Decluttering WORKS!

I had a chance to read more of the Organizing magazine and found some tidbits to share with you. 

But first, I promised some pictures of my decluttering/organizing skills. 

One of the things about decluttering/organizing is that if you don't do it correctly, and by that, I mean - in a way suited to YOUR needs, the system won't work. You'll end up with a cluttered, chaotic organization system. While it is good to check out what the magazine says, or I guess I should say social media, or me, you have to tailor ANY solution to you. 

• How much stuff do you have? 
• How much room do you have to store it? 
• How much are you willing to get rid of?
• How diligent are you about not purchasing any more items? 
• How diligent are you about putting things back where they belong? 

Those points are critical to keeping your space neat and organized. I want to achieve that for every spot in the house, but I'm not there yet. However, I'm content with how far I've come and know I'll get there. I'm the turtle—slow and steady. 

So here are my utensil drawers in the kitchen. I decluttered and sorted them. I found these great trays that fit my drawer, and here we are, many months later, and the drawer looks the same as when I first organized it. 

Utensil drawer - still neat and tidy

It's easy to find exactly what I'm looking for, and it's super easy to put the tools away. I LOVE this, and it works for us. 

We have an auxiliary utensil drawer, which contains stuff we rarely touch. Indeed, some utensils are so infrequently used that they could go. However, this does not affect our daily routines. The potato masher is missing, as it was in the dishwasher when I took this photo. I'm using two trays in this drawer. And as simple as a tray sounds, it works! 

The auxiliary utensil drawer

Both drawers took little time to sort, the trays were inexpensive, and we are winners at our house! 

Then there's the spice drawer. This drawer took more time and money, but I wouldn't change anything after several months of using it. I did have to clean up a spill from loose spice in the back, but I'm not going there. It's neat and organized, and we're happy!

The spice drawer

This is my junk drawer, which I tidied up years ago. There are two things I'm noticing about this drawer. The lack of trays to fill the space means the existing trays sometimes get tossed around. I guess we yank that drawer open or something! I may find another tray as a placeholder for the sheets of paper. I also noticed that we are getting a collection of twist ties. Hmm - where are they coming from? They are good to have when dealing with cords, so I'm hanging onto them. But neat and tidy, and it takes nothing to keep it this way. Though, I think three large Sharpies are enough! 

The "junk" drawer in the kitchen

Any other "junk" item is being dealt with immediately, and it's surprising how little junk you end up with when you don't buy as much, don't have kids, and try to deal with everything as it surfaces. 

And the last area I'll share this morning is the storage container cupboard. The top shelf holds seldom-used items - paper plates and some paper cups. But the rest of the containers and their lids are organized. It's easy to see what we have and very easy to put these containers and their lids away. I should probably go through the top shelf. What exactly is up there? 

The storage container cupboard

The point is that sorting, decluttering, and finding a good way to store things does work! It's not easy to start, and the process is time-consuming, but it doesn't have to be expensive. And if you do it right, it will always stay that way!

Our kitchen is in excellent shape, but I still have areas where I need to go back and declutter again. There are a few cupboards that I'd like to get rid of more stuff. We have too many glasses and plates that we never touch. They are currently on the top shelves of the cupboards, but I bet I could quickly get three more boxes of stuff out of that kitchen. Maybe even four - we haven't touched the stuff in years, so why am I storing it? 

Speaking of storing things, I loved this caption from the Organizing 2008 magazine. 

Did you read it carefully? The clothing you STORE versus the clothing you WEAR? There's a difference here. 

I could go through my closets and eliminate more than half of the stuff. The closet was the first place I started many years ago. And it's not that I've bought many clothes, but it's just getting rid of more clothes I no longer wear. That's another job on the list of things to do, but it's not a priority as everything I own is sorted, organized, and neat, but just too much. 

Here's another caption that caught my eye. I've been saying this for a long time, and I wish I had honed my decluttering/organizing skills when M was young.  

Make organization a part of your child's life! The first step is NOT buying tons of crap. If you need to purchase something, teach them to get rid of something else to make room. If there is no home for the excess, it becomes clutter. Kids from a very early age can be trained to put things away. TEACH them; don't do it for them. 

If only our parents had instilled these behaviors in us, we wouldn't be spending our time now trying to eliminate the clutter. Buy less!!!! Organize more!!!! 

And this last quote makes me laugh. 

I would NEVER consider doing this, but I know a couple (who shall remain nameless to protect their "innocence" who have turned not one, but TWO bedrooms in their home into his and her closets. You have got to be kidding me? I almost died when I saw it. Yep -- this is not second-hand information. I saw it with my own eyes. They call them their dressing rooms, and their kids are gone, so they can do whatever they want with the extra bedrooms. However, I think they both have way too many clothes. 

The current jigsaw puzzle is challenging. I made progress on it, but there's only so much hunting one can do at a given time. I give myself 30-minute time slots on this one and then move on to something else. 

The current puzzle is tough

I snuck in before bed and managed to find a few more pieces! But it will take a little while before I get it together. This is one where the picture is essential! 

Work is progressing at a slow and steady pace. I refuse to look at the big picture because that scares me. So, I'll get my three things that must be done each day and continue to prioritize. That's all I can do. I'm not one to give up sleep for work! 

I'm off to spin class this morning. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!