• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Simply Being Mum

Simply Being Mum

Family Life Simply Done

  • Home
  • About
  • Other Stuff
  • Contact

Taking it a drawer at a time…

June 9, 2011 by SimplyBeingMum

When I first stumbled across the concept of minimalism, life simplification or however you personally define it, the first thing I started doing was decluttering. Decluttering physical stuff. I believe this is where most people start.

For me, the journey of life simplification is so much more than just throwing a few things out, particularly as momentum builds, but initially that was what it was all about. If I need a feel-good fix decluttering still hits the spot.

2 years and counting and I am still battling the clutter. Some weeks are good, some not so good and there are setbacks. Take your eye off the ball and it is as if stuff starts breeding. Things appear from nowhere (aka – well-intentioned family! to name one culprit).

You wake one day to find

But what I have learnt is rather than turning a blind eye, tip the entire contents onto a flat clear surface and start sifting through.

Then PEEP (place for everything and everything in its place) – put everything that has a home in it, find a home for anything that is absolutely essential and chuck the rest.

10 minutes later and…

What a beautiful sight!

Just take it a drawer at a time, it’s what you do every day that will make the difference, little steps… there’s no miracle cure to clutter, as there is no miracle diet, keep going and the reward is there.

Is your perseverance paying off?

Filed Under: Decluttering Tagged: clutter free, Decluttering, minimalism

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenny @ exconsumer says

    June 10, 2011 at 2:13 am

    I’m still tackling the initial clutter purge — some weeks are more productive than others. I’ve found that I’m great at not allowing new clutter to enter the home right now, but it’s been difficult to find the time to clear out the rest of the current clutter.

    Part of the problem is that we’re waiting for our neighborhood garage sale to role around, so I’m storing a bunch of crap we don’t want for that. Once it’s over — everything else gets donated or trashed. It’s going to be a clutter clearing frenzy. 🙂

    Reply
    • simplybeingmum says

      June 10, 2011 at 7:34 am

      It is so time consuming getting through it all, however I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel… it really is sticking at it! As with much in life eh?

      A garage sale – I’ve always wondered how they worked? In the UK we do car-boot’s where we head off to a large field and all pitch up. They are a few near to me so I don’t have to travel too far.
      Good luck with the sale, I’m going to start eBaying soon, it’s got to be done!

      Reply
  2. Jenny @ exconsumer says

    June 10, 2011 at 2:13 am

    I’m still tackling the initial clutter purge — some weeks are more productive than others. I’ve found that I’m great at not allowing new clutter to enter the home right now, but it’s been difficult to find the time to clear out the rest of the current clutter.

    Part of the problem is that we’re waiting for our neighborhood garage sale to role around, so I’m storing a bunch of crap we don’t want for that. Once it’s over — everything else gets donated or trashed. It’s going to be a clutter clearing frenzy. 🙂

    Reply
    • simplybeingmum says

      June 10, 2011 at 7:34 am

      It is so time consuming getting through it all, however I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel… it really is sticking at it! As with much in life eh?

      A garage sale – I’ve always wondered how they worked? In the UK we do car-boot’s where we head off to a large field and all pitch up. They are a few near to me so I don’t have to travel too far.
      Good luck with the sale, I’m going to start eBaying soon, it’s got to be done!

      Reply
  3. Jenny @ exconsumer says

    June 10, 2011 at 2:13 am

    I’m still tackling the initial clutter purge — some weeks are more productive than others. I’ve found that I’m great at not allowing new clutter to enter the home right now, but it’s been difficult to find the time to clear out the rest of the current clutter.

    Part of the problem is that we’re waiting for our neighborhood garage sale to role around, so I’m storing a bunch of crap we don’t want for that. Once it’s over — everything else gets donated or trashed. It’s going to be a clutter clearing frenzy. 🙂

    Reply
    • simplybeingmum says

      June 10, 2011 at 7:34 am

      It is so time consuming getting through it all, however I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel… it really is sticking at it! As with much in life eh?

