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If your home feels like many areas are bursting at the seams - it might be time to really think about decluttering and purging items from your space.
Take a moment and get real with yourself:
When you open your drawers, closets and cabinets are they overflowing?
Is your garage filled with piles of things to either donate or put away, you just haven't touched them?
Or do you have other areas in your home that have piled up or left bare because you just don't know what to do with them?
Then ask yourself how you feel when you enter certain spaces of your home:
Does opening this drawer make me feel stressed or relaxed?
When I pick out clothes in the morning do I even wear half of what I own?
Am I stressed with looking at clutter then never actually pick up certain piles?
How much is my home draining my energy on a daily basis?
If you're answering yes to most of these - it happens to most of us!
Living in a simplified home and becoming more minimal with your things, can create more relaxation in your home, along with gaining more time from not having to clean/tidy so much.
What would you do with all that extra time (even the mental load it makes us carry?)
I'm pretty good about clearing out my closets and drawers, but this year as we rang in the New Year, I was diving even deeper. I started thinking about how many items I might use daily or in a week, and getting rid of the excess.
For example, we had a decent amount of (organized) glass food containers, but weren't using half of them in any given week. So I donated the extras we weren't using and it made so much more room! I wasn't trying to make them fit every time I washed and put them away.
I did the same for my bedroom and bathroom drawers - do I really need 10 hairclips? No, I kept the colors I liked and donated the rest. Do I really need 15 pairs of socks or underwear when I do laundry twice a week? No, I kept 8 of each and cut that drawer in half.
Over the course of 4 weeks I found myself going through every inch of our home and getting rid of anything we don't need, use or if our style has changed.
I started small and found it was kind of a fun high to see how much I could get rid of and the space I could create.
This process allowed me to also tackle home decorating projects that I just never tackled because I didn't know what to do with the space - like our TV console... it was left empty with messy wires for 2 years! Now it looks beautifully styled along with 2 baskets for the kids toys (most toys are kept in their playroom in our basement or in their rooms).
The most important part of decluttering and purging your home is how you want the space to feel.
I didn't realize how every time I opened our food storage drawer in our kitchen how annoyed I was with the overflow. Now when I open it, it feels roomier and brighter.
When I open my dresser to get dressed in the morning, it just feels airer.
There's a lightness that is being brought into every nook and corner of our home and I really love this feeling!
It's also challenged me to be more mindful of the items that come into our home with so many leaving. I want the spaces to remain feeling light and airer, and not weighing down my mental energy. It makes our home just feel more lifted, so the space I created in our home is how I want it to stay.
For my closet, if I buy something new, I always get rid of one or two items to make room. This philosophy will carry into the new space we've made.
If you're feeling stuck, just focus on one area at a time, and start during the week before your period (the time of month you're far more open to cleaning/purging).
Starting with one drawer will actually motivate you to do more. This is how I kept going over 4 weeks. It felt super motivating and was extremely satisfying seeing the space we created.
I naturally challenged myself to other areas of our home I could declutter and organize.
What's odd is our home didn't have a lot of "stuff" as we often purge. But I was also proven wrong by going through things we kept for "just in case" we like it again or need it again. If it had been 2+ years, it went in the donate pile. We clearly weren't going to use it.
Here are 15 simple household items you can declutter this weekend:
extra Tupperware you don't use on a weekly or monthly basis
clothes you're not wearing or don't make you feel good
extra pairs of jeans/shirts/shorts/dresses that may look the same and you don't actually wear
extra underwear and socks you never end up wearing in your weekly rotation
kid toys and clothes they've outgrown or are not using (kids need way less toys than you think. It sparks their creativity to play with less)
food and spices you don't use or are expired
home decor or picture frames you just don't like or use anymore
books you know you won't read again
kitchen appliances you never use, even if you had the best intentions
hair products/styling tools you don't use or have multiples of. Keep your favorites and sell/donate the rest
extra shoes you never wear (you don't need 30 pairs)
extra pillows/sheets you never use
old papers/bills you actually need to keep
old school projects/artwork or photos you don't need to keep
outdoor equipment that is broken or not needed
I'm excited to hear what you clear out of your home and how it feels!