Decluttered Space

Exhale. It's done. That disorganized space you've been meaning to tackle for weeks has just been decluttered and reorganized. What a great feeling! Everything is in its place. Strangely, life feels refreshed and under control. That breath you let out is full of optimism and hope. What new possibility lays ahead for me?

I love to organize. All those fun blogs about organization tips, I'm entertained by them. That label maker that prints the little labels for containers? Yeah, they're a guilty pleasure.

But, I'm also a clutterer. I hate to say it, but I shall self profess that I sometimes my stuff gets junky around the house and the next thing I know I have a large cleaning project waiting for me. Maybe I'm the only one in the world with this problem but maybe (just maybe) you can relate, too.

Today, I finally had an entire day without plans and decided to tackle at least one or two little projects around the house. Here's what I did to accomplish a bit of decluttering around the house.

1. Plan. I have a lot of house projects to do but I'm easily overwhelmed so I thought of two spaces that I really wanted to tackle for this weekend; my coat closet and the space beneath my kitchen sink.
2. Reuse or Shop. It's helpful to have containers, shelving, or other tools to help get things into a specific location. I already have some things at home that could be reused but at the risk of a little retail therapy I invested in some small shelving, containers, and boxes that would fit into my desired spaces.
3. Removal. I removed everything or at least most things from the problem space.
4. Sort, Trash, and Donate. Nearby I placed a bag marked with one of the mentioned intentions. As I sorted through all of my items I determined which ones I'd keep and which to get rid of. It felt so good to just let it go! And some items had to be placed in other parts of the house because they simply just didn't belong. Letting go made me feel like I'm opening my life up to a new possibility. A little bit more air...to be a little bit more me.
5. Re-place. I put the shelving, containers, or what nots into my space and placed the "keeping" items in its new place. I considered how to place the items so as to make it easy to take them in and out of its place. This extra consideration, I think, will make it easier in the upkeep.
6. Simply Be. I took a moment and observed this new organized space. It felt so good to see fewer items there and know that only those things that are of greatest importance remained. I even found things I forgot I had. Smile.

Space #1. Coat Closet.
I considered which spaces in my house have been neglected and I picked one to start with. I needed that feeling of success so I started with the coat closet. It wasn't horribly out of hand but I had several bags that were on the floor and I found it frustrating when I tried to get the vacuum out. The vacuum kept tripping over the bags. Time for an intervention. I invested in a plastic container with drawers and placed my bags inside. Everything is now contained and in its place. My vacuum easily moves in and out of this small space. Success!

BEFORE

AFTER

A small change like a container can make all the difference in decluttering. Now when I go into this closet I am sure nothing is going to fall out of it making life just a little bit easier and fluid.

Space #2. The cabinet under my kitchen sink.

Yikes! This space was getting out of hand. A few times, things were falling out and I had to push them in. And each time I went in there too look for something it was annoying to take that extra time to search for it.

So, I invested in some small shelving and baskets that would fit in this space. What a difference it makes!

BEFORE

AFTER

SPACE #3. My Kitchen.

After the cabinet was reorganized, I was so refreshed by all this decluttering that I went on to declutter my countertops, some of the items in my cabinets, and two shelves in my pantry that have just been an accident waiting to happen. I simply had too many things shoved into that pantry and I knew there were items I wanted to donate but never took the time to take them out.

And in the midst of decluttering, reorganizing guess what I found? All the sushi makers my mom had given me! YAY! Guess I'll have to plan a party and have friends over sometime so we can make sushi in all different shapes, sizes, and even smoosh some spam masubi together. YUM!

(I forgot to take a before and after photo of the other spaces but maybe I'll include the "after" photos tomorrow).

Tomorrow, I shall tackle a few more spaces before the weekend ends. What a great feeling!

What do you do to keep yourself organized and decluttered?