Almost every home has one room where the leftovers end up. For a creator who posts as @RoutinelyRachael-s9v, that room is her closet, and clearing it out turned into a funny, relatable tour of what happens when things have no place to live.
Episode Seven Of A Whole House Reset
The short post is part of a series in which she is getting her entire house, from top to bottom, “hibernation clean.” It is episode seven, and the title calls it Day 7 of deep cleaning and decluttering her whole house because she intends to enjoy her mortgage. Her stated goal is simple. She wants to spend the winter and the holiday season in a cozy, comfortable home, and she says a giant mess is neither of those things.
The Catch All Closet
She explains that there is always one room that becomes the catch all for items with no home, along with whatever projects are currently underway. Her current project is sorting her children’s clothing, and at this point, she says, it has landed in her closet.
Her strategy for a while had been to close the door and pretend the room does not exist. That works until it does not. She says she reached the point of tripping over things just to get to her own clothes, which meant it was finally time to deal with it. She asked her audience whether they also have a “dumpster fire” room like this one, and she described the closet as a good picture of what is going on in her brain.
What Was Hiding In There
What she found, she says, was truly diabolical. There was a random bowling pin, and she had no explanation for it. There were pieces of projects from months ago, possibly from their last house. There was the last box she had been putting off, which holds important documents that she worries she might accidentally throw away. There were Cheerios, and she asked the question everyone would ask, “Why are those in my closet?” And there was a piece of food her dog had buried in the closet, because she thinks she has the only dog that buries food instead of eating it.
After throwing out a bucket of things and decluttering shirts that date back to literal high school, she says the closet is completely transformed and much more relaxing. She invited people to follow along for the next room.
Why Catch All Rooms Happen
It is easy to laugh, but the reasoning behind a catch all room is something most people recognize. When a house has no clear home for an item, the item goes wherever there is space. A closet with a door is especially tempting, because it hides the problem. Over time, the room collects half finished projects, bags meant for donation, papers, and things you meant to deal with later.
Unfortunately, the mess does not stay contained. As she found, it starts to affect daily routines, such as getting dressed in the morning. When you can no longer reach the things you use every day, the clutter has stopped being a storage issue and become a daily irritation.
How To Tackle Your Own Closet
If you have a similar space, a few tactics keep the job manageable.
Take everything out. Emptying the closet completely lets you see how much is in there and gives you a clean slate. It looks worse before it gets better, but there is no faster way to see what you own.
Bring a bucket and a trash bag. She mentions throwing out a bucket of items, and that is a smart image. One container for trash, one for donations, and one for things that belong in other rooms keeps you from carrying items around the house without a destination.
Sort children’s clothes by size and season. Keep what fits now and what will fit soon, pass along what is in good condition, and remove anything stained or worn out. If you save pieces for a younger sibling, store them in a labeled bin so they do not become another pile.
Deal with important papers on purpose. The box she was worried about is a common problem. Instead of avoiding it, set aside a short session to go through it. Keep a folder for identification, tax records, and insurance papers, and shred what you no longer need. Many people hold tax records for at least three years, but check the guidance that applies to you.
Check clothing honestly. Shirts from literal high school are a classic. If it no longer fits, or you have not worn it in a year, it is a good candidate for the donation bucket.
Give every item a home. The reason this closet became a catch all was that items had nowhere else to go. Decide where batteries, projects, and seasonal items belong, and put them there right away.
Planning A Cozy Season
Her phrase for the larger project, a hibernation clean, is a lovely way to frame fall decluttering. Instead of treating the job as a punishment, it ties the work to a reward: a home that feels warm and calm when the weather turns and the holidays arrive. If you plan to host guests or simply spend more time indoors, tackling one room a day, as she is doing, can spread the effort so no single day feels overwhelming. Start with the room that bothers you most, since the relief from that first win tends to carry you into the next one.
The Takeaway
This closet reminds us that decluttering rarely starts with a big dramatic plan. It starts when something small, like tripping over a bowling pin, becomes impossible to ignore. Take it one room at a time, expect strange discoveries, and enjoy the relief of opening a door to a space that finally feels calm.
