21:13-15 Let’s get on with it, shall we?

We are back to my 21 day declutter challenge…. about time you will say.. and I do agree 😉 Every time I have found a bit of energy the last week or so, I have gone on very tiny declutter sprees around the house. As usual I have been piling the stuff in my guestroom, to be arranged and photoed at some future date.

Well today is as good a day as any, it’s time to get on with it!

DAY 13 – Outdoor storage room attached to house.. (not a garage because I don’t have one)

Since I don’t have a garage, everything goes into my tiny storage room. It’s the place I store my car tires, paint, bike, roller-blades, garden tools, plant tools, some outdoor furniture, all my electrical and hand tools and all the other nuts and bolts you need when you have a home and are essentially a “guy” when it comes to tools 😉

And like any other “garage”, my storage/shed gets full.. and I have to clear a little out, so I at least can get into the space without tripping over buckets (which I do a lot) 😉

Here’s the dirt on whats leaving this time!

2 tanks – for my old gas grill that I don’t have anymore – I gave these to a friend – sorry no picture
1 kitchen cabinet door (cut into three pieces – recycle plant swap house wouldn’t take it, and it only fit the bins in pieces)
2 foam boxes
1 battery drill (more or less broken, thankfully I have more 😉 )
10 tins of paint and paint related items
1 empty fertilizer bucket
8 pieces of steel from my old kitchen counter edge

= 25 items

Day 14 – Bathroom

I have never been one to spend a lot of time in the bathroom, as I’m pretty much a no frills person regarding products I use. The last couple of years I mostly blend my own oils, use makeup only once or twice a year, and don’t use much in the name of soaps, shampoos and conditioners. I’ve been downsizing my bathroom stuff quite a bit, but still there are things that linger (for some reason or another)…

28 items of stuff – not pictured
4 bottles with various lotions
1 small perfume bottle
2 tins of lip and hair balm
1 box of pure moist contact lens solution
1 lip balm
1 nail clipper
1 tube cleanser
1 tube moisturizer
1 box of makeup
3 random items

= 44 items

Day 15 – Kitchen

So here we re again with the kitchen! I don’t know what it is about kitchens, but items seem to accumulate, regardless of how often you declutter the space. I have no number for how many times I’ve gone through this place, and there are still more stuff that pops out of the woodwork! Strange that, lol

3 bottles
5 glass containers
1 knife
2 ~~pray~~ ops… spray bottles
Random stuff – count as 5

= 16 items

I think this concludes today’s post!

I’m trying to keep it short and sweet, and hopefully I’ll get the 21 days over and done with within the week 😉

But first before I go… gotta do the yearly tally!

Day 13, 14 and 15 = 85 items, which brings my grand total for 2017 to 792

🙂

21.9 – Throwing the rules out the window!

We’re at day 9 of my 21 day declutter challenge.

I think we all agreed yesterday to throw the challenge rules out the window 🙂

And today I’m doing exactly that!

About 1,5 years ago I changed my bathroom routine! I switched from regular store bought products, to more natural/organic and homemade products.

I simplified my hair styling (not that I ever really did much of this anyways), and stopped using all sorts of junk in my hair. I moved from regular shampoos to pretty much no shampoo, and the few times I use shampoo, it’s Lush solid shampoo bars (which btw, are great for travel).

I switched from junky deodorants, to Lush solid deodorants, and the last year I’ve almost eliminated deodorants all together (only use it when I really, really have to).

I also started to mix my own facial and body oils instead of using regular store bought moisturizers. I really like using organic and natural oils, so there is no way I’m ever going back. Which means there are stuff in my bathroom, that needs to go.

So here we are… 22 items going out-the-door!

Some of you might notice that there are a couple of items in the picture that are somewhat more natural and sustainable products… so why haven’t I used them up first? Well… did I mention I really, really like my own oils… 🙂

I’m being joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, is on day ten or something.
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, you gotta read her declutterathon. I love the inner/outer dialogue. This is so me sometimes…
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, she has gotten a big box of stuff out of her house.
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, she is on day eight, would you believe she is at 329 items already!

Packing Party results – part 1

Hi there,

I’m sure you are all wondering if there have been any result from my pseudo packing party, at least with regards of items out-the-door!

I’m happy to say that yes, there have been 😉

There aren’t any big ticket items that I’ve found I can get rid off, but there have been a bunch of the little things. Those items that hide in between the stuff that is easily “seen”. The items you don’t notice because they are just part of the rest of the stuff or collection or… you get my drift 😉

This time around, we are talking result from the bathroom and bedroom packing party. The other ones will follow 😉

I am a bit shocked when it comes to my bedroom. Since I wasn’t doing my closet, I really didn’t think there was much left to toss, as I have cleared the place numerous times… but it turns out, there were, as you can see from below 😉

So let’s get to it. How did I do? Well, here it is, 87 items out-the-door!

