Decluttering challenge – Week 27 – Night Table Drawers

Two-drawer night table with an alarm clock on top. 52-Week Decluttering Challenge - Week 27 - Night Table
52-Week Challenge23 Comments on Decluttering challenge – Week 27 – Night Table Drawers

Decluttering challenge – Week 27 – Night Table Drawers

Today, we’re kicking off the second half of the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge with some night table decluttering. If you missed the mid-way recap, I reported that I had decluttered 716 items in the first 26 weeks. Let’s see if I can beat that total in the second half!

This post was originally published in July 2021 and republished in July 2024.

Before we start, I have a fun story to share. Decluttering can be quite lucrative, and you never know what you’ll find. Last year, when clearing out my night table drawers, I found $250 that had been given to us for our 25th anniversary a year earlier. I had tucked it away in a drawer until we found something we wanted to buy, and then completely forgot about it.

I don’t think this week will be as profitable, but you never know.

Are you ready for week 27? Let’s get decluttering!

What is the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge?

In this year-long journey, we’re tackling one task at a time with the goal of cleaning up and organizing our homes. If you’ve just joined us, no worries. You can jump right in with this week’s challenge. Just check out the first two posts in the series to download your free checklists.

You can get easy access to all previous weekly posts on the main Decluttering page.

White night table with drawer open - 52-Week Decluttering Challenge - Week 27 - Night table drawers (Pinterest image)

Week 27 – Night table decluttering

My night table has 3 drawers. When I emptied them out, here’s what was in them.

Pile of contents from night table drawer - Week 27 - Night Table Drawers - What I started with

That’s a lot of stuff in 3 small drawers!


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This week’s decluttering and organizing tips

Before we get to what I got rid of, here are my tips and learnings from week 27.

  • Declutter drawers first, before surfaces. When I decluttered my bedroom surfaces last week, I put a few things away in my night table drawers. As I emptied out my night table drawers today, I realized I should have done the drawers first. That would have avoided me taking things I’d put in the drawers last week out and having to sort through them again.
  • Decide what each drawer is for. It helps to keep things organized if each drawer has a designated purpose. For example, my top drawer contains things I use regularly like my journal, my eyeglass cleaning cloth, and my prayer cards and books.
  • Small baskets are great for keeping smaller items organized.

What I got rid of

Here’s what I got rid of this week. A total of 47 items!

Pile of contents from night table drawer - Week 27 - Night Table Drawers - What I got rid of
  • 6 bottles of nail polish
  • 1 manicure set
  • 3 packages of nail art stickers
  • 1 sewing kit
  • 3 prayer books
  • 15 pamphlets
  • 3 dried up pens
  • 2 nail files
  • 1 sunglass clip
  • 2 eyeglass cases
  • 1 business card
  • 1 bible cover
  • Headphone adapter
  • An empty container of eyeglass cleaner
  • 1 broken storage tin
  • An empty pill container
  • 1 rosary
  • A flashlight
  • An earplug container
  • 1 set of headphones

And…here’s a before and after shot of my top drawer. It’s much less cluttered and more organized.  

Two drawers side by side - one cluttered, one organized - Week 27 - Night Table Drawers - Before & After

2024 Update

It has been three years so I’m rebooting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge to see how much I can get rid of in 2024.

After the good progress I made last week, I hoped to continue to momentum this week. Since my first decluttering challenge, I’ve mostly avoided stuffing things mindlessly in my night table drawers. Even so, I found 10 items to get rid of, including some stale candies, cloth masks, and a few books and papers.  

Pile of assorted items decluttered from night table drawers

So that’s week 27 done. I didn’t find a large amount of cash this time around, but I did get rid of a lot of things I had decided to keep last year when I did this task for the first time.

If you have friends or family members who could benefit from a little less clutter in their lives, please share this post and spread the word!

Do you have any tips for organizing your night table drawers? Tell us below.


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Hi there! I’m Michelle and I live in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. I am married with two young adult daughters. I’m a big fan of reducing waste, using less plastic, decluttering and simplifying life as much as possible.

23 thoughts on “Decluttering challenge – Week 27 – Night Table Drawers

  1. Reading your list of things you got rid of made me realise I need to be more ruthless. I need to think about whether I will actually use items rather than keeping them because they’re not used/empty etc ….except notebooks. I can never have enough stationery 😁

    1. That’s the trick, Brenda. We keep so many things because “we might need them”. But will we? And I’m with you on the notebooks. I probably have a dozen or so of them laying around the house. LOL

      1. As you can imagine, we’re clearing out some of my MIL’s things. Probably linked to that mindset of keeping things ‘for good’/special occasions, I came across a boxed canteen of cutlery that looks like it’s never been used. I’ve got something similar at home. I’ll be updating my cutlery when I get home

        1. Ha ha. I have one of those canteens with cutlery we received as a wedding gift. I use it three or four times a year. At some point I expect the cutlery, and my good dishes, will be for everyday use.

  2. Oh my goodness. Will you send a team over to tackle the table on hubby’s side of the bed? Urgently. I’m pretty sure there’s no cash hiding out…but one of everything else seems to be there. 😜

  3. That was a great decluttering exercise, Michelle! I noticed you now have space in one of the drawers! I don’t think I’ve ever had that! LOL The baskets are such a great idea!

  4. I think the nightstand is one of those areas that become a ‘catch-all’ or a place to store all the junk since it conveniently located next to the bed. You decluttered so much 🙂
    by the way, have you finished this decluttering challenge yet? How much more ofyour house do you have left to declutter?

    1. Yes. It’s definitely a convenient place to store things and it’s one you don’t often think to declutter. I’m just over half way done the challenge. I started in January and I’ve finished most of the “big” areas in the house. I’ll wrap up by the end of December.

    1. Ha ha. I understand why you wouldn’t want to put your undies on display! Glad to hear some of my posts motivate you to clear out. Every small step helps.

I'd love to hear your ideas. Drop me a comment below.

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