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.
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:
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!
- 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.
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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Great job, Angela! Looks great!
Thanks Melinda!
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…..
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
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.
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!
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.
That’s great Jill! I know in my home there is a never ending lists of mini decluttering projects that I can work on!
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!!
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!
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!
You’re reminding that I need to bring out our warmer accessories! It’s so nice when messes are managed!
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
As you can see, it’s mine as well!
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!
Getting them off the floor is half the battle! I do like being able to put them inside something to hide them.
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.
I can relate Erica! The only time it stays clean are weekends and summer
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!
If I had drawers I’m sure it would be the same in my house!
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.
Thank you for the suggestions! I may consider that although our space is so tight not sure where else it could go!
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.
Hi Toni, I am really grateful for the storage bench. I’m not sure where else we would put things!
It looks great! I’m sure it feels great to walk in the front door and not face clutter right away!
It does! Now if only We could keep it that way…
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!
It feels really good Andrea! Thanks for stopping by!