clean along, getting the living room cupboards under control

February 10, 2025



My challenge this week was to not only throughly clean the hallway, the living room and dining room but also to make some sense of the contents of the living room cupboards, all nine of them. This is how I came to be on my hands and knees all week and also emptied out numerous buckets of dirty water. It will never cease to amaze me how dirt can find its way into closed cupboards. Okie dokie. Should we have a look-see into the cupboards and see the work that has been done?

My backstory. We moved from a house with zero storage to this house with so much storage it was inconceivable to me that I would ever fill it up. Yet for some reason I thought that I had to fill them up, and so I did. For me, the eighties and nineties were all about accumulating. I never said no to my mother, aunt or grandmother when they downsized. I took everything they offered whether I liked it or needed it. They were delighted and so was I. More stuff! I also bought and spent and bought and spent some more. To sweeten the pot, for ten years I worked at a high end home store in town and got a deep discount. I really took advantage of that and think my entire paycheck went into accumulating beautiful things that I've since sold on eBay. So no surprise that after twenty years my cupboards were bulging. At some point the amount of stuff took its toll. I never knew where anything was and my attempts at organization were frustrating. I hated opening a cupboard. Was it five years ago that I heard about decluttering? I can't remember exactly but as you readers know, I embraced it. It's been a years long challenge and now I feel that what remains in my home can be managed and I am content. This still doesn't stop me from evaluating and donating items on a regular basis. Just today when I was taking the pictures I sent a vase to the donation box. 


Exhibit A. My fall decor. I have a feeling I can declutter deeper but I won't think about that until fall.

As I started to declutter and found myself with empty cupboards, I gradually took down different holiday decorations from the hard-to-get-to attic and brought them down to where I can easily access them with little effort by myself. The first big declutter was the hallway window seats below, once filled with old toys and clothes. All of that is long gone and replaced with Christmas decorations that were severely edited. That was done a few years ago and now Christmas decorating and the put away is easy peasy, no kidding.


Here are my decluttered vases. It's hard to believe I still have two shelves full considering I often use canning jars for vases. I am not attached to anything in here, but I do use it. I think I can also go deeper with a declutter in this spot but I'll wait until after summer to decide. But honestly, I look at all this and really don't think I need so many choices adding to decision fatigue.

Same thing with spring. Do I need all this just because it fits? I'll decide on that soon.


My candles after a major declutter last year. I got rid of all scented candles and now mostly use battery operated candles. I still like to use real tapers and tea lights on certain occasions, but it's less often. I found these old Ikea boxes in the attic and found a new use for them so at least everything is neat and tidy. The large candles on the lower right are early battery operated candles from Pottery Barn 15 years ago. They are realistic and pretty, but I don't often use them anymore and didn't use them at all this winter. I'll give them another year and if I don't use them, off they go. It's difficult to get rid of things that I paid a lot of money for and loved at one time, but I eventually can get over that hump. It just takes me time.

Plates and bowls! I use them all. No need to declutter a thing.



My feeling about this self imposed two month long deep clean is pleasant. I go at a gentle pace, take easy wins when I can, and declutter what I'm comfortable decluttering. An example of an easy win was the candle cupboard. It took no more than a half hour to go through  and then I was done for the day. I have a goal, and it's having a tidy, easy-to-care for home. If you joined me, are you still at it? I hope so. I still have the kitchen, guest bath and laundry room to do and that means a lot of grout cleaning and so being on my hands and knees again and also dealing with a lot of grease. This is the point where I begin to run out of steam and I may take a week off but I thank you for being my accountability buddy. Just knowing I should be here every Monday pushes me on so maybe I'll do just a tiny bit of grease clean up or a few feet of grout.  If you plan to deep clean the kitchen soon, try to do a few weeks of the October Challenge and cook up those Zero Dollar Dinners. It will make the cleaning a lot easier.

Thank you a zillion times over for popping in and reading my ramblings! I appreciate you! Kristen

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8 Comments

  1. Your story is my story. I spent so much money and time shopping when I was younger and we had two paychecks and never thought about having too much and what it would mean when we had to downsize. We moved to a condo 9 years ago and it was rough going trying to fit everything into a much smaller space. I always felt cluttered and not at peace and my husband really wanted less stuff. He was the one who finally got me to get rid of so much. It was hard but now I don't think about what I gave away. I can't even remember any of it so I guess I didn't need it. I always enjoy hearing about your declutter story. I think so many of us are in the same boat. I'm also a knitter!

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    1. Thank you for your story and good for your husband's help! I worry that my cleaning and declutter posts must get old after a while but my numbers say that they are popular and I know the struggle is real. Whether or not we are clearing out or just thinking about it, it's good to hear how and why others are doing it, especially learning the cause and making sure it doesn't happen again.

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  2. I love those glass milk jugs. They are the perfect size for flower arranging. I used them for my son's rehearsal dinner mixed with a couple jam jars and tequila bottles. They were perfect. Never need to buy a vase. But those “free” vases that come with flower arrangements can really add to that clutter.

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    Replies
    1. My daughter gave me the milk jugs for Christmas. I love them! I rarely receive florist flowers, but when I do, I do not save the containers. I agree, it is a sure fire way to clutter up the house!

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  3. You are the most energetic and organized person I know. How many hours of sleep do you get?

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    1. Well, you should have seen me last week. I sure did a lot of sleeping while I was sick. My advice: don't get this cold/flu that's going around. It's nasty.

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  4. Having trouble commenting. Love the sweater. Chloe

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