Over the last few months, I’ve been doing some legit spring cleaning, including deep dives into messy drawers and cabinets. In most cases, I knew exactly how much stuff I’d find when I went looking, but there were surprises. For example, I wasn’t expecting to find 9 hairbrushes in a bathroom drawer (which meant that technically I had ten, since I keep one on the counter for everyday use).
OMG, who needs 10 hairbrushes?
I also found five each of nail and toenail clippers, not to mention four tweezers. I just kept reaching into the drawers and pulling out more. It was crazy. They were all mine, and I couldn’t imagine how I’d managed to acquire so many. I couldn’t even give them away to my hubby or kids, because they all have their own sets. And what was worse, when my husband realized that I was decluttering, he handed me another full grooming set to get rid of–like I needed more!
It was easy enough to dump the majority of the hairbrushes, but I struggled to dispose of the clippers and tweezers. Though they’re metal, durable, and sanitizable, charity organizations don’t want them. I ended up keeping most of them, because they were functional and it seemed too much of a shame to consign them to the landfill. They don’t take up much space, so I guess it’s OK.
My decluttering skills hit a peak as I attacked my clothes drawers. I convinced myself to get rid of nearly everything that I don’t wear anymore, whatever the reason. I kept only what fit well or was just a tiny bit tight. I ended up donating two large trash bags of clothes (25 pounds’ worth!).
But all of that pales in comparison with the big decluttering event to come soon. My husband recently finished the built-in bookshelves in our living room. The paint needs time to cure, so we’re going to wait a few weeks before putting books on the shelves. July 4th will be “Book Liberation Day,” when we take our books out of the many boxes we’ve got stored around the house and finally put them on the shelves, where they belong. Getting rid of the boxes will be a decluttering in and of itself, but if we’re good, we’ll sort through the books and get rid of the ones we really don’t need.