31 Days of Decluttering, Day Ten: Girl’s Bedroom Closet

Are you decluttering your home, too? I’d love to be able to share your success story with other KOAB readers! Please consider submitting the before & after pictures of your decluttering project — you can do so HERE.

Well, friends, as you probably realized, decluttering just wasn’t going to be happening last week. I really must thank all of you for being so patient as I was pretty much offline for the entire week.

At first, I thought I’d be able to get some blog work done late at night or early in the morning, but as it turned out, I grossly underestimated how exhausted I would be – both emotionally and physically. My heart really goes out to all of you who have lost someone you love – the process of mourning is so very layered and complex.

Thanks to my amazing assistant, Meg, the blog didn’t have to totally shut down – she shared some super deals with you all last week. But the meatier features, like this 31 Days of Decluttering Series, had to go on hiatus until we got home and settled.

My husband decided to come back to Cleveland to sit the last two days of shiva at our home here, so we left New Jersey late on Wednesday night. As we were driving, I said to the kids: “When we get home, go straight up to bed [it was nearly 1:30 am when we pulled in]. Don’t unload the car at all, I’ll deal with it on Sunday.”

Honestly, my whole family – and especially Frankie and I — were in such a fog that I just couldn’t deal with the unpacking. I know that many people can function despite a mess, but my brain seems to shut down when there’s too much stuff around me. I’ve always been like this — I remember not being able to study for finals in college until my room was totally clean — but it’s definitely gotten “worse” as I’ve gotten older.

Yesterday, as I began to sift through the debris, I really realized what a blessing those first nine days of decluttering have been to my home. While there is still chaos, it’s much less than it would have been otherwise. When there is order behind the doors and drawers, it’s so much easier to press “reset” on your home.

First up, my husband and I fully unloaded our van and threw away an entire garbage bag’s worth of trash from the floor. What is about my children thinking that the floor of the van is actually the trash can? (I didn’t take a picture, but suffice it to say, it was majorly gross. And now it’s much less gross – although it could still use a good dustbustering.)

Then I tackled my daughter’s closet. She’s 5.5 years old and has been blessed by friends who abundantly share with her their hand-me-downs — which means she has more clothes than I do!

{As an aside, I love hand-me-downs for my kids and am so happy to take them from anyone who offers them to us — and of course, am always looking for recipients for the items my three outgrow. I’d say about 70% of my daughter’s wardrobe is hand-me-down, 20% is purchased from second hand stores (here’s how I get the best deals at thrift stores), and the other 10% is bought new.}

My daughter is very lucky to have a great big closet in her bedroom; unfortunately, the floor of that closet has lately been holding more of her clothing than the hanging rod. To quickly get her closet cleaned up, I grabbed everything off the floor and threw it onto her bed. Then I weeded out the dirty items (and tossed them down the laundry shoot), separated out anything that is too small on her, and folded/hung up the rest of the items.

Her hanging bar is loosely organized by season, then I hang her baseball caps on the rod (since there is plenty of room), and we also have a small hanging shoe bag. I found it last year at the Target Dollar Spot, on clearance for $.50 – what a steal! Right now it’s plenty big, since with her tiny feet, we can fit one pair of shoes in each of the six slots.

I also took the opportunity to briefly go through my daughter’s dresser. Last year, I labeled the drawers in her and her brothers’ room. I have found that putting a label on a drawer or a shelf is almost magical in its ability to help my family keep things organized!

(Note: Her dresser is a quite old – it was mine, and before that my mother’s – so I am careful to only use the label tape that comes with my labeler. It doesn’t stick or leave a residue when removed.)

Thanks to the labels, all of her tops stay in the tops drawers and her PJs in the PJ drawer; but since I hadn’t sorted out the “too small stuff” in a while, the drawers were definitely starting to get a bit over-crowded. I finally tackled that task, and between the dresser and the closet, I ended up filling this laundry basket with outgrown shoes, tops, leggings and dresses — all which we will be donating later this week. (If you’re decluttering, I recommend getting the stuff out of your house as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it has this sneaky way of finding its way back into your life.)

Are you joining in with me on this 31 Days of Decluttering challenge? I’d love to hear from you: What did you declutter today?

Do you, too, feel the need to get a better handle on the stuff in your house? Join me for the 31 Days of Decluttering challenge! Maybe you’re willing to take on one project a day (remember: small ones count!). Perhaps you’d rather pick four problem areas, and give yourself a week to work on each one. Maybe you just want to tackle your basement for once and for all. It’s all good! Everyone is welcome to join.

Day One: Decluttering the Toy Storage Closet
Day Two: Decluttering the Top of a Bedroom Dresser (Finish What You Start!)
Day Three & Four: Decluttering the Master Bathroom
Day Five: Decluttering My Desk
Day Six: Join the Decluttering Challenge
Day Seven: Decluttering the Computer
Day Eight: Decluttering the Night Stand
Day Nine: Decluttering a Kitchen Counter in Less than 10 Minutes
Reader Share: Decluttering the Front Door Hallway Table