#decluttering challenge

Done!

You guys, I'm done! Yesterday was my last decluttering day, and today marks 90 days from the start of the challenge. (Explanation of challenge here.) Clearly, giving myself 90 days was the right thing to do!

So I decided, for my last day, to do something easy. I technically only needed to declutter one item to meet the challenge, and I wanted to do at least 16 to hit 6K.

I headed back toward the garage shelves, and I decided to set an alarm for 10 minutes. Whatever I could do in 10 minutes would finish the challenge, as long as I found at least 16.

Did I find 16?

Uh, yeah. The box I picked was my mom's desk stuff from a job she had in the mid-90s (I found a 1994 planner and a 1995 planner), so I hit the trash jackpot.

92 items to toss. In ten minutes!

I have also, over the course of the challenge, been doing an informal project pan for candles and self-care items. I didn't think to keep the empties like they do on YouTube, but I used these items up and replaced each of them without buying anything new, so I'm counting them as items out of my house. I finished 23 candles, 4 lip balms, 2 shower gels, 1 lotion, 1 deodorant, 1 leave-in conditioner, 1 hand soap, and 1 shampoo.

So the final numbers to add to my total are 92 + 23 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 126, and I pulled the LAST POST-IT!

The grand total of items out of my house in 90 days is 6,110.

SIX THOUSAND. ONE HUNDRED. AND TEN.

That. Is. Incredible. And so far beyond the bounds of my desperate plans when I started that I feel a little emotional.

The impact of removing all of this crap from my house is phenomenal, both physically and on my mental state. I need to spend some time gathering up the donations and actually getting them out of the house and making sure all of the trash and recycling has been discarded so that I can really, really see the difference.

I need to do some cleaning and dusting so that I can take some pictures and share some before-and-after pics with you, because you all deserve to see the difference too.

I really want to thank everyone who liked and commented on these posts and cheered me on. You kept me accountable and motivated, and it really, really helped. A couple of people have told me that I inspired them to do their own decluttering, and that makes me so happy!

I am not done decluttering, by any means. But this has been a helluva push.

Tuesday's numbers! (Explanation of challenge here.)

First thing I did was go through a little container of hair accessories that's been sitting on the counter for years in the bathroom my mom used. I have short hair, I'm not using any of them.

There were 7 scrunchies to give away to my boss.

4 hair clips to donate.

12 busted hair accessories and 2 literal pieces of trash to toss.

Then, I went back to work in the Closet of Doom.

You guys.

The Closet of Doom is DONE.

I still have to do some vacuuming and dusting in there, but I have dealt with all the clothes. I can't believe it. What. A. Relief.

Here are 17 items from the floor of the closet, which were hiding behind the hanging clothes.

There were 35 hangers to discard.

6 plastic cleaners or store garment bags to trash and 19 pieces of trash or ruined clothing to toss.

26 items of clothing to donate.

Finished off another box of trash bags.

7 + 4 + 12 + 2 + 17 + 35 + 6 + 19 + 26 = 128 for the day. Wow! More than I expected. I pulled the 4 post-it.

Thursday's numbers! (Explanation of challenge here.)

Long day at work. And then I came home and cooked, and a friend is staying for the holiday weekend, so not much decluttering time. Mostly, it was just sorting through groups of things I'd gathered up but needed sorting or washing.

Here are 8 more shirts to donate.

Hey, look. More jewelry. 7 sets or pieces of jewelry to donate.

3 pieces of jewelry-related trash.

4 more linens/towels for the animal shelter.

3 funko pops for friends and 2 items a friend is taking home - a clipboard that got mixed in with my stuff last summer and a candle I don't like.

9 random items to trash from around the living room.

8 + 7 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 9 = 36. I pulled the 7 post-it.

The running total is 5,498. Aw, man! I should've found 2 more things!

Well, I hit the goal I wanted, which was 5,490 - 3X the original goal of 1,830. That's a HUGE number and I'm very happy with that.

