52 Weeks To A Simplified Home: Week 19 Update

This week I decided to start work on the back entrance area of our home. This area is what everyone walks through to get to our backyard, and with summer just a few weeks away, we tend to have more people over, and they walk right through this area to get to our back deck.

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When we bought the house this area was where the washer and dryer were, but I thought there wasn’t enough room to have well-functioning laundry area here – plus I  wanted some place to store shoes and coats since there is no coat closet in the home.

I thought we would use the back door to enter the home more than the front door, but I was wrong. We end up using the front door a lot more often -which is why if you remember my $10,000 home tour, I keep two laundry baskets for shoes in that room and a big plastic tote for coats in that room. So we have a shoe and coat mess in two areas of our home that is very out there for all to see.  Not ideal but it is what it is.

As for the overflowing basket of shoes in front of the bins well if you look closely very few people have been putting their shoes away for quite a while. Someone put an empty laundry basket there for some reason and then the next person came along and started putting shoes in it and the next thing I knew that laundry bin had been there for well over two years.

The day I tackled this area is that day it left!

 

It was such a sunny day when I tackled this project that I decided to haul all the shoe bins out to the back deck. I  also grabbed the two laundry baskets full of shoes near the front door.  I grabbed a box for shoes to give away and a trash bag to get rid of those too far gone for anyone to want them.

In the end, I parted with an entire box worth of shoes, and I do mean ” I “as I think perhaps only 2 or 3 pairs in this box aren’t mine.

I put the summer sandals and our running shoes in the two bins that live near the next door since those are the ones we are all wearing right now. I placed all the winter shoes in the bins by the back door.

Before putting the bins back into their homes, I gave each shoe cubby a good vacuuming. By the way, I am very satisfied with my Dyson Vacuum. Our family has had it well over five years now, and the suction is still incredible – a few parts have cracked on it due to everyday use, but it is still fully functional. It is the longest running vacuum we have owned.

 

I am pleased with the extra room in the tight area now that the laundry basket is gone. Next week I will tackle either the counter above the shoe area or those jackets hanging on the wall. Oh and that last bin is full of cloth bags for grocery shopping.

What did you declutter this week?

Don’t forget to join the Snail Pace Clutter Removers  Facebook group, where you can share your progress, and receive 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
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 (you are here)
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

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