I am now on day 9 in the 21 day declutter challenge.  For  today’s challenge, I decluttered the kitchen cabinets. To get your own printable checklist, go here.  To view the challenges from previous days, go here.

Today’s challenge was a bit rougher than I thought it would be. Well, I can’t really say it was hard, but it took more effort than I felt like putting out. For some reason I wasn’t really feeling it, but I made myself push through it and I’m really glad I did. I have alot of cabinets in the kitchen.  The main problem areas were those that contained food. Instead of showing you the whole area, I will just give you highlights of the areas I was especially glad to see cleaned up.

This is the cabinet which I keep all of my cans and spaghetti sauces and such. It goes back pretty far and it’s easy for things to get lost in the back. Notice how things start to pile in the front? Yikes.

The plan here was to group all of the like items and put them in logical order. This way made the most sense to me. I can find what I am looking for now without much trouble.

This spice cabinet was getting out of control. It was so crowded the door didn’t want to close.

It didn’t take too long to get it in order though. Noticed how I stacked the spices in the plastic bins? Not ideal, but it will work for now. I really like the lazy susan style spice racks, but they seem to get cluttered too. I also used the plastic bins to hold packets of gravy and other mixes. It works really well.

This too was another trouble spot. Because it goes back so far, it’s easy for things to get lost in the back.

I’m not sure how it got fuller after I reorganized it, ( I think I brought over a few things from the other cabinets) but this setup isn’t too bad. I think it will be easy enough to work with.

Tuesday’s task: Was supposed to be to declutter the makeup bag, but seeing as how I don’t use one, I think I will give myself a break and get back to decluttering on Wednesday with the bedroom closets!

Print this checklist to keep yourself motivated. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

It’s day 4 in the 21 day declutter challenge. Today’s task to tackle from the checklist is the laundry room. To get your own printable checklist, go here.  To view the challenges from previous days, go here.

Do you have a room that scares you? One that you ignore in hopes that it will clean itself up? Mine is the laundry room. When we bought this house 2 years ago, we did alot of DIY work on it. All of the tools, light switches, sanders, extra parts, odds and ends, etc. ended up in the laundry room cabinets. Not to mention everything else that I actually needed in there, like laundry stuff went in there too. It was a catch all of sorts. The junk drawer in cabinet form, if you will. Dealing with all of this is what frightened me the most. Take special notice of the 60′s floral print shelf liner that we neglected to remove when we moved in. Not a pretty sight. I tried to avoid this room like the plague.

Because the cabinets were so full of junk, there was a ripple effect. Things began to pile up on top of the dryer. You can’t really tell from the picture, but the pile covered the whole top of the dryer. Yes, I know I’m kicking it old school with my top loading washer. Pretty classy, huh? The dryer is just as old too. But, they’re paid for and they still work, so they stay for now.

Now, I get to show all of you my mountain of dirty laundry. This is the pile on a good day. It usually spills over onto the floor. Remember there’s 5 of us and one of me.

In order to deal with this overwhelming mess, I started with the cabinets. Everything came out. The ugly shelf liners came out. The cabinets were wiped down. Then I systematically put it all back in, in a way that made sense to me. The laundry stuff went back in first. I had a nice plastic container to put all of my laundry soap samples into. I also had a cute basket that I decided to use as a caddy for cleaning cloths and cleaners I will use around the house, like Windex.  I can just take the whole basket down and clean up and then put it back. Yeah! I found a home for alot of the odds and ends, and some of the original junk that I wasn’t sure what to do with went back in, like the light switches and such. But it’s all much more organized and I can see what I need. Much improved I would say.

The washer and dryer are now clear of clutter and this makes me happy. The only thing left out is my Mint Floor Cleaner, so that it can stay charged and so I can use it, because it’s awesome.

I did get some laundry done which decreased the big pile and I actually found the lid to the hamper while I was cleaning. It’s *almost* closed. Sweet victory! And with that, day 4 is done. How’s decluttering going for you?

Tomorrow’s task: The Purse…..

Print this checklist to keep yourself motivated. Click on the picture to make it bigger.