4 weeks challenge

If you missed challenge #2 in the 4 Weeks to a Clutter Free Home challenge, head over here to get caught up.

Today was great! I actually got a lot accomplished, even if I did deviate from my list a bit. But remember, there is always room for changes on any list and tomorrow is another day.

After I got home from work, I decided I needed to just relax for a few minutes…so I did. I gave myself a little break before I headed off to de-clutter my home. I then set about accomplishing my tasks after I had a chance to unwind a bit.

The dining room was actually much easier than I anticipated. A lot of the things on the table were the kids’ old art and school projects from last year (I know, I can’t believe they have been there all summer either). I stacked those in a pile to be taken to the attic for storage, then went to work on the school supplies for this year. I put all the supplies the kids would need in their backpacks. The remaining items on the dining room table got put away, or discarded if not needed. Easy peasy!

My dining room table went from looking like this:

dining room mess

To this:

dining room clean

What a difference! We actually got to all sit down and eat a meal together. I think it was the first time all summer that we were able to do that!

The next item on my list was to tackle the kitchen for 15 minutes, however, once I really took a good look at my kitchen I realized 15 minutes just wasn’t gonna cut it, and I’d save that for another day when I really went to work on my kitchen. Instead, I cleaned up the front entry (something else that was on my weekly goal list).

It all went really fast. I just organized all the shoes, swept away the dirt, and hung up things that should have been in the closet. Anything else was discarded or put where it belongs.

Our entry, which was once really hard to even walk through, is now nice and tidy.  Here are the before and afters (I even included pictures inside the closet so you can see I didn’t just toss everything in there, it really is organized).

Before:

front entry mess

After:

front entry clean

The last part of my tasks, to get rid of 5 things today, was really easy. I had some extra pairs of shoes in the closet that I haven’t worn in a really long time. Although it is hard for me to part with any shoes, I let them go. I got rid of about 6 pairs total. I forget to get a picture, but if I get a chance I’ll update the post later today with the pic.

Share your progress!