There is nothing like January to make me want to get rid of 75% of the items in my house. It actually all starts when I'm packing up our normal decorations to decorate for Christmas. I never seem to realize how much decor (largely: books and glass things) I own until I have to put most of it somewhere else for ~6 weeks.
That, then all the buying and receiving that comes with Christmas. Then packing away Christmas and getting all the usual decor back out...by early January I am DONE with most of my possessions.
That's mostly in a fit of "WE OWN TOO MUCH" that can last from a few hours to several weeks. You could ask my husband how many times this year alone I've gotten overwhelmed at the state of the basement (I place I mostly go to do laundry and retrieve food stored down there). It might be hitting the double digits of rants and today is only the 24th.
(To be fair, I'm not ranting at him, more just over the general state of the basement and how it's been YEARS since I would consider it clean and mostly organized. I get easily overwhelmed by stuff.)
So with the busyness of December behind us, feeling freshly overwhelmed by all we own, January is prime time to do a good, full house purge.
I did this in January 2018 and, all together, found 248 things to get rid of. 81 of those coming from mine & Matt's closet/dres ser and another 35 in home decor! It's crazy how much I can find to get rid of when I am in the right mood!
So this year I plan to do the same thing, although I am slightly behind 2018 seeing as it's January 24th and I have yet to start whereas last year I finished my last space on January 26th. Last year me (the one with only 1 kid) was so much more on top of things than this year me (I have only finished 4 of the 7 things on my own "Starting the Year Right" list, and one of those we did back in August!)
There are a plethora of ways to go about this but the key is finding the right one that works for you and what is motivating you. Personally, I want all my cupboards/drawers/cabinet to be easily opened and not overstuffed. I want to own less so I have less decisions to make; so I don't have to filter through clothes I don't like in my own closet to get to the ones that I do. So everything in our house is the best or our favorites (or the things we need to be functioning, clean, fed humans).
Here is my process:
1) Make a list of all the spaces in our house
We have a small-ish house but I still list 14 different spaces, none of which are even the garage or basement (I could get rid of SO MANY things there if I didn't, you know, share them with my husband and have to take his hobbies and interests in mind.). I do include my kids' toys and clothes. I've been sneaking things away from Luke since he went back to school a couple weeks ago and he has yet to notice. SOMEONE has too many toys. I also include my husband's clothes on my list but I get him to go through those.
2) Pick the biggest problem area to start
This would be the tupperware drawer that doesn't close, the dresser drawer that is too full to shut. If you have too many things to fit the space they have been designated than you probably have too many of that kind of things. Sometimes they need to move to a bigger space but usually it's just that you own too many.
I went through this a few years ago with my own t-shirt drawer. I don't know why I had to many. I pared it down to about 5 t-shirts - a few to wear around home in the evenings, a couple to sleep in over the summer, and that's it. My drawer now easily shuts and I'm much happier about it. Also, I know I wear one of two t-shirts when I put on my yoga pants at night so I don't have to think too hard about which one it will be.
3) Get rid of some low hanging fruit
I have yet to really start this project (or maybe I will have between when I am writing this and when it posts) but I have already added over 10 things to the garage sale/donate pile. I could easily come up with another 5-10 things just off the top of my head. Once I start it's easier to keep going. I'm guessing most of us could come up with a few things they know are "extra" without even moving from your current location.
Then it's just blocking out some time and getting it done. I hope to get through the kitchen after school some day this week, then I'll probably tackle the bathroom. The hardest one on my list will be going through all the boxes of clothes we have stored in the attic - clothes the boys have grown out of or have yet to grow into. Those are a bit of a pain to pull out, sort, and put back. BUT some of them are also not shutting so #2 is really in effect: we have too much.
I don't usually like the actual doing of this, I'd much rather read a book, but I also don't like this constant feeling of being overwhelmed by how much we own. I've been on almost a decade long quest to own less and I know I am always happier for having put in the work. I will report back with how the process is going and my final totals when I am done! Join along!
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