2024 Decluttering - Minimalism thread

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Hello all. Late last year, especially after watching some Youtube videos (especially The Minimal Mom and Simply This Life) and after watching Minimalist documentary on Netflix i finally resolved to make some major changes and start on a minimalism journey. I realized after all these years, the main reason why keeping home tidy was so hard and stressful for me was that , like so many , we had wayy too much stuff in the house. It was so hard to manage. Also, i've always been interested in sustainability in general and all the excess/overconsumption in our culture today was really getting to me. Plus, i realized with my kids now teens i only had a few years left with them at home and I want to maximize the time i have with them...I don't want all that time to be me constantly stressed out.

progress so far
- October, November
- listed/sold various things on Poshmark (clothing, accessories)
- cleaned up/redid my teen son's room - sold his old nursery furniture on FB marketplace , set up new elfa system ( reused what we already had for a lot of it)

- December-
-paid teen son to pressure wash/clean the back patio (i had to show him how to use it, it was kind of fun)
- sold many of the designer bags/accessories i wasn't using much to local designer bag resale shop (made about $4000)
- decluttered pantry and kitchen of unused/duplicate kitchen accessories

- January
- We got back Tuesday after midnight from holiday travel. I took this week off of work mainly to declutter the game room upstairs, since that had been a disaster for months. Also to finish decluttering since i know once i go back to work next week i will have far less time.

this week's progress so far.
- Sold ds's old wooden train storage racks on FB marketplace ($50) - we got a good ten years use out of them!
- worked with DS to completely clean/ detail inside of DH's honda ody (was bought new in April and had never been cleaned, filled one trash bag worth of stuff)
- donated a bunch of unused Tupperware and misc kitchen stuff on local buy nothing group
- decluttered game room upstairs with kids (halfway done, will finish today) - filled 3 large trash bags of trash so far
- dropped off 3 boxes of unused kids books, magazines to Half Price bookstore
- dropped off one trunk load of stuff at goodwill

What was shocking to me was that ALREADY, with my kitchen decluttered my kids (my TEENAGERS) were ACTUALLY DOING CHORES. WiLLINGLY. Without me even having to ask!! Y'all don't understand...my kids have almost no chores.. DH doesn't believe kids should be forced to do them. So I always felt keeping house tidy was always a losing battle for me.I would have to nag kids to pick up and it was never fun. They never wanted to clean up. Though this past few days after me offering incentive to pay them ($100) to help me declutter the upstairs they totally helped get the going. It went far easier when you have 3 people decluttering a space than just one! The other day i was making lunch (pasta) and my DD went and set the table! (We never set the table in our family) and DS made the pasta on the stove. The kids eagerly helped me drop off donations.

I think they are starting to see the benefit of getting decluttering/having less stuff . They also are probably seeing that with decluttered/organized home, mama is a much happier and nicer person to be around - LOL!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

helpful minimalist Youtubers for me:
https://www.youtube.com/@FancyThatwithCandice
https://www.youtube.com/@TheMinimalMom

These two are the ones I was drawn to the most primarily bc they were 1) moms of multiple kids and 2) were more "realistic" to me 3) did not come across as judgy at all. I think Candice was a former shopaholic/hoarder (which i can relate to the shopaholic part). Their videos seem to come at it from a compassionate and understanding point of view. TBH i was kind of turned off by many minimalist youtubers /IG'ers for the longest time because too many of them seemed to lead unrealistic lifestyles for me at this stage in life. A lot of them were in their 20s or early 30s, no kids, lived in warm climates, and were just unrelatable to me in general. I recently watched a few other YT'ers where they said they had no TV's in their house, they did not wear any makeup, kids did not have phones, never ate out - and i was like y'all - that aint happening here - lol. But seeing some minimalists who were able to make HUGE changes and still appear "normal" (at least to me) was a key selling point.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Decluttering progress so far

DONE (for now)
- kitchen
- master closet
- pantry
- guest room
- DS room
- DS closet
- back patio

in progress
- game room

still left to do:
- DD room
- DD closet
- kids computer room
- kids bathroom
- downstairs craft area
- master bath
- master bedroom
-garage

[jgenie]

Congrats!! Sounds like you’ve great progress!