      A garage sale – I’ve always wondered how they worked? In the UK we do car-boot’s where we head off to a large field and all pitch up. They are a few near to me so I don’t have to travel too far.
      Good luck with the sale, I’m going to start eBaying soon, it’s got to be done!

      Reply
  4. Sharron says

    June 11, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    That’s my Mum’s favourite saying, A place for everything, and everything in it’s place. Funny thing is i say it to my kids at least twice a day, and i feel i am turning into my Mum, now don’t get me wrong i love my mum, dearly, but she spent all my childhood putting everything in it’s place. I want to own so few possesions that everything will just gravitate to it’s place iyswim, i know , a dream…… I digress, we are in a happy place with ‘stuff’ at the minute, the only problem is the carp the kids come home with, so i totally sympathise with your clutter drawer!! What i found helped me was getting rid of drawers altogether. When our kitchen was refurbished, no drawer units were installed. As i pared down our possesions, chest of drawers were sent to the charity furniture shop. I store all clothes on shelves and have a basket for each childs socks. This would then leave the stuff that gravitates to the clutter drawer on kitchen worktops etc where it would be dealt with immediatly.
    Sharron x

    Reply
    • simplybeingmum says

      June 15, 2011 at 9:55 am

      Sharron some sound advice there! We moved to a larger house just before I had my second child and it has a lot more storage – which is what I thought I needed at the time. Actually what I needed to do was get rid of some stuff. A very good friend of mine and a born minimalist has a saying – “Don’t Store – Chuck!” – pretty much what you are doing…
      I’d love my kitchen refurbished, there are lots of nooks and crannies and as I spend soooo much time in there, it needs cleaning properly frequently. I need to get a little tougher with the kids without spoiling their fun. We are getting to the ages where the toys are getting smaller but with more parts… and they are everywhere!

      Reply
  5. Sharron says

    June 11, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    That’s my Mum’s favourite saying, A place for everything, and everything in it’s place. Funny thing is i say it to my kids at least twice a day, and i feel i am turning into my Mum, now don’t get me wrong i love my mum, dearly, but she spent all my childhood putting everything in it’s place. I want to own so few possesions that everything will just gravitate to it’s place iyswim, i know , a dream…… I digress, we are in a happy place with ‘stuff’ at the minute, the only problem is the carp the kids come home with, so i totally sympathise with your clutter drawer!! What i found helped me was getting rid of drawers altogether. When our kitchen was refurbished, no drawer units were installed. As i pared down our possesions, chest of drawers were sent to the charity furniture shop. I store all clothes on shelves and have a basket for each childs socks. This would then leave the stuff that gravitates to the clutter drawer on kitchen worktops etc where it would be dealt with immediatly.
    Sharron x

    Reply
    • simplybeingmum says

      June 15, 2011 at 9:55 am

      Sharron some sound advice there! We moved to a larger house just before I had my second child and it has a lot more storage – which is what I thought I needed at the time. Actually what I needed to do was get rid of some stuff. A very good friend of mine and a born minimalist has a saying – “Don’t Store – Chuck!” – pretty much what you are doing…
      I’d love my kitchen refurbished, there are lots of nooks and crannies and as I spend soooo much time in there, it needs cleaning properly frequently. I need to get a little tougher with the kids without spoiling their fun. We are getting to the ages where the toys are getting smaller but with more parts… and they are everywhere!

      Reply
  6. Sharron says

    June 11, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    That’s my Mum’s favourite saying, A place for everything, and everything in it’s place. Funny thing is i say it to my kids at least twice a day, and i feel i am turning into my Mum, now don’t get me wrong i love my mum, dearly, but she spent all my childhood putting everything in it’s place. I want to own so few possesions that everything will just gravitate to it’s place iyswim, i know , a dream…… I digress, we are in a happy place with ‘stuff’ at the minute, the only problem is the carp the kids come home with, so i totally sympathise with your clutter drawer!! What i found helped me was getting rid of drawers altogether. When our kitchen was refurbished, no drawer units were installed. As i pared down our possesions, chest of drawers were sent to the charity furniture shop. I store all clothes on shelves and have a basket for each childs socks. This would then leave the stuff that gravitates to the clutter drawer on kitchen worktops etc where it would be dealt with immediatly.
    Sharron x

