For everyone just joining in I'll be explicit, for everyone doing this daily with me... well you know the drill.
Monday we decluttered the Kitchen, Tuesday we decluttered the Dining Areas and the Entrances to our home, Wednesday we decluttered the Living Areas, Thursday we decluttered the Bedrooms, Friday we decluttered the Extra Rooms, and yesterday we decluttered the bathrooms and the laundry room. We're still decluttering, but this time we are looking to our outdoor spaces. Again, don't dwell on just 1 item, don't get sidetracked.
First, grab a trash bag, a pair of gardening/cleaning gloves and the same 2 totes you've been using, again 1 is for donate/sell and 1 for put away items for other rooms. As you are going through the areas and run across items that don't belong, put them in one of the totes. Again, don't leave the areas to put them away yet.
First put on the gloves, as you are reaching for items that have gotten caught in branches we don't want to have to worry about thorns or getting cut.
Since these are outdoor areas there is probably less to look through, but trash can blow into your yard or other debris can accumulate. Grab the trash bag and run through the yard picking up any trash that has blown in. Any toys that have made their way outside can be added to the put away tote, so long as they are still in good shape. If the weather has take it's toll on it, toss it in the trash bag.
Where I'm at it's about time to bring everything in for the winter, I'll be cleaning everything off next week to do this. If this is the last season for any of your outdoor furniture, consider donating or selling it rather than storing it for the season.
Take one last glance around outside and take a good look at the yard and porch/patio decor. Do you love it? Does it work? Is it just there because it's always been there? If you decide you don't want to keep it, put it in the donate/sell bin. If anything is getting in tough shape due to weather or age, consider whether it needs to be replaced, or might need a new coat of paint or minor repairs. Write these down to address in one of the next 2 weekends, if possible. If you need a can of outdoor spray paint, or galvanized screws or other items to address the repairs, pick them up on your next errand day.
Now, take the bin of items for put away, and put everything where it belongs.
Don't forget to water your indoor plants!
Now that we've done a basic decluttering go on over to Tamy's for Family Dinners - Organizing for a Crowd.
I've always been pretty good about keeping up the outdoor spaces, right down to decluttering the yellow leaves on plants LOL. Now that we're here in the north woods I have been even better since we have to take in the lawn furniture and watering implements. I think now more than ever I keep a better eye on this.
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