1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 When your house is a mess and you're feeling the stress, what 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,000 you need is a friend in your ear. 3 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:08,240 Start the job and you'll see it through. 4 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,880 With Ronnie talking. To you make the chaos disappear. 5 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:24,640 Clean with Me podcast is here. Thanks for joining me. 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,280 It's time to gear up for our decluttering session. 7 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,759 Maybe you need to straighten up the immediate front entrance of 8 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:35,880 your home. That could be an entryway, a 9 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,440 foyer area, or just your living room. 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:46,600 Or maybe you need to quickly do an empty reload and run of your 11 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,000 dishwasher. Or if you're hand washing, get 12 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,800 that first sink load of dishes soaking. 13 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,160 Sometimes there are some. There are pressing matters that 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:01,040 you need to take care of before you dive into a decluttering 15 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,160 project. Because life goes on and you 16 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,160 have those daily chores that you need to keep up on. 17 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:12,040 But since this is an episode on decluttering, I'm only going to 18 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:16,200 give you a few minutes to do whatever needs to be done first. 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:22,440 Whether it's a quick pickup of the floor somewhere or getting 20 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:27,200 your dishes soaking or starting a load of laundry, you know what 21 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,640 needs to be done. Or maybe you're ready to 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,720 declutter, but you need to spend a couple minutes getting 23 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,680 yourself feeling presentable. Sometimes washing your face, 24 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,200 using a spray bottle on your hair, and brushing your teeth 25 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,080 can work wonders. I recently heard about something 26 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,560 called the 215 rule and this is this one's for a stay at home 27 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,080 mom. So I realized not all of you 28 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,960 have time for this, but the 215 rule is about spending one hour 29 00:01:54,960 --> 00:02:02,640 on your house, one hour on exercise, mainly walking, and 15 30 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,320 minutes on getting yourself fixed up for the day. 31 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,120 Now obviously that 15 minutes wouldn't include a bath or 32 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,160 shower, but if you showered the night before, you can get 33 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,120 presentable in 15 minutes for sure. 34 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,280 Especially if you're using makeup removing wipes or a 35 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,640 washcloth and you have a spray bottle for your hair. 36 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,520 Trust me, I've learned to get ready quickly over the years. 37 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,200 Hopefully you're taking care of whatever was pressing, whether 38 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,160 it was getting yourself ready for the day, straightening up 39 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:39,840 your immediate front entrance or front room, or getting your 40 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,960 dishes soaking or loaded into the dishwasher, or doing a 41 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,880 laundry switch and starting another load of laundry. 42 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,160 You're going to need a trash bag and then another container that 43 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,800 looks different for things that you're getting rid of but not 44 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,880 discarding. We'll call it a donation box, 45 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,680 but it could be a basket, just it's whatever you have on hand. 46 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:08,000 You could also use two different colored trash bags, 1 white and 47 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,840 one black. The point is you need to have 48 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:16,240 something for trash and another container for things that are 49 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,960 going to go out to the car to be donated somewhere. 50 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,520 And you'll also come across items you're going to keep, but 51 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,480 you can put those in a pile somewhere. 52 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,000 So go ahead and gather up you need. 53 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,120 As far as containers, you could even use three containers if you 54 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:39,160 wanted to, you know, maybe a bag for trash, a box for donations, 55 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,800 and a laundry basket for items you're going to be relocating 56 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,560 around the house. Or you could Simply put those 57 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:47,840 items in a pile. Now, when it comes to 58 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:53,760 decluttering, everyone's house is so different and problem 59 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,480 areas are different. So be decluttering in an area 60 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,280 that needs decluttering, even if it's not specifically what I'm 61 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,200 talking about. But I'm going to talk as if 62 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,160 you're decluttering. The areas I tell you to 63 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,800 declutter. OK, we're going to start out in 64 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,079 a living room or family room. But of course, if you're just 65 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:21,480 super minimalist and you don't have any clutter in a living 66 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:25,840 room or family room, you can work in another area like a 67 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:29,600 bedroom or closet. And these decluttering episodes 68 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,120 are not as specific as an episode where we're cleaning the 69 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,000 kitchen and everybody has the exact same things to do. 70 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,680 Wash your dishes, clean the sink, wipe the counters, and so 71 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:41,880 on. But the important thing is that 72 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,720 you at least have a trash bag and a container to put other 73 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:52,400 things in and you're ready to declutter while you're working 74 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,480 in the living room or family room or wherever you're 75 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,360 decluttering. I'll just talk about the things 76 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,320 in my living room that I have to declutter regularly. 