Decrapifying our biggest problem area

by admin August 12, 2020

If you would have told me that three years after moving into our home I'd still be organizing and purging things I wouldn't have believed you. :) I don't know if it's normal to still be going through stuff at this point, or if it's because we're spending more time at home than usual. But I've been tackling spots we just kind of threw together after moving in. And it feels SO good!!

I've shared my journey of decrapifying and organizing many, many times over the years. And with each year I feel like I'm getting closer to having our home under control and functioning really well.

I had a memory pop up the other day on social media -- I was sharing how I wasn't purging much as I packed up our old home. I had gone through an extensive decluttering process using the Konmari method a year before. It worked really well for us and I still recommend it 100 percent:

But I had to laugh at that memory because after our stuff sat in storage for nine weeks...there was SO SO SO much I got rid of after we moved in. After living without it for so long I would open a box full of stuff and think, WHY did I keep all of this? 😂

I guess it's a process that is never perfected. Even though we've bought plenty of new stuff for this house, we have less stuff overall. It's ongoing over time. As I age, my patience for things we don't use or need filling our home gets lower and lower -- so I keep getting rid of more and more.

There is a great sense of peace in having less and having a spot for everything we do have. Again...age is doing this to me. I'll take that aspect of getting older! :)

We have a kitchenette in our basement that is a great size and it will be such an awesome space...someday. We have plumbing roughed in and I didn't have carpet installed here knowing we'd be tiling or putting down vinyl of some kind eventually.

But it has become a dumping ground for junk, Legos and more junk since we moved in. I was so tired of looking at it, so I started tackling it the other day:

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This is where things from the old house that didn't have a spot go to live. :) Things I still love mind you...but it was all just kind of thrown in there.

The mini fridge hasn't worked since we moved in, but it sat there for nearly three years:

The roll of extra carpet and padding was from either our bedroom or my office when we put the hardwoods in. I dragged it down here a year ago to put under the table.

And it sat:

So it was time to get this space organized. Overall we purged a lot of stuff. Most of those Lego pieces on the table were extras, so we gave them to the neighbor kids.

I still LOVE that bamboo table I found at Restore years ago. I turned it into a bar cart back then and now it's back to just being a decorative table:

I had a smaller table in that spot before but this works so much better.

We moved the big Lego set (our son's biggest set that he is super proud of) and finally laid down the carpet under the table.

My love of symmetry won out, so I dragged one of the fridges over to the other side to even things out. SO much better. Ha!:

I organized this tray with all of the craft stuff years ago and now it's on display again. So cute!:

Now our son has a spot to build Legos again, which he loves. You can find a similar wire basket here!

That tabletop is still in great condition -- I'm super proud of the farmhouse-inspired tabletop I built using an IKEA table as a base.

Now that the room is clean and decluttered, we have plenty of room to walk around in here:

Did you know you can't just toss a fridge because of the Freon? You need to have a junk place dispose of it properly (which costs money), or you can take it to your local hazardous waste location for free like we did.

I hung some art to fill one wall for now (I only focused on the wall we see when walking into the space). I have big plans for it eventually!:

Overall I only kept things that we love and use in this space, which is my mantra for the whole house!

Decluttering is the best feeling!! I forgot how much I loved it. ;)

Here's the before again to remind you of what a mess it was:

And that space now, decluttered and organized:

If you're interested in reading more about the Konmari method of decluttering and "tidying" -- check out my post here! We still have a few hots spots in this house, but they are going away slow but sure. Now that I use this method I don't have to decrapify the WHOLE house anymore. It's much easier to keep up with!

We're hoping to at least start this kitchenette this year. The cabinets are the biggest thing -- once those are in we can focus on plumbing and counters. I can do the flooring and then this spot will at least be functional!

It's going to be a fun project someday! :) I'll share our plans with you soon.

Are you decluttering your home lately? Do you enjoy it or find it tedious?

You can find some of the items in this space here:

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