How do I get there?? From here? The same way you eat a mammoth. One. Bite. At. A. Time. (Did you read that story in college too? I hope so, I can't remember the name of it but it's actually an elephant in the story.)
Only my problem is not a mammoth, it is however a mammoth problem!
We moved to this house officially in June 2014. I have tried to make it a beautiful and relaxing place for us to be after work or wherever. Yet, I only feel this way in a few rooms.
Our Living room is great and I try to keep things put away and picked up in there.
So, right now(without running to clean it up) this is what it looks like. And part of my dining room.
Ok. Not too bad, but it still needs some work. For example, in the foreground you will see the closet doors and the shower curtain that belong in the bathroom. But, we are doing work in there so I'm excusing that for the moment. There are dog toys on the floor, but that is a constant battle. Shoes that I am responsible for even though I'm working on making the entry way an easier place to put things when we come inside. And the pillows and covers on the couch could be nicer looking. But, I'm not ashamed of this room. It's where company can sit and chat. I have a few papers on the tables that should be moved, but meh. I'll get to it I suppose.
There it is! Those things that I should be doing, but for some reason I'm not doing them yet. Those little things start to add up around us and make our houses look tired and then make US tired. Who wants to live like that? Nobody WANTS to, but a lot of people feel like they have to, when they don't. I'd love to be able to live in a tiny house. Maybe 600 sq. feet? But, I am not there in my own life yet so it's a life goal for me. Maybe one day I can release enough things to do it! I love this one because it has stairs and a place for guests. I would put a murphy bed in the back bedroom and have an extra space in there when nobody needed the bed. There are pictures that show you this on there website. But, I digress.
This is my decluttering/cleaning method. I grab an empty laundry basket and walk through the room looking for things that I don't like, need some repairs, or just don't go in that room. Then I put them in the basket. I go to the next room and do it again. I usually can only do 2 rooms and then I need a break. I put all the things in the basket that I don't like, need repairs or just don't go in that room.
Then I take all the things and look at them on the floor (usually it's the living room.) I decide if I should keep it and what it is doing for me or DH. If nothing, it goes in the donation box. If I think it's helping us or just needs repairs I might put it in the maybe pile or the pile to go to my sewing room for needed repair. Then I take what's left in the basket and run around the house putting those things away where they should have been previously but weren't. This gives me time to think about those maybe things. I like to come back to it again, usually I decide it can go away. But sometimes I make a nice spot for it and it stays. When I'm done with that I put the donation box in my truck so that the next time I'm in town I can drop it off at the thrift store.
In February I filled up the backseat of my Truck with stuff that I no longer wanted or needed. I sincerely hope that someone can find a place for it as most of it is still useful (except knickknacks, but they were ok I guess.)
I do have to mention that this is an ongoing process if you continue to bring stuff into your house. If anyone uses something they should be trained (especially myself) to put it back when they are done. It only takes a couple of seconds to maintain this, but if you put it somewhere else it might take hours to track it down. Do you really want to spend your time this way? I don't, so I keep at myself with this task of putting things in their 'home'.
I hope this process helps you. If not maybe you can find a better way to declutter your home. I usually can get 2 rooms done in about 15-20 minutes. Just do a counter space or a drawer at first. I wouldn't do more than 15minutes. It tires you out in a weird way to think about all your stuff.
Sometimes, I even take a nap on the couch if I feel like it. It's kind of my thank you to myself. Plus, you can choose what's important to you in life as well and what's not. I don't think that shopping is important, I'd rather thane stuff TO the thrift store. (Ok, DH says to put that I DO like to shop but only at craft stores. I have to admit that is true. I'm working on it! Nobody is perfect!)
I'm going to go declutter my craft room now. Bye for now readers.
What are you decluttering today? Do you have a different method that you use?
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