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You are here: Home / At Home / Decluttering Your Home / Declutter Your Home: the Storage Bench

October 5, 2015 by Angela

Declutter Your Home: the Storage Bench

The mini decluttering project for this week was our storage bench. I bought this several years ago to deal with the backpack clutter that takes over our “entryway”. We still haven’t established the habit of putting the backpacks in the storage bench during the week. The boys are usually doing homework in the evenings and have their backpacks sprawled across the living room floor.

declutter your home storage bench

I’ve come to accept that the backpacks won’t be neatly stored every night, but I do make the effort to remind them to store the backpacks away at the start of the weekend. Sometimes, the storage bench becomes a dumping ground for things I want out of site…which makes storing backpacks in them kind of difficult!

declutter your home: the Storage Bench Before

Here’s what the storage bench recently looked like:

storage bench before

Oh boy, like I said, we haven’t established the habit of putting backpacks away during the week…

The Decluttering Process

Everything that was on top was placed on the floor. Then I added to the pile and emptied the contents of the storage bench onto  the floor. There were multiple empty shopping bags, books, notebooks, paper clutter and actual backpacks!

declutter your home mini project

  • The bags were folded and stored inside one larger bag in our entryway closet.
  • The books were put away into the right bookshelves.
  • Library books were returned.
  • Papers were recycled or stored in our vertical file drawer.

Most of the paper pile was my middle son’s folders from the previous years’ school work. He wasn’t ready to recycle them at the end of the year in June. I made an executive decision to recycle them in September since we’re in a new school year and he hadn’t touched them all summer.

declutter your home: the Storage Bench After

This is what the storage bench should look like at the end of the week after all the backpacks are put away.

declutter your home storage bench after

So much better! Clear surfaces and uncluttered space is so pivotal in keeping small entryways and small homes peaceful. #declutter Click To Tweet Along with our 5 minute pick ups, this is another area that will go on our weekly areas to tidy up. This probably took me about 15 minutes at the most and I did it by myself.

Basement Update

To be perfectly honest, I haven’t been doing much in the basement. Our weekends have been busy and I’ve started reading novels again in my spare time. I read 2 novels in one weekend! Has anyone read The House Girl or The Rosie Project? It’s been wonderfully engrossing…but taking some of the momentum away from the basement!

My husband has been pretty active down there. We rearranged some of the “stations” in the basement and he’s been sorting through all the tools and grouping them in a way that makes sense to him. I promise a photo next time!

Have you done a mini decluttering project this week? What distracts you from decluttering?

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About Angela

Wife. Mom to three boys. Writer. Reader. Aspiring Minimalist. Lover of chocolate and fitness. She loves blogging about the ways she is finding success in simplifying life one step at a time. Her mantra is "Progress, not Perfection."

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Comments

  1. Melinda says

    October 5, 2015 at 7:51 pm

    Great job, Angela! Looks great!

    • Angela says

      October 6, 2015 at 9:17 am

      Thanks Melinda!

  2. Susannah says

    October 6, 2015 at 12:08 am

    The clutter that builds up wherever I drop my bags when I come home is the hardest for me to fight. I should maybe investigate a cabinet or drawer…..

    • Angela says

      October 6, 2015 at 9:20 am

      That is so true Susannah! 5 backpacks dropped on the floor makes it hard to move around! A cabinet or drawer is a great idea

  3. Alexandra @ My Urban Family says

    October 6, 2015 at 9:33 am

    Nice 🙂 Even without kids the area near my backdoor ends up looking like this. But now that our house is on the market we’ve realized it really doesn’t take that much longer to put things where they should go. Hopefully the habit follows us to our next home since we’ll be tight on space there.

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:28 am

      I’m trying to teach my kids that it doesn’t take that much longer to put things away as well. It’s a challenge!

  4. Jill says

    October 6, 2015 at 10:22 am

    I like your idea of doing mini decluttering projects. I used to do this but lost focus somewhere along the way. You have inspired me to resurrect this in my home.

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:29 am

      That’s great Jill! I know in my home there is a never ending lists of mini decluttering projects that I can work on!

