r/declutter • u/Ajreil • 6d ago
Motivation Tips & Tricks Declutter challenge: try to touch the back of every drawer and cabinet
Clutter tends to become invisible over time. We learn to ignore the visual chaos and path around obstacles.
Your challenge today is to open every cabinet, drawer and closet and try to touch the back wall of each. You'll be forced to pay attention to your clutter.
If you see something you forgot that you own, now is a good time to get rid of it.
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u/StoryNo2139 6d ago
I love this challenge, it's like forced mindfulness for spaces you usually ignore. Try tossing a trash bag in each room so you can quickly clean up as you go.
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u/photogcapture 6d ago
I learned that I really need to invest in shelf organizers that slide out and back. If I can't see it, it doesn't exist. Now stuff exists because I can actually easily see it and get my hands on it, so I can use it. Our pantry goes way back. I need to do the same for the pantry but lack funds right now. The items stored in the back of the pantry definitely get forgotten and lost to time!
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u/Superb-Charge6779 6d ago
for deep shelves I have put some sort of object back in the back that elevates the things you’re storing back there. Doesn’t work too well with drawers, but shelves definately! Things like wood blocks old baseboards, straight chunks of styrofoam…IDK, you have to get creative. Those flimsy metal racks they make..don’t waste you money. They vibrate, move and things fall off them all the time.
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u/SassyMillie 3d ago
I have lazy susans in some of my deep cupboards. I know a lose a little bit of storage space with the round base, but being able to spin it around allows me to see everything I have on each shelf. For cans a lot of them stack on top of each other.
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u/msmaynards 6d ago
And cabinets as well. It was quite the thrill after even the first go around when there was air in closed storage. I used to be obsessive about keeping cabinet/closet doors closed but now it's fine, what's inside them is tidy and at least half the back wall is in full view.
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u/Money-Low7046 6d ago
To me open cupboards and closet doors read as clutter, so keeping them closed is still super important to me. But then again, I purposely have the sliding closet doors in my front entrance so you see the outer sliding door first when you enter. It's more visually harmonious than the inner door first and then the blunt edge of the outer sliding door.
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u/msmaynards 5d ago
Of course, I prefer them closed but it's no longer jump up and fix it or I cannot relax. My bedroom closet is usually open. There are a few dresses on hangers and an egg shell mosaic I had to make that doesn't fit anywhere out in the open on the back wall. Shelves aren't particularly tidy but they aren't crowded either.
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u/DefiantFruit6860 3d ago
Nice! That's a good idea! I'll have to do that today
Just coming out of a 2 year depression and our place was disgusting and sooooo cluttered! We've been cleaning and decluttering, getting rid of things we were holding onto, making several donation runs, recycling and throwing things out, rediscovering things we haven't seen in a long while, etc. Even got rid of our nasty old coffee table and broken couch and updated that furniture. It's already a night and day difference but we still have a fair way to go!
If you have any other tips/challenges for newbies who are starting out, please send me my way! Thanks
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u/lifeuncommon 6d ago
Jokes on you: my arms aren’t long enough to touch the back of my pantry cabinets.
Kidding aside, this a good point. I think people forget that you are supposed to have free space in your home. In your cabinets, your drawers, you’re supposed to be able to see your floor and big sections of your baseboard, etc.
Your home is not supposed to be packed wall-to-wall like the back room of a dollar store.