Day 14: Fourteen Days in “Decluttering Mode”

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Fourteen days into the New Year and there’s no stopping me. Things are definitely looking tidier around here, particularly the bedroom. It’s amazing how different I feel about the clutter as well. I’m no longer looking at it as a massive job. If I notice a problem area, I just make a mental note that I’ll get to it one day this year.

Today my new ironing board cover arrived from Amazon, so my challenge was to clear the area on and around the ironing board. The old cover had definitely seen better days! I really don’t know why it took me so long to change it.

Everything that was on and under the ironing table also got put away or thrown away. I could think of a number of excuses why things have got shoved under it over the last month or so, but what I’m certain about is that I am NEVER going to let it get like the messy picture below again. NEVER!

If I keep on top of all fourteen things that I’ve introduced into the house so far this year, I’ll be onto something.

So far, so good.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 13: More Weekend Decluttering…

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Dressing table after the decluttering

I actually slept better last night after clearing the beside table yesterday. I’m definitely finding it a lot easier to declutter when I only need to focus on one small thing a day, so this challenge is really working for me. When it’s the weekend as well and I find myself with more time, I am motivated to carry on and do more.

Today, I put everything from the dressing table into a box, gave it a quick wipe and polish and only put back a few things. The rest got put away somewhere else.

I have no idea how and when the clutter piled up in the first place, and as usual I am very embarrassed by the ‘before’ picture below!

Dressing table before the decluttering

Oh, and one more thing… I actually fixed the front of the drawer which fell off a while ago.

More decluttering tomorrow.

Until then…

Sandra

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Day 12: Can a Decluttered Bedside Table Help you Sleep Better?

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Bedside table after the decluttering

Today I had a bit more time than usual as it’s our first free weekend since well before Christmas. So, after popping out to catch up on a few errands, I sat down with a cup of tea and thought about how I could make some noticeable improvements around the house, as part of my 2020 challenge.

I went upstairs and noticed that my teenage daughter tidying her room – something she’s been talking about doing for over a month now and I was pleased that she was in the mood to make a start. It made me think about whether today would be a good day to sort out my bedroom which was getting a bit out of control.

I initially planned to sort out the dressing table which was piled high with all sorts of things that don’t really belong on a dressing table. How does that even happen? Feeling overwhelmed, I gave myself permission to sit down again and think about how I could attack the room in stages so that I didn’t have to do the whole thing today.

The bedside table seemed like the best place to start, as that’s the first thing I look at in the morning and the last thing that I dump everything on at night.

I almost didn’t want to show you all this next picture, but this is what it looked like before the decluttering. The usual scenarios is that everything gets knocked off in the night when I’m rummaging around for my dry eye drops…

Bedside table before the decluttering

I removed everything from both of our bedside tables, pulled them out and hoovered behind them. Then gave them a quick wipe with a polish cloth.

It felt good…

… and the best thing was that I plugged the beside lamp into one of those smart plugs and now I just need to ask Alexa to turn it on and off. Although I probably could have worked the programmable bit out myself, it was much quicker to ask my daughter to help.

A productive day

Not only did I get the above done, but I made a few other improvements to the bedroom and did some general hoovering and dusting.

I’m sure I will sleep better tonight with less clutter around.

I will tackle the dressing table tomorrow.

Until then…

Sandra

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Day 11: Decluttering corners of rooms…

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

This lovely little wind chime has been sitting in the corner of two different rooms since were were given it as a gift around six months ago. Why haven’t I just got around to using it?

Today, I opened the box and hung it outside. It filled the garden with beautiful and magical sounds, just like it said on the box.

Then I put the box out for recycling before I ended up hoarding it.

That ticks off today’s challenge and it took about five minutes.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 10: Organise the Chocolates or Eat Them?

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

A selection of wrapped chocolates

We could have just eaten the chocolates that are still lurking around the house from Christmas, not only because they are taking up space in their attractive and colourful packaging, but because they are very yummy. Instead, we thought about the calories, placed them in a glass bowl and discarded the packaging ready for recycling.

Lindt – Lindor

Ferrero Rocher box ready to recycle

I couldn’t do much about the ones that weren’t individually wrapped so I put them in a bag in the cupboard. (These Hotel Chocolate ones will definitely not be forgotten!).

Selection of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat

So, no more boxes lying around which has left us a bit more space on the table. I’ve also achieved my challenge for today.

I don’t think it will be long before the bowl is empty. However, I’m sure that it had a few more in there just before I got my phone to take the picture.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 9: Declutter Your Mind… Take a Bath

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

A Candle at Bathtime

I was listening to Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s book called The 4 Pillar Plan (which is about taking a control of your health) and I decided that today should be about having some time to myself, even if it’s for just half an hour.

Some of you may be able to relate to this, but if you want to have a bath you first have to clean the bath, particularly if it has a shower overhead and is regularly used by the rest of the family. I got today’s challenge out the way first by spending no more than 10 minutes cleaning the bath and decluttering the surrounding area.

Then I put on some spa music and tried to relax by doing some deep breathing to declutter my mind before work.

It was a blissful thirty minutes.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 8: A Decluttered Windowsill

Posted on January 7, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

It makes such a difference looking out into the garden through a clear windowsill rather than a messy one, don’t you think?

I’m almost embarrassed to show you what it looked like before… but here goes…

Let’s see if I can keep it clean and tidy.

2020 challenge complete for today. It’s all about small steps.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 7: Goodbye tree, see you in 11 months

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Today had to be about taking the tree down and other decorations and making space around the house again. It’s lovely for the month of December and then it all starts to get in the way. Once removed, the place feels a bit more spacious and decluttered again. Perfect for day 6 of my 2020 challenge.

I will miss our new tree though as the LED lights gave a nice glow in the lounge. Might have to invest in some new lighting this year to make it just as cozy.

Tomorrow everything will need to be boxed up properly and make it’s way back into the loft. What a job that will be!

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 6: The Socks Question

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Today was a bit of an achievement, 6 socks of exactly the same size and colour came out of the dryer, which is rare. Although I could write a whole paragraph about odd socks, that’s not what today’s blog is about… it’s about the question I get asked regularly ‘Where are my socks?’

I was prepared for my daughter asking me this question this morning and had them out ready before we went out, but I obviously can’t keep them on the breakfast bar forever. As those who are following me will know, I’m blogging daily about the mini systems I’m creating around the house in order to stop the clutter and save me time, and today is the day that I’m going to label the sock drawers in my daughters’ rooms to prevent the sock questions.

That is, if I can actually get to the sock drawers in their bedrooms… wish me luck…

I’m also going to buy more socks to buy me some more time to wash them.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 5: Decluttering Batteries and Helping the Environment

Posted on January 5, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Recycling Batteries

I can’t believe how simple this one was. I gathered up all the batteries scattered about the house, which can only be because there isn’t a place for them. I used the tester (that I found in the desk drawer the other day) to check if they were working and was surprised that most of them were showing full. The whole process took me no more than 10 minutes whilst the dinner was in the oven.

The good batteries now have a home in the ‘good batteries’ box, meaning less searching for them when someone asks me for one! I even found a couple of rechargeable ones which is possibly a much better way of doing things.

The old batteries have a place too and will eventually make their way to the recycling centre. In fact, I just paused to research where I can do this and it appears that my local supermarket will take them or I can leave them out with my collection bins.

I even identified a place for the 2 containers which took a bit longer than planned as I had to move a couple of things in the kitchen cupboard.

Another step forward on the decluttering front for day 4… and I am helping the environment.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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