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November Declutter Challenge Week One!!


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I did it! I cleaned the junk drawer! :hurray:

 

It needed it badly. Funny thing is, we clean it out a few times a year and it was still awful. There seems to be no way around it.

 

I'm on to the cutlery drawer! It shouldn't be bad at all. I keep up with the main kitchen stuff pretty well.

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I got my hood vents cleaned last night (disgusting, I have to do it more often), cleaned out 3 large drawers (with random large cooking supplies - wooden spoons, whisks, etc), emptied out a drawer underneath my Tupperware that had empty jars so I could reorganize my Tupperware. I'm hoping to still get that drawer cleaned and the Tupperware reorganized, but once school starts my cleaning times diminishes.

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I did 4 upper cabinets! Some of my worst ones too! I'm elated. If I can get some other things done I may try to do another pair before my DW gets home. Otherwise maybe tonight. If I can get 6 done that's one whole wall of cabinets done! (the lower cabinets on that wall house things like the trash can and don't actually need purging)

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I am behind a day on the group challenge.

 

Yesterday, I got rid of two give-away boxes and two bags of trash from my living area.

 

Today, I just did my junk drawer and the draws underneath the junk drawer. Right on top of all the junk in my junk drawer was a brand-new outlet cover. Just the other day, I was wondering why we didn't get a new outlet cover for the kitchen! Turns out we did! Now I have a brand-new shiny cover looking at me.

 

Off to do my cutlery drawer--not looking forward to it! Halycon, thanks for inspiring me!

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I really hate talking on the phone, but there its the only way I can keep in contact with a few friends and relatives (who refuse to do email or computers of any kind), so I put the phone on my shoulder and clean out the junk drawer then. Or deal with a cupboard's contents. Or a shelf of the pantry. Or go outside and pull weeds. I've even scrubbed the kitchen floor while on the phone -- makes those dreaded jobs go SO much faster and so less dreadfully. :tongue_smilie: AND, the big bonus: the junk drawer gets cleaned out pretty regularly!

 

Here's to decluttering! :cheers2: Warmly, Lori D.

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I really hate talking on the phone, but there its the only way I can keep in contact with a few friends and relatives (who refuse to do email or computers of any kind), so I put the phone on my shoulder and clean out the junk drawer then. Or deal with a cupboard's contents. Or a shelf of the pantry. Or go outside and pull weeds. I've even scrubbed the kitchen floor while on the phone -- makes those dreaded jobs go SO much faster and so less dreadfully. :tongue_smilie: AND, the big bonus: the junk drawer gets cleaned out pretty regularly!

 

Here's to decluttering! :cheers2: Warmly, Lori D.

 

I put junky tv on my ipad hulu....i am liking New Girl right now :D

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Tomorrow:

Re-arrange living room

Go through my closet/hang my clothes

take rest of hall closet and my closet to storage

 

:)

 

I re-arranged the living room and went through my closet. Im debating on taking the rest to storage....knowing i SHOULD.

 

tomorrow:

switch computer desk with dining room table

go through kitchen

take anything LEFT to storage

 

The next day:

Clean Living Rm and Kitchen

 

Friday:

Clean both bedrooms and bathroom

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I did different stuff yesterday as far as cleaning out (under the sink/top of pantry), so I did the junk drawer today. I feel kind of silly posting a photo of a drawer, but I always like photos that others post, so here you go:

 

[ATTACH]10861[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]10862[/ATTACH]

 

That looks great! But I have to say, your before drawer wasnt half bad either :D

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I'm in for decluttering, and I'll try to do some of what is listed, but I'm discovering I seem to have a rebellious streak when it comes to schedules. It doesn't seem to matter if I put together my own schedule or try to follow someone else's. As soon as I see it in print I decide "I'm not going to do THAT, I'm going to do THIS instead."

 

Instead of my junk drawer, I did my flatware drawer, which really had me :001_huh: every time I opened it.

 

My junk drawer does need cleaning, so I'll probably tackle that tomorrow. I spent yesterday and today organizing & de-cluttering books (and still have more to go). I've donated 3 piles of books each about 2 & 1/2 feet tall. Sorry, no photos. I just really wanted them gone!

 

I'm also attempting to organize some of our current school books better. Our biggest problem (and my pet peeve) this year is with curriculum that does not reprint the student book in the TE (like IEW--and I'm getting really tired of it). It never fails that either I need to see the student bk or Ds needs to see the TE and then one of us has trouble locating what we need at some point. I think I've come up with a location & solution. Now if we can just put things back where they belong!

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Since I got all my kitchen drawers cleaned yesterday and because I have very large pantry shelves, I started working on them today. I will still need Wednesday and Thursday to finish that job.

