I didn’t have the TIME to declutter, but this cabinet was making life difficult. It’s where we store all sorts of stuff we use regularly, but it was a jumbled mess that caused me to waste time digging for the things I needed.
I couldn’t spend the morning getting organized, but since I now know how to declutter without making a bigger mess (my biggest hangup about decluttering pre-blog), I knew I could do something to improve the situation.
I peered inside to see this:
Ugh.
I started with the easy stuff.
The easiest of the easy stuff is trash.
Bottle caps, coupons (that I’m pretty sure fell out of the back of the drawer above), three out of four phonebooks and other assorted randomness.
Once the trash was gone, it was slightly less overwhelming/irritating/depression-inducing.
I looked for the next “easy” stuff. I pulled out the things that had a designated home. A home that was NOT this cabinet.
Onion soup mix goes in the pantry. The gold charger plate has a home with all its matching friends across the kitchen. Oven mitts go in the drawer you can actually see in this picture. Cranberries WOULD go in the basket on the counter just above this cabinet, but I felt like I’d had them for a VERY long time, so they went in the trash.
Note to self: Don’t put cranberries in this cabinet. You’ll forget they’re there and they’ll be wasted.
After the Duh stuff was gone, I could finally see into the cabinet:
At that point, I started consolidating. I put storage bags together and lunch bags together.
Ummm, yeah. It looks a little better and more usable now, I’d say.
Of course, I found other unexpected why-in-the-world-is-this-in-here-when-it-goes-somewhere-else gems.
A little of the same treatment on the bottom shelf, and I was happy with my fifteen minutes of work to make this space ever-so-much more functional.
Oh. You’re wondering about the bacon bowls? I’m not a fan, honestly. I’ve never even used them. They came in a two-pack and this mama who cooks for a family of five isn’t willing to choose which two people get a bacon bowl. (Or to take the time necessary to make five!) But they were a mother’s day gift last year, and I’m not sure enough time has passed to justify sticking them in the Donate Box.
Next time, they’re gone.
--Nony
It really is amazing what a few minutes of decluttering can make!
I think this method is awesome! And I INTENDED to do it this way, really, I did. But I also needed to not only purge stuff but also rework what cabinets hold what item. I made a MUCH bigger mess. The dining room table is full of stuff to figure out if I need to donate or store somewhere else. From now on, though, now that I got the functionality back, I am going to do these mini projects. I promise! 🙂
I did this yesterday with the homeschool bookshelf/ drawers. I decided to throw out the junk papers. Oh dear! More than a full kitchen sized trash bag full of trash. I could not believe it. When all the junk papers were gone, the (very large) drawers were empty. I sorted pencils, markers, and colored pencils and the area looked amazingly better. It could use some organization, but just removing the junk papers made a HUGE difference.
Thanks for throwing out simple ideas for decluttering! Before your blog I would have tried to carve out a few hours to deal with that mess (which would never have happened).
Haha, I was reading your blog entry and towards the end I started wondering what a bacon bowl might be. At the same time, I thought the black juicer thingy was, well, obviously a juicer…
For the very few very special occasions where I really want to prepare bacon bowls, I use my cereal bowls on a sheet of parchment paper. I own five of them, and they can stand the heat in an oven.
Maybe you could use your bacon bowls as juicers…but on the other hand, juicing enough oranges for a family of five with a non-electric juicer might be challenging?
Good job on the cabinet!
maybe you and hubby could have a romantic bacon bowl breakfast? this way they’ll really be gone by next time you clean out the cupboard.
I clicked over to see these “bacon bowls” and now Amazon keeps trying to remind me to buy them. Seriously! I don’t want bacon bowls. Amazon is crazy. :O
Haha!! Obviously, you’re an ideal customer for them!!!
Too funny. I went back through the pics, enlarging them and trying to find the bacon bowls. Then I finished reading the article and of course, had to click on the link to find out what exactly bacon bowls are. Now I can look forward to Amazon sending me emails and ad placements when ever I’m online. Should have spent the last 15 minutes clearing out my junk drawer. You got me. 🙂 Bacon bowls. Good grief. 🙂
I was doing this today while listening to your recent podcast! GO JANUARY!!!
Oh thank you! Cleaning out my kitchen cabinets and drawers has been calling to me…but it seemed overwhelming. I think I can tackle it now! And, by the way, if those bacon bowls ever need a home….I would so use that every day….
My spices-and-wraps-cabinet-that-is-way-too-narrow-to-be-used-effectively cabinet has a way of getting out of hand. I found my 9-year-old using cupcake liners in a Power Ranger game (something about containing the evil powers??) yesterday. Guess I’ll tackle the cabinet while supper cooks today.
Thank You, will try😗
Well what a coincidence; I did this yesterday, BEFORE the email arrived in my box. I only received your book on Friday, but am already feeling much more hopeful. Thanks for being there, Dana!
In the year since I listened to the library audiobook of Decluttering at the Speed of Life, I have cleared out SO MUCH STUFF. Without warning, I often see something in a drawer or cabinet and think, “I don’t need or use that.” Then out it goes IMMEDIATELY to donation or trash as appropriate.
I have also calmed much of my purchasing of all types of items. But I did purchase multiple copies of the book from your Amazon link and passed them on to friends.
I often hear your voice in my head, especially when I create a bigger mess when trying to declutter. That part is still a struggle for me.
My biggest success is taking the time to stop and think “where would I look for this item” the next time I need it.
Thanks for all your help.
Love your sense of humor, no won’t delete you. I am going to try this when I get back from my Dr appt today, get my results today and trying to figure out our next step.
Bacon bowls are one of the strangest products I have ever seen. This is the first time I’ve even heard of them.
Your emails are saved for when I need some encouragement. I would re-signup if I stopped getting them! I save your podcasts for cleaning and decluttering jobs. Thanks for all your help!
hilarious! I kept scrolling up and down, muttering to myself, ‘what is a bacon bowl what is a bacon bowl. WHAT is a BACON bowl??? What is a bacon bowwlllllllllll….”
haha. Now I gotta go check your link to ‘bacon bowls’. Thanks!
I didn’t know what a bacon bowl was. I like your decluttering technique because I always get interrupted.
Thanks to the person who said-I would carve out a time of 4 hours to do it–which would have never happened. Wow, how true! thanks for saying that.