2024 Organizing & Decluttering Thread

I guess one more reason to clean out the crawl space is that a plumber might have to go in there....

We have so many home improvement projects on the horizon, so I feel like I need to do a lot of organizing. I'm about to do a DIY on my first floor to replace the tile, front entry console, and powder room vanity. The current entry console has so much junk in it, but I couldn't even tell you what most of the stuff is. I think this means that the majority goes into the trash.

Around April or May, we're redoing the kitchen cabinets and countertops, and I cannot wait to have a more custom solution to organize all the drawers and cabinets. We're not done with the planning yet, but I would like to also replace the pantry with something better, but we shall see how the money plays out. I may just keep what I have (a framed out closet with shelves), and install an Elfa system in there.

The primary closet needs to be done too, but it's almost painful to think about right now!

I live in a tri-level home with the kitchen being on the main level, then up about 14 stairs is the living room, bathroom, two bedrooms, etc. Down about 5 stairs from the kitchen there is the same as upstairs. Two bedrooms, bathroom, laundry, etc. The crawl space is essentially underneath the kitchen. There is a door from the downstairs living room. The entryway is taller but sloped (from the stairs going up) but inside of it it is probably about 3-4 ft high? I can sit and crawl but can’t stand. It’s good storage but kind of a hassled which is why I usually end up just stashing stuff in the doorway for awhile. That is where we store any seasonal decor, out of season clothes, kids stuff that I’m keeping, paint, and so on. We also have an attic that you have to use a ladder to get into but I have never been in it.

If I’m understanding correctly your family buys storage units, sorts through them, and then sells what you’re able in a flea market. Is that correct? But some of your posts came across to me as if y’all are drowning in clutter and that it can affect your health, at the very least your health affects your ability to handle the volume. If that’s the case, would it be possible to clear out what you currently have and get set up to handle incoming items more efficiently? And so it doesn’t seem to affect your entire house (and some of your yard IIRC)? Please don’t feel you need to answer me, but that’s my understanding and I worry about you reading some of the posts about more and more coming in. It definitely seems to cause a large amount of stress for you and that’s unhealthy too. If you need anybody to brainstorm with I’m your gal, I live to make things more efficient. 

The other day The Minimal Mom had a video “declutter 30 areas in 30 minutes”. I was going other things while listening but the gist of it was similar to the daily challenges that Dewryce posts. It spurred me to take a few minutes when I have them to pare down a drawer or a basket, or skin care without taking everything apart and making a daily project of it. At some point I still need to do that but this was a good way to make a little progress (although I admit none of the area that I did so far like that made much visible difference). I did the essential oils and other products that are on a low shelf in the closet, the shoe organizer behind my closet door (doesn’t hold shoes), some skin care.

Quick story, I got home from work on Tuesday and DH was excited to show the cleaning/organizing he had done in the basement. We have an unfinished basement so often things just get dumped down there. I said it was funny because I was thinking of picking up some shelving to put downstairs so I can organize the kitchen cabinets a bit more. We both had been thinking about getting things more organized and cleaned out, just different areas.

So yesterday I did buy 1 shelf and started moving extra items from the kitchen to the basement. These are things I use 2-3 times a year, but they take up a lot of space in my limited kitchen storage space. We have a quiet weekend planned so will work on one area of the basement and a cabinet or two in the kitchen. Smalls steps, but they will have a big impact.

I also did my weekly shopping yesterday and stocked up on some staples that were on sale. A big reason I want to get more organized. I want to be able to have those on hand to make supper a little easier for me and I need more space for everything.

I really need to do this. The counter in my master bath is so cluttered with miscellaneous stuff, most of which no one uses, so a lot really just needs to be cleared off and trashed. The drawers themselves are fairly organized which is kind of ironic compared to the chaos you can actually see, LOL.

Glad you were able to get those things out of the house first, and hope trash came for you before it hit too. And Inhope things coming in slow down for you soon. You are definitely in the right place for decluttering!

Me, too.  She has a lot of good ideas and insights, and her videos are all different.  Some people have the same video over and over.  

I recently found Till Vacuum Do Us Part on YouTube and sometimes I like her videos, but she seems very anal to a problematic degree at times (like she can't have color in her home, etc).  Small doses of her. Some others I just find when I am getting ready to clean and don't have an audiobook to listen to. 

Yes, I did it!   My brother was stopping over and I knew I would have about 20 minutes before he got here so I grabbed a trash bag and went at it. Cleared off everything and wiped down the whole counter. It has double sinks and is big. I put a few things away where they belonged elsewhere, threw away a bunch of stuff, dumped out a bottle of mouthwash no one was going to use and tossed the bottle in recycling. Then I put back only the things we use daily which was only a handful of things for each of us. I also cleaned out the top drawer and tossed some stuff from there too! I pulled no less than 15 of the unopened mini dental floss containers out of that drawer and only left the two open full sized ones in there. Needless to say, the next time I go to the dentist I’m going to pass on taking home the free dental floss. We mostly use the picks anyway.

When I brought the half empty bag downstairs, I thought what else could I fill it with? Jumped straight into the pantry cabinet and quickly found enough old, outdated stuff to fill it up from two shelves and took it straight out to the trash. It almost killed me tossing two totally sealed boxes of Girl Scout cookies with Best By dates of 2017 and 2018 on them. How does that even happen? 😳

Thanks! They were on a pull out shelf in the pantry, so not exactly hidden. But around here if it’s not out in the open on the kitchen counter they might as well be invisible! 🤪

I think I will really get more done if I use this method. Just grabbing stuff without making a big to-do out of what I’m cleaning and organizing. I will still do that when I have time, but this helps me to make quick decisions and will make it easier when the time comes to do a deep clean. I added a few more things from the kitchen to my box by just opening some drawers and grabbing things that I no longer need, putting stuff back under the sink, etc. This weekend I am going to do a more detailed re-organizing of some kitchen spaces since I got rid of the tea and other stuff. Dh has a lot of grilling/smoking accessories that he has never used but last time I asked if he still wanted them he said yes. I’ll ask again. The cabinet that that stuff is in is over full. So are the shelves in the furnace room. I can make a quick pass in there tomorrow.