROOM!! Insane!
This month, I cleaned my kitchen. I know that "normal" people wouldn't find that odd but I've kept it (almost) clean. That is an accomplishment.
I also cleaned my laundry room. Hubby even helped me move the washer and dryer so I could mop. While I was back there(and the dryer vent came undone when we moved it), I cleaned the lint out of the exhaust pipe. WOW! Out of a 2' pipe, I pulled out enough lint to fill a plastic shopping bag! It was almost completely clogged! I then pulled another grapefruit sized lintball from the back of the dryer! I'm so glad I did that.
Next month, I hope to declutter the closets of forgetfulness. And, finish my kitchen.
Just found your blog this weekend and have been inspired. I, too, tried FlyLady, without much success. I'll be on a major decluttering mission while my husband is traveling the next 2 weeks.
I decided to use my camera and take "before" photos of each small area that needs to be dealt with throughout the downstairs. Later today, I will do the same upstairs. Already I have several "after" photos, and the encouragement and motivation to keep going. Thanks for sharing!!
No decluttering for me this month. No much of anything for me this month. 🙁
Four days. That IS really good. I did something similar yesterday. I've been doing some sewing this weekend, and of course I'm not done. (Is it ever DONE? There's always another project to start.) But instead of leaving the sewing machine and ironing board out until I have time to sew, I put it all away. AND even vacuumed up all the little fabric bits and thread. WOW! It felt good to have a tidy this house to begin a new week.
Did some major moving around of stuff in April which led to lots of purging (5 bags just this weekend, woot!) Mostly emptying everyones closets, downsizing and reorganizing. Actually got rid of some furniture, which seems counter-intuitive, but I had a deep heart to heart with myself and decided "Maybe instead of a craft cabinet crowding my bedroom already stuffed with furniture, maybe I just need to have less crafts".
My daughter gets a lot of anxiety when things change which is a big red flag that I need to hurry up and get this purging, cleaning, organizing completed so that she can get used to this new cleaner life style before it becomes life as she knows it (which is what happened to me, sad to say).
i was such a slacker this month! i did nothing out of the ordinary and it's sad to say, it shows 🙁
I will get back in the game this month!
My decluttering was kicked off two years ago when I decided not to buy any clothes for a year. It has been two years now and I am still getting rid of stuff. I bought clothes for my son’s wedding though. It is so rewarding to see my closet and drawers (containers) become manageable. This helps with laundry also. Thanks for encouraging me to keep at my projects.
Some clutter actually made it out of the house today! One giant bag of clothes dropped off at the FedEx office on its way to Thredup. We probably have enough to fill a 2nd giant bag, if I can remember to send off for one.
Also some Stress Cleaning happened this morning. Don’t know what came over me, maybe a virus?
And after wading through a year and a half of blog posts I’ve become “corrupted” and started a non-negotiable daily task: Insist that our oldest son do some 2-minute clothing maintenance in his room, now that one part of his room is organized after the Massive Clothing Purge. If it’s clean, put/hang it up. If it’s dirty, laundry room. If he’s wearing it again, it goes on his bed railing or ladder, not the floor.
I have to remember to go and check that he actually did it. Also remember to have his sisters do the same maintenance. Also also make sure that I’VE hung up MY clothes as an example.
I get so sick of nagging kids about the same stuff, every day, forever and ever, and they’re so used to having clothing on the floor and bottom bunk that I don’t think it registers in their brains as “something out of place.” Oh well, it’s time to start changing that. Baby steps, here we go.
My dining room table has my wedding dress on it… with the bix to ship it off to the cleaners on top. I’m guessing that should be my next decluttering spot… seeing how we got married almost two months ago. 🙂
Thanks so much for doing this blog. Now I know I’m not alone and your successes and struggles always inspire me.
I finally remembered and was able to give my boss back several rags that I don’t use, but she does.
We purged games & puzzles. Several of my youngests’ clothing items. Some kitchen utensils & towels that didn’t fit, now that laundry is under control.
I found someone to mend several simple clothing repairs, since I haven’t been “on it”
I also consider making soup decluttering in the kitchen.
My big project this month was folding & putting away a large mound of my clothes & towels. Which included ironing 1 item that bugged me to wear with certain wrinkling around the ankles.
I’m proud of myself for overcoming ironing anxiety. I used to just wait until I had several items, then agonize. Finally after being fed up with a bunch of never used post partum hospital clutter, I utilized a squeeze bottle for an ongoing distilled water container.
I am much better at keeping a small bottle clean & re-filled than taking an iron & grabbing distilled water from it’s storage spot, every time I need to iron.
I also moved my ironing board from the garage (by the washer) to the “craft room” where we have a round dining table. (I love re-defining the space, for how I need it) If I can’t get to ironing right away, I put the tools together, neatly in my bedroom, so hubby doesn’t trip over it. And I will do it, when I’m ready to be done with it. Which is so much quicker, when I realized, I actually enjoy IRONING!!