I have been really slack on the blogging front, haven’t I?
Ok, so don’t answer that. I have, though, been rather organised in the home –
partly due to not being on the computer.
This last month or so I have been decluttering and
reorganising rooms. I am one who, as a child, would stress at Christmas time
thinking about where I was going to put everything. I have not (until now) been a
declutter freak. I never hoarded to the point of disaster, but close enough. It
is easier than you would think to get rid of stuff, but it does require a lot of guts. I have been chatting with a
few people lately about my decluttering and thought I would share.
The amount of stuff we accumulate
over the years can make our homes fill up to the point of feeling cluttered. When you declutter the rooms in your home it will make you
feel lighter and more free to enjoy the things you have.
Be honest when you ask yourself the 10
questions here. So much of what you have is not necessary for the present
time. Let go of things from years gone by. You will then only surrounded
by things that you love, use and are precious to you.
ROOM BY ROOM
BITE SIZE -
When you declutter the rooms in your house do so in manageable bite sizes and
don’t think you can do heaps of other stuff too. For me I found allowing the
kids to stay in Pj’s and watch movies, and eating left overs for tea, was the best.
Otherwise I’ll do it when Aj is about to help with the kids.
TICK OFF -
Have a tick off list for each room.
BE TOUGH – ask
yourself the 10 questions then put the stuff in piles for either passing on or
taking to the tip. If you are unsure about items, put them in a box, date
it and shed it. If in 6 months you have not needed it, pass it on.
CONSOLIDATION –
Have one main area for things like books. Or instead of having lots of shared pencil
cases, put textas and pencils together in a big tub and label it so. Labeling
clear boxes keeps things neat and tidy and makes it easy for people to find
what they are looking for.
CLOTHES
When my mum came over in February, after the girls were
born, she helped me go through the kids' clothes. We changed the clothes up a
size and as we weren’t having to save clothes for a baby boy, we got rid of
those. When going through the clothes we had three piles:
KEEP - how
many of this item do I have/need?; is it in good nick?; do I love seeing my kids
wearing it?
PASS ON – you
only need a certain number of each item; the clothes just will not suit or fit
the next child
BIN - Stained or out of shape clothes, and those needing fixing, went in the bin.
Think about what you are passing on - especially to Op
Shops! - as they have to pay huge amounts in tip fees each year because people
pass on their junk.
FOLLOW-UP
Decluttering is an ongoing process. Now that you have
given your home a good declutter it will probably be a case (like my own home)
of putting things away in their spot AND if you no longer need an item,
don’t store it; pass it on.
All of this helps free you of unwanted things. It will open up your home and make it more inviting for people to come
and have a cuppa with you. Yes, they come to see you but they need to feel
comfortable and able to sit somewhere J
I hope this helps. My home is by no means spotless, in
fact there is a mess of sorts in most rooms as I write this but decluttering
has made the clean up process so much easier.
