So far I am thrilled with the progress we have made in decluttering our home. Last weekend I tackled the living room and foyer closet, and this weekend, the kitchen. Not quite finished with the desk area of the kitchen, but the room in general is a whole light lighter on 'stuff.'
Here is what I've purged in the last couple of weeks:
36 music CDs
12 lanyards
1 camera
1 camera case
6 pair of eyeglasses/sunglasses
13 movies
9 skeins of yarn
5 tote bags
1 pair snow boots
4 hats
12 candles/scent items
49 dishes/cookware
64 utensils (measuring spoons/cups, whisks, knives, scoops, etc)
27 plastic lids
2 vases
15 cloth napkins
18 napkin rings
10 place mats
2 aprons
3 pot holders
10 tea towels
7 tablecloths
4 chair covers
44 miscellaneous items
355
Total so far: 713
This does not include the approx. 50 items I've thrown away (almost half were bread ties!)
To keep motivated I've been continued to read blogs on minimalism/decluttering; and I was especially glad to run across one that is faith based: Christian Faith and Minimalism.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Friday, January 9, 2015
Short update!
Our early efforts to get rid of Christmas-themed items paid off to the tune of $18.50. These were holiday decorations we sold at my neighbor's resale shop. Not a huge amount of money, but better than nothing. I also brought home a few items that she did not sell. Not sure how I'll handle the tally of items that are returned to me, but I suspect we will just donate to get them out of the house.
We have also set up a schedule to help us keep on track over the next several months.
Last night I cleaned out our winter gear and will give away:
12 scarves
10 hats
7 gloves/mittens
________________________
Total so far: 358
We have also set up a schedule to help us keep on track over the next several months.
Last night I cleaned out our winter gear and will give away:
12 scarves
10 hats
7 gloves/mittens
________________________
Total so far: 358
Friday, January 2, 2015
One step forward, two steps back
Maybe I should have known better than to start such a big challenge in December.
The first set back we had was the busy pace of the season. There is no way we could get rid of 1000 items in one month (my amended goal after a discussion with my husband). If we had time to declutter that might have happened, but we definitely did not have time.
The second setback was my plan not to buy any decorations during post Christmas sales. Our outside decor was showing its age. We live on a tiny cul de sac and I noticed our neighbor had pretty silver and gold decorations (do you hear Burl Ives in your head?) My old ones were blue and white; our lights were so bad we had two strands of colored, and one strand of white--of which only half lit up. I came up with the idea of buying silver and gold oversized ornaments to color coordinate with the neighbors and energy saving LED C-9 lights.
Thankfully, the post-Christmas sales were pretty deep; I bought about two dozen ornaments, but the average price was only about $2. We also bought two reels of lights for about $12--a huge discount for large LEDs. The upside is we should not have to spend as much for electricity as the old style lights.
The step forward was that we did manage to do some cleaning and got rid of several items including five boxes of books.
We said goodbye to:
13 Christmas items
4 stuffed animals
27 items of clothing & shoes
5 soup plates (but I bought new ones to replace them)
3 purses/totes
17 household decor items
160 books!
----------------
229 items
total items removed so far: 329
So to recap: I didn't get rid of 1000 items in December, but I did get rid of over 300. And I bought new Christmas decor.
2015 is now here and I'm ready to start decluttering again!
The first set back we had was the busy pace of the season. There is no way we could get rid of 1000 items in one month (my amended goal after a discussion with my husband). If we had time to declutter that might have happened, but we definitely did not have time.
The second setback was my plan not to buy any decorations during post Christmas sales. Our outside decor was showing its age. We live on a tiny cul de sac and I noticed our neighbor had pretty silver and gold decorations (do you hear Burl Ives in your head?) My old ones were blue and white; our lights were so bad we had two strands of colored, and one strand of white--of which only half lit up. I came up with the idea of buying silver and gold oversized ornaments to color coordinate with the neighbors and energy saving LED C-9 lights.
Thankfully, the post-Christmas sales were pretty deep; I bought about two dozen ornaments, but the average price was only about $2. We also bought two reels of lights for about $12--a huge discount for large LEDs. The upside is we should not have to spend as much for electricity as the old style lights.
The step forward was that we did manage to do some cleaning and got rid of several items including five boxes of books.
 |
| Goodbye books! |
We said goodbye to:
13 Christmas items
4 stuffed animals
27 items of clothing & shoes
5 soup plates (but I bought new ones to replace them)
3 purses/totes
17 household decor items
160 books!
----------------
229 items
total items removed so far: 329
So to recap: I didn't get rid of 1000 items in December, but I did get rid of over 300. And I bought new Christmas decor.
2015 is now here and I'm ready to start decluttering again!
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