Stuff, stuff, stuff! Are you struggling to keep your head above water in maintaining your home in a simple and peaceful manner? It takes a bit of persistent effort to maintain a simple home, but it is well worth it, as you can turn your focus towards the more important things in life – relationships and hospitality.
I feel like I am always in a mode of decluttering, because I hate things not serving a purpose in my home. As I have been packing some of our goods in preparation for a potential move, it has helped me further declutter and seriously evaluate what do I want to take to another home. If it can stay in boxes for several months, is it really needed? Do I need ten cookbooks? No, I only use two of them.
For every item that gathers dust, it takes time to clean, maintain, or clear out of the way to accomplish another task. Let’s join forces in taking an aggressive attack towards clearing away the clutter!
1. Keep Your mission at the forefront
Decluttering is only successful when I keep the right mindset. What is the purpose? So that my home can be a more peaceful place for the rest and refreshment of my family and those God has called us to serve in our community and church. I don’t want to be spending hours each day housecleaning. Decluttering removes that need. Use the opportunity to teach your kids about giving generously to bless others with your stuff. Include them in the process.
2. Work room by room
Start decluttering by working room by room throughout your house. Start at the door and do a full sweep of the room, top to bottom. Empty drawers, cupboards, and closets. Ask yourselves these questions as you evaluate each item in your home:
Do I use it?
When was the last time it was used?
Do I care about it?
Is this item beautifying my home?
Could someone else use it more?
3. Work quickly and be aggressive
Make sure to work quickly and don’t think too hard about each item. What is your first instinct? The more you think about it, the more you will be able to justify keeping the item.
For clothing, reverse the direction of the hangers for any items that you are unsure about. If they don’t get worn in the next month, you will know for sure that they need to go. For children’s clothing, eliminate what clothes you don’t care for or stained. Limit the numbers to 6-8 outfits. For toys, reserve a few toys per child and remove the rest or rotate them in storage. Kids don’t want or need tons of toys. It is overwhelming to them.
4. Persevere for the end is worth it!
The initial re-haul may take some time. It took me a solid week, taking one room each day. After the initial re-haul, maintaining a simple clutter free home is so much easier, and takes a bit of time here and there – often taking place with the changing of the seasons in my home. I like to take about 30 minutes each week to declutter one area of my home.
When you seek to intentionally declutter your home, it makes it so much easier to be a peaceful and joyful homemaker. It is like a weight is taken off your back. Your spouse will benefit from a refreshing place to come home to. Your children will be more content. And your home will be more prepared to minister to others through hospitality. It’s a win win situation!
Interestingly enough, this morinng I decided to finally tackle the stuff I’ve been shoving under my bed for years. Half way through this job, I decided to take a break, and here I read this! Very encouraging! Among many other things under my bed, I found 4 stacks of magazines that are up to 15 years old! I don’t even remember why I thought it was a good idea to keep them. I thought, have I really been stuffing junk under my bed for 15 years?!? What other useless stuff am I hanging onto that I don’t want or need? Thanks for the timely info I’m encouraged to keep on with the decluttering in my bedroom, to make it into the restful, relaxing space I want it to be.
I have been doing something of the sort for a while but it seems the more i try the worse my house gets lol. Going to really go through one room at a time now. that was the part it think i wasn’t doing. i went through a good few hours cleaning. then would have to stop cause i was so exhausted.
Because of your words of encouragement in this post, I spent some time de-cluttering my home of old clothes and junk. I took 2 trunk loads to the Goodwill. I’ve always been a clean person, but really needed to evaluate what I was keeping…i.e. old clothes, dishes, knick knacks, old baby toys, etc..stuff I’ll never use again but keep just ‘cuz. Not only is my home looking better, but I have blessed those less fortunate with my items. Win-win!
These simple steps you posted can really help a person evaluate each item:
Do I use it?
When was the last time it was used?
Do I care about it?
Is this item beautifying my home?
Could someone else use it more?
Excellent post
I have been decluttering our home on and off for the past year or so. I do still have some areas of our home to de-clutter and these include the kitchen and clothes.
When I first got together with my husband just over two years ago, I could count the number of shirts/t.shirts he had on one hand and now he has tons. His clothes in the wardrobe take up more space than mine, but I do need to de-clutter our wardrobe badly. There is one coat that I have been hanging onto for years now and this coat I have one about three times in all the years I have had it, so it does need to go.I have clothes stacked in draw underneath the bed,so these need sorting through badly and I do need to get rid of some.
I need to go through the study again too as I am sure there are items and yes more books that I have not read in a long time that just need to go. I also have paperwork I need to sort through (though most of this was done about a month back) in our filing cabinet.
The kitchen though definitely does need to be de-cluttered and we have lots of china and glassware that we really do not use which I need to go through and sort out.
Once I have done the above, then on the whole our home will be clutter free. I have got to that age now where I just hate clutter in any shape or form and if we haven’t used or worn something in several months then it needs to go, end of really
Thank you so much for another inspiring post
Blessings and shalom
Elisheva
Oh goodness…I can’t say I was “inspired” by this post because it was more like a serious kick in the pants…but, it was very timely.
My husband and I were watching TV the other night and there was a guy on talking about feng shui (I know…very hippy dippy San Francisco), but he said this and I found it very insightful: What’s going on in your home is what’s going on in your life. Clutter in your home reflects clutter in your mind.
So…my mind is VERY VERY cluttered (it is!) and I do find the clutter in our home fraying our family…but I am not an organized girl by nature and we live in a VERY small apartment (all the more reason to try to be relentlessly organized, right? You’d think so…) and we have a lot of stuff. Stuff we don’t really want to get rid of.
My question is this: what do you do with the kids’ things? I have two girls and while I have made a habit of going through toys several times a year and parring down, it just seems like we have a lot. And they’re played with a loved, but it’s still a lot. A lot of stuff that clutters the floor and the edges of our living room/dining/school/sleeping-for-the-girls area (I’m not kidding. They sleep in our living room on our futon, that’s how small the place is). We do ZERO entertaining because of the space we live in – not just because it’s messy and cluttered all the time, but because it’s just so tiny there’s no place for any more people than us.
How do you handle toys and school items and avoid having those things completely possess whatever room they’re in?
Also – were your brothers by any chance in a nerdy homeschool debate league years ago? I saw a picture of your family in your June update and one of them (Stephen?) looks really familiar.
Thanks.
Love your blog!
Good word. I’m all about delcluttering.
This is really challenging me today! I was looking around earlier “admiring” how “simple” our house has become, but I think we need to go further! Thanks for the inspiration.
Asking if someone else could use it more REALLY helps me! Thanks for including that!
As a Professional Organizer, I believe in keeping things simple and decluttered. I try to weed things out as I go, using the “one in, one out” rule; if I buy an new item, one item is discarded. I keep a box for Goodwill in my garage at all times, and put things in there that I no longer use. I have routines in place to keep things up so everything stays orderly. I also stage homes so I am glad to see that you are decluttering prior to moving. When you get rid of the clutter, the home can shine through. Good topic.
Your home looks so restful. I’ve been working on decluttering mine for a while. It has a long way to go. I’ve stopped for now since I got caught up in summer berries and such. I think the hardest for me is all the stuff that people have given me, and that I don’t want, but feel guilty getting rid of. Especially since I know one person (extended family member) actually does ask “do you still have the ___ I gave you?” and then I don’t know what to say…and this person gives me lots of stuff, and hasn’t listened to my gentle comments about not giving an abundance of gifts. Between that and the kids stuff that I am keeping but has to be stored there is a lot of stuff around. I personally feel its a very wise investment to save the kids’ clothes since we plan on having more kids. It was so helpful for the first to save and pass on to her sister, I can’t imagine having to hunt down all those deals the second time that I found the first time. But perhaps other people live where there are better deals around. I really hand to hunt to fill the clothing needs for my family on a budget. But all that has to be stored…maternity stuff, clothes, etc.
I don’t worry about finding deals, if I find one, I find one. My hubby and I make a wonderful living, so we aren’t pinching pennies and needing to find deals and such. We are done having children, we were done at 3. After each child we passed along the clothes and such. And when the 2nd and 3rd child came along, we were blessed beyond measure by family and friends. We didn’t have to go out and buy a lot. When you sow/bless someone w/good stuff, you WILL get it back.
After reading this post, I began working on my front closet. There is now enough room in there for me to stand. Thanks for the encouragement to take another crack at home simplification.
I really needed to read this tonight. Thank you!
Thanks so much for this post! My husband and I are missionaries, so we often live out of our suitcases, especially during the summer months when we’re visiting family/friends. I am very aware of what we actually need to survive seeing as how everything gets measured in terms of size and weight! Thanks for sharing all these ideas– they will come in handy as we try to translate this “simple living” philosophy to our family and friends. So often people want to de-clutter but have no idea where to start!
Thanks for an inspiring post! I don’t think it’s a conincidence that I’ve had “purging” and fall cleaning on my mind! I love the idea of fall cleaning instead of spring cleaning (since I live in Canada and we stay in a lot more in the winter, so it’s good to get things all nice and clean for the winter months). Just today, I packed up a box for the goodwill. Now that I ready your post, I’m even more inspired to be more ruthless in my purging! I would love for our home to be less cluttery and more peaceful so we can all rest….including me. We live in an apartment and there’s only so much storage! Do you (or anyone else reading this) have any tips for apartment decluttering?
i posted this link on my blog today! i am so inspired. this morning, i tackled the laundry room. i don’t enjoy the process (i have friends who do!) but i SO love the result. thank you!
I love the ideas. BUT, what if your husband is the one that won’t get rid of things? He hates it when I declutter. He has an emotional or a what-if attachment to everything. And I can’t get him out of this mindset. Our 3 bedroom house for 2 people is full! I don’t know how we’ll ever fit children into the house at this rate.
Perhaps you could ask him about trying an “outbox” of possible get-rid-of items? What if you (when he’s not around) fill a box of things you think aren’t needed, leave them in the “outbox” for a month, and if he doesn’t use them in that time they are given away? With his permission, or course.
I’d love to hear more ideas on this topic!
Hi Kelly! Vina writing, one of the contributors here. I hear your angst about this. I really do. I used to be completely baffled at the emotional attachment people have with stuff and I totally disregarded the validity behind this as I am the complete opposite, I have no attachment to stuff whatsover. But after thinking through this issue as someone close to my life who have similar issues had to pack up their stuff involuntarily, I totally get it now. My opinion, Any solutions you impose on your husband will NOT work, because there IS an emotional component that needs be honored and dealt with, and it would have to be something your husband decides to do for himself and the family. Of course, Miriam’s ideas below are worth trying, but just something to think about.
I’ve found that when it’s hard for me to let go of the ‘emotional’ items, I take a picture of them. It allows me that emotional kick of remembering something/someone great, but a picture takes up a lot less space. It’s easier to look through, and it saves me the guilt I would feel if I just got rid of something completely. And if it’s something from my own childhood that I’m saving for my ‘future children’, I try to remind myself that I don’t want to pass on that clutter to them. They’ll have their own emotional items in the future, why burden them with mine as well? One or two items are enough to give them that special feeling of history and importance. I’ve noticed with my nieces and nephews that one or two items that have been handed down (with special intent) will receive better care than if there are 20 items- something about rarity producing more value. Good luck!
I totally agree with all of your tips. We just moved a few months ago, but had to pack up 1/3 of our stuff several months before that so we could stage and show our house to sell. It was amazing how much stuff I was able to live without! When we unpacked it all, most of it got donated, and I don’t miss it. I only kept what I actually use, and got rid of the rest. I also only kept appliances that were multitaskers, and got rid of everything that was bulky and only had a single use (I think you have a post about that somewhere).
Someday when I grow up I want to be just like you.
Great encouraging post! Your living room looks so nice and peaceful!
I was just wondering how much do you keep for clothes and for extra things like coats and shoes for your children? It seems like my children have twenty pairs of different kinds of shoes- boots, sandals, dress shoes, etc. and they get all over all the time!
Also, wondering how do you keep and organize your homeschool stuff? I would love ideas.
Thanks!
I have been doing this for the last two weeks (includes some redecorating, etc) and I now only have my closet left. I love it! I am almost there and your list of questions will be really helpful in letting go of extra stuff in my closet. =0)
Love it! I just wrote on the same subject on my blog. Great minds think alike!
I totally need to declutter! Thanks for the tips.
Thanks for this post! I’m decluttering room by room this week and needed some encouragement.
This post is good! And, thought provoking. Something that is really hard for me is getting rid of gifts that were given. The really thoughtful gift, that you really do love & the person did a great job picking it out for you, but you really don’t need it & don’t ever use it. It is SO hard for me. Urgh!!! But, I think I will start decluttering this week. Some of those things that feel a little painful….
I am looking forward to doing some decluttering myself. My husband and I got married in middle age & have had a lot to get rid of as we combined households. There’s still plenty more to go. It’s been nice to give things away. I think we’ve managed to outfit a few folks kitchens and a newly married couple with many things.
One thing to consider weeding out is books. There are new churches starting in our area among folks that are new believers. We are going to cull our books and give them to some pastors so that they can give them out to people who are new Christians.
Great post. We have to girlies who are around the same ages as your children and life is so much easier when we keep the clutter to a minimum. Children seem to play so much better when they have fewer toy options available and the space has less clutter overall!
We’re hopeful that the Lord will give us lots more babies so I’ve started clearing out a lot that we’ve been keeping “just in case”. It’s so freeing to just open a closet or cabinet and get that one thing I need without having to move half a dozen other things out of the way first. We’ve also enjoyed the added benefit of being able to bless friends and strangers with things we no longer need!
Your previous posts on simplifying in each room were quite helpful to me as I started tackling our huge clean out. Thank you!
Amen! This is so important and has a much larger impact on our lives than most people think!
Great post. I need a reminder about once a month!
I moved over the summer and there was a week we were in our new house without our stuff due to the movers schedule. We had the basics, our clothes, dishes, beds, folding chairs, a tv and a computer. Life was simple and the house was clean, just like a vacation home. And then our stuff arrived!
We’re pretty settled now but it is a lot more effort maintaining the house and keeping our stuff at bay. Also the house seems so much smaller.
My Mom always says… Keep the love, get rid of the symbal
Very good points! My favorite: “For every item that gathers dust, it takes time to clean, maintain, or clear out of the way to accomplish another task.” Clutter is just so time-consuming!
Having recently moved from a 4 bedroom home with a double garage to a 3 bedroom home with no garage, I really see the value of getting rid of stuff!! We got rid of tons before our move, but found there was still a lot more that could go.
Your home looks beautiful. So relaxing and peaceful!
So what toys do you suggest keeping and how many? Do you have a closet for educational/ tactile toys to be stored in such as sewing boards and puzzles, games and musical instruments? My children have way to many toys I just do not know how to weed them out because they seem to enjoy them all but they are also often board and dissatisfied with what they have.
We have 5 small canvas bins for all the kids’ toys and learning activities. These are stored on our 9 cube organizer shelf. Each canvas bin are sorted as follows: one with a collection of random toys (teether, rattle, balls, broken camera, broken cell phone, etc – maybe 10 items), blocks (one set of mega blocks), two totes of learning games divided into ziploc bags by game (one bag of sewing boards, chalk board, magnifying glass, sorting game, and other preschool activity bags – about 10 different bags), and one box of doll clothes. Beyond this the other shelves store books, 5 puzzles, a drum, wooden train, and 3 wooden cars. For larger items we have a kitchen set, doll stroller, rocking horse, and dress up box. We keep a small box of craft supplies in the closet that has markers, crayons, paper, glue, pipe cleaners, etc. The 9 cube organizer works really well because you can just pull out one tote at a time for the kids to play with. They can be moved around the house and easy for the kids to put away. Hope that helps!
Yes, Thank you Lindsey that helps so much!
I am a Professional Organizer and did a playroom makeover a while back. You can see the results here-you’ll have to scroll down and click “older posts” to get the first post which shows the “before” pictures.
http://dreammom.blogspot.com/search/label/Playroom%20Makeover
As for how to cut down on the toys, the best way is to pay attention to what your kids really play with. Often times, they’ll want something if you are going to get rid of it so it’s easier to do if they aren’t around or they will want to save everything. For kids, I watch them play first so I can see what they are playing with and how they play. That tells me what the priorities should be. Next, I sort the toys and eliminate a fair amount of them (usually the Mom is doing this part with me). By that time, I have a space plan and know where the toys are going and how much is going to fit. I bring the child in towards the end and let them make some final decisions. Some of it is common sense. I’ve seen rooms with 500 art markers, 300 games, 100 Barbie dolls, etc. Once I have sorted and eliminated most of it. Most of the time, 70-80% of the toys are eliminated. From there, I make sure that toys are stored in places that are easy for them to put away and not too fussy.
Thanks Lindsay! This was a timely post. I live in Mexico but the school where I work was on break for the summer. I’ve been staying with my parents for the past couple months. I keep finding old things I have saved over the years and left at my parents house, since they have the space. I don’t, I live in a one room dorm with the sixteen plus girls I care for. Yesterday I started packing up and looking a things like my clothes and realizing that I hardly ever wear some of them. So when I get back to Mexico next week they are going to be past on to one of my girls or the local church. I’ve also spent a lot of time sorting through childhood things that I forgot I even had! It’s been good to declutter. Now I just need to impliment that when I go back down to the school next week. I always look forward to reading your blog. I have been challenged and learned a lot. It so encouraging to know that there are other young Christian woman who are wanting to make a difference. I also love that you encouage nourishing cooking and using herbs! That’s a passion of mine. Thanks again!
Good info to keep in mind today since organizing the home school cupboard in prep for the new school year is on my to-do list!
Great post! I’m finding it’s so much better to have a de-cluttered house, especially with a 1 and 2 year old! Less clutter is less mess they can make! I really struggle with keeping extra things “just in case”, and especially because I enjoy yard sales for the toddler’s clothing and such, it’s so tempting to buy too many things to store for later use. Thanks for the encouragement to really slim down to just what we need now!
Great topic! I’m in the process of moving country- joining my husband in Australia and taking on what the Lord has called me to do there- and we have almost nothing right now thanks to me not being able to bring much, and him not owning much “practical” stuff after sharing a house with family for years. This is a really good reminder for me to not focus on acquiring, but making our home a space that is useful and focused.
I have been wondering something… maybe you can shed some light on this for me! What do you do about the stuff that you like to have back-ups of, in case you lose the one you really like (such as hats for my daughter, or aprons, or several similar toys or blankets…)? I hate having a bunch of the same thing, but I usually hang on to a few extras ‘just in case.’ What is your philosophy on this? I would hate to have to go out an buy a new hat just because we lost our favorite and only one.
I do not keep extras and never have. I do have two aprons, as one always seems to be in the wash or have two people helping with preparations. I guess I have never purchased in multiples. The “what if’s?” are never ending. If we lose a hat, we go to the consignment store and buy a new one. They are very cheap when you buy second hand so it is not a huge lose.
I am reading a great book in this regard. It is called More Hours in my Day by Emilie Barnes. You should check it out.
I’ve been doing alot of decluttering lately again……it’s amazing how quickly your home gets filled up!! I’ve been decluttering/organizing my kitchen so as to make it more user-friendly…..so that meal planning will be much easier. I love the way it feels!!
There is a great, free website called FlyLady.net. It makes cleaning/decluttering a breeze! (and fun!) I have a wonderfully decluttered home thanks to FlyLady. Hope that helps someone!
I’ve used flylady in the past. I decluttered using her steps too!
I got tired of the same emails day after day. I found it more of nuisance than helpful. I thought there would be different emails everyday.
GREAT post today!!! I wrote on getting organized today too and am doing a link up – you should link this post up!!!
Come over to: http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/2010/08/back-to-school-organization-tips-and.html
Hope to see you there!!
Courtney
the surfaces are so clear. but how do you get out the back door?
It only opens 3/4 of the way, but it works.
The large chair used to be in the center of the room, but we moved the chair to that position last year because it gave more room for the kids to romp around in the middle.
Regarding the back door, be sure to position the furniture so the back door can open all the way, especially for showings. Otherwise, people will come in and think the room isn’t large enough since the furniture can’t be placed in a way that will allow the door to open all the way- which means the furniture placement has just created a negative for the buyer. I can’t see the entire living room from the picture, but I’d be more inclined to position the sofa on the opposite wall, (so if the north wall was the back yard, and the west wall was the dining area, I’d position the sofa on the east wall facing the dining area) with the large chair in front of the window on the north wall. This way, when people come to see the living room, they can sit on the sofa and look out to the pretty backyard or deck and fully open the back door to the patio. I like to put a pretty pot of flowers on the deck or some flowers in the back yard as well-this draws the eye outdoors. I also don’t like to stage homes with furniture positioned at an angle, since it gives people the idea that there isn’t enough space in the room to position it any other way. Hope this helps.
Ah, so timely! I have been so fed up with the clutter and over-abundance of clothes/shoes/toys that I was considering bringing in the big garbage can to start chunking stuff today! lol Thank you once again – always inspiring!
I love the tips! I need to simplify again. We’re always going through clothing, since our children grow so fast! we never keep children’s clothing. it always gets passed along, unless it’s a really nice outfit or something. To me, having tubs of clothes (for the next one, what if the next one doesn’t come, how long do you keep it?? Styles change) is a waste of space.
Lindsay, I would be curious to know how many pots and pans you have. I seem to have a lot, some I use, some I don’t, but do use once and a while, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. And the never-ending lid collection!
I have a ten piece Cuisinart stainless steel cookware set (which is basically six pieces with four lids), one cuisinart green gourmet omelet pan, and one 5.5 qt Le Creuset french oven. I do have a roasting pan that I store in the garage for large meats – like a turkey, etc.
Of course you are right. My husband and I just cleaned our downstairs. Today is the upstairs!