Do you ever go on vacation and pack very few things and realize — you simply have too much STUFF at home and it’s almost all unnecessary? You’ve been living and functioning this entire time without all the stuff, and you actually felt lighter …. less bogged down? The spring weather always makes me want to go room by room and PURGE ….. Get rid of all the things!
Have you heard the term minimalist living? I strive to keep things at bay in our main living areas, mainly because if I don’t, things can get out of hand quickly with my kids and their things. So I stay on them about that …. I let them clutter their rooms up as much as they want, because it’s too hard to stay on top of! But the living room, my office, hallway, dining room …. I work hard to have the philosophy of “everything has a place.” The kitchen is always a battle, but man, do I feel better when there is not stuff all over the table and counters!
So, where do you begin? The experts say to go room by room. Start with the room that accumulates the most clutter (for me, the kitchen!) If you have items in the room that you simply don’t use, pitch them. This can be trash, recycling, or donation. Empty your cabinets and eliminate any duplicates. Toss all of the expired goods 🙂 Check all of your utensils and if there are duplicates, ditch the ones you always pick last, and toss the ones that are broken. If you have open shelving it could be fun to get some plates and cups that you love to look at and ditch the others. Most importantly, keep your counters and table clear, it will definitely help you to overcome some of the clutter madness.
The bedroom is a place that you should strive to keep free of things laying around, which I’m sure we all battle. Clear your closet of things that you don’t wear or that don’t fit, and put all items away. Clutter comes in forms of blankets and pillows, too … if these are laying around and you’re always moving them out of the way, just donate them and be done with it.
The bathroom is sometimes a quick and easy fix. I bet if you’re like the normal household, you have empty bottles laying around. Toss those, and again, things that are expired can be thrown away, along with products that you had to have, but simply don’t use.
Same goes for the office … Take some time to purge the paperwork that isn’t necessary to keep on hand after so many years. Have plenty of organizers in place, from filing cabinets to storage, to give all of your items for work and bills, etc. to have a place to rest aside from being strewn all over your desk.
So try it! Conquer your home one room at a time, and delight on the bags upon bags of stuff that you can remove in either trash or donation form that is simply not a necessary component of your daily life. It is quite a freeing feeling! With all the extra time we’re spending at home these days, I think we could all use a bit of that 🙂
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