February 6, 2012

Declutter With Me On Monday | Week 5

It's February! We have completed one entire month of decluttering. How is it coming? Even if you've missed some days, it's still okay to jump right in at the current date. Don't worry about what you've missed. Just start today.

This week we conquered candles, nixed knives and fought with the fridge. If your household is anything like mine, you actually fought the toddler to get to the fridge! I am happy to report that this week our lives are back to our normal and I was able to accomplish some decluttering tasks.

Candles + Kitchen Drawer {1/30 + 2/3}
I don't have a lot of candles anymore. I used to be an avid collector of candles. If it was pretty, if it smelled good, if it had sentimental value I bought it. As you may or may not realize, candles do not move well. They usually end up melted or broken. I guess you could say I have the military to thank for my small stash of candles.

Here is what my stash consists of:
The Everyday | Niven Morgan Gold - When we moved from Oklahoma in 2005, my dear friend Rebekah gave me a Niven Morgan Gold pillar as a going away token. Needless to say, I was smitten. With the exception of fall + Christmas scents, I have not bought any other candles since then.
The Holiday | Yankee Seasonal Scents - I'm a sucker for them
The Practical | generic candles in various colors to change with the seasons

I combined Monday's task with Friday's task of cleaning out one kitchen drawer. Because we have very few kitchen drawers, I moved onto the cabinets. Conveniently, the cabinets that housed the candles really needed to be organized. Here are the shots:





Photo Organization {1/31}
I admit I do have some photos in boxes that I should go through, but the vast majority of my photos are digital until I print them out for a project. I am currently enjoying Project Life, so my photos are organized by week. Here is a screenshot of how I organize them.


Keep Only Your Good Knives {2/1}



Go Through Your Plastic Bag/Foil Area {2/2}
My foil area has been pretty well contained. We rarely use these products in our home, but they are here just in case.

The whole plastic bag situation was a little out of control. Sometimes {frequently} I forget to bring my reusable bags to the commissary. I always save the commissary bags I acquire to be used for trash bags in the bathrooms and in the car. My previous storage solution for these bags was throwing them onto the top shelf of one of my cabinets. Yeah, that wasn't working well.




I had this extra 2 gallon plastic pitcher collecting dust. I wadded up each bag individually and stuffed them one by one into the the pitcher. {You know it stinks when you grab a plastic bag that has four more stuffed into it!} After the pitcher is filled up, it's easy to grab just one bag through the lid. And look how much more space I have on the top shelf now!


Empty Your Fridge + Clean It {2/4}

Thankfully, I work very hard not to let old and expired things get lost or forgotten in my fridge. That made it pretty easy to complete the last task of the week. I did throw out a few things though!




Don't you just love my little helper? He is involved in almost all of my weekly tasks.
Have a wonderful week fellow declutterers!