On the blog there is a 91 day challenge to get your house in order. I am pretty good about it in the first place. The one big thing I need to declutter is the attic which is coming soon. I need my hubby to pull everything out and I need to go through and decide where it needs to go- trash, donate or storage.
We has a family have lots of stuff and it is hard to rid yourself of it often because you spent money, memories or you know once you get rid of it you will need it. I need to be better to use what I have and make do which isn't always something I am good at. I am way better than I was and I know if I go through stuff that I will feel even better.
Mary Organizes had a great blog post this past week about telling your kids to stop cleaning their rooms. She hit the nail on the head for me. I really don't nag the kids about picking things up because they understand if it gets left out, it might not get back to them. Both kids pretty much get up each day and make their beds. I have instilled in them that getting into a made bed will help them to get off to dream land better. I admit those few times I don't make the bed, I struggle with feeling comfortable. I was always that kid who made their bed.
My mom was a clean person and organized on the surface but when you would open things, you would cringe. My grandmother was clean but her clutter was every where. I vividly remember my Grandma picking clutter up, dusting and putting it right back down. So for each generation, it got better. My mom didn't like the clutter out and put it out of sight (she hardly does it now and has learned to live with less).
So for me, I like to have order and it does get out of hand on occasion. Example is the cabinet I am showing. It is my holiday dishes. I haven't used them the last few years because I just didn't want to deal with it and would just shove more in. I loved the child safety locks because that helped keep it contained.
The rest of my cabinets look like this:
Very neat and orderly. I stuck hooks up for lunch sacks and things are nicely stacked.
I know everyone has seen my pantry as well and I still get people come over and sneak a peek. I keep it pretty nice all the time and on occasion it may get a little chaotic but usually ten minutes and it is back to being functional again.
So here is my holiday dish cabinet:
Before
Yeah I know horrible and I hope it made you laugh at me. I laughed and than cried because I no idea how to begin with it.
So I pulled everything out and made piles.
Trash:
I hadn't used any of that for years and years. I didn't even know it was in there. So gone it was.
Than I created a donation box which keeps getting bigger because I did my linen cabinet as well on Saturday and is sending a bunch of linens and stuff I don't use or don't even have a table for.
So this is my donation pile:
I debated about all of it and decided I wan't going to use it. The cake thingy, I don't bake so why keep it. The pile of small Xmas dishes, I have so many already and there is no way I will only have a party of 12 people so they can find a new home.
So after only about 30 minutes- yes that was all it took. I did think it was going to be this huge undertaking but it wasn't and I am ashamed I dreaded doing it for so long.
This is the after. It isn't perfect but WAY easier to get into and I don't need the child locks to keep it all in.
After
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