77 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:03,520 I have a coffee table that opens up. 78 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,520 I have to declutter the inside of that coffee table. 79 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,320 Sometimes junk mail ends up in there. 80 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,520 I don't know who put stuff there, but I I go through that 81 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,240 stuff periodically. Sometimes there'll be an article 82 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,880 of clothing that belongs to one of my grandkids. 83 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,240 I might just stick it inside of the coffee table as a temporary 84 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,000 holding spot. Sometimes my kids put their art 85 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,360 supplies in there when they're quickly straightening up and 86 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,000 maybe they've been drawing, you know, on the coffee table or 87 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,160 something. But the reason it's important 88 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:40,360 for me to declutter the inside of that coffee table is that 89 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,920 it's it's a pop up coffee table. And remember, we're talking 90 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,560 about preparing for holiday guests. 91 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,200 OK. So when my holiday guests are 92 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:54,680 here, there are going to be times where we need that extra 93 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,880 seating. Not everybody's going to fit 94 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,400 around the table. So one of the other eating 95 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,960 stations is the pop up coffee table. 96 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,840 There's also a breakfast bar in the kitchen with three bar 97 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:08,600 stools. And then three or four people 98 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,400 can sit on the couch and eat at that pop up coffee table. 99 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:15,520 Well, when it's popped up, I don't want it to be full of 100 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,040 junk. So I need to remove everything 101 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,280 out of it. And then once I've done that, 102 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:27,840 take my my vacuum hose and just vacuum out any dust or debris 103 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,600 that's inside of it. And I may or may not decide to 104 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,320 keep a few things in there, but whatever I keep in there needs 105 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,400 to make sense and be visual, visually appealing, and not look 106 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,120 like I've just stuffed things in there to straighten up my living 107 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:44,600 room in a hurry. OK. 108 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:49,840 And even before, I had a pop up coffee table, which seems like 109 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:52,760 kind of a new invention. It's designed to pop up to a 110 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,120 level where you could use it as a desk for your laptop or you 111 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,280 could sit there and eat. Even before that, I had coffee 112 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:04,680 tables that opened up just, you know, for storage reasons. 113 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,960 I used to accumulate magazines back in the day inside of my 114 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,680 coffee table, and from time to time I'd have to thin that stuff 115 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,680 down. It's still an area to declutter. 116 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,640 You don't want to be hoarding junk that you don't need and 117 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,480 maybe you put something in there that you forgot about and I 118 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,920 realized some of you have a coffee table that doesn't open 119 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,480 at all and you were hopefully working on something else in the 120 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,040 living room. Another piece of furniture that 121 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,640 I had in my living room was the TV stand. 122 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,920 It had a couple drawers and then a shelf underneath. 123 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:45,000 I have moved that TV stand to my dining room slash kitchen. 124 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,520 I moved it in there and made it into a coffee station. 125 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:54,040 Off and on I have coffee stations, but for a while I have 126 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:59,080 had my Keurig and my other Brewer just on the kitchen 127 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,880 counter. But in preparation for 128 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:07,480 Thanksgiving I wanted to free up more counter space and the 129 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,040 reason I moved that so-called TV stand because it doesn't really 130 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,200 look like it has to be ATV stand. 131 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,800 It's just a piece of furniture. You know, it could also serve as 132 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,160 a sideboard. When my 18 year old son moved 133 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,040 out, he had a huge TV in his bedroom. 134 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:26,680 He he's in the Marines now, so he's out of state and just comes 135 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:28,720 home on leave for a few days at a time. 136 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:34,720 Before he left, he told us we could switch TV's with them and 137 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,960 that gave me the idea to do another coffee station because I 138 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:40,600 used to have a desk in the kitchen. 139 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,559 Didn't really look that great and I ended up moving it to the 140 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:48,160 bedroom to use as a desk. So you might have another piece 141 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:53,200 of furniture like that that has drawers, or you might have some 142 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:58,080 kind of entertainment center that has shelves, but deal with 143 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:03,280 the cluttered drawers or shelves around your TV area. 144 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,120 Unless you're like me and you've switched to a wall mount. 145 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:08,960 I do still need to declutter those drawers. 