I have realized that I have very little time left with DC at home. I want to clear out as much as possible so we’re not spending our time moving stuff. I made progress the last few years but still have more to go. I’m copying my list from last year to concentrate on those areas first.

Um - guess I didn’t get that much done last year after all…..


52 projects in 52 weeks
1. Library - counters, shelves, cabinets, toys
2. Mudroom - drawers, hooks, cabinets, closet bins, hanging clothes
DONE 3. Playroom closet - right shelves, left shelves, top shelves 4/22/23
4. Playroom cabinets - right, left, drawers, bottom
5. Dining room - china cabinet
6.
7.
8. Guest room large closet - right side, left side, shelves
9. Guest room large closet - bins, cedar chest
10. DS1 room - closet, dressers, book case
11. DS2 room - closet, dressers, book case
12. Office - bookcases
13. Office - closet
14.
15. Master closet
16. Master bath
17. Guest bath
18. DC bath
19.
DONE - 20. Kitchen - Drawers 2/1
DONE - 21. Kitchen - cabinets - 1/29
22. Basement - pantry
DONE 23. Basement - small storage 3/6/23
24. Basement - large storage middle
25. Basement - large storage right
26. Basement - large storage left
27. Basement - kitchen
28. Shed - shelves
29. Garage
30. Digital files
DONE - 31. Laundry room - 1/6
32. Taxes
33. FSA
34. Contacts / glasses reimbursement
35. Photography course
36. DC physical photos
37. My physical photos
38. Hallway linen closet
39. Hallway large closet - left
DONE - 40. Hallway large closet - right 2/6
41. Hallway large closet - center
42. Shed - floor
43. Outside - cabinets
44. Admin week - insurance quotes, going to get to it items - digital frames, outside camera,
45. Office - desk
46. Organize “If I were abducted by aliens” files

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks jgenie! i like how you put dates on yours, that is smart. i need to do that.

i'm almost done with the kids game room upstairs - the kids helped a TON.
today
- did second drop off at Goodwill
- made second trip to Half Price Books to trade in more kids books. DS also traded in 3 small unopened LEGO sets in addition some books - it added up to $17 cash back!
- i donated a few MM LaFleur dresses/skirts that I no longer wore to a friend who is a mentor to a woman who just started a new job - so happy !

now for past 1.5 hrs been doing DD's closet with her. Ended up tossing about half of her tops in the donation pile bc they were waay too small (kids size 10-12, and now at almost 13, she's a size 14-16 / womens XS) . Went through and tossed a bunch of stuff in the trash. There were unopened lollipops that looked like they were there for years.

even though the weekend is coming up, i've been in a major rush today bc tomorrow morning BIL and his family are coming over to stay with us for the weekend, so i will not be able to declutter anything while they are here. DN (who is 14) will be staying in DD's room with her so her room has to be decent shape. Up until recently it was the type of room where you could barely walk in it! It wasn't too horrible but DD has a full size bed and a desk/vanity in her room, so there's not a ton of extra space.

[essnce629]

I've been decluttering a bunch over winter break. I took one trash bag full of clothes (mine, DH's, and DS2's) to the thrift store this week and gave away a bunch of stuff on Buy Nothing. Today I'm Marie Kondo'ing all my clothes as I've run out of hangers and refuse to buy more! So every piece of clothing is currently sitting on my bed and so far I have another 2 trash bags full to donate and just started a 3rd bag.

[baymom]

Thanks for starting this thread— I’m inspired to move beyond aspirational decluttering to taking concrete steps! Love the idea of making a list of what to tackle by week, jgenie— I’m going to make one, too! On top of just making our house feel more peaceful and organized to be in, I’m hoping it will make it easier when we eventually move in a couple years.

