The Declutter Diaries is a series of posts I did for a former blog as a glimpse inside a real decluttering project [with occasional editorial comments from my present self]. You can start with Day One here.
Don’t Put It Down
Today I moved to zone 2, which I decided would be “the rest of the rooms.” This includes two bedrooms, living room, bathroom, and hallways. I’m trying to speed things up some and will “attempt” to do one room a day this week.
The master bedroom was first. There really isn’t that much in this room, a dresser, a small closet, under-the-bed drawers, and the headboard (which is a bookcase). [Oh goody, lots of before and after pictures in this post. If you do a big decluttering project, please take pictures. You will be amazed at what you accomplish.]
The pile on top of the dresser proved to be almost 100% stuff that belonged somewhere else. Obviously I need to work on the habit of “don’t put it down, put it away.” [Sadly, Past Self, you will continue to struggle with this for many years…]
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I also sorted through the drawers and closets to get rid of clothes I don’t like or don’t wear. I came up with 3 small bags of stuff and also tossed a few worn out things. My husband even went through his drawers and threw away some of his old t-shirts. [When your household members see that you are serious about decluttering (remember, this is week 3 of this project), they may get inspired to clean up some of their stuff, too. Win!]
I was forced to dust before replacing things as I had not really been able to do this for a long time with so much stuff piled on top of the dresser and bookcase. [It pains me a bit to read that last sentence–it sounds like I never cleaned anything! In truth, I’m still pretty bad about dusting. Seriously though, you can’t clean clutter. First declutter, second organize, third clean.]
It looks a lot better and I only have a few things that remain homeless, including one very tall plant. I’m not quite sure where it will go. I also need to hang two pictures, but this will have to wait for the weekend when I can get some assistance from my husband.
Do you have some “hotspots” where you tend to put things down instead of putting them away? [You know you have them, because we all do. That oh-so-tempting flat surface near the front door where everyone puts things down as they come in. What’s that, you say? The floor….well, yes. Other frequent hotspots include the tables, kitchen counters, nightstands, beds (laundry, anyone?) and desks. And the floor, don’t forget the floor. Because that’s where things go when you run out of room on the furniture.]