Day 44a: On A Day Off To Yourself…

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

…some people would relax and put their feet up or go out and do something fun. Not me, I am decluttering. And I love it ❤️.

What would you do if you had a day off to yourself?

Check in later for updates…

Sandra

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Day 43: Decluttering Really Does Clear Your Mind (And Your Kitchen)

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Sandra Madeira
A Decluttered Kitchen

I had couple of hours spare this morning before I had to be at work, so I spent the time clearing the breakfast bar of clutter and moving all the appliances around in the kitchen until I was happy with how it looked.

I even moved the AeroGarden again having already moved it yesterday when I cleaned it out and added new plants. I just wasn’t happy with where it was.

Continue reading →
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Day 42: Decluttering the Indoor AeroGarden

Posted on February 11, 2020 by Sandra Madeira
New plants for the AeroGarden

I’ve been wanting to clear out the indoor AeroGarden for a little while now, as the overgrown tomato plants have started to take over the corner of the kitchen.

Overgrown AeroGarden

It took me longer than I thought (doesn’t everything?) to cut out the tomato plant and give the AeroGarden a good clean.

My daughters got hungry half way through my decluttering session and one of them started cooking egg fried rice, so I abandoned what I was doing and cooked some chicken to go with it.

Back to it…

Anyway, I was determined to finish the job and not leave everything looking a mess for another day. I finished setting it all up and popped in Paris Island (leafy greens) and Dill (herb).

AeroGarden

Looks a bit bare at the moment but it won’t be long before we start to see a few shoots.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 41: Does ‘Emptying the Bins’ Count as Decluttering?

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I was sitting here this evening feeling really tired wanting to go to sleep but hadn’t decluttered anything or written today’s blog. I tried to think of something small I could tackle, and then I realised…

…I’d spent a good 20 minutes when I got home from work today (before I’d even taken my coat off) walking round the house with a black bin bag emptying the bins. This must count as decluttering because they were overflowing in some rooms.

What I failed to do was take another bag with me to collect the recycling at the same time, as those bins are only priority for next week (and every task I do both at work and at home is done by priority due to being a busy working mum).

There are bins in most rooms of this house, and I haven’t really got round to getting everyone else on board to put recycling in different containers (something I need to think about to make my life a bit easier). So, I go around with my rubber gloves on and have to sort each bin every time which takes a while. I also don’t do it as often as I should.

Room for Improvement

From now on, instead of waiting for ‘bin day’, I could go round the house every other day armed with two bags – one for actual rubbish and one for recycling (plastic bottles, cardboard, empty deodorant cans and so on). This way we won’t get an overflow situation like I witnessed in some rooms today, and I can put them straight in the bins outside. I think my stash of carrier bags that I found the other day can assist me with this. (Reference: How Many Carrier Bags Do I Actually Need?)

I just paused for a moment there to make a camomile tea and put something in the bin and I when I opened it, I had another idea, which is very obvious when I think about it. Our pull out bins in the kitchen have three sections.

I’ve always used the two sections on the left for normal rubbish as they filled up so quickly. Lately, the one at the back isn’t getting used, so I could be a bit smarter about using that for plastics, glass and aerosoles and get the family on board with that. The one on the right is perfect for paper which I could just carry to the recycling bin outside when it gets full.

I’m starting to get very passionate about recycling and want to get it right. Since the council changed the rules last year about what we can put in each bin, I feel that I’ve been doing a really good job. There’s always room for improvement though.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 40: The Shoe Cupboard Saga Continues…

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Sandra Madeira
The shoes that didn’t go back in shoe cupboard yesterday

Following on from yesterday’s blog 61 Pairs of Shoes and 4 Cans of Paint, I still had the surplus shoes etc. to sort out today. This is where I’m up to:

