One of my biggest goals in my quest for simple living is to do it
without clutter. For me, too much crap
lying around breeds discontent. I feel
claustrophobic, disorganized and just generally yucky.
I did the extreme approach recently in that I purged darn near
everything I owned in order to basically start over. Now granted, this was in conjunction with our
move to Arizona, but I realized after our plans fell through and me moved back
into our house that I really could have done this anyway. So even if someone isn't planning to move,
one could still purge and begin again if one was wishing to do so.
Now that we are settled back in it is as important as ever not to fall
victim to old habits and start cluttering up the place again. So far, so good. Now that I have the basic furnishings and
items I need to live comfortably all I have to do is maintain it. And I have to say it is so much easier to do
so when you have less stuff to begin with.
With our things unpacked, put away and organized I find it is much
easier to keep it that way. I clean less
often. I organize waaaaaay less often
because I don't need to. Even though we
own fewer clothes and only about a quarter of the towels and linens we use to,
surprisingly I do laundry less often and it gets done quicker.
Less time spent cleaning and maintaining my stuff frees me up for
other things I find more enjoyable. We
spend more time together as a family, more movie nights, more time with
friends and we have more time to just sit and relax. I also have
the time and energy to raise chickens and work on my gardening skills. Quality of life is steadily improving.
Every day I work to keep clutter at bay. I sort the mail and the papers the kids drag
home from school right away. We put as
much paper and junk mail into the recycle bin as we can. Newspapers get read, coupons get clipped and then
placed in the recycle bin. Not allowing
things to pile up and accumulate is important.
We regularly go through clothing to donate as it gets
outgrown. I'm still getting rid of stuff
I don't need or use anymore. I'm using up what I already have instead of buying new whenever possible. I replace
items as they are worn and the worn items get tossed out or repurposed. I kindly turn down offers from well meaning
friends who try to give me stuff they no longer want. I shop less.
One of the key things we've done is to develop new habits. Every night we make a sweep through the house
before bedtime to pick up and put away our things. The day before the trash is collected we make
sure and gather everything that needs to go regardless of how small the amount
may be. We try our best to consistently
clean up after ourselves.
Keeping clutter at bay is a constant work in progress. One we will continue to work on daily. How are some ways you manage to clear clutter
in your home?
We just took another load of "stuff" to a charity yesterday, more will leave. It is easier to live with less. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. My goal is to eliminate as much "storage" as possible. Use it up or move it out!
DeleteDana, I'm in awe of how well you are organized and keep your home running smoothly.
ReplyDeleteMy newest mantra is purge,organize, purge ! We live in a 696 sq ft house with 3 closets. There's not a lot of room for extra stuff. The biggest "pain in my behind" are the TOYS !!! Why do people feel they must give kids tons of toys? I'm constantly throwing away broken toys or boxing up toys to donate. Does a little girl really need 5 Barbies to destroy?
How did you manage the "toy dilemma" when your girls were little ?
Thank you for sharing your ideas I always appreciate them.
Vanessa B
Remember, I literally emptied my house out. Toys were a tough one. I did bins and labeled them with pictures of what was inside. I literally told people not to buy my kids toys, book, etc. at times because they had more than they needed. We were always purging and donating. Lots of stuff went in yards sales too. Looking back it all seemed tremendously wasteful. I'll be touching more on this in next week's post. :)
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