Decluttering success
I’ve (finally) made some decent recent progress in some house decluttering projects, after feeling very stalled out for a while there.
Last fall I made a Google Keep label called “House – TO DO LIST”, and then made a separate note for each area of our house. I literally went to each room and wrote down every single task that I thought that room could use, very specifically.
Things like:
- vacuum under the bed (Master Bedroom list)
- sort through piano music and get rid of stuff (Basement- rec room)
- replace dying magnolia tree in yard (Backyard list)
- touch up paint spot in kitchen next to pantry cabinet (Kitchen)
- clean ceiling fan (Sunroom)
- sort/declutter water bottle cabinet (Kitchen)
Here’s a screenshot of one of them…. Oof. This kind of makes me want to just go rent an apartment and not have a “back yard” to deal with.
There are DOZENS of items between all the various lists. Probably an impossible feat, but it felt good to do a big brainstorm and have a master list of sorts to start working through.
On an episode of the Organize 365 podcast I listened to recently, she talks about the importance of starting decluttering work in an area that will not get easily messed up again right away. This way, you can see the results, they’ll last, and that will be motivating to keep going. (So, NOT the refrigerator. Although, I actually sort of ignored this and did deep clean our refrigerator and freezer two weekends ago and am happy I did.)
But keeping this in mind, I’ve done some good work in our master bedroom that has felt AMAZING to check off, and I think will be long lasting.
I finally sorted through all my jewelry and got it organized in some new jewelry boxes my mom got me for Christmas. This has been awesome. I’m not talking a bunch of fancy, expensive jewelry- just random necklaces and earrings and things that I own but was not wearing because I couldn’t even see it. I didn’t have a good storage system and most of it was shoved in these old travel jewelry bags where it was tangled up or impossible to pick something out. Now it has all been sorted, I threw a ton of old, crappy stuff away, it is accessible and as a result, I have been happily switching out and actually wearing my earrings and necklaces more frequently now!!
Yesterday I did a big deep clean of my sock and underwear drawers, which were overflowing. I had to part with many things that were “technically still perfectly good but I just had too many and/or wasn’t using them/ didn’t really need them, so… goodbye”.
This is HARD for me. At one point I actually had paired up socks laying all over my bed and had Ivan come in and help me select some to get rid of because I couldn’t decide. LOL. He was rolling his eyes hard at me for making a production out of this, but he complied and we got the job done. Hahaha. My drawers can now breathe again!!
I also decluttered my Under the Bed box. This is where I store lots of random things that I don’t use all the time, so I don’t want them in my closet or drawers, but I still want easy access to them. Like, my Packers t-shirt, swim team t-shirts that I only wear to a handful of meets per year, some scarves that I rarely wear but don’t want to part with, my swimsuit cover-ups, etc. I was pretty ruthless (for my standards, lol) and got rid of a lot!
Last month I decluttered my skincare basket in the bathroom and tossed a bunch of stuff, and on Friday I deep cleaned my office (though I still have a lot of decluttering to do in there).
Oh, and I finally had someone come over last week to measure for a new shade for our big kitchen window!! This has been on my to-do list since we remodeled the kitchen in 2018. omg. We have just… not had a shade in there since then. Which has apparently not been a big deal because the world has kept spinning, but I would really like to have a kitchen shade! It gets super sunny in the morning. Everything is all picked out- now I just need to place the order and have them install it. YES!!
My mom has been helping me chip away at my big storage room project, too, but that is a whole other beast. I feel like I really just need a week off to deal with that. But, that’s not happening, so, I guess the “chip away” method is going to have to work. (By the way, anyone have any great ideas of what do with buckets and buckets of Nerf guns that no one uses anymore?!?!)
Anyway, I’m excited to have some forward progress going, even though I feel like there is just SO much left to do. Just have to keep going, little by little, I guess.
Other Misc:
And quickly, a few other updates:
🔷Despite feeling busy and with lots on my mind, we still had time for our Friday night out:
🔷Turns out that after thinking Asher’s swim season was over, he is actually going to be swimming on 3 relays at State next weekend! So this means an extra 2 weeks of swim practice, and I’ll have to be away in the Milwaukee area all next weekend with him for that.
🔷The weekend after that, Ethan has some indoor soccer games in Minneapolis. So, I’ll be going there, too…. which means….. I’M GOING TO MEET LISA!!!! I cannot wait!! Also, my very best high school friend lives there too, who I haven’t seen in years. Also planning a meet up with her!!!
🔷 I’ve made a half-hearted attempt to reincorporate more protein in my diet. I have been rather hit or miss, though. My meals either look like this:
Or, are a bowl of Cheerios. There is not a lot of middle ground right now. Hahaha.
🔷Asher went skiing with a friend on Friday night. He loves loves loves skiing! Despite the fact that we do not really ski. lol. I feel bad that this is not really something we’re into because he seems crazy about it. I guess yay for friends who ski and friend’s moms who offer to take them!! 🙂
🔷Our weather is wack-a-doodle right now.
What even is this?! Yesterday was a high of 34 and low of 10. Tuesday a high of 66? And then the next day a low of 14? What?! I am here for the 60s though.
