Project 365 - Day 96

The final Project Simplify Hot Spot is . . . . anything you want! Apparently Simple Mom was getting some complaints along the lines of "hey, I just did that area!" as well as numerous requests to select specific hot spots, so everyone got to choose their own decluttering spot this week. I was originally a little disappointed about the lack of a specific assignment, because if I was self-disciplined enough to decide on my own which among the many problem areas in my home I should declutter on any given week, I wouldn't have so many problem areas in the first place! But I reminded myself that I DID start this whole decluttering process before I had even heard of Project Simplify, so surely I had it in me to just pick an area and blast through it. Given that nobody is operating at full physical speed around here this week, I figured something ambitious like "the attic" might be unrealistic. I decided that I needed to go with a smaller area, but one that was a huge train wreck, so I could end Project Simplify with a nice post-decluttering buzz. My hot spot? Drumroll . . . .

Under the kitchen sink.

Before:


Cleared out and freshly contact papered:



Once everything was out from under the sink, I went through the various cleaners and sorted them by category.


You know, I never have really known exactly what Jet Dry does; maybe if I just keep buying multiple little bottles of it, its purpose will eventually reveal itself to me.


I believe it is legally required to keep a coffee can full of bacon grease under one's kitchen sink, so mine stayed.



My friend Gary, Heather's husband, is known to prize smudge-free stainless steel. Heather told me that Gary's stainless steel cleaner of choice is by Zep. Unfortunately, I learned during this process that I have a near stockpile of non-Zep stainless steel cleaners (and frequently smudged appliances - coincidence?), so I'm going to have to hurry and use these up so I can finally achieve that Zep-like appliance shine that would earn the Gary seal of approval.

I put only cleaners that get used in the kitchen back (plus the can o' bacon grease and some vases) under the sink; everything else got moved elsewhere:



Hmmmm . . . I'm not sure this looks a whole lot better than the before, but believe it or not it does feel a lot less cluttered in there in person. And it will get even better once I can get rid of some of those duplicate bottles. Ah yes, can't a girl dream about how it will look under her kitchen sink . . . someday?

This concludes Project Simplify, but you know, I think I'm going to shoot to continue to do an organizing project every Friday. Because I've got nothing if not Project 365 days to burn. Thanks to Simple Mom for hosting this project!