Lilacs are a sure sign of Spring in New England

🌸 My Spring Cleaning Adventure Begins

Spring in New England: Flowers, Mud… and Decluttering

Ah, spring in New England.
Fresh air, cool breezes, mud season… and flowers bursting out everywhere you look. It’s a lovely time to go hunting for blossoms — but it’s also the season of spring cleaning and decluttering.

Junk Luggers emails me weekly, just in case I forget they exist should I ever decide to take a backhoe to my closet.

My Slow‑Motion Decluttering Journey

I’ve been trying to declutter since last fall. I make small inroads, then stall out. I pick up the scrapbooks and, instead of tossing them, I settle in to reminisce with the cats. Needless to say, the scrapbooks have not left the room. In fact, I may be preparing to make more.

So what can I do to make decluttering even a little more successful?

AARP Says 30 Days… I Say 30 Months

According to AARP, it just takes a bit of planning and time management. They claim you can declutter your home in 30 days.
Huh. I doubt I could do it in 30 months.

AARP argues that you don’t want to leave a cluttered home behind when you die because it’s not fair to your survivors. It has a bit of an End‑of‑the‑World vibe. Instead of “Repent, the end is nigh,” it’s “Declutter before you die.”

Week 1: Bathrooms, Entryways, and Cars

Their first suggestion is to stay motivated. I guess that means not settling down with a stack of scrapbooks.

They recommend dividing the project into “achievable tasks.” For example, Week 1: spend 20 minutes a day cleaning bathrooms, entryways, and cars. Stick to the time, they say. Don’t try to do too much or you’ll burn out.

My Reality Check: Banner, Balboa, and a Missing Entryway

In my place, I only have the vanity to clean out. That could be a problem since getting on my knees means I need a crane to get back up.

Banner declutters the medicine cabinet- the results My medicine cabinet is pretty empty thanks to Banner, who likes to open the doors and pull hairspray and other items onto the floor. My meds aren’t kept in the bathroom — too humid after a shower — so they live in a pretty box under the coffee table.

Balboa has reserved the shelf on the bathroom storage cabinet as his throne, so that’s clearly off‑limits.

I don’t have an entryway.
And my car? Everything is already corralled in a cargo box in the back: shopping bags, miscellaneous bits, and a small cooler from my DoorDash days. I already brought in the binoculars and the window cleaner.

So Week 1 is done… sort of… except for the vanity.