🔷I am reading The Kite Runner (old news for many people, I’m sure). Whoa. I’m only maybe 1/4 of the way through but I can already see why NGS said some parts still “haunt” her years after she read it. It is captivating.
Okay, enjoy the rest of your weekend! Maybe I’m gonna go declutter something now. 😅
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for getting my sock drawer cleaned out. Seriously, it’s the little things that make such a difference.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Congrats to Asher on going to State! Are the meets fun or do you get bored watching everyone else’s kids? T is decidedly not sporty, he likes hiking, he likes cycling, but team sports don’t seem to be for him at this point and I’m secretly grateful. I see all the parents standing by the football pitch in the miserable Scottish drizzle and want to bring them a cup of tea.
I love a good declutter report. I think a brain dump list by room is such a good idea – if you’re outsourcing, you can identify a bunch of small things to make a job worth it.
I’m running a book swap for World Book Day and am spiriting away books that I cannot read again or I know T won’t read (his tastes run more toward dragons and adventures than pets). I’m super busy and not wholly convinced agreeing to this was a good idea, but it seemed like such a nice thing to do for kids in our community who might not have much in the way of a library at home.
Freecycle for the nerf guns. I’ve successfully gotten rid of the weirdest stuff on there and I’m sure freecycle would take them off your hands ASAP. Or have the kids sort and post stuff, and they get to keep any money earned?
I’m finishing up an article that’s due Wednesday, and think we might get it in with a day or two to spare, and I’m nominating the rest of the week a “clear the decks” week. I’ll use that extra day. There are loads of 10-30 minute work tasks (plus grading…) that I haven’t had time to do and I just want to stop migrating them from one week’s to do list to the next. Some of it is stupid brainless stuff like adding publications to my university webprofile (annoyingly, this isn’t transferrable when you change unis, despite being the same software). So I’ll get through my podcast backlog at the same time.
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I’d say it’s a mix for me! I like to watch the other kids when I know a bunch of them from our team. But if it’s a meet where many heats are kids I have never heard of before, well, that’s pretty boring. I usually sort of tune out and just read or do something else in between his events.
So awesome about the book swap you’re doing!! That sounds like a lot of work but so cool. I also am excited for you to finish that article up early and reclaim a little time in your week to clear the decks. 🙂
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I would pay you to ship the nerf stuff to me in Michigan!!😁 I have an Asher as well who is almost 8 and he would LOVE it!
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Awww, another Asher!!! I would love to send you the nerf guns, but there are a LOT and they’re pretty big!! I feel like they’d be tricky to ship! But I could check into how much a big box might cost- still could be worth it since new they are pricey!
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Yes! Totally understand if you’re not wanting to add one more task to your to do list though 😆
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I am so excited to meet you in a couple of weeks! I think we’ve been reading each other’s blogs for 4 years or so? Or coming up on 4 years?
You’ve made great progress on organizing projects! I did another round of purging in my closet last weekend while listening to a 10 things to tell you podcast about clothes. It is looking sparse in there but it now reflects the stuff I actually wear! I also did a deep clean of our fridge in Jan which felt so good! I also cleaned out some drawers in the kitchen although one is already filling up again since it’s the ‘I don’t know where to put this but might need it so I will just put it in this drawer’ kind of drawer!
Now we need to make a goodwill drop. I thought about doing it this weekend but with potty training and all (which is not going great, tbh…) it just didn’t happen. But maybe it will happen next weekend. Or one week night or something. I also have a bin of clothes for you when we meet up! Some things might work for you and if they don’t you can pass along to goodwill or something (or feel free to say no thanks on the bin – then I will just bring it to goodwill, too). I really love some of things in that bin but the likelihood of being that size again is just soo low. 😦
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Yes, I started my blog in April of 2020! I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 years. That’s just crazy to me.
I will try to gather some stuff your boys might like/want/need too before I head up!
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I’m taking note of your to-do lists for cleaning. I was planning to do a deep clean of the house section by section, but that got interrupted first by winter blahs and then by a certain puppy. I like the idea of just listing everything out and starting to snowball these projects to get them done.
How awesome is it that swim meets are putting you in the path of a Cool Blogger! I’m planning to come to WI sometime this summer to tour FLW houses/meet Engie and Anne, and once I get a better idea of the dates I’ll reach out to you. It had occurred to me that if I’m going to WI anyway that it would be easy enough to hop over to Minneapolis.
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Yes, I’m very close to both Engie and Anne- we met in November! How fun would that be!!
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Sometimes our dog gets ahold of those Nerf darts and chews them up. We try are best not to let her eat them and are mostly successful I think, but she can be sneaky. Not gonna lie that I don’t get a little pleasure throwing away the chewed up ones. Makes me feel like we maxed out the use on them. 😂
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HAHA, yes, our puppy has totally eaten up Nerf bullets before too. He especially likes those little yellow balls from the Nerf Rival guns. My boys don’t even play with the Nerf guns anymore but somehow those darn bullets still seem to surface out of nowhere!!
