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Decluttering Week 4 – Our First Test

We have made it through our first month of this decluttering/cleaning journey and we ended it with our first little test since starting it- my sister and her family came to visit us. Normally it would be a mad dash to clean, scrub down, and get rid of piles of mess around the house.

Decluttering Week 4 - Our First Test

This time, I was able to relax a bit and the only major cleaning that I had to do was the bathroom, thanks to a certain kitty and her litter box. She is very picky about her box but that is a while other story. Since I have been able to keep my kitchen spotless since the beginning of this, it also leads us to keeping up our living room and dining room. At night everyone picks up their messes and washes any stray cups and dishes from around the house. We have also been keeping the clutter off of the table and Kid Baker has been using it almost daily for her drawing/art projects.

Once you start to declutter and get a room in order, it doesn’t take long at all to keep it that way.

You do have to stay on top of it but it is only minutes – if that! I would rather spend a minute a few times a day then 30 minutes to an hour doing a huge cleanup. Because we hand wash dishes as we go, there is no need to fill a sink up with water, so no standing over a sink full of dishes!

Usually, when we have guests over, I dread the cleanup after. Most of the time I am too tired to do it after they leave because they normally stay late so I end up hating life the next morning when I walk out to it. This time, I cleaned up as we went in the kitchen and there was no huge mess after. It didn’t take long at all and was pretty much just like our normal routine so it didn’t eat into our visiting time. I will admit though that seeing all the food sitting out on my counter started to annoy me because I am so used to cleaning it up right away. They arrived after we ate dinner and I wanted them to eat too so I left it out. I pushed through it and survived. I am still in shock over how much my thinking has changed about the kitchen.

By the time they left, our house looked like it did before they arrived. I was so surprised because this NEVER happens and the hubs even made a comment to me about how we would have never known anyone was even here! He has made many comments to me lately about how great it looks in the house and isn’t minding washes his dishes so much anymore. He usually gets out of dinner dishes because he has worked hard all day so I take his plate with mine and do them together. Other than that, he’s on his own.

Moral of the story – clean up as you go and you won’t have a huge mess to clean up in the end (or beginning!)

Follow along on our decluttering journey here, starting from the bottom post!

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Jess Benoit

Jess is a homeschooling mama of 3, wife, gamer, Whovian, Nerd

18 thoughts on “Decluttering Week 4 – Our First Test

  • We do our major decluttering on New Years Day. However, things quickly accumulate back up. Thanks for the tips.

    Reply
    • What a great way to start the New Year. It does add up fast. It’s like it multiplies overnight!

      Reply
  • I need to do a declutter of my house again. I want to set up a little craft area in my basement.

    Reply
    • A craft section would be great motivation! Baby steps will help you achieve that – just a few minutes a day to declutter will do a huge difference. Good luck!

      Reply
  • Rebecca Swenor

    It feels good when everything is cleaned up at the end of the day. When everyone is cleaning up after themselves the house stays nice and there is less stress when company comes. Good to hear it is going well for you.

    Reply
    • Thank you, Rebecca! Yes, I definitely agree about cleaning up after ourselves. We are all old enough to know better and mama ain’t the maid. 😉

      Reply
  • We have lots of clutter which I do clean up but tends to get recluttered. I need to reorganize our cabinets. That’s or biggest problem right now. Maybe I’ll get the motivation to do so.

    Reply
    • Oh, I get the cluttered cabinets! When they are cluttered then it’s hard to get anything in them and so the piles start. Even 2 minute decluttering sessions a day can make a huge difference! Good luck 🙂

      Reply
  • Good for you! It is such a great feeling to be on top of your home. And getting positive feedback from hubby always makes it better!
    🙂
    Traci

    Reply
  • That’s my problem right there. I never clean up as I go. I tend to let everything sit there until later. I need to start following your tips because you so do not want to see my kitchen. 🙂

    Reply
    • I have always been that way and then started realizing that I was getting onto the kids for it when I wasn’t doing it myself. It is so much easier to clean up right away then after a huge mess is created.

      Reply
  • It finally has to begin somewhere. i think it is not as hard as it looks, you just have to set your mind to it and before you know it is done.

    Reply
    • Definitely! Baby steps work great. I was known in the past to haul everything out and then not put it all away.

      Reply
  • That truly is the secret – clean as you go. My mom used to always say that about cleaning up after cooking.

    Reply

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