ETA— I’ve been posting/giving away miscellaneous items every week since November, on my Buy Nothing group. For me, making the goal to post at least ONE item weekly was helpful.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Latia - love that concept of not buying anymore hangers - i have to tell myself too when i'm tempted to buy more!
baymom - Buy Nothing groups are awesome! i've been listing stuff all week in a local gifting group. It's a bit of a hassle sometimes to coordinate with folks on pickup timings and who's next in line for what...but overall it's effective. i get a dopamine hit every time someone claims something. :) Yesterday I gave away a Nerf gun rack with tons of Nerf guns (I had gotten the Nerf gun rack for free from that same site, but realized DS had outgrown/ lost interest) and the giddiness of people getting something so big for their kiddo for free was so cool to see. I do think it is definitely a good motivator so good job!!

[KrisM]

Wow, you're doing great! I am going to watch the You Tube videos. I have tried similar and found the same thing as you with not being realistic for us. My kitchen is pretty good as years ago I got rid of a lot and rarely buy gadgets or new appliances. It is pretty easy to keep it looking good. But the rest of the house is a lot harder. I keep saying I need DH to take the kids on a vacation for a month and I'll just declutter everything. But really I just need them all to help!

I feel like I start and then get distracted by something - college visits, robotics, etc. I like the idea of 52 projects in 52 weeks and may try that with small enough items that most weeks I should be able to pick something to get done. I struggle to just start something some times too.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

updated progress 1/7

DONE (for now)
- kitchen
- master closet
- pantry
- guest room
- guest bahtroom
- DS room
- DS closet
- back patio
-game room - 1/5
-DD room - 1/6
-DD closet 1/6

in progress
-master bath
- kids half bath (this also has a storage closet inside it, which is why it takes a while)


still left to do:
- kids computer room
- kids bathroom
- downstairs craft area
- master bedroom
-garage

areas that already decluttered somewhat, but probably could use more work later after everything else is done

-mudroom
-laundry room
-entryway console

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Update - BIL and family came over this weekend and stayed and it was SO AWESOME to have a decluttered house. OMG, i felt like a different person. Everything was easier. I was less stressed. Also, i noticed that DS, DD and DNiece were actually playing together with stuff that DD /DS hadn't played in years - indoor basketball, playdoh, board games, etc. I was gobsmacked! These are kids that usually were on their iPhones 95% of the time...even when they got together couple weeks ago at my MIL's house (which is not only small, but is filled with stuff making it feel even smaller). I could not beleive it. . I guess bc now the kiddos actually had the SPACE to relax, play and could actually see the fun toys & games we had! It was incredible.

I am never going back. I wish i would have realized this sooner!

[georgiegirl]

I’m inspired! Today I cleaned out our drug/medicine/band aid cabinet. We generally save drugs forever (DH thinks they never go bad), but today I tossed some really old stuff…some stuff from 2015 [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38].

I also cleaned out the water bottle cabinet and tossed some old ones that don’t have lids/mouthpieces.

Ds2 (10) loves to purge, and last November he cleaned up the entire playroom mostly on his own (he also went through his desk and DS1’s desk [emoji38])


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[♥ms.pacman♥]

update - throughout the week i've been able to declutter area near fireplace/ in living room. our living room looks better than it has in years. the cleaning lady came yesterday and was shocked at how orderly our house was, especially the upstairs kids areas! LOL. i feel like i can breathe easier.

the only hard part is DH's ongoing negative comments about it. Even though i'm doing all the work in decluttering, getting kids to declutter, taking things to donation centers, selling my items on poshmark/FB marketplace, and the house is considerably more organized, easier to clean, I can sense he is bothered by it and seems to looks down on it. In that sense, I can't help but feel somewhat defeated :( I do not know how to handle that aspect. If anybody has advice on how to deal with this sort of thing, i'm all ears.

