Welcome back to my Master Bedroom Saga!
Today I’m sharing Part Two: The Easy Stuff.
Let me explain.
Due to the fact that I’ve had to do it waaaayyyy more than the average person, I consider myself a decluttering expert.
Clutter prevention? I’m still working on that one.
But decluttering/recovering-a-room-that-has-again-suffered-a-stuff-explosion? I’m your girl.
So I’ve figured out how to get started decluttering when you don’t know where to start. When peeking into the room makes you want to go apply for one of those shows where someone comes in and does it all for you.
Do the Easy Stuff First.
So that’s what I did as I tackled this:
I started removing the easy stuff.
Stuff like the dining room chair that I have no recollection of moving in there. The dining room chair that was covered in the clothes I chose not to pack for our trip to D.C.
Last July.
Stuff like my steam mop. (Which has a spot in the laundry room.)
And the donation box that I forgot to put out for pick-up last month. (Which got shoved into the master bedroom when guests were on their way over.)
After only 30(ish) minutes, the easy stuff in the biggest dumping area of the room was done.
And here’s where I admit that this huge and truly overwhelming project distracted me from taking the best before and after pics. There are after shots in the video, but no still photos.
I could go take a picture right now, but it wouldn’t represent correctly. See, I’m done with this project now. I even vacuumed in there as part of my regular(ish) vacuuming day last Friday.
After getting the “easy stuff” out, the area was still far from perfect. Lots of random socks and stuff. I recommend you watch the video to get the full feel of the project! (If you’re an email reader, click the post title to get to the blog and watch the webisode.)
Now, let me explain how I plan for this series to go. I am finished with the project. I didn’t post about it as I was going because honestly . . . I had very little faith that I would actually be able to finish.
I also needed to focus the majority of my time on the job, and writing and webisode-editing are very time-consuming. I did keep a journal, though, so I wouldn’t forget the feelings I experienced or the way things progressed.
When I looked at the journal for this post . . . I was surprised at how little I’d written about what had been enough for an entire webisode. Basically, even though it was physically exhausting and overwhelming getting the easy stuff out, there really wasn’t a huge amount of angst involved. The angst starts in part three when I began dealing with the hard stuff.
See Part One of this series to understand my overall plan for this project. Also check out my Decluttering page for links to more decluttering projects and general advice on how to declutter!
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Am following your progress keenly, Nony, and feeling your pain as you push the boulder uphill. What happened to Normal Friend? Is she still with you or has she given you up in despair? I remember her helping you with this intractable room ages ago. Could you not swap houses and let her restore yours to order while you reduce hers to chaos? You could keep swapping every six months. That way, you could experience the joy of a tidy house quite frequently and she could indulge her enjoyment of putting all in order.
I just love your courage, Nony! Thanks for putting yourself out there and inspiring the rest of us slob-brains. Looking forward to the rest of this saga!
I put my walk-in closet in order last week, this week I hope to tackle the spare room/office. I have been moving things that need to be sorted in there as I have been straighten the rest of my house. Thanks for keeping us slobs motivated to keep at it!!!
You are inspiring me. I’ve been decluttering my bedroom for a while now. Not to mention the rest of the house. My son has moved in temporarily; there’s really no space for him. It’s embarrassing, all the clutter, so those things help light the fire under me. It’s helpful to read about your struggles.
Great tip! Doing the easy stuff first makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something and gives you momentum. Way to go!
I’m pretty sure you and I were sisters in a former life. Or perhaps the same soul who was so slobbish that it needed to split into 2 bodies. Or at least neighbors. I have been avoiding my bedroom for this exact reason. I have mountains of clean clothes, a smattering of dirty ones, and exactly 6 BIG boxes of stuff from when we moved into our house. THREE MONTHS AGO! I’ll be staying tuned and hope that the laundry room I decluttered/overhauled today will be enough to satisfy the slob police until I feel able to tackle the bedroom. It’s so much easier for me to blog about being green than clean! LOL
Are the videos no longer available? Or have they moved somewhere?