LOVE. LIFE. TIP #7
Davina
7 Comments
declutter.
I try to declutter my house about twice a year. I don't know about you but with 4 kids it seems that we are a magnet for STUFF...alot of it. One of my girls' room needs to be decluttered about every other month (from the pictures here I'm sure you'll be able to figure out which room that would be!). I love getting all of the stuff we've acquired but don't really need out of my house. We give things to D.I., The Goodwill, or Salvation Army. It helps other people and makes my life feel more clean and much simpler. Even though my kids fight me tooth and nail when I'm trying to get rid of everything (that has suddenly become their favorite, most dear things in all of the world) they love to come into their room when I'm done and have all of the clutter gone. They love the clean space and the simplicity.
If you're feeling like you have no idea where to start in your house here are some ideas.
**Get a garbage bag and start walking through your house and just putting everything in it that you need to throw away. You'll be surprised at how quickly your bag fills up. A lot of things sit around our homes that we just get used to having around and don't realize that you really don't need it anymore. Take a second bag and walk around your house and look for all of the things that someone else could use that you don't use and put them in the bag.
Usually, this is enough for me to do to get the bug for cleaning out everything else. Remember to take things in little bite sized chunks and in no time you'll be living simpler and fresher.
**The process you see in these pictures is not my usual way of decluttering. My son decided to help my girls get their rooms cleaned out since he'd heard me talking about how badly it need to be done. He took everything out of the little hideways, shelves, and crevices and made a huge pile in the middle of their rooms. This method works also...anything to just get it all out of your life and help you to live with more simplicity.
NOTE: This round of decuttering I can't take credit for...it was pretty much Mike and the kids who did it while I was at a meeting....I'm pretty blessed...
Gracie was so excited to have her room clean again. She was jumping on the beds and feeling so good to have all of the stuff out of her little space in the world. The little series is of Grace working out a karate chop move she came up with....
simple. LIFE.
Reader Comments (7)
I love Gracie's karate chop move! I just want to squeeze her. Squish-ably cute! Thanks for the reminder to de clutter our lives and in more ways than just stuff but activities and promises we can't meet too!
Amen! Ahhh...I feel so much better after seeing your "after" image! Clutter totally stresses me out. Can your children be any cuter? They must lead the most creative, fun life!
Millie, so true. Clutter isn't just the stuff that we can see...it's also totally about all of the ways we clutter our lives up. Usually what's around me can be a pretty good indication of what going on in other aspects of my life. I'll be talking more about that in another LOVE. LIFE. TIP. :) Thanks for posting Millie. You always give me such a wonderful boost. Thanks for being a great friend.
Jill-ugh! I know. Everytime I see those first two pictures I can't believe I exposed everyone to #1 my life all out there and #2 the stress that just looking at that mess gives me. It's such a big deal, especially for photographers who are so visual. Your surroundings really need to speak to you in non-stressful very sustaining and creative ways. Oh! And, of course, I'm bias about my kids...lol. I hope they have fun, creative lives. They are all very creative and beautiful...on the inside, too. Thanks so much for commenting! It feels better to have comments after you've completely put something like this out there! lol.
THANKS! for talking about this clutter issue. I've got to do it but it seems sooo overwhelming so the bag idea has given me a place to start!!! So how do you get over "I paid so much for this stuff (junk) I don't use"?
Jackie, I hear you! Sometimes we feel like we need to attach the same value to something as the price. If you don't use it, don't like it, don't need it...it isn't valuable. Give it away to someone that will love it and use it or give it to a charity. Try not to keep things because you think you SHOULD. Get rid of anything you don't love. You'll feel much less weighed down. For me if I'm on the fence I tell myself, "If I need one I'll buy another." Over the many years that I've been declutter and the thousands of pounds that I've given away I think I've only ended up buying lilke two things. You can do it!!
Davina,
Thank you for sharing. :) I am just about to post a blog about my office that i decluttered (and redid). I'm amazed at how bad it was before...I can actually work in there now and use it for what it's supposed to be. SO, this post made me feel better about sharing those scary details of my life. You're such an inspiration!!! THANK YOU!
Now, on to declutter my daughter's room. UGH!
Kelly, That's so funny that you are about to blog decluttering your office, that's my next blog tip! I just decluttered my studio!
Have fun decluttering your daughter's room. I just finished decluttering my front closet a couple of minutes ago. The scariest room in the house to go through for me is my kids' art/activity/playroom...that's next on my list...I may need rescuing if I don't come out by Monday morning.
And thank you for your sweet words.