    Reply
    • simplybeingmum says

      June 15, 2011 at 9:55 am

      Sharron some sound advice there! We moved to a larger house just before I had my second child and it has a lot more storage – which is what I thought I needed at the time. Actually what I needed to do was get rid of some stuff. A very good friend of mine and a born minimalist has a saying – “Don’t Store – Chuck!” – pretty much what you are doing…
      I’d love my kitchen refurbished, there are lots of nooks and crannies and as I spend soooo much time in there, it needs cleaning properly frequently. I need to get a little tougher with the kids without spoiling their fun. We are getting to the ages where the toys are getting smaller but with more parts… and they are everywhere!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. My Creative (& Slightly Cluttered) Kitchen | Simply Being Mum says:
    October 1, 2013 at 5:02 pm

    […] only one way to tackle it. A cupboard or a drawer at a time. Fortunately the fridge, freezer and the food storage cupboards won’t require much […]

    Reply
  2. My Creative (& Slightly Cluttered) Kitchen | Simply Being Mum says:
    October 1, 2013 at 5:02 pm

    […] only one way to tackle it. A cupboard or a drawer at a time. Fortunately the fridge, freezer and the food storage cupboards won’t require much […]

    Reply
  3. My Creative (& Slightly Cluttered) Kitchen | Simply Being Mum says:
    October 1, 2013 at 5:02 pm

    […] only one way to tackle it. A cupboard or a drawer at a time. Fortunately the fridge, freezer and the food storage cupboards won’t require much […]

    Reply
  4. Spring Cleaning / Let The Big Declutter Commence | Simply Being Mum says:
    April 16, 2014 at 11:24 am

    […] I’m an advocate of taking it a drawer at a time. It’s worked well for me previously. […]

    Reply
  5. Spring Cleaning / Let The Big Declutter Commence | Simply Being Mum says:
    April 16, 2014 at 11:24 am

    […] I’m an advocate of taking it a drawer at a time. It’s worked well for me previously. […]

    Reply
  6. Spring Cleaning / Let The Big Declutter Commence | Simply Being Mum says:
    April 16, 2014 at 11:24 am

    […] I’m an advocate of taking it a drawer at a time. It’s worked well for me previously. […]

    Reply
  7. Do You Feel The Urge To Purge? | Simply Being Mum says:
    February 23, 2015 at 10:13 am

    […] Or just take it a drawer at a time. […]

    Reply
  8. Do You Feel The Urge To Purge? | Simply Being Mum says:
    February 23, 2015 at 10:13 am

    […] Or just take it a drawer at a time. […]

    Reply
  9. Do You Feel The Urge To Purge? | Simply Being Mum says:
    February 23, 2015 at 10:13 am

    […] Or just take it a drawer at a time. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to SimplyBeingMum – one mother’s personal website documenting the journey toward a family life simply done.Here you will find a collection of recipes, ideas, musings and philosophies related to families who feel a pull toward a more conscious, mindful and simpler way of life.

You don’t have to homeschool or bake your own bread daily to hang out here. At whatever stage of your journey, you are on, you are very welcome. I personally still have a long way left down my own path and find that by blogging about it, it helps to keep me on track.

Please stay a while, have a meander around, see what takes your interest, and do join in the discussion.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 594 other subscribers

Recent Articles

  • Let’s talk fairytales and cake
  • Simple Indian Butter Chicken and Naan Bread Recipe
  • That Was Then, This Is Now
  • Tips For Reducing Air Pollution Outdoors
  • Reading a bookWhat Will You Do For 1 Day?
  • The Most Wasteful Time Of The Year
  • Old School Food Waste Friday
  • Spicy Butternut Squash One Pot Recipe
  • Slow Cooker Five Bean Vegetarian Chilli Recipe
  • Apple, Fig and Pumpkin Cheesy Crumble Recipe

Topics

Copyright © 2023 · Simply Being Mum. All Rights Reserved. Contact | Design by Pixelloop.