[echoesofspring]

congrats ms. pacman, it sounds like you've made so much progress! I did not get the decluttering done that I wanted to last year, but we're working through it. One thing we did do was move our furniture around downstairs and I have to say that made a huge difference in how I felt about our house, and in the amount of clutter, there was something about the old layout that made things accumulate in a way they don't now.


the only hard part is DH's ongoing negative comments about it. Even though i'm doing all the work in decluttering, getting kids to declutter, taking things to donation centers, selling my items on poshmark/FB marketplace, and the house is considerably more organized, easier to clean, I can sense he is bothered by it and seems to looks down on it.
This is so frustrating, but I've found my DH is just a little behind me in making decisions about these sorts of changes, has some latent sexism (seems to thing kids clutter is ...my problem), and most importantly sometimes grumpiness/snark etc. are really a defense mechanism. I've seen my DH double down on stuff when he feels threatened by changes I'm making to make myself/my life better. (Recently with some lifestyle/weight loss changes I did - the better I was doing the more snarky comments/questionable food choices he was eating, etc.) When we changed our furntiture layout I spent a lot of time decluttering after it, I was so encouraged by the potential it revealed, I couldn't stop. But DH was basically done with that project once we moved the furniture and def dismissed some of my effort. Now he comments on how nice it is. Hopefully your DH can comes around once he lives in the environment and is more comfortable with the changes.

[mommytoalyssa]

I spent last school year decluttering--knowing this school year I would be working full time. It felt amazing! For me it was helpful to break big, overwhelming tasks like the kitchen into smaller jobs. One cupboard a day--but I pulled everything out, wiped it down, put in new liners, decluttered, and then put the remaining items back in an organized fashion. It also helped me not want to buy anything else!

Gretchen Rubin talks about "Underbuyers" and "Overbuyers" and people that like abundance and those that prefer minimalism. I feel like my dad, coming from a childhood that was dramatically affected by poverty, loves the feeling of having lots of items around him. Many displays of his collections, tchotchkes, etc. As a result of growing up surrounded by so much stuff and not loving that feeling, I feel better with very little in the form of collections or decorations in my home. I wonder if your husband likes the feeling of having "enough" or lots of things surrounding him?

Years ago we hosted a huge Boy Scout event at our house and a woman walked into our house, threw open her hands, and shouted, "You're minimalists! I love it! I didn't even know people actually lived like this!". I guess it was a compliment?! LOL

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks to you both! yeah hopefully DH will come around. he hates throwing anything out...but then he is starting to see how easy things are now that we have SPACE to do stuff, so maybe he will eventually get it....

i did a ton this weekend, and DS having a bunch of friends over (semi-bday party) on Sunday was a huge motivator. I did an "all day declutter" as part of that Take Your House Back course by three Youtubers (Minimal Mom, Clutterbug, and Dana K White). It was on sale for $94 and so far a few days in has been pretty worth it for me! Their approaches made tons of sense to me. The livestreams were very energetic.

updated progress 1/15
DONE (for now)
- kitchen
- master closet
- pantry
- guest room
- guest bathroom
- DS room
- DS closet
- back patio
-game room - 1/5
-DD room - 1/6
-DD closet 1/6
-living room 1/11
-downstairs craft area 1/13
-entryway console 1/14
-mudroom 1/15

in progress
-master bath
- kids half bath (this also has a storage closet inside it, which is why it takes a while)


still left to do (and estimated time it will take:
- kids computer room (1/2 day - maybe 1/27)
- kids bathroom (1 hour)
- master bedroom (2 hours)
-garage (1/2 day, at least - may have to break up)

areas that already decluttered somewhat, but probably could use more work later after everything else is done

-laundry room

[Percycat]

I've been decluttering a bunch over winter break. I took one trash bag full of clothes (mine, DH's, and DS2's) to the thrift store this week and gave away a bunch of stuff on Buy Nothing. Today I'm Marie Kondo'ing all my clothes as I've run out of hangers and refuse to buy more! So every piece of clothing is currently sitting on my bed and so far I have another 2 trash bags full to donate and just started a 3rd bag.

