I normally don't do New Year's Resolutions, but this year I have vowed to purge our house of clutter. The amount of stuff we have is obscene, and I can't stand it anymore. With two little boys, a husband who has lots of outdoor hobbies, and very generous immediate families, it does't take long to accumulate stuff. WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!
I've been inspired by a couple handy tools that I found on Pinterest in the form of calendars that assign you a different task everyday: i.e: January 2nd; clean out the junk drawer; January 3rd, clean off the top of the kitchen cabinets; and so on. I'm sure these work great, but I have a simpler system that I've used in the past.
Here's the plan: I'm going to start in the back of the house in the master bedroom and work my way room by room through the entire house. I'll place a contractors trash bag and several boxes in the room to be purged. The contractors bag is for trash and the boxes will be labeled "DONATION" AND "CONSIGNMENT/GIVE TO FRIENDS". I'll go through every square inch of cabinet, closet, shelfs and under the bed. If I haven't used or thought about it in the last 6 months; it's got to go in one of the three piles.
I estimate this process to take about 4-6 hours per room. Once the piles are established, they have to get out of the house immediately. Otherwise, the kids and hubby will start protesting and digging stuff out. The donation boxes will go to my charity of choice; Big Brothers Big Sisters. BBBS sponsors those green boxes that you see all over town. The items that you donate are sold to Savers by the pound and all monies stay in Central Arkansas to help support mentoring at-risk youth. For a complete list of drop off locations, you can check out this link: http://www.bbbsca.org/donate/clothing-donation-program/
As for the other boxes, these will typically contain items that I want to pass along to friends (those adorable smocked and monogrammed jon jons) or get some return on investment (Coach purses and Seven jeans). I've got my eye on a new purse, so maybe the consignment proceeds should be my reward for waging this war on clutter. Oops, I forgot..... "no more new". *Sigh*
So that I don't get overwhelmed, I'm going to give myself plenty of time to tackle this project. The goal is to be completely done by June, just in time to enjoy those lazy summer days lounging in the pool - guilt free!
What is your method of purging and organizing? I'd love to hear your tips!
I cleaned out my closet before Christmas and it felt wonderful. I got rid of clothes that I have not worn in ages because they are too big (yea!!) but I was hanging on just in case. I gave them to a friend who has started her weight loss journey and she was tickled to get them as most were newer and name brand (plucked from clearance racks).
ReplyDeleteI didn't touch my shoes although I took out 3 purses. Still got lots more to do.
I have taken the room at a time approach as well and it works great. breaks it into bite size chunks that give you a feeling of accomplishment.
what i need help with is how to keep it clutter free???