Decluttering The Devers - June 2010

PILES, PILES, PILES!!  Everyone has them! Some of you might only have one, others of you us have several laying around our houses. They can lurk anywhere, from the bathroom, to the kitchen counters, to the pesky ones that seem to reappear on my dining room table.  I hate piles, but I’ve noticed that as I’ve grown older, it is harder and harder to keep piles out of my house.  Piles of bills, piles of mail, piles of laundry, piles of dishes, piles of recycling…you get the picture.  I am learning at a rapid pace that I need to start purging items as they come in, so as not to create NEW piles.  This month I was on a mission to get rid of some (not all, that would take days) of the piles in my house and believe me, there are a lot of them.

Our biggest pile felon is the mail.  I have a bit of a magazine and catalog obsession…Frontgate, Ballard Designs, Chasing Fireflies, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids, US Weekly, Southern Living, and the list goes on.  I tend to keep those around and somehow they always end up in a pile.  It used to be on my dining room table but, you know from last month, we are trying to keep that clean.  So the next stop is usually my kitchen island and counters.  Well I am sick of it, so my solution was to order this adorable bin to keep mail in….when the bin gets full, then I know it is time purge.  The bin isn’t in yet, but I did purge and it already makes me happy!!!

Before/After - Kitchen Counter

The next pile I tackled was in my living room.  I cleaned out my work bag a couple of weeks ago and all my excess work stuff ended up on our living room sideboard, along with several other things.  So, I went through it, purged and now it is nice and neat. 

Before/After - Living Room Sideboard

Next, I moved to our bedroom…this is the one place I would like to keep clutter OUT.  I want this to be a sanctuary for Danny and I to retreat to after our busy days, but lately the only retreating that has been done is by odds and ins that have ended up on our dressers.  UGH!!  So, I decluttered…much better!!!

Before/After - Danny's Dresser

Before/After - Brooke's Dresser

I admit, most of the clutter is mine…maybe that’s a clue that I have a problem.  Could I really have a problem throwing things away?   I surely don’t want to end up on the next episode of Hoarders!!  Maybe I need to get started on all my other piles NOW, so I diagnosis isn't in my future!!