I did this over the new years weekend. I ran out of hangers and had clothes laying on top of my clothes rods...... I now have more than 10 pants hangers and I think 8 shirt hangers --- but I also got rid of a few platic hangers that didn't match the rest of my closet. I have a few shelves and drawers in my closet system which are all cleaned out. I still have to finish my night stand, three drawers in my dresser, my jewlery drawer, and two 'collect everything' shelves in my closet. I also need to get the bags of shoes and clothes for donation out of my house. I had hoped to finish this past weekend, but we were so busy getting two kids off to college and putting Christmas away......

[Percycat]

Congrats!! Sounds like you’ve great progress!

I have realized that I have very little time left with DC at home. I want to clear out as much as possible so we’re not spending our time moving stuff. I made progress the last few years but still have more to go. I’m copying my list from last year to concentrate on those areas first.

Um - guess I didn’t get that much done last year after all…..


52 projects in 52 weeks
1. Library - counters, shelves, cabinets, toys
2. Mudroom - drawers, hooks, cabinets, closet bins, hanging clothes
DONE 3. Playroom closet - right shelves, left shelves, top shelves 4/22/23
4. Playroom cabinets - right, left, drawers, bottom
5. Dining room - china cabinet
6.
7.
8. Guest room large closet - right side, left side, shelves
9. Guest room large closet - bins, cedar chest
10. DS1 room - closet, dressers, book case
11. DS2 room - closet, dressers, book case
12. Office - bookcases
13. Office - closet
14.
15. Master closet
16. Master bath
17. Guest bath
18. DC bath
19.
DONE - 20. Kitchen - Drawers 2/1
DONE - 21. Kitchen - cabinets - 1/29
22. Basement - pantry
DONE 23. Basement - small storage 3/6/23
24. Basement - large storage middle
25. Basement - large storage right
26. Basement - large storage left
27. Basement - kitchen
28. Shed - shelves
29. Garage
30. Digital files
DONE - 31. Laundry room - 1/6
32. Taxes
33. FSA
34. Contacts / glasses reimbursement
35. Photography course
36. DC physical photos
37. My physical photos
38. Hallway linen closet
39. Hallway large closet - left
DONE - 40. Hallway large closet - right 2/6
41. Hallway large closet - center
42. Shed - floor
43. Outside - cabinets
44. Admin week - insurance quotes, going to get to it items - digital frames, outside camera,
45. Office - desk
46. Organize “If I were abducted by aliens” files

I LOVE this idea -- but I probably need to identify a project a month. I could never keep this schedule...... Or, I need to identify small, managable tasks.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

I LOVE this idea -- but I probably need to identify a project a month. I could never keep this schedule...... Or, I need to identify small, managable tasks.

yup, small bite-sized pieces is key. it makes me much less daunting and thus makes me more likely to complete it. if i say "i have to wait until i have 2 hours on a weekend" then it less likely to get done - bc it's too easy to procrastinate. i know that/s why i put it off for years. whereas if i could do one drawer here in 10 minutes, one small area on counter is 15 minutes, a cupboard 15 minutes - that helps A TON! several youtubers (Minimal Mom, Simply This life) recently mentioned this tactic and it makes sense.

i did my kids bathroom (which was a DISASTER!!) on a weeknight (when i had meetings so not like i had tons of free time) and i was able to declutter 90% of it within one hour.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

updated Progress. at this point i make Goodwill / Half Price books dropoffs multiple times a week, and i give away at least a dozen items per week on local buy nothing grouip. this past weekend DD was hosting a party and we had several of her friends over for a few hours. this is third week in a row we host ppl over which is crazy to me. Normally i'd be embarrassed & very anxious to have people over given the cluttered state, but it was AMAZING how great it is now that things aren't as cluttered.

Also i've noticed my confidence in work etc has really improved. i heard several of the minimalist YT'ers talk about this and now i get it!! This whole time (more than a DECADE) i always just felt like i was a crappy mom for not being able to keep my house in a decent state, and it really did a number on my self esteem. I now realize it wasn't me, i just had waaay too much stuff . Many ppl dont let clutter bother them but it did always get me. Especially as i live in an area where many people show off their houses a ton (i've lived in various cities in 5 states, traveled a ton and never seen any other place take their housing aesthetic so seriously like the Dallas suburbs - lol ) .

