A tidy Bedroom

Back in February, I started putting together lists of the decluttering, cleaning and tidying tasks for each room in the house. Having a list on my Kindle meant it was a great deal easier for everyone. 

I didn't have to create a decluttering, cleaning and tidying list from scratch each time. The information was there for people to use, and it was no longer me asking people to do things. Each person could choose which tasks to do from the list in front of them.

This system was working really well, until life became very busy for me. Without me driving things forward people don't think to start using the list.

However, today the Beloved and I did a deep clean of the bedroom. As a result of the previous decluttering, and tidying, it was a huge deal easier to clean today.

I am loving how much simpler life is when we keep on top of tasks. 

The 30 Day Wait and Buy Happy

A great tip I came across whilst watching video clips on decluttering and minimalism is to have a 30 day waiting period before making unplanned purchases. It's a chance to slow down and consider the purchase. There's no point in decluttering only to restock your home with new clutter.

During the decluttering of the linen cupboard at the start of January, I realised we only had one spare/guest bath towel. I added 'big fluffy bath towel' to the 30 Day list in the back of my journal. Whilst shopping for new tights at the start of this month, I realised 30 days were up on the bath towel, and bought it. Having a general browse around the shop I spotted this clock.

"Ohh!" thought I. "I like it," and it had been marked down from £89 to £45.  So it was added to my 30 Day list.  The temptation was there to buy it immediately, especially as it was half price!   

Last night, I bought a new Kindle (my old one is old, and is starting to wheeze and groan). The model I have just bought isn't the newest, but there was a 30% reduction, and it does all the things I need/want it to do. As I was removing the Kindle from my 30 Day list, I thought about the clock. I do like it, and it would look good in my home. But, I don't love it. The clock was removed from my list.

Another useful tip I picked up was "Buy Happy". Too often we buy things to cheer ourselves up, rather than because we need, want, love, or even like the item. If you are not happy, then stay out of the shops. Only buy when you are happy and content.

Week 7: Coupons, Gift Cards and Loyalty Cards

When a good system is set up it needs to be able to accommodate the needs of many people. This week's challenges will be just right for some people, but almost completely redundant for me.

Clipping coupons is a big thing in the USA, but it is almost none existent on my little island. With my store/credit card I accrue points when I shop. Periodically I am sent vouchers and special offers. Recently I received £24 in vouchers and a few 'earn triple points in X department'. This is the extent of my couponing.

Monday: Read Organised Home Challenge #7: Coupons

Tuesday: Gather coupons and declutter 

Wednesday: Separate coupons into categories and organise them

Thursday: Create grocery price book

We are in the very fortunate position of not needing to track sales, or the price of apples.

Friday: Declutter excess stockpile from couponing

Saturday: Declutter and organise gift cards and loyalty cards

Done.

Sunday: Declutter Valentine's Day cards, candy and decorations

The Beloved and I don't go in for Valentine's Day, and so there's nothing to clear up afterwards.

15 Minute Declutter: Bathroom

Three quarters of the bedroom has been decluttered. The Beloved has had a massive clear out of the things on top of his chest of drawers. And I have stalled with the crafting materials in my bedroom. I suspect it is simply I don't have a lot of brain power, and there are too many decisions for me to handle.

To simplify, I ventured into the bathroom today. Making decisions about old toothbrushes is far easier than deciding the fate of crafting materials. (I kept one as toothbrushes are useful for scrubbing small areas like around the taps on the sink.) Old bathroom products and toothbrushes were bid a fond farewell. A few bits of bed linen left lying around since the linen cupboard declutter were added to pile of things leaving the house. The sink, shelf, mirror and storage shelves were cleaned. There's more cleaning to do, but the room is looking better.

Decluttering?

What's happened to the daily updates on decluttering? Tiredness, a grumpy body, and extra sleep have thrown decluttering out of the window!

However, meals have been cooked, dishes have been wash, clothing has been laundered, and the house is running smoothly. The Beloved has been engaging a little with decluttering. Progress hasn't ground to a halt. We are still moving forward, just at a very slow pace.

15 Minute Declutter: Large Chest of Drawers

Some areas become magnets for clutter. The top of the chest of drawers in one such place. This needs to be tackled.

Actually, there's a bigger problem just in front of it. There's a load of crafting materials in bags and boxes. These need to be taken upstairs to my craft room. It's not a craft room at the moment, more a bit of a dumping area. I am so not looking forward to tackling that area. But I am looking forward to a tidy bedroom.

The Beloved has a load of stuff on his chest of drawers. Perhaps a bedroom decluttered and tidy apart from his chest of drawers might spur him on?

15 Minute Declutter: Medicines

Another off-piste challenge, but still in the bedroom.

We don't have a medicine cabinet, instead we have a drawer in the bedroom where medicines, plasters, dietary supplements are kept. This drawer is sorely in need of a hefty clear out, and today's the day.

Out of date medicines and ones no longer required will be set to one side and then taken to the local pharmacy for disposal.  

Week 6: Recycling

I'm getting ahead of myself this week. I'm making the switch from working four days to five days a week. Previously, Mondays were my day off, and the day I would make a good start on the list of tasks.

