52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week 6 Update

Six weeks into this project already. I have to admit some weeks I don’t mind posting photos of my mess at all since it seems pretty reasonable. But then there are weeks like today, where I feel slightly embarrassed by my mess. However, perhaps embarrassment is needed if I am ever to cure myself of my piling habits.

This is the dresser where I store all my workout clothes and my workout gear. It is in my dining room of all places. Why? Because I use to workout early and my husband use to work late, so to avoid waking him up we both agreed to move my workout stuff to the dining room, and that is where it has stayed for years and years.

Why a dresser full of workout gear? Well, I do live in Indiana where it has been said that you can start your day in a winter parka and end it in a tank top and shorts. Because of the moody weather, I have workout clothes for rainy days, snowy days, cold days and hot days. I also have workout gear for running, biking and swimming.

Why all the mess of papers on top of the dresser? We don’t have an office in our home, so the top of the dresser is my filing cabinet. This is one thing I plan to change by the end of this 52-week challenge. I am hoping by tossing out the unnecessary I can make room for an office space somewhere that is big enough to hold all our papers and office supplies.

The junk beside the dresser. More office supplies, and more workout gear and a lot of other stuff that shouldn’t be there.

I started the decluttering process by putting the drawers on the living room floor. I then emptied out the drawers one at a time. I vacuumed the dust out of each one and placed only the items I really use back in the drawers and discarded the other items.

From exploding to lots of room. That looks so much better, doesn’t it?

By the time I was done, I had half a ThredUp box full of recycling and half a Zulily box full of things to go to the thrift store. Online clothing shopping has more perks than great deals it also gives you free decluttering materials :).

I also filled up half a kitchen trash bag with trash. YIKES!

I forgot to take a picture of me decluttering the top of the dresser, but I did pretty much the same thing. I cleared it all off and emptied the containers one by one.

In the end, the area still looks somewhat cluttered, but it is the best I can do until I move on to other parts of the home and find better spots for some of the things that are here. Which is another lesson I am learning in this challenge; to make the best use of the space we have. We have only one closet on the main floor of the hom, and when I get to it, I hope to put it to better use to store things that we don’t need others looking at while having dinner at our home, such as sports gear.

Join the 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home challenge and then join the Snail Pacing Goal Achievers Facebook group where you can share progress and get encouragement.

A few great posts to help you with your clutter roadblocks…

• How To Start Decluttering When You Feel Overwhelmed By It
• How To Declutter When You Just Don’t Feel Like It
• 4 Essential Items For Efficient Decluttering

View the plan and grab your free 52-week planning sheet here

Update: I finished this challenge so below are the links to all my weekly updates showing my progress.

1. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week One
2. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Two
3. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Three
4. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Four
5. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Five
6. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Six (you are here)
7. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Seven
8. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Eight
9. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Nine
10. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Ten
11. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Eleven
12. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twelve
13. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirteen
14. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Fourteen
15. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Fifteen
16. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Sixteen
17. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Seventeen
18. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Eighteen
19. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Nineteen
20. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty
21. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-One
22. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Two
23. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Three
24. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Four
25. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Five
26. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Six
27. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Seven
28. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Eight
29. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Twenty-Nine
30. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty
31. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-One
32. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Two
33. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Three
34. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Four
35. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Five
36. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Six
37. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Seven
38. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Eight
39. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Thirty-Nine
40. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty
41. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-One
42. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Two
43. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Three
44. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Four
45. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Five
46. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Six
47. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Seven
48. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Eight
49. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Forty-Nine
50. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Fifty
51. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Fifty-One
52. 52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week Fifty- Two

 

 

Save

Save