Monday, September 18, 2006

Uncluttering Mini Projecf of the Day...and LOOK UP!

We're just so used to seeing our homes through our eyes. Which, of course, makes a lot of sense -- we can't exactly BORROW someone else's eyes to use.

Or...CAN we? When tackling a decluttering project, try your hardest to look at the area you're working on as if you're seeing it for the very first time. If you saw it in someone else's home, what would be your 1st impression? (Yikes, harsh I know!)

And...LOOK UP. There is a surprising amount of space to be used when you look UP in your homes. For instance, one of my next uncluttering projects is to tidy the tops of my kitchen cabinets, where there's LOADS of extra storage space just waiting to be utilized. :) Right now it's a rather untidy assortment of pots and boxes, but I plan on making it look 100x better!

Today's Decluttering Mini Project
Choose one drawer or cabinet to work on - empty it out COMPLETELY and then:
  1. Trash the junk
  2. Reclycle whatever you can
  3. Give away what is useful but that you don't need
  4. Return the items you DO need to the drawer/cabinet tidily

When re-organizing, keep in mind to keep often-used items closest to hand. For instance, when I decluttered my bathroom cabinet, I kept all the day-to-day items nearest the front so we can just grab them whenever we need them without sending out a search party! For us, that means that my husband's electric shaver, my hair stuff, and band-aids (hey, we're both clutzes) are now in easy reach whenever we need them!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey I am proud of myself I did this one b-4 I saw it. We have an extra table, that I decided to use for my plants this winter, so I got it completly cleaned off, and now covered again with my plants, but as that was the riginal purpose I think i did pretty good. Oh and the plants will be off it again in the next few days when it warms up again...
Deanna

Anonymous said...

Great blog you have going! Can't wait to read the book!

Anonymous said...

There was an idea recently in another site that goes along with this. When trying to declutter a space, take a picture of it with your digital camera (if you are lucky enough to have one) and "see" it with someone else's eyes. It changes the perspective when you see it through the camera's eye. :(

Anonymous said...

Hi from Florida,
One tip that works for me is to stand with your back to the room and look at it through a mirror. You will see the room with "new eyes".I do this all the time with my paintings and it is amazing how different things look.
Marilyn

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