 

I found a few things I forgot I had that had gotten pushed back to the back of the shelves. Our meals will be rather interesting in the coming weeks as I use up all those items that are within shouting distance of their expiration dates. Lots of canned fruit.

 

I also hit the jackpot and found my missing dozen jars of home canned applesauce from last year. I thought we had gone through it really quickly. Now I realize that we still had a lot left that had just gotten shoved behind taller items.

 

My extra work today was again not necessarily of my choosing or part of my plan. My dm lives next door and asked dd and I if we could come and help her lay out a quilt that she is working on for her Ladies' Aid Society benefit. So we did that.

 

Tomorrow I will hit the pantry hard again and if my extra is mine, I will clean up some fabric scraps from the work room and take them to bin storage in the barn.

 

Thanks again for starting this thread.:)

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I'm also attempting to organize some of our current school books better. Our biggest problem (and my pet peeve) this year is with curriculum that does not reprint the student book in the TE (like IEW--and I'm getting really tired of it). It never fails that either I need to see the student bk or Ds needs to see the TE and then one of us has trouble locating what we need at some point. I think I've come up with a location & solution. Now if we can just put things back where they belong![/color]

 

I hate this as well! I refuse to buy an extra book for myself--instead I have to sit next to the kid with their book and my TM. Drives my crazy!

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My kitchen needs a little help. I did manage to go through all the meds and got a little drawer unit labeled and organized for them and it's now in the bathroom.

 

I do have a couple of drawers that I'd like to tackle tomorrow, but otherwise I'm pretty good in there. I recently went through the pantry and did an overhaul. It looks rather good, though full, but I like it like that :D

 

I got rid of a big bag of clothes and picked up two magazine holders for my cross stitch mags and charts. Now they are off the floor and put away...the floss boxes are getting labeled tomorrow and put up in the closet.

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Okay todaay is going to be a tough one for me! Pantry!!!! AAAAH! My pantry is a mess! I am going to just tackle one shelf today. It's a busy day for me so I dont think I can get more than that done. I did do my cutlery drawer yesterday, but didnt get to my optional task, hopefully this weekend I will be able to catch up on those.

 

How is everyone doing?

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I am slightly off schedule from you, using Flylady this week. But so far today I have done her morning routine (or as much as I can get in before my babysitting child gets here) including:

 

15 min. of exercise.

a load of laundry, including putting away (almost finished putting away..)

drinking water

getting dressed and wiping down bathroom while in there

15 min. of decluttering the kitchen. Today I did my silverware drawer.

 

Her extra mission (optional) yesterday was to wipe down the fronts of all of the kitchen cabinets. I didn't get to it yesterday, so I did that when I finished the drawer.

 

Her extra mission today is to throw away leftovers and wipe down the inside of the fridge. I did that for Monday's decluttering, so I am good there!

 

**** I don't really have a pantry and my shelves where I store dry and canned goods aren't perfect, but they aren't bad. So I am ignoring that today. Tomorrow dh has requested I do the tupperware cabinet. That is my big one in the kitchen!

 

Have a great day everyone!

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I'm on schedule so far -- did the terrifying junk drawer and two cutlery/cooking tool drawers yesterday.

 

The pantry won't be too bad for me. My pantry is just a few shelves that I'm forced to keep decent because I have so little storage space in my kitchen. I hope to do that this morning while my boys work. We'll see...

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Today's challenge is done!

 

I didn't do yesterday's because I was working and I decided that I'm going to just do the days that I can do and not stress out about catching up. So if I have time to do yesterday's later, then I will, but I'm not going to worry about it.

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I didn't do anything yesterday (knew I wouldn't so I worked ahead a bit on Monday), but today I plan to:

 

Finish all kitchen drawers. I have seven done, and four to go.

 

Clean three more fridge door shelves.

 

Bonus: 4 interior shelves in fridge and kick out the broken washer (dh). Will need to borrow my sister's appliance dolly. This will, of course, lead to a thorough cleaning of the laundry room floor where the washer was sitting. :eek:

 

ETA: By "not do anything" I meant any extra cleaning projects. I did school my kids, vote, and buy a washing machine after all! lol!

