And welcome back! Previously I talked about decluttering the Living Room and the Toilet. As for Part 2 today, I will continue on how to declutter your Bedroom and also the Kitchen where your inner Gordon Ramsay emerges and he definitely does not like a cluttered kitchen.
Bedroom
Day 10: Nightstand
Nightstands collect lots of novels, empty water bottles and old, unused electronics along with lots and lots of fine dust. Clear it off, keep your books where they belong, throw out anything you don't need, wipe it down and leave only the bare and usable minimum.
Day 11: Dresser
Dressers can hide a lot in their drawers. Open every drawer in your room, refold messy, rumpled clothes and match every sock correctly. Keep in mind that mismatched socks are not in trend anymore! Kick start a donate pile of any types of clothing that can still be used but you no longer need and a toss pile for mont-eaten tees and ugly socks that you can part with.
Day 12: Master Closet
Add to those donate and toss piles by going through your master closet! I know it's hard to part with some clothing sometimes, I've personally went through it but you gotta be strong! Always follow your gut, only you know what your regular wear and what haven't been worn in decades. Do not let sentimentality get in the way of decluttering unless it is really a precious piece of clothing, say like your grandma's hand-me-down wedding dress.
Kitchen
Day 13: Kitchen Drawers
Why so many dirt, kitchen drawers? And why is this burned wok still hanging around? And why are there still loads of baby utensils in the silverware drawer when all of your kids are no more babies? Pick out what you need then either chuck or into the donate pile, they go! Then organize so the things you use daily are the most easily accessible.
Day 14: Kitchen Cabinets
Do you keep a crazy amount of Tupperware and any plastic containers inside your cabinets? I know I do! And they fall out like an avalanche on me every time I open them up. So take the time to reorganize your cabinets and re-position items if their placement isn't working for you. Infrequently used items can go in a pantry or other storage spot to free up more space for items you do use all the time. Those storage containers without lids and those lids without matching containers? Toss, toss, toss. Use the plastic containers themselves as storage caddies for small items in drawers or cabinets throughout the house to save space and make everything look neat.
Day 15: Pantry
Give your pantry an organisational inspection. Arrange canned goods by type and most importantly, check expiration dates and get rid of foods you'll never eat. Most of the time, we stock up too much on some stuffs and forgets about it till it gets expired and explodes (exaggeration I know but it has happened before). Unexpired and shelf stable foods that you don't want anymore can be donated to your local soup kitchen.
Day 16: Spice Rack
Typically, with some exceptions (such as mold or mildew on items, or something similar), spices don't go bad. But they do lose their strength and flavor with time. That's why many spice bottles have expiration dates, or "best by" dates on them, so you can know whether the spice you want to add to your food will actually taste good, or not. I recently went through my spice rack and was horrified that some of my spices were purchased more than four years ago. And some of them had hardened and can most likely pass off as those fake food stuffs children play kitchen with. If you've got spices that could be from centuries back, you're probably not using them very frequently in your recipes, so it's highly recommended to toss them.
Day 17: Refrigerator and Freezer
When was the last time you set out to declutter your refrigerator? Does the thought of it fill you with dread? We’ve probably all experienced something like what I'm about to describe, whether or not we’d like to admit it. You decide to clean out the refrigerator (or you are obliged to by a disturbing odor emanating from somewhere within). You start pulling out containers to examine their contents. What do you find? It may be hard to say for sure if the appearance of the contents has evolved remarkably through the passage of time. While the green, chunky whatever-it-was would probably win you a prize for a science fair project, it isn’t good for you or your refrigerator. Many people try to give their fridge a look once a week or so to toss any leftovers that are moldy or getting a lil' bit squishy, but you likely don't think about condiments and other fridge staples. Check all the bottles and jars and toss any that are expired or that you just never use (like that bottle of hot sauce that you wanted to impress your friends with but it didn't work out because you can't take spicy).
Day 18: Junk Drawer
Junk drawers are originally designed to hold simple tools and junk and odds and ends that don't really belong anywhere else. If you like, it can also serve as a lost and found junk corner! But give it a look to see if there's any obvious trash like receipts, scraps of paper or even food wrappers, and see if there's anything you could move to another spot. You just might find that memorable keychain you thought you'd lost forever.
Day 19: Under-Sink Storage
If you've got pedestal sinks throughout the house, you get off easily on this chore. But if you've got under-sink storage, like there's cabinet space under the kitchen sink, look under there to see what's been hiding from your eyes and what needs to be tossed out.