Those Counters ARE Clean! for Week 15 (Decluttering and Simplifying 2010)

Last week’s update on the cleaning and decluttering project ended with a comment about my spinning head, and the writing quality in that post indicates that I wasn’t completely gathered together. You’ll be pleased to know I corrected a couple of typos in it, but I left the bad writing as an indication of my mood at the time. Consider my bad writing a lesson to you. You decide what the lesson is.

Totally Clean Countertop
Totally Clean Countertop

This post includes a photo of nothing, and that’s exactly what I intended. You can see that my modest and not-at-all-handsome countertops are now completely cleaned off. My goal, as I told you last week, is to leave them empty — nothing stored on them. The two exceptions are the microwave, just out of photo range on the far right, and David’s French press and other coffee supplies, to the far left on the other side of the sink. The change makes the room look much cleaner, and I’m very happy about that.

Actually, I’m very happy about this week in general. Although a financial crisis gave me some stress this week (expenses came in quicker than sales, but what else is new?), I’ve managed to accomplish quite a lot. Since my book inventory is low, I added an extra day of book shopping this week, leaving less time for writing and decluttering. Still, I made more progress than I have some other weeks. Here’s the big three for the week:

  • The Great Kitchen Counter Clutter Buster. I’ve already mentioned that.
  • The Minor eBay Listing Frenzy. I listed several things I’ve been meaning to sell on eBay and got a couple of others ready. That generates money, but more importantly, it deals with some clutter in my office.
  • The Very Minor Office Box Removal. I managed to get two boxes, formerly part of my book business, emptied and off the floor of my office.

The kitchen countertops need some new caulking, and I need to repair a bit of damaged drywall below the kitchen window, then I can be truly pleased with that room — at least from the countertops down. The upper cabinets are messy but don’t contain much clutter, so that’s okay for now. And since the kitchen table is the staging point for the decluttering, it won’t be clean for quite awhile, and that’s okay, too.

Now, I’m home today with several hours left, so even more could happen. What bit of clutter will I banish next?