Declutter Day 38

Today I decluttered at school. When we got out, I left my room just as it was. I'd had enough that week and knew that I would be back to clean and straighten up. Boo went with me this afternoon and here is what we got accomplished:

• textbooks put on cart to be moved to book storage room
• new computer table put together and part of the computers moved to it - this table has a back tray to hide the cables so everything looks more organized - I have one more to put together and organize but there wasn't enough room to get both of them done without moving some other furniture
• moved extra desk over to my teacher desk to make an L-shaped workspace (added more storage and work area)
• organized differentiated instruction materials for easy access
• decluttered printer areas and reorganized
• decluttered magazines and reorganized
• old computer monitors moved out from under computer tables - these need to be gone through to determine what still works but now they have been moved to a place where I can check them out
• moved unassembled computer carts for the lab out of my classroom and into the lab - they just got put there when they were delivered and we haven't had a chance to get them assembled yet - there's more room in the lab than in my room

My classroom looks like a whirlwind has gone through it, but at least the decluttering and reorganizing has begun. We'll probably go back on Monday and do a bit more. Needless to say, no decluttering got done at home today.

Declutter Day 37

Today I have worked on Boo's clothes drawers. He had quite a few things that he had outgrown or that were really worn. We are also thinking about vacation and what will need to go with us then. We've gotten the shorts and shirts gone through and the drawers look much more organized. (He was having trouble putting away his clothes, because there just wasn't any space.)

When I was going through my Google Reader this afternoon, I ran across a post at Small Notebook with a wonderful idea for packing kids clothes for camp or vacation. I love this idea for the camper since we have such limited space. I'll post my pictures a little later today.

Decluttering Sunday?

Yes, even though it is Sunday, I have been decluttering some today. I have been fighting a sinus infection or cold or something since Thursday afternoon (sore throat, congestion, low grade fever and either a stuffy nose or a drippy nose - it changes from one to the other). I was feeling some better today so I decided to declutter in the following areas (sorry but no pictures - I just wasn't up to it):

1. both the inside freezer and the refrigerator freezer (needed to see what we had before I do our menu plan for the week
2. bathroom cabinet - I need some space to store the extras that I have been buying at CVS, Walgreens and Target
3. under bathroom sink
4. makeup drawer

Considering that I had to do these in shifts and then take a minute to rest because I wasn't feeling great, I'm really proud of what I was able to accomplish. I got rid of lots of outdated OTC medicines and old makeup and organized all the extras in one area so it's easier to find when we need more toothpaste or deodorant.

Tomorrow I need to tackle the closet by the back door. I have bought quite a few cleaning supplies and I can't even get them in that space. I hope that I'll feel like doing this tomorrow.

Am I Still Decluttering??

I just noticed that I hadn't posted anything about decluttering since last week. I had a whole list of things to do over the long weekend and didn't get a single one accomplished - not one. I laid around all weekend (it was rainy here), watched movies, and did absolutely nothing (with the exception of a few loads of laundry.

I guess since today is Tuesday (I almost typed Monday - I'm already a day behind), it is time to start something. So I'm leaving you for now to go get something decluttered. I think I'll start with my dining room table. We probably need to eat somewhere other than in front of the tv tonight.

Before...

and After...

Friday, Saturday and Sunday Decluttering

I haven't posted since Thursday, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been finishing up with the spring cleaning assignments and decluttering.

Friday night we worked on the master bedroom a little more because we went Saturday and picked up the rest of the furniture. We got back late Saturday afternoon and got the bed put together and all of the area around the bed (nightstand, underneath, baseboards, etc.) cleaned and organized. My goal is not put nothing under this new bed so that there won't be an accumulation of junk and dust bunnies under there.

Sunday after church, I had to go through the lateral filing cabinet that held our tv and all the peripherals for it. We bought a media chest with this bedroom suite which meant that the filing cabinet had to go elsewhere. I spent several hours pouring through old files and throwing out nearly 1/2 of the "junk" that was in there. There are still a few files that need to be gone through, but these were medical files that would take more time to decide if enough time had passed to allow it to be dumped. I didn't think I had enough mental alertness on Sunday to tackle those.