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Updated with what I've done so far. I'm a little behind. No excuses, I've just been lazy. I did, however, clean out some other areas and I have sold quite a few things and also donated a lot. Just not necessarily in the kitchen. :)

 

I bolded what I'll be doing each day. :D

 

WEEK ONE: KITCHEN

 

Monday November 5, Day 1:

Twenty Minute Group Focus:OK we don't have a junk drawer at all (in the kitchen or out) so I think I'll do my 2nd pantry area DONE

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: Clean out microwave DONE

 

Tuesday November 6, Day 2:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Cutlery Drawer. DONE

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: Outside of the fridge (magnets, etc)DONE

 

Wednesday November 7, Day 3:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Pantry Day 1. DONE

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: Under the sink area DONE

 

Thursday November 8, Day 4:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Pantry Day 2. Continue work from day 3. DONE

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: All other lower cabinets, go throughDONE

 

Friday November 9, Day 5:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Fridge. Choose one section of fridge to work on. Remove all items. Wipe down shelves or remove and wash in sink. This job might take longer than 20 minutes...sorry! Remove all outdated, moldy or unusable food. Organize and wipe down door shelves.

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: All other upper cabinets, go through.

 

Saturday November 19, Day 6:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Freezer. Remove all items from freezer. Working quickly, throw away all unusable or unidentifiable foods, remove ice buildup from freezer and organize.

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: 2nd Chest Freezer in garage

 

Sunday: Rest.

 

ETA - Did some more today, now I am caught up.

Edited by HomeschoolMamaOfTwo
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I re-arranged the living room and went through my closet. Im debating on taking the rest to storage....knowing i SHOULD. didnt take anything to storage yesterday

 

tomorrow:

switch computer desk with dining room table

go through kitchen

take anything LEFT to storage

 

and i havent done anything today.

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I haven't done anything in the kitchen this week! I do, however, have a fabulously organized SIL that came over Monday, helped me rearrange my dining area to be more cohesive and accomodate our school stuff, hung curtains in two rooms, moved a shelf with more school stuff, and nearly got our littlest ds's room ready for him to move into. We cleared off two closet shelves, emptied two storage containers, and reorganized my sheets and blankets.

 

Now....to start on the kitchen. It is tiny and I don't even have a junk drawer, so it should be quick!

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I'm not sure what it is about making a list that makes me want to do stuff that's not on the list. :tongue_smilie:

 

I've decided to just go with it. Stuff that needs to be done is still getting done.

 

Today I ditched freezer burned food from both downstairs upright freezers, cleaned out under the sink, and have cleaned one more kitchen drawer.

 

Now I've got to start dinner and run the dishes.

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I'm not sure it's going to happen today ladies. This has been a CRAZY day. Maybe I can sneak it in this evening...

 

Same here. Delayed dentist appointment, nasty weather and time on the phone to sort out science experiment problems. Best laid plans of mice and men...

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Finally checking in here! So far I have managed to fill a small box with books to donate, and the big 90 gallon trash and recycle bins will both be full to the brim tomorrow for pick up.

 

The biggest accomplishment so far though is taking apart and removing the kitchen faucet (which was a serious undertaking) then going to Lowes today buying a new one then installing it with only DS to help. Then I washed all the dishes in the veruly full sink. I actually have a tub of not nasty, but in need of a wash dishes in the closet that I plan to tackle this afternoon.

 

Having a well functioning sink that isn't going to stop spitting out hot water every few days will make a GIANT difference in my kitchen!!!

 

Plus I feel super handy lol.

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Just checking back in, I scrubbed the backward corner and window behind my sink area, and then DS helped me pull stuff out of the top cabinets wipe them out and wash the platters and stuff that were in them. I also started a box of random findings to go in my grandmothers garage sale.

 

I'm worn out! But it is so nice to have a really high functioning faucet!!

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I did the pantry today - the whole thing. It's large but we just cleaned it out completely (taking everything out and putting everything back in Aug). However, I just found out yesterday DS has a tree nut allergy, so I went through again, and took a bunch more stuff out. The pantry should be good for a while!

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Thanks for organising this, Halcyon! I do much better at stuff like this, when I have some moral support! :001_smile:

 

I'm going to struggle to get the Group Focus Done most days, so I'm not going to set myself Optional Focuses. Here's my achievement so far:

 

 

Monday November 5, Day 1:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Junk Drawer. Remove everything from your junk drawer. Throw away anything broken, useless, or unused over past 6 months that you know you will not use again. DONE

 

 

Tuesday November 6, Day 2:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Cutlery Drawer. Go through cutlery and "other" drawers, any extra spoons, etc give to goodwill, wipe down interior completely. DONE

 

 

Wednesday November 7, Day 3:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Pantry Day 1. Work on one shelf or area of the pantry at a time, removing all food items, sorting and throwing away any past date items. Duplicate canned goods can be donated.

I'm doing the upper cupboards in my kitchen, as I don't have a Pantry as such.

 

 

Thursday November 8, Day 4:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Pantry Day 2. Continue work from day 3.