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I’m sooo jealous of you and Lisa meeting up…. can you take me too? I feel like I know you two for a while now, and would be good real life friend. Please let me know if you find anything surprising about Lisa when you meet with her. So curious how one differs from the virtual world.
i hate decluttering projects, that’s why since we moved out of US, my motto has always been don’t buy new things unless old is broken or I throw it away. only buying to replace. So our cloth can fit into one small closet. I have one drawer for bra and underwear (I’m very good at throwing old ones away when the elastic is going bad), one drawer for socks and misc, one drawer for swimsuit/beach attire, one for Pjs. Then my workout clothes and casual clothes can fit into two boxes, the rest all hanging.. really not much space and they all need to fit, for both me and husband. So i guess my strategy is minimalist.
I’ve seen that book in so many best lists! is it that good? Is it suitable for Sofia?
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I think it may be rather mature for her. There’s some pretty intense/ adult content right from the beginning involving a sexual assault. You should try it though! It took me a few pages to sort out all the characters and names (I sometimes struggle when there are lots of foreign names- I have a harder time remembering who is who at first.). But once I got past the beginning, I’ve loved it.
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Yay for decluttering progress, in whatever form it may take. Chipping away is still chipping away, and after enough of it big tasks do get done (though I very much feel your desire to just have a whole week to tackle big projects. I always wish I had that kind of time too). I hope you can keep seeing improvement. (I love that advice to tackle areas that won’t immediately get disorganized again – what a great idea!)
That weather is so nuts. I would lose my mind. I don’t know how you do it.
Good luck with the extended swim season and big swim meet! So exciting!
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Exactly- I loved that advice too! It feels really good to declutter an area and then have it STAY nice and organized for a while. My office is a spot I tend to clean and straighten and then it seems to get messy again right away. Drives me nuts.
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Nice work with the decluttering! I have a love hate relationship with decluttering. I was cracking up about your needing Ivan to help with your sock drawer, as it would be nice to have an impartial person for some of my projects too. I found that you either have to be very ruthless the first time, or I sometimes need to do the same drawer every month and whittle it down, as after a month I sometimes don’t care as much about certain items as I had the month before. This can take a lot of bandwidth but can also get rid of more stuff.
So cool that you are finally going to meet Lisa. You will love her, as she is basically just the same in person as she is online. Hopefully when you are there it is one of the 60 degree days and not one of the 14 degree ones!
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Oh I totally do this too- I will actually often remove an item and then just put it in my under the bed box or move to our guest room closet for a while. I know darn well I probably still won’t wear it, but I feel better not just getting rid of it yet. Like it’s not as permanent, which makes me feel okay removing it! (It’s technically “still there” if I should need it!) Most of the time I never go look for it, but TBH, now and then I do! Sometimes I’ll think of something specific or random I could use for an outfit (maybe a cardigan for over a dress or some other not-often used piece) and will be glad I still had X random item I hadn’t worn in ages! It’s terrible when that happens because it reinforces my tendency of having a hard time parting with things!
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Yay! Meeting Lisa, how wonderful! Post pictures ❤
Also yay for decluttering! I need to go through my under ware and bra drawer. Also, t-shirts. I don't look good in t-shirts wondering what the alternative can be?…
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I really don’t like how I look in traditional t-shirts either! I basically have to have a V-neck or I don’t like it. I almost never wear just a standard crew neck or high neck t-shirt. Not sure what it is! But I love tank tops and also any lower scoop neck or v-neck top.
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We are having very similar weather — 60s to 30s and everything in between. Just pick a lane, weather!!!!
Look at you, doing so much decluttering!!! The bedroom progress sounds awesome and I think there are few things more satisfying than a fridge deep clean… even though they do clutter up again pretty quickly.
You are going to meet Lisa!!!! I am so excited for (and jealous of) you both!!!
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Yay Asher! That’s exciting! Yes, you have some busy weekends coming up- but I kind of like going to kids’ stuff like that- there’s nothing expected of you other than to hang out and spectate. AND you’ll get to meet Lisa, that’s so so cool.
Your to-do list made me laugh a little because we still haven’t replaced the kitchen window shade since re-doing the kitchen over the summer. And it’s SUPER annoying, because the sun shines right in my face while I’m making dinner. You’d think this would motivate me to get this taken care of??? Anyway, I think all your decluttering successes are great, and the whole time I was nodding- “yes, I need to clean out my underwear drawer… and the fridge… and the toiletries in the bathroom…” Sigh. Well, maybe tomorrow is the day! I’ll be home waiting for the dishwasher repairman.
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Great job on getting the decluttering started. I feel like it’s more about “starting somewhere” then really having a plan to tackle it all… every little bit of decluttering counts.
And I am so excited you’re going to meet Lisa. I was lucky enough to meet her once many years ago when she was in Sacramento for work and we had such a nice dinner together.
I love it when bloggers are able to connect IRL!!
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Man, I love a good decluttering! I love that you made a big master list like that – I sort of did something similar when I realized I was staying in my apartment for another year. I was like, “Okay, what is driving me crazy about this space and how can I fix it?!” It feels so good to get projects like that done!
Hooray for meeting Lisa. She is WONDERFUL!
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