Today’s Declutter List:
- a pair of shoes that aren’t very comfortable
- a sugar bowl – as my daughter would say, “Mom, are we really sugar bowl people.” Since I drink unsweet iced tea and use honey, if anything, in hot tea I would say the answer is no. If you visit our home and want sweet tea you’ll need to go into the pantry and get it out of the canister (big plastic tub). Sorry, but that’s as fancy as its going to get around here. One less thing on the counter.
- a green basket that hasn’t settled into a permanent home in the last round of declutter. I don’t want to just find a use for it. There are plenty of baskets in the world if I suddenly develop an overwhelming need for one – or I could just get rid of whatever I was going to store in it.
- an empty binder and two folders. The paper they held is gone. Don’t need to hold onto them.
- a stapler. I staple (maybe) 3 things a year. We have a small stapler available for school use. I don’t need the big office-style one also. I also don’t need three boxes of 5000 count staples. What was I thinking or where did they come from?
- a sweater that I love the look of but never wear because it’s scratchy and not comfortable. Life is too short to wear clothes that you can’t really live in.
- a glass jar that held a lot of matches – the kind that you need the box to light. The box got wet and was pitched. I would imagine the matches did too. In any case, I can’t use them. Matches are gone too. I’ll buy one box of matches to replace the damaged ones. A small box. I don’t need a whole jar of matches. In case of an end of the world scenario, this will not be the house to come to in order to obtain matches. Sorry.
- matches (see above)
- a skirt that technically “fits” but I’ll probably never wear it because it’s a little shorter than I’d like.
- a blanket that smells a bit “doggy”. We have two for the dog that sleeps on the floor – one for the floor and one for the wash. Don’t need three – just more laundry.
Why ten items today instead of five you might be asking? I was really discouraged yesterday and today. Instead of giving in and feeling like giving up, I decided to tackle the problem head on. I’ve begun my cleaning up for Thanksgiving company (I’m actually dusting!) and I’m dealing with the piles of clutter that already exist and that seem to pop up as I tidy closets and drawers.
Does emptying the canister on the vacuum count as an item if I had to do it twice in the bedroom? I swear our dogs should be bald at the rate they shed hair. If I vacuum again tomorrow it will be almost as bad.
It’s getting harder to find things to pitch or donate. That’s a good sign, right?
FaithAcre Studio | Kelly Barrow 
How long have you been actively decluttering?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a very good question and one I partially addressed in my blog post just now. But, more specifically, I’d say for nine years (off and on). The first time that I realized that clutter was an issue was when we had our fourth child and lived in a small house with not enough bedrooms or storage. It was always a mess. The mess wasn’t a new issue, but I just became more aware that there was a problem (with a possible solution) When we moved to our larger house, I decided that only half of what we had would move with us. It would be a fresh start. Stress, depression, and anxiety contributed to the clutter continuing. I’d say that a series of life upheavals in the last three years started a more active decluttering lifestyle. I knew that I wasn’t happy and that change needed to happen. The last 3 months are so, I’ve gotten obsessively compulsive about getting my act together. I have seen a real lifestyle change in the past few weeks. I’ve just felt the need for clear surfaces, calmer colors and less stuff. I don’t know that I’ll ever be done!
LikeLiked by 1 person