It sounds nice, but how do you actually get the job done? The first and most popular idea of minimalism is to de-clutter your life physically. But in order to fully immerse yourself in this task, it’s imperative that you recognize the distinction between de-cluttering and organizing. This is not about putting everything from your kitchen counter away in Pinterest perfect bins. It’s an effort to move the items out completely.
Since I moved into my own place (read: a place with my husband), I’ve been very particular about keeping my house de-cluttered. My younger sister Mary Ann is rolling her eyes right now. When we shared a room for years this was NOT the case. Sorry! But things have changed since high school. I need there to be order where I live. There is an indescribable tension you feel when your life is cluttered with stuff. It’s a level of mental and emotional stress that just complicates things. One would think having this repulsion to clutter would be a good thing. Wouldn’t it keep me in line and help me stay organized? Here is the issue: my new house has a variety of spare rooms and a plethora of additional closets. All together, my house has 6 large closets. It’s far too easy to hide items away and not think about them. And that’s not to mention the large storage room in the basement and huge shelves in the two-car garage. And two walk-in closets? It’s a lot of space. For the record, it’s not like I live in a mansion. Our home is a modest place in a small town. The average square footage for a home in the midwest is over 2,000 square feet. Ours is about 1,600. But still, there are only two of us in a 3 bedroom home. And in this living situation, clutter thrives. It hides behind closed doors, multiplies in back rooms and sneaks up on you in closets. It’s scary! Beginning the Process And so, as part of the new endeavor for the new year, I began the great house purge of 2017. But where to begin? The Minimalists would have you pack everything up. And I mean EVERYTHING. The Packing Party: This is how Ryan Nicodemus cleaned out his apartment. He writes, “I didn’t want to spend months slowly paring down my possessions like Josh had. That was fine for him, but I needed faster results. So we came up with a crazy idea: let’s throw a Packing Party. (Everything is more fun when you put “party” at the end.)” With his friend Josh, Ryan packed up every single item in his apartment, including clothing, his tv and his toothbrush. For the next 21 days, Ryan lived out of these boxes. If he needed something, he unpacked it and returned it to it’s former location. If he didn’t need to use it, it stayed in the box. At the end of that time, everything that hadn’t been pulled was discarded. I was tempted to try it! But I also didn’t want to regret my decision of getting rid of everything and having to buy it all back. KonMari Method: My sister Devon introduced me to Marie Kondo’s work. Devon had recently purchased a new home and was working to combine all of her stuff with her fiance’s. While the Minimalists have you move everything out or pack it all up, Marie Kondo has you organize and purge by category. Just one step at a time. This seemed a better method for me. Here is the breakdown of how I organized my decluttering schedule. Each day. I would focus on one of the following areas:
My Tips for decluttering:
My favorite post-cleanout tips:
Reality Check Of course, sometimes I am tired, cranky and the last thing I want to do is put everything away, but usually I regret leaving it around. My biggest challenge right now: putting laundry away the same day I clean it. I’ll just have to master that skill a different day. Recommended reading: 21 Day Journey into Minimalism http://www.theminimalists.com/21days/ Packing Party http://www.theminimalists.com/packing/ The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
My name is Kendra and in 2017, I'm giving minimalism a go. Follow me as I work to declutter my house, my diet and my finances.
Archives |