Christmas Cleanout: Day 2 of 20

I'm committing to 20 sessions of decluttering before Christmas arrives. I have a list of potential spaces, but it could be one day I come up with random items, too. Today, I am pulling out one Christmas bin for review. It ends up being part of my Christmas prep as well, so I am reminded what we have and what I may want to use this year. 

Liberty, our cat, thought she would help too!

At first glance I was pretty sure I would keep everything. I didn't unpack it all, as some is well protected, and I'm not decorating yet. I'm still considering a slow decorating season like last year. 

One item that was packed up, caught my eye. I wasn't sure what it was and something didn't seem right. Turns out this snow globe leaked!! All the water was out and the green tissue paper was slightly damp. Unfortunately, there is a little mold growing on it, too.

But it gets worse. The water leaked out of the bag it was in, too. This dyed the white portion of the stockings green from the tissue paper. Our girls have had these stockings their whole lives. I know they are replaceable, but this was just very disappointing. 

Here's the bin now. A little less stuff. 

Below is what I am letting go of: a mini tree with blue garland and a star, ribbon, the damaged snow globe and the two stockings. I may try to get the dye out before I make a final toss on the stockings. 

Have you ever had water damage in your Christmas bins? Are you decluttering before you decorate? I also try to make note each year of what I didn't put out...which helps me to decide if it is really worth keeping for the next year! 

Tell me about your Christmas Cleanout progress here in the comments or on the Organized Friends Facebook page. 

Christmas Cleanout: Day 1 of 20

Whohoo! Christmas Cleanout Challenge. 

My plan is to commit a little time over 20 days to declutter! This is day one. I will not be decluttering everyday, but at least 20 days putting in some sort of effort.

Today a pile of papers that needed to be addressed, including receipts going back to October. 

My original pile is in the center lower part of picture. The receipts and papers to toss are on the right. I moved the grill manual and coupons to other places. 

I really do feel good about tackling this pile! There were a lot of things I had just stuffed into my clear folders over the last few months and really so much of it just needed to be shredded or tossed. The papers that remain are ones that I may need to reference in the near future, or reminders of things I need to check off my list.

What did you clean out today?

 

Christmas Cleanout 2020: Let's Get Started

I'm hosting a challenge on the Organized Friends Facebook Page! You are invited to join in and spend the weeks and days up to Christmas getting your spaces cleaned out during the Christmas Cleanout Challenge. 

The theme is the number 20! 

Here are a few ideas on how to incorporate the number into your decluttering:

• Gather 20 bags of items
• Declutter 20 spaces 
• Declutter for 20 minutes a day
• Declutter 20 items or more

If you chose bags of decluttering the size can be as small as a grocery bag or as big as a lawn bag. You know how much needs to go, so you decide! Find a notecard and make a tally of each bag. 

If you choose spaces, they can be as small as your purse, a drawer or as big as an entire room. You might focus on the ones that would be easiest to address, or the ones that are bothering you the most. Set yourself up to be successful, by breaking down large spaces into small spaces. Make a list of each space you will tackle and check them off as you go!

The last weeks of the year can be busy, but a few minutes peering into a drawer, the closet, cupboards or bins can help us still make progress on our clean out! Set a timer for 20 minutes and see what you can accomplish. When time is limited, it is wise not to empty a container in full as you may end up with a mess and find yourself frustrated. It helps to touch just one item and make one decision at a time. Have a bag or box designated to put your items in. 

This challenge does not have to be a daily commitment, but could be a commitment of just 20 days during the next 38 before Christmas or even the next 45 before New Years Day. 

The holidays may look different for some of us, or near normal. Either way there is still room to spend some time decluttering and the feeling of letting it go will be amazing!! We have been blessed with an abundance of things that have served their purpose. We can say thank you and send those items to others who will find joy in having them now. 

Here's to ending 2020 on a lighter note! I look forward to seeing what you accomplish and how creative you are with the theme of 20! 

Reorganizing Kitchen Drawers and More

Did you know that re-organizing is a thing? That you can get a do over with how you keep your things contained? I'm sure it's not a mind blowing concept, but it sure can feel mind blowing to make some tweaks and realize how much better the result is. 

Here are some of the drawers in my kitchen I wanted to tweak:

Vitamins mixed in with kitchen tools. A larger drawer with extra room.

A drawer we keep clean cat dishes in and essential oils. It was used for small cans of cat food, but now the ones we buy are larger so they are kept below this drawer. 

A couple drawers that have some room....pondering my options.

One of my goals is to have less on top of the kitchen cabinet. 

Cat treats...and my regular vitamins in the brown basket currently hang out here. 

I pulled everything out of the vitamin drawer except the vitamins and added the ones from the basket to put in the front. Yes, it is packed full now. I have duplicates and things I need to use up before I can start using others. I clearly should not buy any more for awhile! 