Lower cupboards in the kitchen.

 

 

Friday November 9, Day 5:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Fridge. Choose one section of fridge to work on. Remove all items. Wipe down shelves or remove and wash in sink. This job might take longer than 20 minutes...sorry! Remove all outdated, moldy or unusable food. Organize and wipe down door shelves.

 

 

Saturday November 19, Day 6:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Freezer. Remove all items from freezer. Working quickly, throw away all unusable or unidentifiable foods, remove ice buildup from freezer and organize.

I won't need to do this one, as I did it recently. But it's a good thing really since I'll be away for the weekend anyway!

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I'm on track with our daily tasks so far, but still haven't gotten many of the optional tasks done yet. It seems like every day we've had something come up that's kept me from getting to the optional tasks, but I'm hoping this weekend I can make up for lost time and get a few things done. I'm happy that I got the pantry done.

post-4153-13535087819951_thumb.jpg

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I did the pantry today - the whole thing. It's large but we just cleaned it out completely (taking everything out and putting everything back in Aug). However, I just found out yesterday DS has a tree nut allergy, so I went through again, and took a bunch more stuff out. The pantry should be good for a while!

 

That's awesome! Good job!! I still need to do more work on my pantry, and today is my busiest day, leavingi the house at 11 and not back until 8 pm :confused: UGH!

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I'm on track with our daily tasks so far, but still haven't gotten many of the optional tasks done yet. It seems like every day we've had something come up that's kept me from getting to the optional tasks, but I'm hoping this weekend I can make up for lost time and get a few things done. I'm happy that I got the pantry done.

 

BeautifuL!!!

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I'm on track with our daily tasks so far, but still haven't gotten many of the optional tasks done yet. It seems like every day we've had something come up that's kept me from getting to the optional tasks, but I'm hoping this weekend I can make up for lost time and get a few things done. I'm happy that I got the pantry done.

 

 

Looks Great!!!!

 

Yesterday we did school in the morning and then were gone for 3.5 hours to robotics class. I did clean my microwave and stove and wiped out my silverware drawer. We moved about a year and a half ago and went through all the kitchen stuff before we moved so I honestly don't have much work to do in there.

 

Today I am working on decluttering my computer (old emails, email receipts, pictures, files, organizing my mess of favorites for the internet) -- spent 2 hours on this already. I really haven't done this for over a year and it's driving me nuts. I'm also catching up on a ton of laundry and going through more paperwork to recycle or prepare for filing.

 

Tomorrow I am hoping to tackle the boys 6 years of artwork :scared:! It is currently laying in piles in my bedroom, in my craft room and in the school room. I want to get it all in folders by kid and year and will go from there.

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Updated with what I've done so far. OK I finished the pantry in the kitchen. It is looking good in there now! I also got the outside of the fridge cleaned off (magnets, pictures, etc.). I haven't finished our 2nd pantry yet (my replacement for the junk drawer since we don't have one). Still need to do that and the lower cabinets today. Hopefully I'll get that done before the night is up.

 

I bolded what I'll be doing each day. :D

 

WEEK ONE: KITCHEN

 

Monday November 5, Day 1:

Twenty Minute Group Focus:OK we don't have a junk drawer at all (in the kitchen or out) so I think I'll do my 2nd pantry area

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: Clean out microwave DONE

 

Tuesday November 6, Day 2:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Cutlery Drawer. DONE

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: Outside of the fridge (magnets, etc) DONE

 

Wednesday November 7, Day 3:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Pantry Day 1. DONE

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: Under the sink area DONE

 

Thursday November 8, Day 4:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Pantry Day 2. DONE

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: All other lower cabinets, go through

 

Friday November 9, Day 5:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Fridge

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: All other upper cabinets, go through.

 

Saturday November 19, Day 6:

Twenty Minute Group Focus: Freezer

Twenty Minute Optional Focus: 2nd Chest Freezer in garage

 

Sunday: Rest.

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Yesterday I did the cutlery drawer (was gone all day Tues, crazy day) and the ENTIRE pantry, woo! Am looking forward to the fridge today because goodness knows it needs a cleanout. --It's not a biohazard, I am pretty careful with my fridge. So it doesn't look like a terrifying episode of Hoarders or anything. :001_smile:

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OK, so I DID get three more kitchen cabinets done yesterday, and today I'm working on under the sink. Hopefully I can also get to the lazy susan that serves as my in-kitchen pantry. My actual pantry is in the basement and I kind of want to stay in the kitchen until I finish it.

Good for you. My boys decided against going to homeschool fitness today, so I may just have enough time to get to the pantry today. At least a section!!!

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