Decluttered so far as of 1/21

- kitchen
- master closet - updated 1/19 to clear even more clutter /donate items
- pantry
- guest room
- guest bathroom
- DS room
- DS closet
- back patio
- laundry room
-game room - 1/5
-DD room - 1/6
-DD closet 1/6
-living room 1/11
-downstairs craft area 1/13
-entryway console 1/14
-mudroom 1/15
- kids bathroom 1/17
-master bath - 1/18 - decluttered my side/cupboards, not DH's - will have to do for now :)


still left to do (and estimated time it will take:
- kids computer room (1/2 day - maybe 1/27)
- master bedroom (2 hours)

STORAGE areas (putting this separately bc it's really a different category)
- kids half bath storage (1 hour?)
- laundry room storage (30 min?)
- gameroom storage (30 min?
-garage (4 hrs?)

My goal is to declutter the whole house (not-storage areas) by end of the month and then take a break for a few weeks.we shall see! im kinda addicted to it now and in a major groove so don't want to lose momentum... but on the other hand i am eager to take a break bc it is physically (and mentally) exhausting .

ETA: if anyone is interested, i signed up for this course few weeks back and it was EXTREMELY helpful for me (and i'm not even 10% way through all the videos). there's also a private FB group for the year and that's motivating too...it's like a huge virtual support group for decluttering. my new obsession! :)
https://www.takeyourhouseback.com/courses/take-your-house-back

[mommytoalyssa]

I'm so happy for you! I think it is really hard to keep your home decluttered and you are working F/T so it is really hard. You are doing an amazing job and it is inspiring! It makes me want to declutter/organize again but I just don't have the margin right now due to work. Enjoy your decluttered home!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

I'm so happy for you! I think it is really hard to keep your home decluttered and you are working F/T so it is really hard. You are doing an amazing job and it is inspiring! It makes me want to declutter/organize again but I just don't have the margin right now due to work. Enjoy your decluttered home!

aw thank you! yeah it is really hard as i often end up working crazy hours (evening meetings, early morning meetings) . i am the primary breadwinner as well (DH just went to 30 hrs a week so he can have more time to do all drop offs and pickups, dentist/ortho appts for the kids). i am lucky i can work from home 3 days a week and that helps a TON.

though i found that once i got going it was easy to make time for it bc the end result just made everything easier. i probably had a more cluttered house than most - lol.

anyways i got a done this past weekend - for the first weekend in a while we didn't have a house full of family or teens at our house so we got to relax a lot too. I tackled the kids computer room and also the room where DS has his model trains. today i took a full car trunk load to goodwill, and a small bag of excess lululemon clothing to Plato's closet - got $57 on the spot!


Decluttered so far as of 1/28

- kitchen
- master closet - updated 1/19 to clear even more clutter /donate items
- pantry
- guest room
- guest bathroom
- DS room
- DS closet
- back patio
- laundry room
-game room - 1/5
-DD room - 1/6
-DD closet 1/6
-living room 1/11
-downstairs craft area 1/13
-entryway console 1/14
-mudroom 1/15
- kids bathroom 1/17
-master bath - 1/18 - decluttered my side/cupboards, not DH's - will have to do for now :)
- kids half bath storage (DONE 1/26)
- gameroom storage closet (DONE 1/26)
- kids computer room - DONE 1/27


still left to do (and estimated time it will take:
- master bedroom (2 hours, will try to do 1/29 evening bc i don't have an evening meeting that day, DS will be at band practice and DD will inevitably be on a gaming call with a friend :D )

With that i will have decluttered my entire house in January, which is insane! though i have find it so beneficial in so many ways.

Only thing left now is the garage which is kind of a mess with boxes and will take a solid half day or so to sort out - I will probably wait for February or March to tackle that so i can take a break.