Below is my first attempt at using the space in this drawer.  I moved the blender stick and the pile of Berkey cleaning supplies to the back left corner. I had to take out one white tray to make room. 

I put that tray into this drawer with the trivets and potholders. 

It works! But what if....

 

I move the tray back! Oh, I really like this better. 

I moved the Berkey cleaning supplies to this other drawer, right below where we have our Berkey! 

I put the cat treats in the basket, back on the fridge...an improvement. 

But what if I put the treats in the drawer above with the clean cat bowls? 

A little messy, stuff full. This all makes sense to me! Cat food and bowls already near here. Berkey items with the Berkey. Oils in the drawer closest to oil diffuser on the counter. 

I decided to plop this plant (which I'd like to find a different pot for)...

into this basket on the fridge! 

I think the plant might like getting more light from the window on the door nearby. 

Believe it or not, these changes didn't take too long!

I'm so glad I made the effort to make things more efficient and have less stuff out on top of the fridge. As I write this post, I actually had a few ideas about some other things in my kitchen. Those will wait for another time! When was the last time you re-organized, rearranged your kitchen drawers or cupboards? 

Holiday and Home Progress Week 8

It's another week of progress to report following Organized Home's House and Holiday Plan, which you can find here. 

Our family space is our living room at the front of the home with our television, coffee table and couches. It stays pretty tidy most of the time. I made the effort to wash the throw blankets and some deep dusting! As I write, I realize I should have opened the drawers on the coffee table and our end tables to see if any treasures exist that need to exit.

We are prepared for Halloween with a large stash of candy for trick or treaters. Did you catch that in my last post? No costumes, no party, no indoor or outdoor decorating. It's a different experience as empty nesters! 

In Christmas preparation, I added a few ideas for gifts to my list in my Christmas planner. I also began to set up my gift wrap station!  I need to add the scissors, the tape and a pen to write on gift tags.It does feel a little early, but the gifts have started arriving. I will wait a bit longer to start wrapping...like next week or the week after. 😀

Next week's plan is similar to this week with a focus on the living room (I only have one such space), being prepared for Halloween, and continuing shopping. I plan to use this next week to address envelopes for the few holiday cards we are mailing and continue to think about gifts. I will also consider stocking up with household products for the remainder of the year, as I have done in the past. 

How was your week? What did you accomplish? Where are you focused? 

As always I'm cheering for your success! 

A Stuffed Cupboard

I stocked up on parchment paper last week and realized I had a problem starting in this cupboard! Many of us likely have areas in our home that take the brunt of our desire to just stash things away. I am no different. This seems to be the cupboard where the random items reside. 

I have decided to remove the daily use of our plastic containers. I wasn't ready to toss yet, as I know that they can be used to give away food, or store small non food items in. They ended up in this cupboard with the Halloween candy I bought last month. 

Oh dear! I think I have saved too many glass jars. 

This is what came out of the cupboard. Four jars, plastic containers and recipe magazine. The second roll of parchment was put in the drawer to replace the one I just used up! 

I rearranged a bit and only kept three glass jars. 

Yes, I still kept the plastic, but put them in the EMPTY cupboard above my fridge until actually needed. I do wonder if I will forget them until we move next year....time will tell on that one!

This spontaneous cupboard decluttering and rearranging has me thinking I will rearrange several of my cupboards in the near future as I can see I am not utilizing my spaces as best as I can in a few areas. I will be sure to post here when I do! 

Do you have a stuffed cupboard or drawer you can rearrange or declutter? It feels so good to have mine usable again! 

 

Holiday and Home Progress Week 7

I'm loosely following the House and Holiday Plan at Organized Home. Week seven had a focus of bedding and bathrooms, in addition to a bit of shopping. The link posted will take you to the details. 

I personally did not put any focus on bedrooms or linens, which is preparation for guests. We have what we have and no changes or decluttering needed in this area since we only have sheets for the beds we have. Easy!

I did review under bathroom cabinets and the hall closet.

All good in this bathroom! All things to keep. 

The two below had been done last month sometime, found mostly trash at that time. 

I thought I might not find anything in this closet, but as you will see below I did find a bit. I emptied the Windex refill into the spray bottle, my biggest organizing in there! 

Bottle and box to recycling. Relocating the tissues and cat nail scissors. The soap packaging was trash. 

In holiday progress, I ordered four more gifts during Amazon Prime Days! When the packages arrived in boxes, it reminded me to review my mailing supplies. As is usual for me I found an abundance of boxes. I will offer for free to neighbors on base, and if not picked up will recycle. 

It was a productive week, and it didn't take much time. How was your week? Do you have decluttering success to share? Are you working on any holiday preparations yet?