Monday: Read Organised Home Challenge #6: Recycling Centre & Trash Cans

Done.

Tuesday: Create home recycling centre

Done.

Wednesday: Place trash bins throughout house;

Done.

Thursday: Declutter plastic grocery bags and switch to reusable ones

Done. We have a holder for carrier bags. The bags are reused and reused. We are also fans of folding crates, and keep a couple in the boot of the car. These are brilliant when grocery shopping. They are easier to carry and so much sturdier than plastic bags.

Friday: Declutter plastic silverware and other take out supplies

We've had to buy extra take away meals as I was running out of containers. They are brilliant for packaging up extra portions of dinner, freezing and using for lunches at a later date.

Saturday: Declutter water bottles

Done.

Sunday: Declutter kitchen drawers

There's two drawers left, both have cake decorating supplies in them. I'll have a look in there next weekend and see what I want to do.

15 Minutes Cluttering: Under the Bed

There was not a lot to declutter under the bed. Two items of crafting have been relocated and dust bunnies have been evicted. The only things under the bed now are two large suitcases (too big for me to lift on top of the wardrobe) and a plastic storage box for my finished crafty projects. This is a place to store gifts and items for charities.

Moving from the kitchen into the bedroom raised some feelings of unease in The Beloved. He sees me as head chef, and himself as sous. I get to decide what happen in the kitchen. The bedroom, on the other hand, contains some of his stuff. He was concerned I might start decluttering his belongings. This is far from the truth; I will not throw out or give away his possessions. I would hate it is someone was to do that with my things. Therefore I would never do that to someone else.

The Beloved's shoes, trainers and slippers have been put on display. My inclination is to put his slippers in the bottom of the wardrobe. He only uses them when he is ill and during non-ill times they sit under the bed gathering dust. I'll ask him to sort through his footwear and decide whether anything should be shown the bin.  

15 Minutes Declutter: Kitchen drawer

I'm uncertain as to why this task wasn't done at the same time as the rest of the kitchen, but it's been done now.

My most used kitchen utensils are metal and hang from a rack beside the cooker. In one drawer there are wooden spoons, lemon reamer, potato ricer, chopsticks and a range of other random things. This is the drawer receiving attention today. Everything has been removed, the drawer and tray washed. I've selected the things I wish to keep and The Beloved has done the same.  The Offspring will also be given a choice as to what they want to keep.

Creative Cluttering

Some much decluttering has taken place.  I need to start 're-cluttering'. Being very specific, I need to add more hand crafted goodies to the storage box under the bed. This is my stash of completed projects. With the baby blankets sent of this morning the box is almost empty.

My wrists were very bad over the summer, and I've fallen out of the habit.  With the friend's connection to the drop-in centre for refugees and asylum seekers I now have a new outlet for my knitted and crocheted items.

It will also declutter my stash of yarn.

Mini Declutter: Items for Refugees

A friend helps at a drop in centre for refugees and asylum seekers. Two of the women are pregnant, and are finding it very difficult to prepare for the arrival of their babies because money is so tight.

I keep a box under my bed of finished knitting and crochet projects. These are things made to give away to who ever needs them There's two crochet blankets in that box, just waiting to be sent to my friend. My hope is that these baby blankets will be a little sign of hope. It's nice to get something brand new for a baby, and to know someone has put hours of work into making it. I hope they will not just be used to keep babies warm, but be treasured.

Also being added to the blankets are 10 pairs of socks and knickers for small children. These were bought to be sent to refugees in Greece, but we got the got the timings wrong and the shipment had been sent. They were bought for children who were in difficult situations. What does it matter if they are in Greece, or England! Every child deserves to be loved, and to have clothes.

15 Minute Declutter: Bedroom Sofa, part 2

The bedroom sofa has been cleared. There were a few items of clothing left, two odds socks, a hand knitted mini-shawl, random crafty bits. The crafty bits are being moved up into the guest room/craft room. The crafting materials will be sorted at a later stage.

At the weekend, the futon sofa will be vacuummed and fluffed up, but it's too heavy for me to do by myself.  The Beloved's assistance will be required. I'll bake him some flapjacks by way of thanks.

15 Minutes Declutter: Bedroom sofa

The sofa in my bedroom is the unofficial repository of 'stuff'.  In today's declutter, clothes were put away, scarves were tidily hung, and crafting materials were corralled.

15 Minute Declutter: Bedside Table and Top of Blanket Box

Here's where I totally go off-piste.  I've run out of January Challenges, and there's only one February Challenge for me, decluttering the last couple of drawers in the kitchen. The listed challenges are things I have already done, systems already in place (recycling, menus and shopping list), or couponing - something that just isn't a part of my culture. 

So, I'm casting my eye around the house deciding on areas in need of urgent attention.  My bedroom falls into this category.  There's piles of stuff.  It really is a dumping ground.  January has been kitchen month, February is going to be bedroom month.

Today's tenative steps into the bedroom are decluttering the bedside table (actually a little chest of drawers), and the top of the blanket box. 