The new bedroom furniture is set up now and the room has been thoroughly cleaned. Now, we have to start moving the clothes and other items from the old dressers to these. I'm sure there will be even more decluttering to be done. I want to take pictures, but I am waiting until we get the decorative items back on the wall and dressers.

Declutter Day 26

Tonight we had t-ball so I was only able to get a few things done. In fact, I should be doing more now but I am taking a short rest before I go again.

We are still working on getting the furniture moved around and in the right areas. Right now, I have a dresser and a toddler bed in the middle of the living room floor. I have vacuumed and cleaned around (and under) them, but things still look disheveled with so much out of place.

Boo and I cleared all the toys from the room before he went to bed, but his room has got to be done tomorrow. So I won't finish the spring cleaning in the kid's room until then. We have already been decluttering old clothes, toys, etc. and cleaning in that area. On a side note, he has started (with a little prompting) sleeping in his room now. I'll post pictures of his room tomorrow once we have finished. He is already talking about sending pictures of his room to the House Fairy and I know he'll be ecstatic to see them show up here, too.

To see more spring cleaning that is going on, visit Simple Mom.

Declutter Day 23

It's spring cleaning fun in the living room today at Simple Mom's. I only the after pictures because I spent most of my time straightening up the kitchen and the living area because our parents were coming over for the t-ball game tonight and to eat/visit with us.


If you saw earlier pictures of my living room, you will notice that I have moved an old armoire into the corner between the two couches. That had to come out of the spare bedroom because we are moving the bedroom furniture in there this week. I just couldn't part with this piece plus it holds all of my memoirs and scrapbooking supplies and pictures. I love this piece because it belonged to my grandparents and I think lovingly of them every time I look at it. I shouldn't have had it stashed away in a room that was mostly serving as a junk area anyway. I truly smile every time I look at it. This is the way we should feel about every thing we have in our homes. If not, it should go. I think that is the point of decluttering.



Now that tree is another story. I actually bought it for my son's room, but it just didn't seem to fit where I wanted it. I don't smile when I see it. I usually cringe, because it is a constant reminder that I spent good money on something that just didn't work out like I wanted it to. My husband has suggested that we put it in the attic and save it for a Christmas tree for my little one. All we have for him now is a little tiny tree and since he's getting to be a big boy, he'll want a big boy tree. Sounds like a good idea to me. It was cheaper than a Christmas tree and I won't have to see that reminder except during a short time of the year. That might actually cause me to smile instead of cringe. It might turn out to be money well spent in that context.

Oh, and I do know that this mirror is too high. Originally, we were planning to move my grandmother's piano here to the new house and I measured to see where the mirror needed to go in order to be above the piano. Well, as you can see, there's no piano. Moving it proved to be more than we could handle and I couldn't afford a moving company. So until I can save up the money for moving it, the piano will stay at our old house. I'm planning to move this mirror and replace it with a gorgeous metal clock.



Anyway, I didn't get the area deep cleaned today, but part 2 of the living room is tomorrow. So hopefully I'll get a chance to do some real cleaning then.

Declutter Day 20

I'm beyond tired. Today I have gone through all of my pictures and scrapbooking materials. They are stored in an old chiffrobe that belonged to my grandparents. I didn't throw out much nor go through every single sheet of scrapbooking paper and stickers, but it is more organized than before.

We moved the chiffrobe from the spare bedroom to the living room. I didn't think there would be enough space in the spare room for the bedroom furniture and this piece. I really didn't want to get rid of it so I found another space in the house for it. I think it looks pretty good in the living room. If I weren't so tired, I'd get up and take a picture. Maybe tomorrow, but not now.

Declutter Day 19

IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY!

At last, I hope to get a few days of peace and quiet (as much as you can have with a preschooler) and a little more decluttering.

This evening I have gone through the bookshelf in our living room. Since we will be getting new furniture in the bedroom, I have to do something with the books that are currently on the nightstands/bookshelf units that we have. The new ones have all drawers and no room for books. Some of my decorative items may have to go, but so be it.

Here is the before which really isn't much different from the after. I had to take this with the smaller digital camera and it's quality is not very good. The job is done though and I only had to get rid of 2 items: a small basket and a little birdhouse.