  5. CHelsea Damon says

    October 6, 2015 at 10:28 am

    We so need more storage in our home. We just had our son’s 1st birthday and I’m beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the toys! Going to walmart or target this week to get some storage baskets!!

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:31 am

      Happy 1st birthday to your son! Toys seem to multiply! I’m trying to regularly donate toys prior to birthdays so we don’t end up overwhelmed!

  6. Sara Strand says

    October 6, 2015 at 11:49 am

    I spent about an hour sorting out the seasonal storage bench in my 3 season porch and finding the mitten pairs, figuring out what doesn’t fit (or have a match) and donating what I could. Then I tackled my back porch bench which is admittedly, a place we throw something we don’t want to deal with right now. What a mess! But it IS nice to get things organized and ready for harsh northern Wisconsin winters!

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:33 am

      You’re reminding that I need to bring out our warmer accessories! It’s so nice when messes are managed!

  7. Kylie Farnsworth says

    October 6, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    Ah… the ol hide things in a storage bench trick 🙂 Always been one of my fave places to hide the “ugly” items that we dont like to have around the house

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:33 am

      As you can see, it’s mine as well!

  8. Lisa says

    October 6, 2015 at 1:48 pm

    The bench we bought wasn’t as nice and large as yours, and our children did homework at the kitchen table. I compromised and backpacks were hung on the back of the kitchen chairs. It doesn’t look the best, but at least they were off the floor. Your bench is the perfect size for them!

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:34 am

      Getting them off the floor is half the battle! I do like being able to put them inside something to hide them.

  9. Erica says

    October 6, 2015 at 1:56 pm

    Great post. When I seen your bench that needed decluttering- I could absolutely relate! We have something similar where my kids drop their backpacks and instruments onto it when they get home from school. I have tried to keep it tidy, but the kids always mess it right back up. I have decide that it is a lost cause- the only time it stays clean is in the summer and during long school breaks.

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:35 am

      I can relate Erica! The only time it stays clean are weekends and summer

  10. Branson says

    October 6, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    Man I really wish I had one of these 😉 My biggest woe is the junk drawers! They just never, EVER seem to stay less than overflowing, LOL!

    • Angela says

      October 8, 2015 at 10:36 am

      If I had drawers I’m sure it would be the same in my house!

  11. Stella Lee@ Purfylle says

    October 9, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    I’ve got one of those benches too. It’s a great flat surface dumping ground. have you considered moving it away from the entrance? It’s too convenient there to drop stuff on. Could you have a couple of hooks to hang the back packs up or a small shelving unit to put them into instead? A shelving unit might allow you to have one shelf for books and one for papers too. If the bench were moved elsewhere the backpacks could still go in it for the weekend. Just a thought.

    • Angela says

      October 11, 2015 at 9:06 am

      Thank you for the suggestions! I may consider that although our space is so tight not sure where else it could go!

  12. Toni @ Finding Myself Young says

    October 10, 2015 at 11:03 pm

    I wish I had a storage bench to be able to store things, it’d make a much more functional storage option. I really need to work on de-cluttering all the small spots in my house – this has actually reminded me to go and fold the million plastic bags we have down into one bag.

    • Angela says

      October 11, 2015 at 9:48 pm

      Hi Toni, I am really grateful for the storage bench. I’m not sure where else we would put things!

  13. Heather @ Simply Save says

    October 11, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    It looks great! I’m sure it feels great to walk in the front door and not face clutter right away!

    • Angela says

      October 11, 2015 at 9:54 pm

      It does! Now if only We could keep it that way…

  14. Andrea says

    October 11, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    Doesn’t it feel so good to declutter? I did a major overhaul on my daughter’s bedroom last weekend. Thanks for linking up to This is How We Roll linky party!

    • Angela says

      October 12, 2015 at 4:33 pm

      It feels really good Andrea! Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Friend! I’m Angela

Welcome to my blog where I write about simplifying life in small, manageable steps and creating healthy habits. You'll find inspiration, practical tips and community here for the decluttering you're doing in your own life. (whether that's physical, mental, or emotional clutter) Thanks so much for stopping by! Read More…

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