Weekly Decluttering Challenge: Week 2

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Last week week we started in the kitchen with our first weekly goal of 2017. We’ll be focusing on the kitchen for a few weeks, decluttering and tidying one bite at a time.

An all new series of Homemaker Helps - Decluttering your home with weekly challenges from Cosmopolitan Cornbread. Fight the clutter war a battle at a time.

This week’s goal is targeting your you kitchen sink. More specifically…under your kitchen sink.

If your under sink cabinet is anything like mine, it is a magnet for clutter. Everything ends up thrown in there it seems, from random cleaning supplies to tools. Let’s get to it!

Week 2: Under Sink Cabinet

  1. Let’s get comfortable. Have a seat on the floor in front of your cabinet, and pull every last thing out. Everything. I personally did this a couple weeks ago, and was shocked to find water on the floor of the cabinet. We had a leak, and had I not done this, that leak could have meant serious damage, mold and more. Even though it can seem unpleasant, it is important to keep this cabinet straight. And if it is straight, it won’t be unpleasant.
  2. Clean out the cabinet itself. Vacuum out any dust or debris, and if it is really dirty, take some spray and rags and get it good and clean. I use my “glass cleaner” to do this. My glass cleaner is really an all-purpose cleaning spray, since I use it for just about everything. (Find out how to make my “Best and Cheapest Glass Cleaner” here)
  3. Now that everything is out and the cabinet is clean, I like to line this cabinet with a few layers of newspaper. It just makes it easier to clean out in the future, plus the paper will absorb any drips from damp sponges or anything else. Not to mention, newspaper is cheap (or free) and you can just recycle or compost it later on.
  4. Now take a look at everything that was in that cabinet. How many almost-empty bottles of dish soap do you really need? What about all of those old sponges? Did the hammer really belong under there? Get all of the things that didn’t belong, and put them where they go. Then do a hard “purge.” All of those old cleaning supplies that have been under there forever for the “just in case some day” that never came…get rid of them. Only keep what you actually need and use.

One way of organizing your spray bottles (if you have a lot of them) is to mount a tension curtain rod under the sink, and hang them on there. It frees up “floor” space for other things. I don’t have enough sprays to need this, but I found a picture demonstrating this very idea.

 

Decluttering Week 2: Under the Kitchen Sink | Cosmopolitan Cornbread
Image Source: Pinterest

 

Something I like to do, is to use stack-able bins from the dollar store. They are cheap and allow me to store things in vertical space. Another option is hanging baskets or racks that mount directly to the cabinet door. I recently picked one up at the store and will be installing it in the near future.

The Decluttering Challenge | Fight the clutter war, one battle at a time with weekly goals and assignments from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

 

What tips do you have for keeping your under sink area tidy?

Join me next week for another simple decluttering challenge!

2 thoughts on “Weekly Decluttering Challenge: Week 2”

  1. Hi,

    You have very cleverly turned your “under the sink” mess into something that I could certainly live with! I do have one question though… in the lower left of the photo there is some type of spice in a red and clear bottle…. just curious as to what it is. LOL There are a lot of them that would make the area smell fresh and I’d like to know your intent and what the spice actually is.

    My under sink was always, and still is, a mess! Only time it looked great was just after a long distance move with the Army!! I will sure try to follow your suggestions because, I mean I have to do something right?

    Appreciate all of your suggestions and love, love your videos! Love your beautiful chickens… I just wish they were mine and I was also homesteading! Love your pets too. I have a houseful myself. And I had a wonderful cat exactly like Ava years ago. Her name was Smoky. I miss her.

    Keep up the good work!!

    Nancy

    Reply
    • Hello Nancy!

      The spice bottle that you see under there is a big bottle of cinnamon. Every so often, I deodorize my carpet. Rather than using store bought “carpet fresh.” I use a natural alternative. (My son had a life-threatening allergic reaction to Carpet Fresh back in 1998, which led me to rethink all the cleaning chemicals my home.) I deodorize my carpet in two steps. First I sprinkle baking soda all over it. Let it sit for a little while, and vacuum it up. Then I sprinkle it with the cinnamon. Again, let it sit a while and vacuum it up.

      I know all about those army moves! LOL The under sink area is definitely a challenge. It seems to be a magnet for clutter and junk. That’s the very reason I included it as one of the first in the decluttering series :)

      Constance

      Reply

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