Declutter Day 18

Well, I have made up for lost time today. I have been cleaning out the spare bedroom where our exchange student will be living next school term. Since we are getting new furniture in a week or so, we need to move the old furniture to the spare room. I have a couple of dressers in there that are mostly holding things that I just haven't taken the time to find a place for. This afternoon I have cleared one of the dressers out and an old cedar chest.

Most of the items were things that I have of my grandmother's and I don't want to get rid of them. I found a set of beautiful his and hers embroidered pillowcases that I didn't even know we had (I think my husband's grandmother did them). I found several crocheted doilies that I had forgotten about and some material to use for making grocery bags.

I organized my sewing items and went through Boo's school papers. I also found some old bills and statements from 1998-2003. I got rid of all of that as well. I located some insurance information that I hadn't been able to find and went through some of Boo's medical records that I needed to organize and save.

Next, I went through some of Boo's clothes that are in the dresser that will be moving to the spare room. We threw out some holy (I mean, holey) under pants, old socks and a few t-shirts that needed to be rags.

All in all, it has been a long afternoon. I don't generally try to declutter so much at one time, but I was feeling a little behind so I kept at it.

You may be wondering how I got all this done with it being a t-ball night. Well, since my little one was in the principal's office this afternoon after repeated, unsuccessful time-outs, he was not allowed to play tonight. He had gotten into trouble on Monday and was forewarned about losing t-ball privileges if there were any more behavior problems. I'm wondering if the moon is full or something. He's generally very good, but in the last few days he has been a handful. Here's hoping tomorrow will be better.

Declutter Day 15

Yeah! Today I got back to some decluttering!!

If you have read my post from Sunday on my grocery savings blog, you already know that we weren't home on Sunday and stocked up on toothpaste from CVS and Walgreens. I try not to spend too much on toothpaste. In fact, my little one and I use the samples from the dentist, but my hubby - that's another story. He wants a FULL size tube of toothpaste, so we granted that wish on Sunday over and over and over again.

Well today (Monday) when I decided to put up the toothpaste, this is what greeted me...

After about 15 minutes, it looked so much better...

Now on to the next thing!

Declutter Day 11

I'm catching up from the last few days of decluttering. I have been working so hard to keep everything straightened up that I haven't had much time for blogging. Yesterday (Wednesday), I had to declutter our medicine cabinet in the kitchen. Since my little one had been sick, I was very frustrated trying to find all of his medicines (breathing treatments, fever reducer, cough meds, expectorant, etc.) in such a disaster. So for Wednesday, I took the time to go through the medicine shelf and organize everything again.

I use plastic containers (like those for leftovers but without the lids) to put meds in for each person in our family. My husband has daily meds that he has to take and those go out in front for easy access in one container. I have another container for our little one and then yet another for me. My container is pushed furthest back in the shelf. I tend to be the less sickly one of the bunch (or at least the one who takes the least medicine). These containers make it so easy to just grab up what you need.

The next thing I want to do is make a night nurse kit. I read about this from an email newsletter and thought it was a wonderful idea. In this kit you put everything that you would need in the middle of the night for your kids (thermometer, fever reducer, breathing meds for us, etc.). It is so hard to find a thermometer in the middle of the night and the idea is to have it all together in one place so anyone can grab it without much thought or searching. I think I will try to work on this next.

Declutter Day 10

I can't believe it. I have been doing this for 10 days!! Go me (well, us)!!!

One note of improvement for Tuesday of this week (Day 10) is now that we have gotten the entire house straightened up, my 5 year old knows what his room is supposed to look like and is working hard to keep it that way. He has only been pulling out one thing at the time and putting it back. He stayed home sick with my hubby (on Tuesday) and when I returned home everything was still in great order. Was I ever surprised? I only had a few dishes to wash up.

We had a T-ball game on Tuesday afternoon so the only decluttering that I was able to do was a little bit in the pantry. I had to run to the grocery store during my lunch to bring the guys a few snacks for the day so I straightened up the snack shelf in the pantry after I got home. I didn't snap a picture since it was only one part of a shelf.