146 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,000 Even though I put that piece of furniture in the kitchen, I have 147 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,840 not removed everything out of the drawers because ideally it 148 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,600 would have like coffee supplies in the drawers now that it's in 149 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,640 the kitchen, like extra K cups or whatever. 150 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,520 Another piece of furniture that you might be clearing out right 151 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:32,520 now could be an end table. Maybe you have an end table with 152 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:37,360 a drawer and you can be going through that drawer, but you 153 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,160 might have visible clutter in your living room. 154 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:45,320 Maybe you have a toy box that's overflowing, and that doesn't 155 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,200 mean you need to get rid of the toys. 156 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,160 Sure, get rid of the broken toys, but maybe you just need to 157 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,720 take some items out of circulation or move them to a 158 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,800 bedroom toy box. Because if you have a toy box in 159 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:01,840 your living room and a toy box in a kid room, maybe over time 160 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,560 you're just sticking things into the living room toy box and it's 161 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:08,760 getting too full. Our overflow toy box. 162 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:10,840 My, my if. If you've been listening to the 163 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,520 show, you know this, but my youngest child is 13. 164 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:21,880 But I have grandkids ranging in age from 1:00 to 7:00. 165 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,400 So when I'm talking about the living room toy box, I'm talking 166 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,960 about stuff for little kids. I have an overflow toy box out 167 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,000 in the garage. You know when I'm doing a purge, 168 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,360 so hopefully as you're going through these drawers, storage 169 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:43,240 areas, messy corners, what have you, you're throwing away trash, 170 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:51,080 broken toys, paper clutter, and you're making a pile of things 171 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,920 that you're going to relocate around the house or perhaps 172 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,880 putting those in a laundry basket and maybe there's 173 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,040 something to donate. Typically when I'm cleaning up 174 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,600 my living room there's there's nothing to donate. 175 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,840 It's usually either trash, excess toys that need to be 176 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,680 moved to another room, or in the case of the pop up coffee table, 177 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:18,240 articles of clothing that I need to put in a bag and take to one 178 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:22,640 of my daughter's. But you might have some obsolete 179 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:30,440 gaming cords, controllers, stuff like that. 180 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,440 When I found stuff like that the other day while working in my 181 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,440 living room, I had my son go through those items because I 182 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,360 didn't know what was obsolete and what he might still be 183 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,160 using. So I made a pile of little 184 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,680 electronic items, like little, I don't know what they're called, 185 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:51,160 but game cartridges, things like that. 186 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,800 I had him go through all that stuff and decide what to keep 187 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,760 and what to throw away. So sometimes you need to go 188 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:03,520 through a pile of unidentified items with your spouse or your 189 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:08,520 kids, and you might also have some type of a basket or bin in 190 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,960 your living room. Kind of a kick I'm on is 191 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,120 something I call going shopping in my own house. 192 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:21,000 And what I mean by that is when I need a container or something, 193 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:23,160 I use something that I already have. 194 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:27,360 Let me give you an example. For the longest time I had two 195 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,920 matching decorative crates, I'll call them they they're made of 196 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:37,960 wood, metal and canvas. One was a toy box and one was 197 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,720 used for electronics. But I've decluttered a lot of 198 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:46,080 the electronics and most of the gaming happens in the boys room. 199 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,160 Well, and my daughter's room, she has her own system too. 200 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,960 Once I dealt with all those controllers and cords and things 201 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,800 and then down the toys, I I realized I really only needed 202 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:02,240 one of those crates, but I still had them both kind of on display 203 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:07,640 in the living room and I just kind of distributed the toys 204 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,040 among the two. Then I was thinking, I wish I 205 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:14,080 had a way to organize my yarn and have it all in one place 206 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:18,040 easily accessible when I'm doing my knitting this time of year I 207 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,320 knit. It usually starts back up in the 208 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,440 fall. Disclaimer, it's loom knitting. 209 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,600 It's it's a lot easier than the knitting with the 2 needles. 210 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,680 You can Google it if you want. It's more similar to knitting 211 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:32,560 and crocheting than it is to waving something on a waiver's 212 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:36,720 loan, but it makes it to where you don't have to really count 213 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,360 as much or worry about the tension. 214 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,160 So in a lot of ways, in my opinion anyway, it's easier than 215 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,440 crocheting or traditional knitting. 