Welcome to the first installment of Project Declutter. With good luck, good timing, motivation and discipline, there should be at least 12 parts for this year.
For part one, I decided to declutter under my bed. As I said in a previous post, the reason for starting small is so that I don’t get overwhelmed and stall out before any significant progress is made.
I knew that under my bed did not have a ton of stuff to work through and I also knew that it would likely on take a few hours at most from start to finish. I was not prepared for some of the items I found but had a pretty decent clue as to what was there.
UNDER THE BED-THE RIGHT SIDE
Fair warning, trying to photograph under a bed is very difficult. I just wanted to try and give you a sense of what it looked like.
This is the right side of the bed which is the side that I generally sleep on. I knew basically what was here which included a container with storage bags, and under bed soft sided container with blankets, a wheeled travel duffle bag and my “go” bag. For the uninitiated, a “go” bag is what you grab when you get a knock on the door at 3AM and the police are telling you to get out right now!
The soft sided container was at the head of the bed and boy was it dusty. And, you can likely see that part of the bed frame is broken. I don’t know how this happened but it’s been like that for a while now. I should probably do something about it!
UNDER THE BED-THE LEFT SIDE
There were a few containers on this side as well. You can see an extra comforter (I forgot it was there), a plastic container, and another under bed container which is harder to see but is in the upper right of the first photo.
The other thing that limits how much and the size of containers that can fit under the bed is that there is a wooden slat down the middle of the bed making it harder to push some things under the bed.
DISCOVERIES
I discovered that I had more extra bedding under the bed than I recalled. I don’t often have visitors but when I do I have enough extra bedding that is not under the bed to use.
This second photo was a huge discovery. For some reason, I kept a ton of cable cords, phone jacks, a seriously old modem, and a ton of other cords that I don’t recognize! These all went to the e-waste. Additionally, there were also some organizing items in this bucket. The organizing items might be useful if I remembered that they were there! A couple of the organizing items were kept but others went to donation. And finally, there was a plastic bucket filled with jar filler that I can’t remember the last time I even used. What a waste of a perfectly good storage container! This jar filler will hopefully find new homes at the donation center.
A CLOSER LOOK
I love having a container filled with storage bags! In truth, I knew this was under the bed and I used it on occasion. I did go through it to see if there was anything that didn’t need to be there but it was fine.
Now this red travel duffle was a different story. I knew that the red bag was there but I had forgotten that I had stuffed all of these other bags inside of it. Clearly, I haven’t used this bag in a long time. The last clear memory I have of using the bag was in 2009! In any event, they all went to donation.
This is my go bag. It was a good thing that I decided to declutter under my bed because it reminded me that there are things that I need to add to my go bag. I have clothing and shoes but there is so much more that I need. I need a medication list, copies of important documents, some cash, a portable radio, an external hard drive that I should be backing up monthly and a few other items. Here is a general list to help you complete your own go bag!
WHAT’S LEFT UNDER THE BED
After all is said and done, there will still be items I need to store under the bed. Some people are opposed to keeping items under the bed but I’m not. As long as you know what’s there and you have need for the items, go for it.
I started to put the items back under the bed and then realized that I needed to take a picture. I have kept the go bag and the container with other storage bags. I also have a container with some extra and sentimental blankets.
One thing I learned is that not all Dollar Tree storage bags are worth even $1! I had attempted to put the 2 comforters in a Dollar Tree storage bag and it ripped to shreds before I even finished zipping it. The bag felt like plastic but it was paper thin. And the zipper went all the way around and then flew off! Needless to say, I got rid of that bag and used one that was in the storage container.
So part one is done and part two is on the way. I am glad to have done this simple and not complicated decluttering. I got some completely useless items out of my home, I donated some great items and I now know where some extras are when I need them.
There is more work to do in this room but I feel like I’m off to a good start!
Thanks for reading!
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