[jgenie]

Wow!! That’s amazing progress!! I need to get back to it. We’ve had guests since November. I took last week as a recovery week but need to get moving again. Your post is great motivation to get it done.


aw thank you! yeah it is really hard as i often end up working crazy hours (evening meetings, early morning meetings) . i am the primary breadwinner as well (DH just went to 30 hrs a week so he can have more time to do all drop offs and pickups, dentist/ortho appts for the kids). i am lucky i can work from home 3 days a week and that helps a TON.

though i found that once i got going it was easy to make time for it bc the end result just made everything easier. i probably had a more cluttered house than most - lol.

anyways i got a done this past weekend - for the first weekend in a while we didn't have a house full of family or teens at our house so we got to relax a lot too. I tackled the kids computer room and also the room where DS has his model trains. today i took a full car trunk load to goodwill, and a small bag of excess lululemon clothing to Plato's closet - got $57 on the spot!


Decluttered so far as of 1/28

- kitchen
- master closet - updated 1/19 to clear even more clutter /donate items
- pantry
- guest room
- guest bathroom
- DS room
- DS closet
- back patio
- laundry room
-game room - 1/5
-DD room - 1/6
-DD closet 1/6
-living room 1/11
-downstairs craft area 1/13
-entryway console 1/14
-mudroom 1/15
- kids bathroom 1/17
-master bath - 1/18 - decluttered my side/cupboards, not DH's - will have to do for now :)
- kids half bath storage (DONE 1/26)
- gameroom storage closet (DONE 1/26)
- kids computer room - DONE 1/27


still left to do (and estimated time it will take:
- master bedroom (2 hours, will try to do 1/29 evening bc i don't have an evening meeting that day, DS will be at band practice and DD will inevitably be on a gaming call with a friend :D )

With that i will have decluttered my entire house in January, which is insane! though i have find it so beneficial in so many ways.

Only thing left now is the garage which is kind of a mess with boxes and will take a solid half day or so to sort out - I will probably wait for February or March to tackle that so i can take a break.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Wow!! That’s amazing progress!! I need to get back to it. We’ve had guests since November. I took last week as a recovery week but need to get moving again. Your post is great motivation to get it done.
thanks! i've found that once u start, you can really get going and get a lot of momentum from it!

i forgot to mention in my last post I've done a few trips to Half Price Books to donate books. Last trip i donated DD's kindle that she no longer uses plus other items. Came out with $57! Also, i found the Marie Kondo book "life changing magic of tidying up" for $7.99 and Joshua Becker book "Minimalist home" . I remember when the Mari Kondo book was so popular here - i never ended up reading it but i guess i am now, ten years later - LOL!! Anyway from her book she mentions trying to "declutter all at once" and i guess i get that. I ended up decluttering my entire house in January and i think it did help me.

although i've deluttered a ton (i would say got rid of 10-15% of items??) now there are few rooms/areas i am going through again and declutter further

- Master bedroom
- master bath (trying to downsize makeup)
- Game room (there's an area with tons of Legos - need to donate)
- Kitchen (i continue to get rid of excess containers)
- Laundry room (specifically the storage area)

planning to take another trip to Goodwill this weekend to drop off donations and then another visit to Plato's closet.

[echoesofspring]

This is inspiring. I did our 2 pantry areas over the last week (ones in the kitchen and ones a closet under the stairs), as I want us to be cooking more and it had gotten so overgrown I wasn't sure what we did/didn't have. It's so nice to have them both accessible, not spilling out of the doors. Eventually I want to reclaim the area under the stair for non food items, but that will have to wait til we redo our kitchen as the current pantry cabinets are super unusable and I don't want to spend any more money on them.

[KrisM]

That's fantastic!

I made a list and have gotten a couple areas done, but everything else just gets in the way. If all the other people who live here could just go somewhere else for a month or so, I could finish it all!

My current project is bedroom swapping for the boys. I started sorting/packing DS1's stuff. Some is easy and some can be done by sending pictures to him. Other stuff he'll have to go through when he is here. But I'm hoping to paint in 1-2 weeks and then move everything over so it's ready for his spring break.

