Are you decluttering your home, too? I’d love to be able to share your success story with other KOAB readers! Please consider submitting the before & after pictures of your decluttering project — you can do so HERE.
When we were getting ready to move to Cleveland, we spent a good amount of time purging our home of anything we deemed “not worth it to pay to move”. Toys that my kids hadn’t played with in years – gone. Kitchen gadgets that we only use once in a blue moon – gone. Clothing, books, linens – gone, gone, gone. We probably donated or sold about one-third of our possessions before putting our house on the market.
(This strategy really helped us keep our home “show ready” during that brief, yet miserable, period during which our house was on the market.)
The only thing we didn’t downsize during the Great Summer Declutter was winter gear! In fact, despite the fact that it’s been a relatively mild winter so far (pfut, pfut, pfut), we have added to our winter gear collection even more. All five of us now have snow pants; we’ve got gloves, back-up gloves and “just in case we lose both of those pairs” gloves.
I moved our gear to Cleveland in two clear plastic tubs, which I immediately stuck in the coat closet. The newly purchased gear wouldn’t fit in them, so I added a third tub to the closet.
Teetering on top of those tubs was a basket of shoes, because my family seems to think that the very best place for every.single.pair of shoes they own is the front hall.
Ugh! Imagine trying to find a pair of mittens in that mess in the morning!
(The time we waste, by the way, has been the major “chidush” for me of decluttering this month. We humans waste a staggering amount of time looking for stuff. Decluttering is, above all else, about adding efficiency to my life — which ultimately means greater calm and peace in my home.)
As always, I did step 1 of decluttering: Clear the space. I pulled everything off the floor, and then swept and washed it. It’s a very old wood floor, with baseboards that desperately need to be repainted. I briefly considered repainting them, but decided to leave that insanity for another day.
Then I went thru the coats and put two into our growing giveaway pile (too small); I also moved five spring/summer-weight coats into the guest bedroom closet. This gave the closet a bit more breathing room, which is good because when we have company over I’m always having to smash their coats in.
Next I sifted thru the tubs of winter gear – pulling out a few too small items and then sorting everything into containers by family member. My husband and I have the smaller red baskets on top of the closet and the kids’ containers are on the floor. I also had the kids bring their umpteen pairs of shoes back up to their bedrooms, just leaving a few pairs of winter boots on a boot tray.
By the way, I’d really love for all the baskets and hangers to be matchy-matchy, but since I’m committed to making this decluttering month as low-cost (no-cost, ideally!) as possible, I decided to just use what I already had on hand.
Are you joining in with me on this 31 Days of Decluttering challenge? Let me know what you decluttered today?
Do you, too, feel the need to get a better handle on the stuff in your house? Join me for the 31 Days of Decluttering challenge! Maybe you’re willing to take on one project a day (remember: small ones count!). Perhaps you’d rather pick four problem areas, and give yourself a week to work on each one. Maybe you just want to tackle your basement for once and for all. It’s all good! Everyone is welcome to join.
Day One: Decluttering the Toy Storage Closet
Day Two: Decluttering the Top of a Bedroom Dresser (Finish What You Start!)
Day Three & Four: Decluttering the Master Bathroom
Day Five: Decluttering My Desk
Day Six: Join the Decluttering Challenge
Day Seven: Decluttering the Computer
Day Eight: Decluttering the Night Stand
Day Nine: Decluttering a Kitchen Counter in Less than 10 Minutes
Reader Share: Decluttering the Front Door Hallway Table
Day 10: Decluttering a Bedroom Closet
Day 11: Taming the Paper Clutter
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