September Sweep- Week 1

While I was busy not-blogging, I was doing the September Sweep with Apartment Therapy.  Has anyone else signed on to try it?  It’s not as involved as the January Cure but it’s a good reminder to keep those habits going.

 Those lazy days of summer caught up with us and there are definitely some tasks around that we neglected. I’m hoping that these three weeks will jolt us back into good habits again! Let’s have at it!

Day 1- Set up your drop zone

This was an easy one.  I always have a box handy in the basement that I drop off clothes or other items for the donation later (…whether or not they get there in a timely manner that’s a different story.)  But since it’s kept out of the way, it isn’t a bother if it hangs around a couple months.  And really, I find it handy that I only make the trip a few times a year so if I end up needing something I put in the box it’s still mine for the taking.    I’ve only done that once or twice, but I was glad to not have to want to re-purchase an item that I gave away. 

Day 2- Declutter one drawer

The before. (Yes, that is a princess costume for my dog you can spy on the right. The kid loves it, the dog, not so much.)

I did two better- I decluttered and organized three drawers!  The wicker baskets (ok, so not technically drawers) are total black holes.  I vaguely know what’s in each one.  One has cold weather accessories, another dog stuff and the third?  I think it includes a mug and a candle in the mess maybe?

For the winter stuff, I made sure to neatly fold the scarves and hats to they could be found easily and paired all the gloves.  I’m happy to report there were no gloves missing a mate!  That in and of itself seems like a win in my book.

For the dog items, I tossed the expired toothpaste, put the puppy-sized sweaters in the donation box and organized the rest.

And that last one?  I found multiple blank greeting cards, random paperwork and basically anything else that at one point or another I couldn’t find a home for.  I decided to keep this bin a bit random.  Random doesn’t mean messy though.  I kept the cards in this bin, the random outdoor/ car related items and put our candles here, too.  Multi-tasking as its best!

The after. It’s still stuffed but at least it’s organized.

Day 3- Identify your monster zone (and remove three things from it)

This was easy.  The monster zone is the basement.  Where everything but those chirping crickets go to die.  (Seriously, I need to find out how they’re getting in.  They like to stay right at the bottom of the stairs and chirp up to the kitchen to let me know they’re there and it’s so loud!) 

This image is almost as scary as the mess in the basement right now.

Anyway, we’re doing some rearranging around the house and Jon’s office has moved to the basement, not only bringing down boxes of his stuff but displacing all of the kitchenware and appliances I have down there.  So the usual monster zone is even more so now.  I fully admit that I have a ton of kitchen gadgets and serving ware down there but I really do use most all of it fairly regularly and have never found myself scrambling for dishes when serving a crowd.  I need a better way to organize it all, but one step at a time.  Though it’s a bit messy, it works.

Instead of removing three things, I unpacked a couple boxes, straightened a bit and took out the garbage.  Since all the computer related stuff has been set up, we’re not in a hurry to unpack everything right now so we’re working on it here and there and know it will get done in time.  We hope, haha.

Day 4- Declutter the entryway

Lucky me, I cleaned those three drawers out on day 2.  That made this job a lot easier.  I went through the hooks and took off any extras hanging there, went through the shoe bins and took away the sandals (Goodbye, summer weather!)  and made sure there weren’t any odds and ends hanging around.  I’m happy to say this actually only took the prescribed 20 minutes, and that included dusting, sweeping and watering the plant.

I’m finally showing off the awesome plank wall Jon put up a few months back!  It turned out awesome and really helps take the sting away from not having a coat closet in the house. I’ll share the behind the scenes on that in another post.  (But on another note, I need to ask my neighbor where they kept their coats when they lived here.  I guess they were big on hooks and coat racks? 

Much neater! I’m still looking for the perfect matching baskets for under the bench. Poor me, looks like I’ll need a trip to Home Goods again soon :)

Day 5- Declutter the closet

Can’t I just say that organizing the coat hooks in the entryway counted for this?

What?  It has to be a clothes closet?  Fine…

I do this a lot actually since I swap out my summer and winter clothes.  I think it’s a really good habit to get into, especially if you find yourself with a closet full of clothes but “nothing to wear.”  At the beginning and end of each season, I look at every item and decide if I still really like it.  If it’s the start of the season and I’m on the fence about something, I’ll keep it.  From there, I’ll either wear it, put it in the donate pile mid-season to see if I dig it out or uncover it at the end of the season and easily toss it in the donate pile. 

I’m ready for you, week 2!