This is my first post of what I plan to make a regular feature at ARMCHAIRDECORATORBLOG:  10 Minute Tidy posts.  Before I get started with my Tidy project, let me explain where this phrase came from.  When my kids were younger, we had a couple of VCR cassettes of “The Big Comfy Couch”.  At the end of each episode, Loonette the clown looks around her messy living room and says, “Who made this big mess?” and then speed cleans it with a “10 second tidy”.  I incorporated this idea as a way of getting my 5 children to help tidy up the house quickly.  The time limit depended on how messy the house was, usually 2, 3, or 5 minutes.  A 2 minute tidy equated to 12 minutes of fast work if you added up all 6 of us busting a move to clean up.  My kids really didn’t complain very much about these “tidies” because they knew that there was a limit.

These days, I still challenge myself to do speed tidies, especially when there is a task that I would rather not do.  The chores seem so much easier, and I swear I work 5 times faster when I’m focusing on beating a clock.  Think how fast you accomplish tasks when you know company is almost due to arrive at your front porch.

So, 10 Minute Tidy project #1 is my bathroom junk drawer:

Way to much stuff in this drawer.  I have been putting off cleaning it out for a long time.  Realistically, I knew that the job was really not a biggie…it was all mental.  With a 10 minute time frame in mind, I quickly emptied everything out and sorted like items together.

Ridiculous!  Who needs this many contact lens cases!

All of those little bar soaps that you get from hotels?  We don’t even use bar soap around here.  Note to self: from here on out… leave them at the hotel!  Time to donate to a good cause.

I started throwing all of the half used hotel lotions in the trash until I came up with a great plan:

My body butter tub was nearly empty, but after squeezing the contents of all of our mini lotion containers, it was full.  Free lotion!  Those, I will keep bringing home from hotels.

Less than 10 minutes later…

…my bathroom junk drawer is noticeably less cluttered.  I don’t hate opening it anymore!

What quickie project could you go do right now?  How about a bathroom drawer?  On your mark…get set…TIDY!

 

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