Sunday, August 31, 2008

August Declutter Challenge Days 22-31

Organising Qeen has been hosting a month-long declutter challenge. Here are days 22-31.



Classroom - I moved into the room of a teacher who retired and didn't bother to take anything with her, personal or professional. There was so much stuff in there, one could barely walk. Extra bookcases, materials that hadn't been used in 5 years or more, old tests and paperwork, enough teacher supplies to distribute among the entire building. Some people have no pride! I worked my rear-end off and got it decluttered, simplified, personalized, and ready for day 1 of school, August 25.









I took close-up photos of three of the cabinets I decluttered. I threw away enormous trashcans-full of junk.


My husband's bathroom sink.

My closet floor.

The stuffed animals in my daughter's room.


The medicine cabinet. Look at all I threw away!

The computer table.
Bathroom cabinet.




I also declutter the kitty litter box on a daily basis (no, I didn't take a picture).

And we ran out of laundry detergent midweek, so on the 30th, I decluttered the hamper by doing six loads of laundry.

It doesn't take long to choose at least ONE thing per day to declutter.
Some people comment that they wonder how long things stay organized and decluttered. You'd be surprised! Usually a pretty long time. For instance, my plastic ware cupboard still looks pretty good, and my makeup drawer and cupboards under the bathroom sinks still look fantastic. I think that if it's done right, it will stay that way as long as you put things back where they belong as soon as you are finished using them. That's when things tend to get cluttered again... when other people in the household don't put things back, but we are working on that, too. It takes about 30 days of consistency to develop a habit.

12 comments:

  1. Wow, you've been busy! It looks fantastic! Love the new look of your blog as well!

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  2. I'm going on vacation so feel free to stop by and organize anything you want. I'll even leave you a tip.

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  3. You have done a fantastic job!!! Everything looks so well done!!! YAHOO! Thank you for sharing!

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  4. Wow - those photos are inspiration. I am going to de-clutter today (Labor Day). Thanks for the encouragement!

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  5. Amazing job at decluttering - especially your new classroom. I imagine it was pretty easy to separate the junk from gold and throw away the junk?

    Isn't it sad to be trapped by stuff? I can see that my bad habits and inaction could lead me to a place of having no pride.

    Thanks so much for the pictures and story. This decluttereing challenge is getting INTO my brain and heart. I don't want to be trapped anymore.

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  6. great job! love the new blog redo too!
    kris

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  7. wow you are the Declutter Queen! I am such a pack rat its unreal. Need for you to come visit for a month.

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  8. I can relate to the classroom clutter being a special ed teacher for 6 years. Seeing your neat class made me miss school...but not too much..LOL
    You really did a great job...that was one that could have easily overwhelmed you, since teachers don't have a lot of spare time.

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  9. I love your fall look! Another excellent week of decluttering. Last month I bet I threw away our whole medicine box. Some of that stuff had expired YEARS ago. I never think to throw it away until we need some & I see it's no good. Sigh. I need to be more on the ball.

    I guess that teacher had Had It and wanted no reminding of teaching, huh? I can't imagine leaving all that junk for the next teacher to bother with. Not very nice.

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  10. You have sure been a busy bee. I'm doing a similar program at http://candyheartsandpaperflowers.blogspot.com/. I'm also doing some guest posts for her - should be fun.

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  11. looks like you was on a misson there woman lol. good for you for all your hard work

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  12. Hmm. I'll have to check out that website. I teach a class in my home called Messy Mom's and decluttering is one of the lessons I teach, so thanks for sharing this!

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