We are in the midst of a major decluttering project – our basement. It is a large project that can’t be completed in one day, let alone one month. In the meantime, I have taken to mini decluttering projects around the house while we slowly chip away at our basement.
This series will be called Declutter Your Home and focus on smaller areas that need maintenance. I will also be sharing our progress in the basement at the end of the posts.
Declutter Your Home: Storage closet before
This space can be turned into a small bathroom one day. We currently use it as a storage space. Here’s a picture of our before:
Getting Rid of the Obvious
This space has been decluttered a number of times. I keep chipping away at it through the years. Every time I go through it I find things to get rid of. The last time I went through it I donated my wedding dress.
This time there were empty boxes I had been storing in there for…I’m not sure what. It made a big difference to clear those out and put them in our recycling bin. I also had two large empty storage bins after we used the KonMari Method to purge and fold our clothing.
You can’t see it in the picture but we also had an Arm’s Reach Co-sleeper * (affiliate link) stored in there that had been used once or twice since our youngest outgrew it. I realized it was time to let it go. I put it on our neighborhood listserv and it was out the door the next day. It went to a pregnant lady who would immediately be able to put it to use. Let's pass on what we don't need anymore to bless others. #declutter Click To Tweet
Fake or Real?
The bottom before photo is the stuff behind the door. The fake Christmas tree was something I took when a friend was moving. Because I was thinking according to my old ways, I accepted it because it was free, and it made my friend happy to give it to me.
I actually have had fleeting thoughts in the past that having a fake tree might be a good idea. We usually travel to spend Christmas with family, so it feels wasteful to get a live tree and only have it for a short time, or to have no tree at all. We used the fake tree this past Christmas and it was fine, but not for us. We realized that as a family we really like to get real Christmas trees. It was time to throw out the fake tree.
Declutter Your Home: Storage Closet After
It feels so good to do something from start to semi-finish. There are sandals in that top basket that I know I can get rid of. There are also papers in that box on the bottom shelf which I can also get rid of. It’s not completely decluttered, but it’s organized for now.
Basement Update
Do you remember the area under the stairs? You can’t really see under there because of the shelves filled with paper. A few of our bikes were squeezed in there. It used to look like this:
Now it looks like this:
We can now store our bikes and move them in and out pretty easily. We would love to be able to keep them outside but theft is a real issue even when locked. One of the small costs of living in the city.
If you’re curious about the beginning of our major project (and more before photos), you might want to take a look at:
- Area of Secret Shame
- Basement Clutter Reveal
- Decluttering Momentum
- Decluttering One Corner at a Time
Are you tackling any mini or major projects? I’d love to know!
*if you purchase anything through my affiliate link, I may receive a very small portion of the sale – at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Great job with the storage closet, Angela! You are a decluttering ninja!!
Thanks Melinda! You’re always so encouraging! My youngest son will be so thrilled his mom was referred to as a ninja – his favorite
That’s great progress on your basement progress! I love your mini project idea—it’s good to keep moving on something when you can’t attack the big project every day. The After looks nice and neat!
Thanks Carissa! It does feels good to complete something in a short time
Great post! How do I get you to come fix our garage??
Thanks Katy! No way – no outside decluttering jobs! ?
I love you storage closet project and I LOVE the progress you’re making on that basement. The photos are fun now, but when it’s done you’re going to have some killer before and after pictures!
Thanks so much Abby! It is encouraging to see the first set of before pics – sometimes it’s hard to tell that there is less stuff when you’re in the middle of sorting piles!
You cleared out a ton of stuff! Paper piles like you showed aren’t easy to get rid of. Since we live in such a humid area, we can’t store anything in an unfinished area because it will mold (that has helped us out a ton from preventing clutter!!!).
Autumn @ Stay gold Autumn
That’s great Autumn! What a huge motivator to keep it clear! The poles are piles my hubby hasn’t looked at in a long time so a lot of it was recycled now that he’s adopting a different mindset
I will be going through my clothes this week in preparation for cooler weather. Not looking forward to it, but I’m cold!
I’m looking forward to sweater weather too Lydia!
I am sitting here looking at my secret area of shame — garage shelving in my bedroom. Horrible! You have inspired me to set an intention! Now to get the husband on board! Wish me luck!
That’s great Jackie! You can do it! My husband wasn’t on board initially either.
I’m lucky that my husband and I both become itchy when we see clutter so keeping our house and storage areas cleaned up is pretty easy. Now if I could only get mom to stop leaving her clutter behind, but that is another story!
That’s wonderful that you and your husband are of the same mind regarding clutter. That must make a tidy home easier to manage!
Great post … I have been putting off decluttering my jewelry bin and work table! You have inspired me to get started on it!
That’s excellent Priya! The longer we wait, the bigger the pile or mess!
you are making good progress!!!!
Thank you!
Declutter + simplify = the best.
Great job and thanks for posting. Time to do my basement!
Such a good equation, right Jane!
You’re doing really great with your decluttering. I’ve come to a bit of halt lately I must admit. You’ve got me thinking about some christmas decorations I have that we don’t use because our tree is too small and I’ve been holding onto for when we get a bigger tree… this year I must make a decision on what to do with them.
Thanks Stella! Holiday items are tough since we only see them once a year. I will most likely need to pare down as well this Christmas
Ooh great work. Yea the storage closet.. definitely one of those things that seem most daunting.
Thanks Julie. If not a storage closet, there’s always something like it!
It definitely looks as if you are making progress. I have a few places to tackle as well. Thanks for linking up with us this week.
Thanks Leigh! We are indeed making progress which I’m thankful for!
What a transformation! It’s inspiring! I’ve been working through my house, one area at a time, really assessing what I use and what brings me the most joy and eliminating the rest.
Hi Heather! Good for you. You sound like a KonMari fan. If so, I am too!
Wow! That is a major declutter that you have been doing, Angela.
The more space we have, the more we collect, isn’t it?
Congrats on your progress!
#smallvictoriessunday
Hi Debbie! Yes it is a large decluttering project indeed! My hope is that the more space we have, the more space we’ll have!?
I am forver trying to remove clutter, it seems an unending battle.
Congrats for being featured on Small Victories Party.
Just pinned!!
Now I would like to invite you to stop by and share links on my Friday Feature-Linky-Party
Have a beautiful week, Karren
Hi Karren! Thank you for stopping by. I’d love to come check up your party!
Yesterday I tried decluttering my bedroom following that popular “if it doesn’t bring you joy toss it out” rule. I had to laugh when you pointed out the things you could have tossed but didn’t. That’s exactly what I did yesterday. Today is a new day and I’m going back into that bedroom and tossing everything I held on to yesterday! Thanks for showing me the error of my ways!
Glad it helped Nancy!