I’m sitting here in the dark with only the soft glow of the iPad for illumination. Sounds romantic? No! I just got too lazy to get up and turn the light on. I’ve spent the last three days, cleaning, packing, purging, boxing up and decluttering. It’s physically and mentally exhausting. When someone comments, “But doesn’t it feel great.” I say “Noooooooo!” I’d rather be sitting on the sofa, surrounded by my useless clutter with a cup of tea watching reruns of “Murder She Wrote.”
I’ll keep working on it “till I get ‘er done!” In the meantime, I’ll share some tips and tricks that I found on Pinterest for decluttering your home. I think the most useful tip is to stop being sentimental about your “things.” It’s the most useful tip, I didn’t say I agree with it. I have to force myself to part with every tiny little thing.
Do an initial sweep
Grab a box and a large garbage bag and starting at one end, do a walk-through of your entire house. Scan each room, quickly grabbing anything you see that you know is either garbage or no longer needed. Place items in either the donation box or the garbage bag. Keep going until you’ve made your way through the entire house. See how easy and painless that was? Even if you don’t make it through the rest of the steps, you’ve already made a ton of progress!
Clear out one area at a time
After your initial surface purge it is time to dig a little deeper. At this point it is not a good idea to start randomly delving in to more than one area at a time; you will quickly become overwhelmed. Instead, start with one manageable area–a room, a corner, a closet, a cabinet, or a dresser–armed with a box for goodwill, a laundry basket for things that need to be returned to their proper place, and a garbage bag for the trash. Then get to work and don’t leave your area until the job is done!
Ruthlessly purge
Give yourself permission to only keep the things that are currently useful, despite who gave them to you or how much they cost. This can be really hard, especially at first. That’s where the ruthless part comes in. As you sort through your things, ask yourself these questions:
Do we use it, wear it, or play with it? If it is clothes, does it still fit?
Is it in good working condition?
Does it enrich our lives in some way?
Does it have sentimental value?
Could someone else use it more?
It is helpful to make 4 categories: 1.) Things to keep in this area, 2.) things to donate, 3.) things to throw away, and 4.) things to put elsewhere (keepsake box, seasonal items, or things that belong in a different room). Once you’ve cleared an area and put away all the items that belong elsewhere, move on to the next area. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Get it OUT of your house
Once you’ve determined something needs to go, get rid of it as quickly as possible. Don’t let those boxes of donation items sit in your garage or basement for months on end; inevitably someone in your family will start digging through it and the clutter will be right back where it started. As soon as you’ve filled a box, put it in your car so that you can drop it off at the nearest donation center as soon as you can.
I personally am not a huge fan of hosting garage sales–to me they are too much work for too little payout–but if you do want to throw one, do it right away. I do usually sell bigger items on Craigslist, and occasionally we will also just take a picture of multiple small (but) nice items, list all the items, and sell it all for one flat price. Those type of listings always go really quickly! (For more tips on selling your stuff, check out this post)
Read more at http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/2013/03/08/clearing-clutter/#gkq85zjHVI9v9HGY.99
Now for the tailspin. This is just the tip of the iceberg. But, as the iceberg melts and the Titanic sinks into the sunset, it will get done.
Can I help it that I think EVERYTHING is beautiful?
Toni Andrukaitis 