Detoxing the Home, days 30 and 31 and closing thoughts

Here we go, wrapping up.

Day 30 - garage. Oh hell no. This is a multiple person job, and I'm the only one willing. So, this one will be backburnered FOREVER.

Day 31 - car. Easy peasy. I keep my vehicle very neat and clean.

Closing thoughts:

While I thought this was an excellent starting point, many of the areas just plain didn't need it, and the ones that did REALLY needed it. It did get me off my duff and actually start on those problem areas, and I'm kind of excited for what did get done and see a light at the end of the tunnel. So that's good. I do agree with the article that decluttering the house does work on decluttering the mind. It really is stressful to live surrounded by clutter, and can be intimidating as well as overwhelming. Where to start? So this article did solve the where to start dilemma. Many of the problem areas are large rooms that just have too much in them to begin with, often items that don't even belong there. Slogging through that mess is something I have procrastinated doing for a very long time. It felt nice to finally tackle it.

I think this article is a good idea for a yearly check up on areas. While many of those listed were areas I actually do keep organized, it doesn't mean they'll never need a once over. So I'll hang on to this and make a point to do better. I mean, isn't that all any of us can do, anyway? Try to do better?

Detoxing the Home, days 20 - 29

The decluttering continues, more or less.

Day 20 - Bedroom closet. Eek! My closet is scary, with very little space to move around. I've already broken one pole. Definitely needed the clearout, but nowhere near finished.

Day 21 - Free for all. Continued on the closet and even the dining room. No, neither got finished. Yes, they are that bad.

Day 22 - Sock and underwear. No worries, these are very organized.

Day 23 - Nightstand. Already sorted.

Day 24 - Kid's toys. Well, I don't have littles anymore, but guess what? I do still have some of their toys. Mostly organized.

Day 25 - Kid's closets. See day 24.

Day 26 - Craft space. I'm dying. I don't even know where to start with this room. Will require at least a month all on its own.

Day 27 - Laundry room. Really just needed a good scrub.

Day 28 - Free for all. Yep, back to the scary rooms.

Day 29 - Basement. I don't have a basement, so, yep, once again back to the scary rooms.

Detoxing the Home, days 16. 17, 18, and 19

Apologies for being so far behind on posting updates! I'll try to get caught up!

So day 16 was bathroom cabinets. Mine are fairly organized, but I did have some things I decided to donate to Goodwill. No worries, it wasn't medical or beauty related, so probably why it didn't really need to be in the bathroom cabinets!

Day 17 was the linen closets. Mine are good, so didn't need any work.

Day 18 was makeup. Mine is well organized, so another area I didn't have to do anything about.

Day 19 was jewelry. Now, I have a rather huge collection of earrings, but all of them are organized on earring holders. So I'm good.

Because none of the above days truly needed my attention, I did devote it to my dining room. Still needs more work but I'm getting pretty happy how things are finally getting cleared out and organized. If the dust doesn't kill me, there may be a light at the end of that tunnel!

Detoxing the Home, days 12, 13, 14, and 15

 The saga continues, lol. So far, seriously, it has been too easy. I'm waiting for some difficult days.

Day 11 did get happily accomplished. I did discover a box of dvds I still need to find a place for, but that will happen.

Day 12 - magazines and books. I'm very good about going thru magazines, and don't buy that more anymore. The ones I keep are craft or tea related, and they are all happily ensconced in magazine holders. Books, on the other hand, are well, suffice it to say I do not have enough bookcases. And no, I am not donating my books! So I got some book boxes from UHaul to pack up those that have just been stacked, waiting for a bookcase. So at least they are safe from harm until I can figure out space for more bookcases.

Day 13 - Junk drawer. I don't have a junk drawer. So I used this day to refine a few areas I've already attacked.

Day 14 - free for all. I did say I would use my next free for all day to get into the dining room, but guess what? My daughter came for a visit.

Day 15 - desk. Well, I have no excuses now. The desk is in the dining room. So yes, I finally did get started in that room. Happy to get started, but have a looooong way to go.

