Y’all, I’m not that organized!
My kitchen and living room were simple enough, but my bathroom and bedroom were the true disasters! You see, my apartment is fairly small (roughly 800 sq. feet), and I have a lot of stuff. Over the past year, I have started to do a fair bit of freelance writing and gear testing for various publications, and obviously, this has led to the accumulation of even more stuff. It took me a few months to realize why my apartment was feeling a bit stressful, but once I finally did, I was almost excited to tackle this challenge!
I eased my way into this task by starting in my bathroom. I originally had a shelf system underneath my sink, but it broke a few months ago and I hadn’t taken the time to re-organize everything under there. It was growing incredibly frustrating because all these products would fall onto my feet every time I opened the doors. (And no, I cannot believe I am showing you this picture, but whatever– no shame here!)
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| Seriously, how in the hell did this happen?! |
I decided my first plan of attack was to remove everything from the cupboard and sort it on my bathroom floor. This served two purposes: first of all, I could see what I had and how to organize it, and secondly, there was no turning back once it was spread all over the place!
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| Kinda awkward that the tampons placed themselves front ‘n center. Sorry y’all. |
Unfortunately, my sink was the least of my problems and I purposely avoided my bedroom (and my closet) for half the day because I knew it was going to take forever! I realized last month that I literally could not fit all of my clothes in my closet if they were all clean, and that’s pretty absurd. I have a fairly large walk-in, so there is no excuse for me to have so much stuff when I know I don’t wear it all!
I started with the same technique as above and threw all of my clothes in the center of my bedroom floor. As ridiculously shameful as this pile looks, I’m even more embarrassed to admit that it was only 1/3 of the clothing I had shoved in my closet!
Luckily, Will had some extra free time over in San Diego because I grew incredibly bored with my afternoon activities. I Facetimed him while he was doing chores around his house, propped my phone up on my cedar chest in my closet, and talked to him for the next couple hours while I continued to purge my clothing. It was great because I could use him as my gauge for items that fell in the gray area! If I wasn’t sure if an article should stay or go, I’d try it on and he’d get the final opinion. It worked out pretty nice!
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| Mid-way through. All those empty white hangers USED to have clothes attached! |
20 Comments
nice work! i know that feeling of ‘accomplishment’ after conquering a huge mess. well done 🙂
Awesome. I know that exact feeling. I’m sure you won’t be surprised that I’m one of those that does this multiple times a year. As time goes on I’m going more and more minimalist. I could’ve gone thrift shopping in your closet 😉
Buahah I thought the same thing! 😉 I LOVE getting rid of stuff and cleaning and organizing – although it can be tough to get started once it’s done it feels amazing!!!
I hate that subconscious stress! Though sometimes I think it do it to myself on purpose just so I can enjoy it once the mess is cleaned!
I’m a neat freak, so that was a little tough to look at…anxiety! The “AFTER” is much better. Doesn’t it feel refreshing? I have gotten rid of 2/3 of my clothes over the past year and it feels awesome!
I totally know the stressful feeling of a cluttered home. I don’t own a whole bunch of clothes (someone should take me shopping), so my biggest stresser is under the dreaded bathroom sink! It’s a disaster under there, dude.
The only MAJOR purge I ever did was when I got divorced and had to move from a house to an apartment… I got rid of TONS. I need to do a mini purge.
My husband and I are in the process of doing that right now! It sucks when you’re doing it but feels so much better when you’re done! I can’t wait! 🙂
Dang what an overhaul…been there and had to do that…feels good to be done doesn’t it?
Whenever I can no longer stand it, I do at least a small purge. :
decluttering feels amazing! i did one with my clothes recently too and after reading The Happiness Project (she tackles decluttering in chapter 1/january, too), I know I can go back through and get rid of the clothes i *think* will will wear but never actually do. good for you for overhaulin’!
We did this when we moved to CO…holy hell, we had a lot of crap! And going from 1200sq ft + garage to tiny 700 sq ft meant we donated A LOT!
Now when you get back from all your travels you’ll have a nicely organized home to mess up! 😉
I have been moving so often for the last 5 years, that I tended to do it every 6 months to a year. But now I’ve been in the same house for over a year, and don’t plan on moving in the near future, so it’s probably about time.
I probably only get this done once a year but it does feel wonderful. I read a great tip which I am trying this winter. Turn all of your hangars backwards on the rod and then when you wear something put it back on a hangar the right direction. At the end of the season you will be able to see what you never wore and make the clean out easier.
My only new years resolution was to clean out one drawer every week. I have been faithful about that but have to admit that I keep meaning to tackle the junk drawer but this week I chose a bathroom drawer that really was easy, so I kind of cheated.
I definitely don’t clean out my stuff enough. This is inspirational! Thanks.
NICE job! I hate doing this, but always feel so light when you’re done and things are so organized (and so many things you don’t need are gone).
Ha, I am SO like you and certainly do not do this….ever, much less 3-4 times a year. I need to do this so bad, it’s at the point where doing laundry is stressful because it’s busting out of my dresser and it’s mainly stupid crap like free t-shirts. Our closets are even worse! Well done!
Getting rid of the clutter does make a world of difference in how you feel. I’m a purger by nature so I do it pretty regularly. We may be moving soon so I see a big purge in the future!
lol I literally just did the SAME exact thing. It’s crazy how much trash, recycling, and donations you find from the smallest of places, but it feels so good!
Love this! My little heart just sings reading this and seeing the before and after pics! I am a total organization fool. I love to clean, organize, and make everything look nice. Like, it’s almost a curse because I can get obsessed. I would say I do this every few months, depending on what it is. I only do my closet once a year, maybe twice if I’m really bored.
Glad to see you got rid of stuff and that it freed you up as well. Perfect!