And as I do that, the basement is filling up. I hate that and I never quite get to the basement. I think I will do a garage sale this spring with our subdivision. Then donate what's left.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

This is inspiring. I did our 2 pantry areas over the last week (ones in the kitchen and ones a closet under the stairs), as I want us to be cooking more and it had gotten so overgrown I wasn't sure what we did/didn't have. It's so nice to have them both accessible, not spilling out of the doors. Eventually I want to reclaim the area under the stair for non food items, but that will have to wait til we redo our kitchen as the current pantry cabinets are super unusable and I don't want to spend any more money on them.

that is great! and re: the bolded - i TOTALLY get this. DH usually does the grocery shopping which is awesome, but he is not great at keeping inventory or throwing things out. So sometimes after cleaning up the pantry i will find 5 "copies" of the same thing. and yes it makes it hard to get a sense of what we have in stock and plan what we make.




That's fantastic!

I made a list and have gotten a couple areas done, but everything else just gets in the way. If all the other people who live here could just go somewhere else for a month or so, I could finish it all!

My current project is bedroom swapping for the boys. I started sorting/packing DS1's stuff. Some is easy and some can be done by sending pictures to him. Other stuff he'll have to go through when he is here. But I'm hoping to paint in 1-2 weeks and then move everything over so it's ready for his spring break.

And as I do that, the basement is filling up. I hate that and I never quite get to the basement. I think I will do a garage sale this spring with our subdivision. Then donate what's left.

i hear ya! I feel like i'm constantly cleaning up after everyone else...lol.

and sounds like a great idea re: garage sale and then donating. i wish i could do garage sale but our HOA prohibits it. i end up just donating bc it's so much faster.

and your basement sounds like how my garage is. Right now one half of it is pretty messy (the other half i keep my car in). I wish it was at a point where we could put both vehicles in , but without a basement there is really no other place to store things like bikes, tools, holiday decorations, etc. Not to mention the pile of cardboard boxes we have still to break down from DS's instruments

Anyway... today i went to a different Plato's Closet with a bag of clothes and got $55. (and yes, some of you probably reading this and think - didn't she go last week, and the week before?) it's kind of embarrassing how much clothes i have accumulated (especially over the past 4 years). All in all, over the past several months i have made three trips to Plato's closet, four trips to Lululemon to trade stuff in for cash, and sold a dozen things on Poshmark, plus given away 2 dozen clothing items on buy nothing groups . And probably a few bags to Goodwill. And i still have a decent amount! All this purging made me realize, I don't really need this many clothes!! I am planning to keep going until it's ridiculously easy to get dressed in the morning.

thinking back on it, i think what originally drew me to minimalism in general was the capsule wardrobe concept, especially for travel. Ive always loved shopping but was awful about coordinating clothes and it frustrated me to no end, and packing for trips would take me forever. i've gotten way way better over past couple years but i still got a ways to go. Oh, and having a post-menopausal body now also threw a nice wrench in things , which forced me to declutter even more. lol

[jent]

Just wanted to write in to say, this is fantastic and inspiring. I'm not taking as comprehensive an approach as you, but seeing your posts have inspired me to work harder at moving our "to be donated" piles along. I will get stuff ready and then it sits in piles in my closet. So far I've made a trip to Goodwill and done a lot of Buy Nothing giveaways. I'm really excited that yesterday someone on Buy Nothing took a pile of DD's old stuffed animals that had been sitting at the back of my closet for over a year!

(BTW we can do garage sales in our neighborhood but that is something I never get around to doing... so it's just easier for me to give it away. I justify the fact that I'm missing out on making extra cash, that it's worth it to me for the mental health benefits of decluttering!)

[KrisM]

I generally agree about garage sales vs donating. But our sub has one every year, which helps make it easy. I participated a few years ago and since I had a lot of older elementary and middle school kid stuff, I did really well with the neighbor hood kids. They had so much fun coming every day with more money to buy things. They brought their parents back sometimes. Haha. I really liked seeing them figure out what to buy and be so happy with such good deals. So I'll do it if the weekend works and hope we get the current batch of tweens shopping.