I am a hoarder by nature!
I have moved houses quite a few times and every time I do, I take all my belongings with me on to the next house. You can call it whatever you like but I find it hard to emotionally let go of things that are important to me. Especially items belonging to my children. Every toy or teddy they have has a story behind it or memories to go with it. Every item of clothing they have I remember the day it was bought and the days they wore it. When it comes to my children, I am very particular with everything pertaining to them. I could have a PhD on my own children. (Yes, duh, obviously). So writing this post is almost like a note-to-self.
Decluttering your house is like decluttering your mind or decluttering your life. The more your house feels stuffed and overpacked, the more you feel exhausted just by looking at everything. Once you start to Declutter, your home starts looking better and you can think clearly. No more items clogging your brain. It helps you get a lot more organised. The less unwanted mess you have the better. You will also have less mess to tidy up.
The question now is - How do you Declutter and Get Rid of unwanted goods. What is the difference between the items you need and the items you don't need? When you finally get round to decluttering your home, see it as an opportunity to make space for new memories and new items you actually need!
I like lists!
So here is my list of ways/methods to help you Declutter and Get Rid!
1. Children's Clothing
Get rid of any item that is no longer in use. Especially the clothes that are now too small for the ever growing children. Pick out the few clothes you want to keep with you forever as part of your memories. The ones that have the most meaning. Give the rest to charity and if you have any clothing that is simply worn out and has no more life in them, I will suggest you carefully place them in the bin.
2. Adults Clothing
If you are anything like me, you still hold on to clothes that are too small for you, so you are keeping it as motivation to get back into what you used to wear when you had no lady lumps. The days of being a size 8 was over the day I went to a size 10 and continued spiralling upwards (cough)! Time to get rid! Besides, if I ever lose weight, which I would (cough again), wouldn't it be exciting to buy new clothes and feel brand new all over again? Just a thought.
3. Gym Equipment
The treadmill or any other bulky exercise machines you never use has to go. Now the emphasis is on "you never use". If you do use them, good on you and if you have a mini-gym in your home, then by all means, hold on to it. Keeping fit is great. But if not, go back to your local gym and use it. Treadmills, cross trainers, exercise bicycles has to go.
4. Toys
Toys! Toys! And more Toys! When the children grow out of it and it is still in a good workable condition, give it to a children's charity. Same rule applies for teddys. Your children do not need the 100 teddys you keep neatly arranging on their bed or shelf. One or two is more than sufficient.
5. Books
I personally love looking at my books. It's a visual reminder of how much I used to "jack" in school. I even still hold on to my note books, my reading books and scrap books. Is it time for me to "Get Rid"? I don't know but I'm still undecided on this point.
6. Paper
When I say paper, this is mainly my children's work they bring home from nursery. I still have my daughter's work of art that she has done over four years ago and now my second child is in nursery, I'm holding on to all their creative work. When you pick them up from school and you see them holding wads of paper made planes and cars and pictures etc, the first thing they say is "mummy, I made this for you". Now I don't know about you, but it will break my kids heart to see what they spent all day making, in the bin. So this one right here had been hard for me. I used to hold on to the really good ones and bin the ones that are not so memorable. Now my second daughter is producing all these master pieces, I am just so confused. Another mummy from school gave me a good tip the other day. She said, "take pictures of everything. This way, you have it forever. You can bin it without worrying you have lost it for good. Besides, they forget about it the next day anyway". Very good tip I must say if you are looking to get rid of all the excess kids paperwork. When it comes to your paper work, it's easy. Buy a shredder. You don't need the bank statement that is over three years old already! Get rid of all your junk mail and then move on to all your old mail/bills that you have already paid for.
7. Miscellaneous Items
This could be anything from last year's Christmas Tree to old kitchenware (deep fryer) you never use! Time to Get Rid!
When decluttering see what items you actually need, which items need to be binned, what items you could sell, what items you could donate to charity and what items you can recycle.
Tip: Try putting aside what you don't want it everyday. If you chose one day to do it all, you will feel overwhelmed with the amount of things you have to get rid of. Try breaking it down and clearing it one week at a time.
Good luck!
Be Inspired. Declutter.
xoxo
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