More Decluttering for Day 8

I also worked on the porch some more on Sunday. I decided to push the dining table into the back corner and use the metal table from my grandmother's as a buffet. This way we could easily put the food to be served on the porch with us and not have to go back into the house for items. I'll try to get a picture up in the next day or so. We've still got quite a bit to do (paperwork wise) for the exchange student so I may not get any decluttering done for a day or so.

Declutter Day 8

Today was a major declutter day. I received a call from the representative that we have been working with in order to host an exchange student next school year. She will be coming by tomorrow for a home visit.

I had to declutter the spare bedroom (AKA the junk room, the boxes of stuff that we never put away after moving room, the excess baby stuff room, the scrapbook room, etc.). This was a job. Just going through things in there took so much time.

Here's a breakdown of some of what had to be done:
* closet cleaned out and straightened up
* bed linens put on shelf (they had been folded and put in the room but not put up)
* baby stuff sent to charity store
* books and movies (had previously been gone through and just being stored there) sent to
charity store
* camper stuff taken out to camper (bowls, toilet cleaner, dish cloths, tire covers, exterior rug) -
we had purchased some items that never made it to the RV
* air mattress disposal (won't hold air any longer)
* puzzles, scrapbook items, school papers put away
* vacuum (our cat had shredded a newspaper page in there)
* pictures put away
* old picture frames gone through and sent to charity store
* school supplies put away

We made it through this room and had to do some cleaning in several others, but we are now ready for our home visit. We are very much looking forward to hosting a student. What better incentive to get this room under control?

Declutter Day 7

I didn't get any decluttering done on Friday so I'm going with Day 7 today.

Our screened in porch is a catch-all. We use it for outside games and toys, recycling bins, an outside eating area, wood storage for fireplace and lots of junk that just gets accumulated there. I wish I had taken a BEFORE picture. We worked on this area for about 1 1/2 hours this evening. This is as far as we have gotten.

If you have any ideas about how this area might work better for us, please leave a comment. The area is narrow and the outside dining table that I have is round with 4 chairs. We have a large tote that houses most of the outside toys and games except for the t-ball equipment. There are three recycle bins that are stackable as well as the curbside container. I also have a metal table that belonged to my grandmother in the back corner that is currently not being used for anything at all. It mostly just makes a place for more stuff to accumulate. The wind from southernly storms causes the porch to get wet so I need to place some things all the way against the wall. We have moved the wood to our wood rack outside so there isn't a place needed for that at this time of year. Please, please, please give me your ideas. I do intend to use some decorative items in this space once I get things where I want them.

Declutter Day 6

I am a day behind in my posts but I have decluttered an area every day even if I haven't posted about it yet. This decluttering was actually done yesterday (Wednesday). I took time to finish up my couponing project. All the coupons have been numbered and entered into the spreadsheet for future reference. I really love this way of organizing the coupons. Before I could never find what I needed or it would be expired. The other issue that I had would be trying to dig back through all the coupons to throw out the old ones. That's not necessary with this system. And the best part is that now it's done.

Declutter Day 5

I didn't get this post done on Tuesday. Our little one is playing T-ball so we didn't get in until late. I did get a little decluttering done, though, even with our busy schedule. I decluttered the top of the freezer in my laundry room. There was some laundry there as well as other things that just didn't belong. We have eight chicks in this room, too. I'm posting a picture of them instead of the freezer. They are much cuter!

Declutter Day 4

This afternoon I have been working on the other side of the kitchen. The countertops were cleaned on Saturday, so today I decluttered items on the counters. I looked at what could be stored elsewhere and what items could be removed entirely.

I also worked on one of the cabinets below the countertop. It took less than 15 minutes to do all of this. I am always very amazed at the power of 15 minutes.

















To see other Immaculate Monday activities, visit here.

Declutter Day 3

On Saturday evening after our church's Easter celebration, I was able to finish the last of the countertops in the kitchen. Now all of the countertops are neat, organized and best of all - clean.

All of the groceries and purchases from our Wal-Mart trip have been put away and are not waiting on the dining table or the top of the bar. What was I thinking when I put in a bar? It just seems to be a magnet for anything without a place to go.