2023 Organizing & Decluttering Annual Thread!!!

I got my room pretty clean Sunday. Been sick and I thought someone was going to be coming to clean my oxygen concentrator but so far, no one. Going to try to continue to work on it.

I’m so excited. I finished the kitchen. I do have the floors to do but the kitchen light went out yesterday and it’s dark before I get off work still. I probably purged 70-75% of my stuff and yet I still struggle for space in the small foot print. I think a lot has to do with the very skinny but deep pantry cabinet. I have been able to keep on top of my kitchen this past week because of the decrease in items. It’s not overwhelming. I did make a run to goodwill last weekend so most of the donate is out of the house too.

Next project is my bedroom. Technically it doesn’t start till February but I may start early. I am doing a massive clothing purge. I think my goal is 15 outfits max. That’s two weeks plus one. I haven’t figured out the ancillary items yet. Also my bedding and towels are stored in the bedroom so I need to figure out my max on those. It’s going to be entertaining. I have to decide my camera gears date as well.

We finally got our garage re-organized. I say "re-organized" because I did a whole organization thing about a year and a half ago. DH and I bought each other one of those shiny red workbench/tool chest things for Christmas, so now all of our tools are beautifully organized. The only thing left I have to do there is label the drawers.

I also did a big cleanout of our closet. DH is an avid fly fisherman, so I got him a few bins to store his fishing shirts, buffs, pants and hats and to store whatever else he needs to wear for it. The closet is still not ideal, but it is a LOT better on his side.

DS just signed a lease on his first apartment. Of course, I'll be a little sad but also excited for him. He'll be just down the road in the next neighborhood over from me. I'm really looking forward to getting his new place organized as well. Also, I now finally have a spare room! DH wants to use that as his fly-tying room, plus a place to work on the days we both WFH.

Two more bags of items out of the house, new kitchen almost fully installed and ready for me to move things back into AFTER I go through them all. Peas, I may just be able to fit all my kitchen and serving items in the actual kitchen 😮 But don’t worry, I have many many craft items that need a home that will fit in my storage in the other rooms that are now emptied out 😇😁

I’m trying to figure out how to store junk drawer items now I have a deeper drawer so any suggestions would be appreciated. I lost a shallow drawer, but gained width in the three drawers I do have… a lot to get used to!

And can I just say, the genius move I made to redesign the kitchen so that I can use and reach all the cupboards was sooo worth it - I had two corner cupboards in the past that I kept empty as I had no way of reaching anything in them and now I can use them!!! Yay!!!! clutter free bench tops for the win!

the kitchen is on my task list at the moment. There's always a trade-off between not being the only person to put stuff away and having stuff be put away correctly.

Yesterday I tackled the pyrex and other food storage cabinet. Matched lids, organised by size - it looks so nice.

I am crowd sourcing ideas for a couple of areas though.

I have an Oster with ALL the accessories - ice cream maker, pasta maker, sausage maker, juicer...as well as food processor, blender, mixer. It's currently stored between two cabinets - both up high - and consequently I think I've used the blender twice in the two years we've lived here and haven't touched any of the rest. I'm torn between it's should live in non-prime space because it's rarely used and it'll get more use if I see it/can easily reach it. Thoughts?

I also have a lower cabinet with baking pans...I almost certainly need to own a few less but they are always in a jumbled mess. Wondering if putting in some sort of dividers to store them on their sides would help?

And last but certainly not least. I have two almost inaccessible cabinets in corners - they have small (halfsize) doors and stretch a full cabinet depth to the side of the opening...one is working for me, mostly because I have my cookie cutters on one shelf in an old Rubbermaid media box (think CD size but LONG) that slides in and to the side and a basket with air fryer accessories (that I've never actually used) at the front of the other shelf. The other one doesn't work well at all - I have a stack of dish drying mats that get tossed in and there'an air popper on it's side and I hestitate to say I'll be able to reach all of the parts (it's supposed to be upright but I'm not the popcorn maker here....see my first paragraph)

mikklynn - thank you! off to measure my cabinets!

I know...I know...but it's not replaceable if I change my mind...and I AM a make from scratch sort of person...I've even made pierogies from scratch. I really feel like I would use this more if it were easier to do so so I would like to try moving it before I ditch it.

Maybe I just need to put it on the counter and see if I actually use it and then if so, find a better home for it. I really want to be the sort of person with cleared off counters but I think I might be the sort that needs stuff in sight to use (at least in the kitchen)

DH and I just bought a 2nd freezer to put in the garage. We currently have a large upright freezer in our laundry room which is great, but it usually stays pretty full and I'd like to have more space for bulk buying and freezer cooking, etc. WE found the perfect sized chest freezer at a decent price at Menards. My plan is to move most of the meat into the chest freezer and use the inside upright for everything else. I'm pretty happy and now have another organizing project to work on LOL!

If you have the space to pull it out and put it somewhere more accessible, even if that is on your bench, I would do that but give it a set trial period and then reevaluate once that time is up.

I have been working on the basement and kitchen. We have 2 large garbage cans outside and I filled up one and part of another! I got rid of a lot of the extra food we had for when the kids were home for winter break. Lot of candy that no one ate and lots of other stuff too. I also got rid of a lot of serving dishes etc. that we never use. We only have my inlaws over for a holiday, so at most, there are 7 of us. No need to hang on to extra stuff, I would rather buy those aluminum pans for the holidays instead of keeping pans that take up a lot of room. We have very little kitchen storage (my daughter's apt. has more cabinets and drawers) so we try to keep only as many plates as there are members of the family.

I need to price things to put in flea market booths and get stuff ready for swap meet in March. I want to declutter a lot. Between my health and my Mom falling we don't need much at the house

I am very slowly clearing out photos .. I am supposed to finish putting books from the floor into the new bookcase, but I don't have the mental energy to do it. maybe next week.

You all are doing well! Love to hear the updates, big & small!😁


This morning I went through every single piece of clothing for my two younger kids. 

Tossed anything dingy. Or where the graphics had cracked on the tee shirts. Or anything with a hole (anyone else with a nervous sock thread picker?)

Pulled rainboots that the very youngest outgrew, so will be donated.

Everything in the drawers is their size. Everything fits in the drawers & closet. 


I feel like I should be decluttering more things, but I'm at a point where I've decluttered my own things to where they fit in the space I give them. 

And the rest of what I see as clutter is not mine to declutter.

Even my youngest kid is at an age where he can decide what is important to him and what is kept.

Not to say the house is clutter free (it isn't) or even tidy (nope), but it's not my stuff, so I can't decide its fate.


I am glad to report that my own personal use it down challenge is going quite well.

Both with toiletries and school supplies.

Apparently you can go through dozens of pencils a month when your kiddo has a generous heart and shares with every single kid that asks.