A Clean Home Challenge 2: The Drawer Declutter

It seems like I woke up one morning and found that my serving utensils like spoons, spatulas and ladles had multiplied. They occupied a large drawer in my kitchen and I could no longer get that darned drawer to close... and it had migrated to a second drawer of kitchen mess. This was driving me crazy.

Yeah... it was really out of control.  I found a ton of flat out junk shoved in these drawers. Take Out Silver wear and Straws, note pads, treat bags, notes and half completed grocery lists to name a few.

The only way to really tackle any project is to just dig in to it. So I pulled everything out the drawers. I found kitchen knives that should not have been in these drawers and packaged them for Goodwill. I found measuring cups with the measurements worn off and unreadable. Those went to the Goodwill box as well.  Old spoons were destined to be discarded as well as several spatulas.

When the drawers were empty I disinfected them.

Next I pulled a bean crock out of my cupboards. I have had this item for 11 years or so... I baked in it one time, and used it to store left overs a few times. It was really one of those things that I don't need but don't want to part with. So it takes up cabinet space and is never used.

Realizing the crock is gorgeous I decided it would be better used as a spoon/spatula holder where it could be functional and admired.

The items I opted to keep were a perfect fit in the crock! I have 2 empty drawers now and I can grab whatever spoon or spatula I might need without having to rummage through a messy drawer to find it.

 I was really impressed with the results of this challenge. My kitchen looks better without 2 drawers that won't close. I reduced the amount of clutter in the kitchen drawers and I put a lovely item to use in my kitchen, and I disinfected 2 drawers.

This drawer declutter was a project that needed to be completed maybe 6 weeks ago in all honesty. It only took me about 8 minutes from start to finish and it didn't cost any money to complete.

I have 2 other drawers awaiting a declutter. One holds hand towels and napkins, one holds dishtowels. I am going to reduce my towels/napkins by selecting any that are stained, frayed or in another state of disarray to get rid of.  I hope to reduce the napkins/towels by half. My family should be able to survive with 7 hand towels in the kitchen instead of 15. We don't need 5 sets of cloth napkins for the 4 of us. This will hopefully free up another drawer for a total of 3 drawers to use in another way.

My 3rd Challenge for A Clean Home involves a DIY organizer that will cost you under $11 to complete. If you have kids you won't want to miss it!

I would love to challenge you to clean out a drawer or two in your kitchen. I would be thrilled to have to you leave a comment and tell me about your kitchen drawer declutter project.

A Clean Home Challenge 1 : 50 items

The holidays have come and gone, and while Christmas is a ton of fun for almost everyone, the aftermath of the holidays can be discouraging and overwhelming. After Santa paid a visit to my children and the gifts had been exchanged with friends and family I stood in horror looking at the disaster Christmas left in its wake. New toys and clothes were piled upon old toys and clothes...boxes and bags littered just about every surface. Scraps of paper were scattered here and there. Then we get into the bedrooms, where it was every bit as bad, except figure in that laundry, and random things like a new booster seat, were stashed in those rooms at the last minute before the family arrived to celebrate.

Just a few weeks ago I went on a cleaning spree. If you follow my Dear Weary Mom series you might remember the box of burdens post. I filled a huge box up and took it to Goodwill and Community Action. Despite that massive decluttering, my house needed another overhaul to accommodate Christmas.

When I really thought about it, my house needs another round of decluttering, a deep clean and a massive organizational effort. My family of 4 with 2 dogs resides in a very small house, only about 890 square feet. We have outgrown this house to say the least, but we are trying to stay here for at least 6 months. To last another 6 months in such a small space with a growing family is going to be difficult if I don't find ways to make the space we do have work for us.

With this in mind I have been collecting ideas, sketching plans and making lists of projects that I want to tackle to whip my home into shape.

Each post in the series A Clean Home will feature an inexpensive way you can clean or organize something in your home. The first Challenge I gave to myself was to  select 50 Items from my home to donate to Goodwill. I gave myself 2 days to gather my 50 items.

Among the 50 items I had 6 towels, 2 top sheets, 3 blankets, 5 pairs of socks, 8 toys from my sons room, 2 sleepers of Harper's. 5 kitchen knives, a cheese grater, a reusable bag, a measuring cup, dog grooming products, an outgrown coat and pair of bibs, baby shoes, 3 handbags, 2 clutches, 2 hats, a book, a few magazines, 2 bottles of shampoo I didn't like, a scarf , Christmas lights and a few t shirts. I exceeded my goal of 50 items and filled 2 medium size boxes. I still plan to sort through stuffed animals and pull 5 out for a donation to Goodwill, and I suspect there are a few more towels that won't make the cut for keeping, both bath and hand towels.

Now that I have reduced the amount of clutter in my house it is time to start organizing. I hope you will keep coming back to read more about my challenges in this series. Next time, we will talk about a very messy drawer in my house and how I plan to get it under control.