It feels great to declutter. It’s also a great organization tool. Previously I thought that organization was all about rearranging my stuff and buying more storage containers. Turns out that some of my problem spaces that I could never keep organized were simply because they were too full of stuff! Our linen closet stays much cleaner now that we have a reasonable amount of items in it. I donated three full bags of linens to a local animal shelter. Who needs three sets of full-sized sheets when you don’t have a full-sized bed?! I’ve been challenging myself about how much of one item we really need. How many sets of sheets does one person really need? Probably two per bed max. Towels? Again, probably two person max and a couple extra for overnight guests. I think it’s just easier to do laundry more often than to store so many of one item.
A popular decluttering method is to take everything out of a
space. Take all of your kitchen items
and spread them out on the living room floor or kitchen table. Then group like items together, assess what
you have and what you don’t use or can live without (purge, purge, purge), then
put everything back in the original space.
This sounds like a great approach to me, but I don’t have that kind of
time. I get small windows to declutter
and organize when my babies are napping.
So I puruse cabinets and closets pulling out a few items at a time. This is probably why my first purge that
populated the spring garage sale was not 100% effective. I’m now going through round #2 and challenging
myself again about what I really need to keep.
While it’s hard to let go of my stuff,
it is sure nice not to have kitchen
drawers that I can’t open because they are too full or to have to dig in the
way back of a cabinet to locate the item I need.
When I’m decluttering I ask myself:
· How often and how recently have I used this
item? If I can’t remember the last time
I used it, it probably doesn’t need a spot in my home.
· Do I have another item that can accomplish this
task? I got one of those handy choppers
(the kind you press down on over and over to chop) as a wedding gift. I rarely used it because I either used my
mini-food processor or a knife that could accomplish the same task.
· Do I find this item beautiful, and if so, do I have
it displayed? If it’s in stored somewhere
because I don’t have room to display it…it’s on the chopping block.
Sometimes my stuff
tears at my heart strings even though I know that I don’t use or need a
particular item. I have to remind myself
why I declutter:
·
To eliminate unnecessary things that take up space in my home that I have to organize, dust,
and clean.
·
Because I shutter to think about what our home would
look like in 20 years if we don’t.
·
To own fewer things
so that I appreciate more what I do have.
·
To focus on what truly matters in life.
·
To teach my children that life is about
relationships and caring for people and not about accumulating things.
·
To be a good steward of my money and guard my
home against future clutter.
·
To monitor what I bring into my home and make
sure that it has a use and a place.
·
Because organized, uncluttered spaces ease my
mind and relieve stress.
What truly amazes me about the amount of stuff we’ve gotten rid of during 2012 is
that we really don’t notice anything is missing. If you came to my house today, you wouldn’t
look around and think my house looks empty or incomplete. If you cooked in my kitchen, you wouldn’t be
lacking for the proper kitchen tools.
But somehow in the 13 years since I’ve moved out of my parents house, my
things had multipled many times over. The more I declutter the more I realize, less
really can be more.
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