Bathroom – 33 items

Bunch of cosmetics, brushes, nail files, nail clippers – 16 items
Bunch of creams and lotions – 7 items
Hair stuff – 2 items
1 body brush
Bunch of random stuff – 5 items
Bunch of contacts lenses I can’t use – count as 1
1 towel rack

Bedroom – 54 items

1 old worn out small backpack, it’s travelled just about every place with me, it’s sad to see it go, but it’s beyond repair..
1 laptop cover
1 broken bracelet, that I’m obviously not going to fix as it’s been like this for the last three years
1 broken hanger
1 jewellery/watch tray
8 jewellery boxes
Purse cover bag + some plastic cover bags – count as 1
Bunch of small tubes of massage oil, aeons old and probably no longer useful – count as 2 as I had 2 bags of them
1 magnetic picture frame, never used
4 instant hand warmers (bought for a bike trip long time ago, and never used)
1 hand sanitizer and 1 bottle of ?? (for the same bike trip) – count as 2
1 ice pack (Bought long time ago when I was a goalie (handball and soccer), I’m only keeping one bag for emergencies)
2 covers for hanging clothes
1 funny scroll about Norwegians (damn, I forgot to take a picture of the text before I tossed it 😦 )
5 bags for packing stuff when you travel (I have several, and these I’ve never used)
18+ pieces of misc stuff
3 wall posters
1 wall poster tube

Packing party – Bathroom time!

As I mentioned last weekend I would start my pseudo packing party in my bathroom. Following the rules of my version of the packing party, I would pack up on Fridays, and unpack on Mondays. Well, I have to admit, I’ve cheated (yes already)… I was so antsy to get started I packed up my bathroom Tuesday this week 😉

I boxed up most of everything, with the exception of items like hair dryer, laundry bin, trash bin, weight scale, toilet brush holder, floor mat as these are things I knew I would use during the week.

I kept out one towel for me, one guest towel, toothbrush and paste, hand soap, my home made shampoo and conditioner, body oil and face oil (also home made), contact lenses, vitamins I take daily, one bottle of liquid bubbly bath soap (which I have used up already) and one bottle of body lotion I’m trying to use up. Oh yeah, and the jar I collect plastic in, since I now recycle this after my plastic challenge.

I never really had all that much in my bathroom to start out (as you can see from my packed away stuff below), but I have to say… it’s been freeing living with just about nothing in my bathroom. So much so, that I have decided that I most likely will not unpack all my stuff tomorrow. There are a couple of things I will add back, like a few towels, the basket I keep all my laundry stuff and soap in, a couple of small grooming items and a small jewellery box.

Everything else I will keep packet away and only pull out as I need them over the next few months. I already know a few items that I have decided will not make it through this round, so that will go out-the-door within the next days.

Below are a few pictures of a cleared out bathroom.. unfortunately I forgot to do a before picture. I could off course pull everything out, just to take a “before” picture… but nope, that’s not going to happen 😉 You will just have to make do.

Now for my partners “in crime” 🙂

Moving Forward is doing her cupboards, following my lead on what rooms to attack 🙂 Check out her bathroom job.
All-Round Better me – is travelling right now, but might join in when she is back…?
How To Be Myself – might do a “light browse”, with my “moving test” questions in mind?
Free but fun – are moving in May, so they are knee deep into decluttering already.

Next room – bedroom anyone?

Taking the plunge

The day started nicely enough this morning, and there was no indication of what a messy day this would turn into.

I left work a little early, and when I got home I decided to open all the blinds to let the sun in. Big mistake, big, big mistake… The sun streamed in through the windows and displayed this thin layer of dust all over (you know how it is, when the sun hits everything just right..! )

Bummer! Then I think, well, why don’t I just give this place a quick once-over and then I can relax all weekend in the glory of a clean house 🙂

So I started in the kitchen. Clearing some stuff and throwing it in the trash… wait a minute, hmm my trash cabinet seems to need a little clean out as well, so I empty out everything. Among the things I take out to “dust”, I find a good old plunger.

Can you even remember last time you used one of those? Well, mine is old. And while I dusted it, I noticed it looked a little “stiff” in the rubber, so I put it to the floor to give it a trial plunge. And nothing, nothing at all, other that a small crunchy noise. Better take a look…yep.. it’s dead. Poor thing haven’t been used for so long it petrified 😉

Hmmm – an item to toss, cool 🙂 great, I can make a quick little post about it…

Well, not quite, turns out the story didn’t stop there.

Having my nose deep into the cabinet under the sink, it made sense to move my eyes over to the dishwasher right next to it…

Didn’t I read the other day that you should, on a regular basis, clean out the filters and stuff. Great, I think I have one of those dishwasher machine cleaner thingy too. But first the filters.

All cleaned out I put the dishwasher on with that special dishwasher machine cleaner, and smile, all happy with myself.

And then I suddenly remember, don’t I have one of those for the washing machine as well? You can see where this is heading, right? So I walk upstairs., and yep, I’ve got one of those…

Reading the instructions it says to wash the washing powder tray. Right, done. Then to wash the rubber ring in the door.. ok, check.. And then it dawns on me, shouldn’t I have a look at the filter. Out the instruction book comes, get a bucked, empty leftover water, pull the filter. Hmmm, this is starting to look like yucky work to me.. But I go ahead, I know this is good for the machine.

Pulling the instruction book for the washing machine I accidentally opened the dryer instructions first.. Oh “crap” this has a filter as well…. Well, ok then, I finish the washing machine, turn on the washing machine with that special cleaner stuff in, and I turn my attention to the dryer.

Oh, my gosh that filter is disgustingly wet, soggy and yucky. The only fun thing is, that it’s easy to clean. Put it in the shower and pour loads of water through it.. and all the messy stuff just rolls of, and down the drain…

Oh no, the drain …

Did I ever get to the once-over?

Nope! After the first drain, I decided to tackle the second one, unfortunately that meant moving the washer and dryer to get to it, yikes.. and that job turned into a real workout. Guess I’ll try again tomorrow.

At least all my machines and drains are decluttered though… Oh yes..and the old plunger 😉

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