I’m not sure what I was planning to post today, probably DIY Day, but I’ve been swept up into decluttering my house. Perhaps it was being stuck in the house for 7 days straight while my son had swine flu, but I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with clutter. I know that part of being a mom of small kids means living with clutter, but honestly a lot of it is mine. I held onto a lot because I was going to sell it at our yard sale, but then the flu kept me from participating. I’ve decided to let go of the idea of earning some money and instead get rid of things through Freecycle and donating locally.
Then, this morning, I read Amy’s post at MomAdvice about Reducing Clutter and it really hit home. I really liked this statement she made:
Sometimes I need to be reminded that having less instead of chasing every deal is part of living well while being frugal. Thanks, Amy! With that in mind, here’s my plan for the rest of the week:
Monday–I cleaned up the yard, weeded, cleaned out the shed, did everything that had been put off for weeks as not a priority. What a difference! Now when you look out the window, you see pretty fall mums and our few Halloween decorations.
Tuesday–Since this is my home morning, I’m tackling the kids’ closets and drawers, switching out the summer shorts and short sleeves for fall and winter clothes. The girls were good sports this morning, trying on lots of shirts and pants to see what fit from last year plus the “new to us” items I picked up at consignment sales. I settled on a small number of outfits (less laundry that way!) and will donate the rest.
Wednesday–With the girls at school, I can do something that requires a little more concentration: tackling the computers. I need to move my digital photos to one place (I use a program that sorts them by date and subject). We also have a laptop about to crash, so I’m backing up any essential files and deleting the rest. I will also get the actual desk cleaned up, file my receipts and do any other “paper” chores.
Thursday–I’m hoping to do a baking day with the girls since I volunteered to bring baked goods to a MOMS Club sale over the weekend (note to self–stop saying YES–you need less stress). Since I”ll be in the kitchen a lot, it’s a good time to sort through any cupboards or drawers that need a little organizing. They’re not bad, but if they need it, I’ll use my 3 Steps to Organizing Small Spaces.
Friday–This will be my morning to do any last-minute sorting (like the toys–while no kids are watching) and drop off the donation bags so I can enjoy a clutter-free house over the weekend. Yay!
What do you do to declutter your home, or how do you prevent it from happening in the first place?
Amy's post at Momadvice.com was great, thanks for linking. She turned me on to FlyLady.net a few months ago and it has literally changed my life. I love the FlyLady's approach of decluttering, organizing and cleaning, which tackles the emotional as well as physical tasks involved — and she breaks it all down into manageable chunks so you're not overwhelmed. She sends daily plans and inspirational notes that really get me going. I have noticed a huge difference in our house and my attitude — amazing! She is my secret decluttering weapon.
I have different colore landry basket for each person as I see clutter belonging to that person it gets put in their own basket then when I, of they go upstairs the basket goes also. Then later comes back down with dirty laundry, and the cycle starts over again.
Sharon at g mail dot com
Wow! You got A LOT done! Good for you!!!
PS I stumbled upon your blog this evening (don't even remember how I got here). I love your layout, the owls are adorable
I think just like you…split it up over a few days…one big task each day. I need to do a lot of those things myself actually.
I like to do a cleaning seasonally. I go through our belongings, see what has crept into our home that we don't use…shred documents we don't need to keep, cut fabric to recycle-sew stained or ripped clothing, and make a huge pile to send off to goodwill. I find that putting items up for sale, like at a yardsale or ebay is a lot of work sometimes. Who knew it would take effort to get rid of stuff.
Great post! Good luck this week! Abbie
Coming over from the Uprinting Ning Group to say that, holy cow you are my hero! You should see my house! No, actually you shouldn't. I broke my leg last January and was in a cast until July and whew, the folks around here just went nuts and I've yet to regain control!
I so need to get this . I sort while I do the laundry this way it doesn't get back into the rooms
I lost a whole 3 yrs of photo's on my computer this past summer SO SO sad. Good for you backing up I do that from now on