15 Minute Declutter: Cupboard under the stairs

The cupboard under the stairs used to be a place where everything was thrown in. Last year I had a massive decluttering campaign in there when we needed to gain access to the crawl space. We found a whole host of things the previous owners had left behind, including paint, tiles, cork tiles, wooden slats, and railway tracks for a model railway! That decluttering session was a marathon. This year, it was done within 15 minutes!

There were some items placed there by mistake - people had forgotten the new places it should be stored. There was a woodwork upcycling project I had been thinking about for two years. If I really wanted it done, I'd have done it by now. The sleeping bags were placed on top of the rucksacks.

And, as if by magic, there was now enough space on the shelves to spread out the plastic cake boxes, the kitchen appliances that are used, but on less than a weekly basis, and the pretty glass cake stand and cup cake stand. The light weight items are stored above head height, and the heavier items lower down.

The space needs to be re-plastered and painted, but it's decluttered, and tidy.

Week 5: Recipes, Dishes, Mugs and Glasses

Monday: Read Organized Home Challenge #5: Recipes

Done.

Tuesday: Declutter recipes

Done.

Wednesday: Sort recipe into categories and organize them

Done.

Thursday: Declutter cookbooks and then organize the rest

As mentioned previously, I was anxious about this week and started early. And finished it all before the actual challenge came around!

Friday: Declutter small kitchen appliances

Done. I've never been one for having lots of kitchen appliances, and in this house there is not enough space to have many appliances on the work tops. Appliances used every day are allowed on the work tops: kettle, microwave, toaster and coffee maker. My new stand mixer (Kenwood Prospero) has an honoured place in a kitchen cupboard. In the cupboard immediately outside the kitchen, we keep the appliances we want, but don't use on a weekly basis. There's a blender, George Foreman grill, small fryer and sandwich toaster.

The blender is starting to show signs of wear and will need to be replaced. Sadly the Kenwood accessory blender does not fit with my Prospero. It would have been good to have an accessory rather than a whole new appliance.

Saturday: Declutter plastic grocery bags and switch to reusable ones

We try not to use plastic bags. We keep a couple of folding crates in the boot of the car and use them for larger shops. My shoulder bag is good for holding a number of smaller items. But of course, there are times when we do use plastic. We have a carrier bag store in the kitchen, and the bags are reused.

The store was almost full in December. I took the plastic bags along to Douglas street market and asked the first stall I shopped at whether they would like some. They were delighted.

Sunday: Declutter plastic silverware and other take out supplies

We have a little stash of plastic cutlery and paper plates. These are get for picnics and travelling. They are on the topmost shelf in the pantry, out of reach for me, but I know where they are.

The takeout plastic boxes are fantastic and I use them many times for my homemade ready meals. We have been very efficient in creating the ready meals, and I'm running out of plastic boxes!

15 Minute Declutter: Plates and Bowls

A February mission I was too impatient to wait for! The plates and bowls have been decluttered. There's a white everyday set, and also the Christmas Tree by Spode.

The remains of a four person set given as a wedding present is on it's way out the door. There's four dinner plates and two side plates. The bowls 'died' a number of years ago. Also the sparse remains of a blue and yellow set I bought about 15 years ago is leaving. One of the large bowls is remaining as it used as a serving dish.

This exercise has helped me understand white is the colour of choice (my choice) for serving dishes, plates and bowls. I like the Christmas Tree ones as well as they are only used for part of the year, and when the food is on the plate you see a white dish with a green border.

I am starting to gradually replace the white set. I'd like to add to the Christmas set, bringing it up to 8 settings, but that is a low priority. As for the large blue and yellow bowl - it's useful. However, I would prefer a white bowl or perhaps a Moroccan blue and white one. But for now, it stays.

15 Minute Declutter: Shower Room

This is a mission borrowed from June, but I'm sure the shower room will be ready for another declutter by the time that month comes around.

Everything was taken out of the room.  People were invited to select the items they liked and used, These items were washed and were neatly put back into the shower room. The rest was ditched. 

This is getting to be liberating. I want to do more, but at the same time I want to proceed at a good pace.  It is a marathon, or perhaps double marathon as it's 52 weeks, and not a sprint.  Part of the process is getting rid of 'stuff', but it's also about learning to maintain the decluttered, organised areas, not re-cluttering, and learning new patterns of behaviour.  

I want a warm, inviting house that's calm and free from clutter. At this rate, I'm going to get it.  It might not happen within 52 weeks.  If it doesn't, then I'll pick up from where I left off and keep going.

15 Minute Declutter: Glasses

I thought I was borrowing a task from February, but now I look for it, I can't see any instructions about decluttering drinking glasses. Well, anyhow, it was needing to be done, and it's done. We have gone from 'oodles' of wine glasses to half a dozen. They don't match, but they are the ones we use. I've tasked The Beloved to buy a set of six matching wine glasses as soon as he finds a set he likes. We have three other sets of glasses, pint glasses, hi-balls and tumblers.

With this large clear out of wine glasses, there's now enough space on the shelf for the cookery books too.  They will be stored away from dust.

In addition, folded newspaper has been added to the tops of the kitchen cupboards.  When it's time to clean up there again it will be so very simple, as easy as replacing a few bits of newspaper!