216 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,280 However, if you already know how to do one of those things, 217 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,720 whatever you're doing is going to be easier because you already 218 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,920 know how to do it. But my point is, I was feeling 219 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,920 frustrated because I, I can't spend money right now on 220 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:04,560 anything other than essentials just due to a tight season we're 221 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:06,240 going to be in for the next few months. 222 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,480 And I was kind of lamenting the fact that I didn't, you know, I 223 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:13,120 couldn't really get some kind of a storage unit to display my 224 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,880 yarn or whatever. And then I thought, what if I 225 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,480 just consolidate the toys into one of those crates and I take 226 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,760 the other one to keep my yarn in? 227 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,400 And then I realized there was a perfect spot next to my bedroom 228 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:29,920 recliner and it looked really good. 229 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,400 And then there's a box of all my little knitting implements and 230 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,240 stuff. I put that in there. 231 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,960 I put the yarn in there and I've got plenty of room to spare. 232 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:41,680 I can get more yarn if I want to. 233 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,640 But that's what I mean by shopping in your own house. 234 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:49,520 When you declutter, sometimes you eliminate the need for a 235 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:54,800 certain storage container, whether it's a basket or a shelf 236 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:59,640 unit or plastic drawers. You know, whatever storage 237 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,520 containers you have, you know, even just a rectangular plastic 238 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:07,160 container, you can then repurpose that to organize 239 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,760 another area where you have stuff that doesn't have a home. 240 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,280 Another example of this that I did recently. 241 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,200 Well, let me move you to another area and then I'll talk about it 242 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:23,040 for the next few minutes. I want you to work in a closet. 243 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:30,920 This could be your linen closet or your coat closet or even a 244 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,960 bedroom closet. OK, And just thin it down. 245 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,280 Find some stuff you can donate or perhaps relocate if things 246 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,800 are getting put into the closet that you need. 247 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,960 But they don't really go there. Sometimes with a kid when they 248 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,200 clean their room, they're stuffing things in the closet. 249 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,280 And if they're young or they're at school right now, you might 250 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:54,880 want to go through that. OK for me, I recently took some 251 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:59,440 bulky comforters and blankets out of my linen closet, which is 252 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:04,360 kind of small, folded them and moved them to a spot in my room 253 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,760 where I already had like items. You want to store like items 254 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,320 together, but you also don't want to overstuff any closet. 255 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,080 We need a lot of blankets. It's not like we need to get rid 256 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:15,920 of them. I mean, that's something 257 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,520 arguably you would need during a natural disaster if the heat 258 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,600 went out, but you also need them when you have company anyway, 259 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,280 while you're working on decluttering and organizing a 260 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:29,920 closet. Another item that I found in my 261 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:34,120 house without even having to get rid of anything, I had this 262 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,360 container. We have these promotions at our 263 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,960 grocery store where we earn points and then get kitchen 264 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:42,840 stuff. I've gotten a lot of cool stuff 265 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,320 like that. Some kind of tray to use on the 266 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:50,920 grill, knives, stainless steel wok I got a few years back. 267 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,760 We've gotten a lot of cool stuff, but one year they had 268 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:59,600 these storage containers and one of them is a plastic box with a 269 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,280 lid. And then it has kind of a white 270 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,720 basket looking. It's plastic, but looks like a 271 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:09,240 basket liner inside of that plastic box. 272 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,079 And that's where I keep my onions in the pantry. 273 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,960 Well, I was looking for something to use on the coffee 274 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,680 station that I set up for a little tea box, bags and hot 275 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:25,319 cocoa packets. And I thought, wait a second, I 276 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:28,079 don't need like this box within a box. 277 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:31,760 So I took the little white basket out of that plastic box 278 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,920 and just now the onions are just in the plastic box without that 279 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,640 inner basket. It's dark enough in the pantry 280 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,600 for storing onions and potatoes without having this little 281 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,200 opaque basket within plastic box. 282 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,320 I feel so anyway, that's what I mean by shopping in your house. 283 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,400 But often when you're decluttering, you come across 284 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,160 containers that you can use elsewhere. 285 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:00,680 Another word on closets while you're working in there, I often 286 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:05,360 purchase those little plastic dressers and put them in closets 287 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:08,680 just for storing small items or whatever. 