Saturday, August 29, 2009

It's Time to Simplify: 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge

Even the good stuff can be overwhelming when there is too much

My years-long obsession with home and decor blogs seems to be waning a bit. Instead, I've been spending more time at blogs that deal with simple living. Blogs like Small Notebook, Simpler Living and Simple Savvy.

Don't get me wrong, I still visit upteen home and decor blogs, but I'm really interested in feeling less like a hamster on a wheel that's moving way too fast. Up until now though, I've just been looking, but min hus has been feeling more and more crowded. Most of the clutter is hidden, but it's impossible to find anything in many drawers and closets around here. But after looking at the 365 days of decluttering challenge, I thought, even I can do that one.

So here's the deal, I want to get rid of at least one thing a day for the next 365 days. I'll probably be doing this on the weekends, rather than daily, but I'm going to keep a list here. I'm not sure how often I'll post about this, it's got to be fairly boring (for all three of my readers), but we'll see.

I was actually so excited I got started last night and filled a couple grocery sacks full of trash, several things went to recycling and I filled one shopping bag with clothes and things to donate. The boy unwittingly participated yesterday too while he was cleaning the garage and got rid of four tires and rims, seven (yes, SEVEN) bucket-size kitty litter containers, an old plastic table. He put it all out on the curb and it was gone within an hour. Even all seven kitty litter containers, I'm still amazed someone wanted those.

The dearly decluttered:
  1. Green plastic patio table
  2. White shower curtain that shrunk
  3. White O-N dress shirt (too big)
  4. Black sandals
  5. Red, white and blue knit shirt
  6. Red pj pants
  7. Blue plaid pj pants (week 1, August 23-29)
  8. white t-shirt
  9. white t-shirt
  10. Old space heater (only half-works)
  11. Old vacuum
  12. Green bag
  13. black tote bag
  14. linen drawstring bag (week 2, August 30-Sept. 5)
  15. black purse
  16. Brown sweater
  17. Pink sweater
  18. Cyndi Lauer tape (it's time to let the casettes go)
  19. Smashing Pumpkins tape
  20. Toad the Wet Sprocket tape
  21. Girl's diary (week 3, Sept. 6-12)
  22. Unopened pine candle
  23. Blue tealight holder
  24. Small plastic water bottle
  25. Dental tape
  26. Martha Stewart Living - June 2009
  27. Martha Stewart Living - September 2009
  28. Green flower plate (week 4, Sept. 13-20 )
  29. Kitty foot massager (lame)
  30. Cloth napkins (4)
  31. Partylite candleholder
  32. Plastic tablecloth
  33. Red mug
  34. yellow mug
  35. blue mug (week 5, Sept. 21-27 )
  36. green mug
  37. glass candy dish
  38. pink plastic cup
  39. Book: Smart mobs
  40. Book: Knowing Knowledge
  41. Book: The Three Theban Plays, Sophocles
  42. Votive candles (week 6, Sept. 28-Oct. 4 )
  43. Strawberry candle
  44. Red bead tealight holder
  45. Votive candles
  46. IKEA mail holder
  47. Cinnamon candle
  48. Votive candle holder
  49. Precious moments plate (week 7, Oct. 5-11 )
  50. New black bra
  51. New white bra
  52. Unmentionables
  53. Unmentionables
  54. Brown and black purse (donate)
  55. Blue cloth napkins (donate)
  56. red shirt (week 8, Oct. 12-18 )
  57. blue flowered shirt (donate)
  58. orange t-shirt (donate)
  59. purple clock (donate)
  60. Organic garden magazines (10)
  61. headband (trash)
  62. round brush I never used (trash)
  63. lotion (trash) (week 9, Oct. 19-25)
  64. tan capris (donate)
  65. Navy blue slacks (donate)
  66. Merona black velvet dress (donate)
  67. Jessica Howard dress (donate)
  68. NYC tan linen slacks (donate)
  69. Nine west gray slacks (donate)
  70. Apt. 9 white capris (donate) (week 9, Oct. 25 - Nov. 1)
  71. White short-sleeve sweater (donate)
  72. White sweater (donate)
  73. Old navy flower shirt (donate)
  74. bottle of nail polish (trash)
  75. bottle of nail polish (trash)
  76. Book: Les Miserables (Half-Price Books)
  77. Book: Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination (Half-Price Books) (week 10, Nov. 2 - Nov. 8)
  78. Black ODCE bookbag (donate)
  79. Coaster (trash)
  80. Spatula (donate)
  81. Sunglasses (trash)
  82. IKEA 2009 catalog (recycle)
  83. Pink Eddie Bauer sweater (gave away)
  84. Black Eddie Bauer Sweater (gave away) (week 11, Nov. 9 - Nov. 15)
  85. Navy blue Eddie Bauer Sweater (gave away)

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for linking to me! I've also felt like we had too much hidden clutter. Of course, then we moved, so now it's all out in the open.... Goodwill is becoming my new best friend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's an excellent idea; I may be joining you on this. After two solid days of cleaning and preparing for a family visit, we realized we don't even have the space to put everything away!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Simplesavvy - Thanks for stopping by!

    Green Fairy - Please, join me, we can keep each other honest! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this idea! Wish I had seen it sooner, I have been on a decluttering kick as of late.

    I'll just see if I can play along from here on out. :) There's bound to be enough junk to donate at least an item a day (or trash too).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello, I just found this post that you accepted your own 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge. Congratulations!

    I've added your blog to the list of challengers on the 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge blog.

    Please remember, this challenge is FOR YOU and you are only accountable TO YOU. Decluttering physical objects can become a bit addicting, as well as decluttering the mental clutter that was with it. A journey starts with a single step. Congrats, again, on taking this journey with us and getting rid of unwanted, unneeded, unused and unloved items in your life!

    ~ Suzanne
    365 Days of Decluttering Challenge
    Taking Care Of You

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
    And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time! :)

    ReplyDelete

Comments make my day! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Note: Comments are moderated in order to keep this a spam/ad-free forum.

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin