Decluttering

Hi all! Happy Holidays! It's been a few days since I posted...busy shopping and prepping for everything.  A woman's work is never done as they say. So in light of the holidays and if you have kids and all the gifts they get I wanted to create a post about decluttering.  Getting rid of all the old items or unused items that we no longer need.

I don't remember as a child having as many toys as my kids do now.  It's absolutely insane! I had to add two new bins just to be able to have a place for everything. This is definitely a temporary situation for us. It gets to the point where they just have so much, that they don't even know what they have nor do they play with it all. And I think the same can be said for adults.  We have clothes that don't get worn, shoes, accessories, etc., the list goes on.

So the biggest question is where and how to start. Best bet is a small area so that you don't get overwhelmed too easily.  Lets do a closet to begin with. We have so many clothes these days and a lot of them we don't wear. I know I have a closet full of clothes that no longer fit, or got damaged and I kept them thinking I could fix them or get a stain out. Well guess what, it never happened. Surprise, surprise! I've read about different methods for getting rid of clothes. One that I use, at least when it comes to folding, is the Kon Mari method. For hang-able items I usually go through everything once and make a few piles.  Anything old/out of style goes for donations. Stained or damaged clothing in another (you can make rags if the fabric is right, or just toss it).  Anything I think I might wear and actually do wear goes into my keep pile.  Once I've bagged the donation clothes and done away with stained or damaged items, I tackle my keep pile. I keep my closet color coordinated as well as go from tank top to long sleeved to dress and pants are usually kept at the end.

Now your closet is organized with hang-ables, but what about the items that you kept but they were your might wear stuff? Well, for everything you wear, when you put it back in the closet, turn the hanger around.  Once a season finishes or depending on the climate you live in, three to six months, if you have anything still hanging the right way, get rid of it! You are never going to wear it!

This method can work for foldable items.  I would say to use a divider between the first shirt you wear and put back in the drawer, or whatever it is you need to purge, and make that your starting point.  Whatever is towards the back of the divider at the end of the time frame you choose for yourself, you don't need. 

At the beginning of this now longest post I have ever made, I spoke about kids.  I have a three year old (a boy) and a five year old (a girl). So clothes and shoes cannot be passed down and shared unfortunately.  Kids grow fast.  I have a never ending mountain of clothes and shoes to always sort and go through as the seasons change. Luckily this type of decluttering is pretty easy as nothing will be kept, but I still try to sort by size so that if it gets donated or given to a consignment shop it will be easier for people to go through. Now toys on the other hand is another story.  Unless they are obviously baby toys, they will stay around for a while. And when you try to get rid of them all of a sudden it's your child's favorite toy all over again.  Sometimes it helps to go through things with them and ask them to pick out some toys to give away to kids that need them,  I have a few friends that do this and I think it's really sweet.  But my kids...well...everything is theirs and I have to purge in secret. (yea I know bad mommy) But if I showed you the play room, you would understand...They don't even miss what gets given away!

Ok, so you're somewhat organized or at least have an idea of how to go about it...It's really just tackling little things at a time.  My old time favorite Pinterest always has good organizational ideas and a lot of the items needed you can find at Dollar Tree or a dollar store.  No need to break the bank to have a decluttered and organized home! Feel free to share with me anything techniques that you have found to work for you! Till next time! Happy Holidays!!