288 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:14,480 I have a plastic dresser like that in my closet, and then I 289 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,560 label each drawer with what I put in it. 290 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,680 And it's pretty random stuff that's not going to be relatable 291 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,480 to you. Like there's one drawer for 292 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:27,200 like, my dog breeding records from when I was breeding Boston 293 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,120 Terriers. But a lot of the drawers contain 294 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,720 things that I don't even need anymore. 295 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,400 So once I've cleared those out, I can relabel them. 296 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,560 And then I'll have more places for things that need homes. 297 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,320 You know, eventually you want a home for everything. 298 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:49,400 You want to have less visible clutter, even inside your 299 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,760 closets. And that's probably not a huge 300 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:54,800 priority when you're getting ready for company. 301 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:59,000 But the reason the linen closet came to mind, a lot of times 302 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,120 when company comes, it's like, hey, do you have a blanket? 303 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,600 And then my husband is like, yeah, in the linen closet. 304 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,680 So it's possible somebody might open the linen closet. 305 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:13,440 OK, or what if someone wants to hang their coat in your coat 306 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,880 closet or someone forgot their jacket and they ask for a jacket 307 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,440 or sweater? Hey, you can look through these 308 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,160 and you know your coat closets presentable. 309 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,560 And I didn't mention this because I think of it more as a 310 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,520 cleaning task that you do regularly rather than 311 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,800 decluttering. But of course, in a living room, 312 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:38,480 you need to move your couches and recliner, if you have one 313 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:43,480 from time to time and deal with whatever debris you find under 314 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,080 there. And also remove the cushions, 315 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,040 remove any debris and vacuum them out. 316 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:53,360 One of your guests could misplace their keys or drop 317 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:56,720 their phone and kind of reach down into your cushions or 318 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,200 remove your cushions or move the couch. 319 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,000 Maybe it's not super likely, but it it can and does happen in 320 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,560 another episode I'm planning. To have you clean out your couch 321 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:10,600 cushions and clean under the couches. 322 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:16,520 But for this episode, I wanted you to just focus on those 323 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,040 storage areas in your living room and get those decluttered. 324 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:25,440 And let's face it, some of these tasks that we're doing in 325 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:31,080 preparation for hosting holiday get togethers are not that 326 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,280 crucial. Obviously, when it gets closer 327 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:39,120 to the event, you're gonna deep clean your kitchen and bathrooms 328 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,400 couple days beforehand. You're probably gonna vacuum the 329 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:49,720 night before or the morning of, but downsizing and removing 330 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:54,840 clutter while we still have weeks to go can still just give 331 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,960 you a sense of accomplishment and help you feel less 332 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,680 overwhelmed by your stuff. And you're also probably 333 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,600 removing obstacles that will make it easier to do your daily 334 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,960 cleanup. And some of these areas that 335 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:12,360 we're decluttering are actually going to matter, especially if 336 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:16,120 you're having overnight guests. For example, an overnight guest 337 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:20,960 might want to hang up some of their clothes in a closet in 338 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,120 that room they're staying in, or they might open a drawer 339 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:26,400 somewhere looking for a pen or something. 340 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,720 Anyway, I hope you got a living area and a closet decluttered 341 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:35,800 during this episode, and maybe you even found a container that 342 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,800 could be better used elsewhere in your home. 343 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:43,400 By the way, you can unlock longer episodes through an Apple 344 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:49,840 podcast subscription, or you can also do it on Spotify or 345 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:51,920 Patreon. You're not going to be on the 346 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,760 full program until you unlock those bonus episodes. 347 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,920 But I realize not everybody's able to purchase a paid 348 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,600 subscription. And there's still a way you can 349 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,360 help me without spending a dime. And it's giving this podcast a 350 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:10,840 five star rating on whichever app you're listening or just 351 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,680 simply clicking follow or the plus sign so you don't miss the 352 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,080 next episode. Anyway, I hope you got a lot 353 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:18,960 done. Special thanks to those who have 354 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,760 already given the show a five star rating and of course, to 355 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,600 those who are financial supporters. 356 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:27,600 But most of all, just keep listening. 357 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,320 I appreciate each and everyone of you and as always, happy. 358 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:33,560 I'll talk to you in the next episode.