  • A few pairs need to be cleaned up and putting back.
  • One pair needs new laces and can be put back.
  • I’m going to put away the flip flops and sandals for the summer (just don’t have anywhere to put them right now, so need to think about emptying a plastic box from around the house somewhere. At the moment they are in a see-through plastic bag.
  • The girls don’t want the trainers so the ones that still look like they will fit are going back in the cupboard as spares despite them telling me that they’ll never wear them (I said that you never now when you’ll need an old pair of trainers). The outgrown ones can go into the charity bag as they still look good.
  • Some are going in the bin (or to be recycled in some way).
  • There are two pairs of brand new black Clarks welly boots that never got worn as it didn’t snow during the years that they fitted the girls. Can’t bring myself to give those away as they were expensive, but I might have to. I will have a quick look on the local Facebook Marketplace page to see if it’s worth trying to sell them on there.
  • There are two pairs of Heelys (only worn a couple of times). Might try and sell those too.

I stood there staring at it all earlier and then got distracted by the washing machine beeping at me to let me know that’s it had finished. After hanging it all up, I noticed some items missing. I’d only gone and forgotten to empty my youngest daughter’s washing basket, with uniform in that she needs tomorrow.

So, I had to do another load of washing and eventually got round to moving the shoes. This is all leading to another late night hence posting this so late again.

Looking forward to going to sleep soon, once I’ve put the sheets back on the bed that I washed earlier!

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 39: 61 Pairs of Shoes and 4 Cans of Paint

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I was horrified when I counted the number of pairs of shoes in the family shoe cupboard, and this number doesn’t even include the ones that are in the bedrooms! There are four of us in the house though and the cupboard isn’t just filled with shoes. Some of them are flip flops, sandals, boots and slippers.

Also, I have no idea why the cans of paint are taking up precious space in the cupboard, as we haven’t painted for a few years. I think I’ll move them to the garage giving us more room for shoes.

I asked my husband and my two teenage daughters what shoes they actually wear so I knew what to put back. They were busy with other things, so I’ve just put 26 pairs back in the cupboard with the shoes that they wear weekdays right at the front for easy access…

A tidy shoe cupboard at last

To be continued…

This whole process took longer than I thought this evening, particularly because half way through, my husband needed me to go to the shops to get a missing ingredient for the dinner he was cooking. Then after dinner we watched a nice family film together.

Everyone else has gone to bed now which is a very sensible idea… and I’m having to leave piles of shoes in the hallway which will have to be sorted out tomorrow. Most of the shoes will either be thrown away, recycled or go in a charity bag.

Until tomorrow

Sandra

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Day 38: An Extra Basket of Clean Washing Vs. Full Cupboards and Drawers

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Being late in the evening again and having had a long and busy day, I needed something quick to declutter. Then I spotted it: ‘the extra basket of washing’ that keeps being moved from ironing board to bed in the morning, and vice versa in the evening. I set my timer for ten minutes and took a photo…

An overflowing basket of washing

You might recognise that frustrating feeling when you avoid putting things away because every cupboard and drawer is already full. I knew what was on top of the basket, as those items have been recently added. It was time to face what was lurking underneath.

The first item was easy – a towel – and because I’ve already decluttered the airing cupboard, there was actually room in there to put it away. The systems are working! The second was some bedding. This highlighted to me that bedding was an area that I seriously needed to declutter and made a note of that for the coming week. I couldn’t even fit four pillow cases in the divan drawer. I really don’t know what’s in there (that I like anyway).

A jam-packed divan drawer

The rest of the items in the basket were difficult ones; decisions that I just couldn’t make. As I only had six minutes left on my timer at this point, I allowed myself to go slightly over because I was typing this up at the same time. Every time I did manage to put an item away, it reminded me how much decluttering I still have to do.

I did quite well though. I was only left with four decision items and four odd socks (too new to throw away). I will go on a search for their partners tomorrow.

I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep now and more decluttering over the weekend.