The next few days look pretty easy, so I may just devote those to the dining room. Stay tuned.

Detoxing the Home, days 8, 9, 10, and 11

The decluttering hit a snag, but continues. So far, it has been as follows:

Day 8 - kitchen cabinets. I'd done a big decluttering of this months ago, so they still look pretty good.

Day 9 - medicine cabinet and first aid supplies. I never keep expired meds, so those look pretty good right now, too.

Day 10 - dining room. The day I had been dreading. I was saved from having to tackle it by my youngest, who treated me to lunch and some thrift shopping. Yes, thrift shopping seems counterintuitive when one is trying to declutter, but it's been awhile, so was a welcome treat. Also, it meant I didn't have to face the dining room, which has turned into a rather cluttered free for all room. I will get to it, because it desperately needs it, and the whole point of this month long exercise was to do these very things I've avoided for months. So on my next free for all day or sooner, I will get to it. I promise!

Day 11 - entertainment area. This is mostly making sure all my dvds are properly put away. I'm tackling that after I post this. I'm not anticipating much in the way of trouble, but space may be a problem. Stay tuned.

Detoxing the Home, days 4, 5, 6, and 7

The detox/declutter continues, but recent days have been a breeze.

Day 4 was organizing cleaning supplies and tossing old ones. I already keep mine organized, so that didn't take long.

Day 5 was clearing out the fridge and freezer. I do that on a fairly regular basis, so, once again, didn't take long.

Day 6 was organizing and clearing out the pantry. Again, another area I keep pretty well organized. I do want to get some trays from Dollar Tree to better organize a couple of areas, but other than that, didn't take long. Again.

Day 7 was a free for all day, a day to catch up on any area I didn't finish. Since we have an uninvited guest (covid), I didn't think I should venture out to Dollar Tree for those trays.

The next two upcoming days look pretty easy, but day 10 will be a toughy. Stay tuned.

Detoxing the Home, days two and three

Well, things aren't going to plan right out of the chute. Day two was decluttering the entryway. Because I still had so much paperwork still, I focused on that for the most part. I attempted to repot an ailing plant that sits on the porch, so I guess that counts. Ish.

Day three is cleaning out my purse. Since I don't carry much in my purse to begin with, I'm gonna stick with dealing with more paper. It's honestly just too hot to work on the porch. Maybe I'll tackle the foyer. 

Hoping tomorrow feels a little more successful. I'm going to remain optimistic.

Detoxing the Home, Day One

Recently I came across an article I'd saved about a 31 day decluttering, and I thought, yeah, I really need this. It described decluttering as a way of detoxing the home and the mind, and that intrigued me. I've long known that a cluttered home can be stressful, and boy howdy, right now my home is in serious need of a good clear out!

Decluttering can be overwhelming, especially if you have too much stuff. We are still trying to reclaim some space after our daughter moved back home, and then back out two years later. The problem with decluttering sometimes is that one just doesn't know where to start! So a plan helps.

I had to chuckle at the irony with the first day's task - paperwork. The article I had saved was from 2018. Clearly I have an issue with paperwork!

So today I began the arduous task of dealing with paperwork. I have always had issues with stacks of paperwork, and I was quite dismayed to realize I had so much and in so many places! I started with this bit:

Doesn't look impressive, does it? I went from one unkempt larger pile to one smaller organized one. I still have to file what's in this pile. The nightmare task will be all the shredding that has piled up. But the important thing is that I have started. At this point, I'm pretty sure it will take more than one day, but it feels good nonetheless.

One thing that I've done for quite some time now is to organize articles into folders to read. I pull one out each morning and read it, keep what I need, and discard the rest. At least that way they aren't just sitting (although since the article that prompted this decluttering is from 2018 as I mentioned above, I'm not the best at keeping up with that task, either!)

I will tackle each day's task in the order given in the article. The important thing is that I am doing it. Wish me luck!