I know many of you have no idea how to start decluttering your home. So, I'm going to show you how. It's spring and the need to purge is HIGH on my list! How about yours? It should be...
Maybe you may not think you have much to declutter, but you do. I do. I went into working on this post thinking that I didn't have much left to declutter -- but, boy was I wrong! Maybe you have SO much you don't know where to start. So, follow along and you'll soon discover the joy of decluttering -- just be careful because you could feel the exhilarating freedom of getting rid of stuff you really don't need!
First, find a cupboard or a specific area in your home to start on - whether you have a LOT or a little. I'm choosing my cupboard below my display cabinet as a small place to start. It's not big and it seems to not be so bad. Right?
Here is the inside of the cupboard. For some reason, the former owners had the furnace return through here, up from the basement and so it's got this ugly return vent on the pretty built-in, but also has a piece of wood inside from when we ripped out that system and put in a new one. Long story to tell you the cabinet history! Anyway, it's not horrible but it's got clutter, meaning stuff I don't need that isn't doing anything for me and taking up space.
I took everything out and laid it on the floor for you to see - and myself. This is the second thing I do. I make decisions pretty quickly, but I base it on a few questions: Do I really need it and can I live without it? When is the last time I looked at or even knew it was here? My thinking often is, can I get a hold of something if I needed it from a friend later on {if it's like a serving plate or some sort of object} if it's really necessary? The frames I hadn't used and were in there for at least six years - don't need them, give them away. One of the containers was empty, don't need it, gave it away. I kept my husband's beloved VHS baseball tapes {didn't toss or giveaway any of his stuff}. The candles were in bad shape AND we don't use candles in this house because of allergies. So, they were tossed. The boxes that the pictures came in were in bad shape, they were tossed. I relocated some frames to be hung on my gallery wall or put in my office. I did all this in 15 minutes.
I took pictures of everything I "listed" on my church free cycle group and began posting them to giveaway.
I found several boxes of pictures, like this one. The temptation is to stop and look through all the pictures. But, resist it -- for those of us who tend to go from project to project {sort of ADD style} it's easy to get lost in looking at them. Again, my plan is to declutter, not get sentimental. I can look through them another day when I have more time.
I grabbed a couple of cute open fabric bins that See Jane Work sent me and tossed in my photos that were already in their little albums {from many years ago}, the mixed box of photos I just left in there and put in the fabric bin, and the other single VHS and cassette tapes in a smaller fabric bin.
And, what a difference all that made!
Then, I went and did it in another cupboard, and another....then, I started looking around the house at open shelves and in drawers. By the time I was done...this is how much stuff I listed on my freecycle. I also had another THREE bags full to send to charity. And threw away a few more things.
I sat down at my computer, immediately, and set up the pick up time for the charity truck to come and get the bags that were full -- this way I have no excuse or they don't lay around her for weeks on end for me to take somewhere. It usually hits me in the middle of decluttering -- where I think "why do I still have this?" It's seriously freeing to have that stuff out of here. I rarely miss it. If anything, it just makes me realize that it's been here for years and I haven't done anything with it so I need to do this regularly!
If you follow me on Instagram {BeckyB_OMF} you would have seen part of this process laid out...and hopefully even more inspired! Are you struggling to get rid of clutter? Make it your goal to go through one, small cabinet this week!
Maybe you may not think you have much to declutter, but you do. I do. I went into working on this post thinking that I didn't have much left to declutter -- but, boy was I wrong! Maybe you have SO much you don't know where to start. So, follow along and you'll soon discover the joy of decluttering -- just be careful because you could feel the exhilarating freedom of getting rid of stuff you really don't need!
First, find a cupboard or a specific area in your home to start on - whether you have a LOT or a little. I'm choosing my cupboard below my display cabinet as a small place to start. It's not big and it seems to not be so bad. Right?
Here is the inside of the cupboard. For some reason, the former owners had the furnace return through here, up from the basement and so it's got this ugly return vent on the pretty built-in, but also has a piece of wood inside from when we ripped out that system and put in a new one. Long story to tell you the cabinet history! Anyway, it's not horrible but it's got clutter, meaning stuff I don't need that isn't doing anything for me and taking up space.
I took everything out and laid it on the floor for you to see - and myself. This is the second thing I do. I make decisions pretty quickly, but I base it on a few questions: Do I really need it and can I live without it? When is the last time I looked at or even knew it was here? My thinking often is, can I get a hold of something if I needed it from a friend later on {if it's like a serving plate or some sort of object} if it's really necessary? The frames I hadn't used and were in there for at least six years - don't need them, give them away. One of the containers was empty, don't need it, gave it away. I kept my husband's beloved VHS baseball tapes {didn't toss or giveaway any of his stuff}. The candles were in bad shape AND we don't use candles in this house because of allergies. So, they were tossed. The boxes that the pictures came in were in bad shape, they were tossed. I relocated some frames to be hung on my gallery wall or put in my office. I did all this in 15 minutes.
I took pictures of everything I "listed" on my church free cycle group and began posting them to giveaway.
I found several boxes of pictures, like this one. The temptation is to stop and look through all the pictures. But, resist it -- for those of us who tend to go from project to project {sort of ADD style} it's easy to get lost in looking at them. Again, my plan is to declutter, not get sentimental. I can look through them another day when I have more time.
I grabbed a couple of cute open fabric bins that See Jane Work sent me and tossed in my photos that were already in their little albums {from many years ago}, the mixed box of photos I just left in there and put in the fabric bin, and the other single VHS and cassette tapes in a smaller fabric bin.
And, what a difference all that made!
Then, I went and did it in another cupboard, and another....then, I started looking around the house at open shelves and in drawers. By the time I was done...this is how much stuff I listed on my freecycle. I also had another THREE bags full to send to charity. And threw away a few more things.
I sat down at my computer, immediately, and set up the pick up time for the charity truck to come and get the bags that were full -- this way I have no excuse or they don't lay around her for weeks on end for me to take somewhere. It usually hits me in the middle of decluttering -- where I think "why do I still have this?" It's seriously freeing to have that stuff out of here. I rarely miss it. If anything, it just makes me realize that it's been here for years and I haven't done anything with it so I need to do this regularly!
If you follow me on Instagram {BeckyB_OMF} you would have seen part of this process laid out...and hopefully even more inspired! Are you struggling to get rid of clutter? Make it your goal to go through one, small cabinet this week!
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