Thanks to those of you who are following me on my journey to a clearer home. It’s been 38 days so far which means I’ve done around nine and a half hours in total (assuming an average of 15 minutes a day). As some of you will know, I did six and a half hours on my day off last week, so overall it’s probably more like 16+ hours.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 37: How Many Carrier Bags Do I Actually Need?

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

After spending a full day at work followed by parents’ evening and then making dinner, it was late evening before I could think about what small decluttering task I could fit into today.

Instead of walking into the kitchen to clean up the daily remains, I walked into the spare room to get some inspiration.

Whilst tidying up in there yesterday, I found many carrier bags so I put them to one side next to the pile that I found in the utility room last week. I’ve started placing the grocery shopping bags in this very cute sailor carrier bag holder that my mother in law bought me several years ago…

Sailor carrier bag holder

She’d be pleased to know that I still use it, although it’s lost its hanging loop so I’ve tied a rubber band to the top. It’ll come in handy now that the shops in the UK charge for carrier bags and I can maybe keep it hanging behind the shoe cupboard door so that it’s easy to grab a bag when I’m popping out to the shops.

So, what do I do with the rest of these?

A multitude of carrier bags

I spent ten minutes this evening sorting into sizes and types. Sad, I know, but necessary for my decluttering project because otherwise they would stay in my way in the spare room forever.

So, how do you store your carrier bags and how many do you have? I stopped counting (out of embarrassment) when I got to 50 bags! I know it’s nice to have a variety of different sizes and colours; but realistically, am I ever going to use that many at one time?

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 36: A Multi-Purpose Airing Cupboard (Now Decluttered)

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Today, I had a little bit more time than usual for my decluttering challenge, so I decided to take out the entire contents of my airing cupboard. (Well, that’s what we call it anyway – not sure if everyone does. It’s the cupboard that houses the hot water cylinder).

Airing cupboard before the decluttering

Our airing cupboard hasn’t got a lot of shelving, and for some reason it has items in there that probably aren’t in other people’s airing cupboards. There are tools and toolboxes hanging around at the bottom somewhere, and a whole bunch old sheets and towels… in case anyone needs to do some painting or we have to mop up some water…

Old sheets and towels

This obviously left limited space for towels we actually use. Not sure when painting will next occur in this house, so I decided to take the whole plastic basket out thereby freeing up one shelf; however, I wanted to put the old towels back somewhere.

I then moved the tools up one shelf so that they could become more accessible. The right place for them should have been the garage, but that’s a decluttering project for another time!

Moving the tools up one shelf freed up the floor space under the shelving. Once I’d sorted out the towels, I placed the ‘old and can no longer be used’ ones on the right just in case we get a leaky pipe or pouring water anywhere (this has happened a few times in this house, hence feeling the need to have them on standby. I will just have to let everyone know they are there).

The spare bathmats have a little space on the left as they don’t need to be on a shelf.

Looking tidy…

Airing cupboard after decluttering

I really wanted to avoid shoving anything in front of the shelving like we had before as this would prevent us from getting to the items in there; however, I decided that it was a very convenient space for the vacuum cleaner. This doesn’t currently have a home and tends to reside in the upstairs hallway or corner of the dining room. It fitted nicely, and will be its temporary space until I free up a cupboard somewhere else.

After this exercise, I realised that most of the towels we use, live in the respective bathrooms, so I didn’t have to fit in as many as I thought.

Another productive day on the decluttering front.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 35: Quick Tidy of the Lounge Before My Massage

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Just before my lovely friend came round to give me a massage this morning, I spent 10 mins tidying up the fireplace and mantlepiece. Also gave the room a quick once over with the duster and vacuum cleaner.

There wasn’t as much stuff as I thought lurking around. The unnecessary things got moved out.

The cluttered fireplace
Fireplace after the quick tidy up

My daughters commented this evening on how much nicer the lounge looked, which always makes it worth it.

Oh, and the massage was really good too 😊.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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