The next logical goal is 6K, but I honestly don't know if I'll hit it. I want to spend the last few days cleaning up the areas I've decluttered, where there are stacks and piles of donations, and bags of trash and recycling that need to at least be taken out to the garage if I can't fit them in the bins. Given the hard work I've done, I want to be able to see the changes, and I want to take some pics because I want you all to see the changes too. You've been along with me on this challenge, which I appreciate SO MUCH, and I want to share the results!

Tuesday's numbers! (Explanation of challenge here.)

Work is bananas and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, and of course it's right at the end of this challenge.

I worked 6 am to 8 pm yesterday (and probably will today too). By the time I got home, ate, and settled for a few minutes, it was 9:30. I needed something fast and easy, so I just did a quick look through the bathroom cabinets and drawers - which I have already gone through twice.

I found 16 hair clips to donate.

There were 45 hair accessories and 6 other items to discard.

16 + 46 + 5 = 67. Not bad for literally 10 minutes of work. I pulled the 9 post-it.

The running total is 5,348.

Wednesday's numbers! (Explanation of challenge here.)

I hadn't yet gone through the shelf in the closet in the bedroom my dad uses when he's here, so that was my target last night. It was piled high with a mix of childhood decor, toys, games, and random crap.

I found 21 items to trash and 5 to recycle.

5 more old linens to donate to the animal shelter and 9 things to donate to the thrift store.

I found two kitchen-size garbage bags full of men's dress socks at the bottom of the closet. Called my dad to ask wtf, and he said, "Yeah, I thought about getting rid of them, but I thought I might keep them just in case I need a pair of dress socks."

Two trash bags of socks just in case? I come by my tendencies honestly, you guys.

I originally told him I was going to keep one pair of each color for him and get rid of the rest, but I could tell he wasn't very happy about it. Also, I LOVE socks. I have probably close to two hundred pairs, pretty colors and cute patterns, and I started to feel bad, thinking of someone just deciding to get rid of my socks. He's been pretty supportive of this project so far, mostly because I've stayed out of his room, and I don't want that to change.

So I changed tactics. Some of them were already paired up, so I just got rid of the lone socks and the ones with crinkly elastic.

I only went through one of the two bags last night. There were 77 unpaired socks or thrashed pairs of socks to discard.

That leaves him twenty-five pairs from that first bag, which I think is a decent compromise. Hopefully, I can convince him to cull them further.

21 + 5 + 5 + 9 + 77 = 117 for the day.

Monday's numbers! (Explanation of challenge here.)

I got unexpectedly sent to another plant for yesterday and today, to cover a position due to illness, so I got home very late last night.

I didn't want to skip a day because I'm runnin' outta days! But I didn't want to get into something deep and involved, either. Luckily, I remembered that when I cleaned out the linen cupboard last time, I only cleaned out about half of it.

It was very quick work, about 15-20 minutes to pull it all out and put back the small amount of stuff I'm keeping. I really need to buy some new towels.

I gathered 53 old towels and linens to donate to the animal shelter.

There was 1 set of sheets to donate to the thrift store.

54 items and the linen cupboard is sorted! Not bad for a quick push!

Sunday's numbers! (Explanation of challenge here.)

I had Big Plans for yesterday, but mostly they didn't materialize. I rested and did some regular home maintenance - laundry and dishes. I washed some of the vases and dishes for donation too, because they were pretty dusty.

I did work in the Closet of Doom for about an hour. One corner of it was the accessories corner. I had already cleared out the old handbags and scarves, but that left the belts and ties. My dad wore a tie to work for decades, and most of them are pretty nice and still in great condition.

Just 7 accessories to discard.

10 belts and 38 ties to donate.

I was going to stop there, but I took another look at the tie rack and realized I only had about ten minutes left of work there, so I just kept going. And it did, indeed, take me just nine minutes! And now the accessories corner is clear!

Another 20 ties and 1 handbag strap thing to donate.

I also discarded 1 item of clothing, 1 candle that gave me a headache when I burned it, and 1 lint roller that is no longer sticky.

7 + 10 + 38 + 20 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 79 is the total for the day.