Day 24 of the Decluttering Challenge: Outdoor Storage
For day twenty-four of the thirty day decluttering challenge, we are tackling those outdoor storage areas.
Full disclosure, I do not like cleaning out a shed in the cold, so I picked out four storage bins that are air-tight and plastic (so I knew there were no critters aboard), and brought them inside to work on.
You may not have a shed, but this could be any storage area. It could be a carport, storage room, attic, garage, or whatever you have.
If you have anything other than outdoor equipment in your outdoor storage shed, then you are in my boat.
I know that it should only be lawn equipment, maybe Christmas decorations, and Army gear out there, but that is not the case. I have bins of children’s clothes, all seasons of decor items, and even my gift wrapping supplies out in the storage shed.
Do you know what it means to me once storage moves outside? It means I will almost never see it again. I went out there to fish out Christmas decorations and the Christmas tree, and I was appalled to realize I had so much out there. There is stuff I need in the storage shed.
How did this happen? Well, for our last big move, we moved from a larger home to a smaller one, and people ran out of places to put unpacked boxes. The movers were taking stuff off the truck and shoving them straight into the storage shed.
I was supposed to go through all of that as soon as possible, but a year and a half has passed now and I never have. That’s the problem with outdoor storage. It is out of sight, out of mind.
There is several days worth of decluttering needed out there in our shed.
If we focus on how much there is to be done, that is when we become overwhelmed and accomplish nothing at all. We are not doing that.
No, we do not have several days to work on a shed either. That is okay. You know what we do have? We have fifteen minutes, and we can do this, fifteen minutes at a time, right? Yes. Absolutely, we can.
For your fifteen minutes, drag out what you need the most like I did, or just grab the first box you come to. I went in there and hand-selected only Christmas boxes because I was in a desperate search for our Christmas stockings.
I love these Christmas stockings. They are the nice, monogrammed ones you order from L.L. Bean and Land’s End. This is one of the few collections I have built over the years that means something to me.
Last Christmas, I never found them. I hung gift bags on the stocking hangers on Christmas Eve because no way was I going out and buying new, less-loved Christmas stockings. I knew they were here, lost somewhere in that shed.
And they were! I was so ecstatic to find the stockings in our shed, I texted all the grandparents to celebrate my victory.
So let’s tackle those storage bins. Who knows what lost treasures ye may find!
And here is the printable 30 Day Decluttering List:
Love the idea of a decluttering challenge and want to start at the beginning or a previous day? Here are the links you need:
Click here to start on day one.
Click here to visit the intro page with links to every single day of the challenge.
Happy decluttering, y’all! And Merry Christmas!
