Two Days, Two Posts!

Quote for the Day:

Not only strike while the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.
~Oliver Cromwell

Yesterday's decluttering made me feel so good that I was eager to jump in and do some more today!  Cleaning begets cleaning!  :)

In yesterday's post I mentioned the armoire in the dining room that I've been working on decluttering and mentioned that it had seven drawers...but I was wrong...I counted today and there are only six drawers!  And after today they are ALL decluttered except for ONE!   The lone hold-out is the "linens" drawer.  This is the drawer that holds all my dresser scarves, doilies, etc.  They are STUFFED into the drawer because the drawer is too small to hold them all.  So my goal has been to get at least one of the other drawers emptied so that I can divide the linens into two drawers instead of crushed into the one.  

Today I worked on the last non-linen drawer.  Before decluttering it looked like this...

Most things were reassigned to a new place..."like items with like items"...but this is the pile of things that were thrown away...

And this is what the drawer looks like AFTER decluttering!

As you can see, it is completely empty.  This is the SECOND drawer that ended up completely empty during the process of decluttering!  This means that not only can I divide the drawer of linens into two now, but also the table cloths that are in the hutch can now be moved to this extra empty drawer...keeping ALL my table linens in the same place!  Who knew I'd have so much room after "releasing" so many items into the wild!  

I came across this picture in this drawer today.  I knew it was there but haven't seen it in a while.  It is an original pencil drawing of the New York City skyline that I bought on a trip to NYC in 1997 to visit my sister that lives there.

Notice the Twin Towers in the picture?  This was obviously pre- 9/11.
At the time I bought this picture I was living in southern California and it hung in one of the bathrooms.  But since moving into this old Victorian house in West Virginia, it doesn't really fit in with my decor so I've never hung it up.  I think I'm going to offer it to my sister (that lives in NYC)  to put in her Florida vacation condo.  It goes well with more modern decor like that than what I have.  If she doesn't want it, I'm not sure what I'll do with it because I am a little attached to it.

When people ask me where to start with their own decluttering, I always recommend that they start in a "utilitarian" area such as the bathroom or a linen closet.  That is because most things in there they are not "emotionally" attached to...they are simply things they "use".  These are the easiest things to get rid of because you know what you use and what you don't use.  The things you are emotionally attached to are more difficult to part with. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog and listening to my ramblings!  :)  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and what you have "released" into the wild!

Loretta