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Monthly Clean Home Challenge: Clean Out One Drawer

Welcome back to the Monthly Clean Home Challenge daily task!  I am on a quest to maintain a clean and organized home in less time and the goal is simple; four daily tasks, four weekly tasks and one additional quick task each week day. 

In no particular order, here are the individual tasks I am tackling each day this month:

1. Make cleaning supplies
2. Cycle clean appliances
3. Clean out cars
4. Clean out microwave
5. Wipe down cabinets/appliances
6. Wipe down trim/doors
7. Clean out one drawer
8. Clean out fridge
9. Clean out freezer
10. Vacuum under furniture
11. Vacuum mattresses
12. Clean oven
13. Clean out one closet
14. Wash out garbage can/recycle bin
15. Wash windows
16. Scrub grout
17. Clean out one cabinet
18. File paper piles
19. Purge bathroom toiletries
20. Clean out pantry

Today I am chatting about the extra task:  Clean Out One Drawer

Up until this morning, I assumed that today I would finally dump out the junk drawer in my kitchen and discover all sorts of good hidden treasures.  Then I woke up and looked over at my nightstand and knew that all month I had been planning to clean out the wrong junk drawer.


Oh, wait, my nightstand actually looked more like this when I opened my eyes:


It is like my nightstand is the counter of our lower level; everything lands there.   Jewelry, bobby pins, books and magazines, more bobby pins...


Lipstick, chapstick, nail polish, a bin full of random project items and even a label maker?  Then, inside was worse.  A jumbled mess of items, some I hadn't used in a very long time; everything from lotions to journals to my kid's stuffed animals.  This drawer was the ideal candidate for today's cleaning task!

I started by clearing off the top of the nightstand along with emptying the contents of the drawer.  I placed everything into a pile on the floor for sorting.


Using a dusting mitt, I went over the entire nightstand, getting into all of the grooves in the wood and along all of the edges.  I followed up with wood polisher {homemade version is 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 tsp castile soap, 4 drops essential oil}.


I then vacuumed the interior of the drawer.


I didn't purchase any organizers or products for this quick task.  I just purged, put quite a few things back to the places they truly belonged and was left with a simplified nightstand top and drawer.


I used some existing organizers to corral the mints and lip balm, along with a few other personal items.


Everything else was just tucked back inside in a single layer so I would no longer have to dig to find anything.  Expiration dates for any lotions/cosmetics were checked and only things that I use frequently enough made the cut.



As far as the top is concerned, just as I prefer to wake up to a clean kitchen in the morning, I really love to look over and see a clutter free nightstand when waking up.


Just as I was for the interior of the drawer; I was also selective about what returned to the top of the nightstand.


A small dish to hold any bobby pins from my daily hair bun and my favorite daily jewels, along with a brass elephant statue which is perfect for my rings.


This week I received a special floral delivery from my dearest friend, so I snipped a few of the roses from the bunch to place at my bedside.  Is there anything better than waking up to the smell of fresh flowers?  I think not!

Oh!  And I finally swapped out the drawer pulls which I had found inside the bin.

And because every drawer clean-out needs a before and after photo....


Tada!  Drawer clean out day is done!  Only one week of the challenge left!  Happy weekend my friends!