I’m in the mood for…clearing clutter!

It started as an ability to pack up stuff into boxes and store them perfectly in closets.  I thought that was ‘organization’. I even labeled the boxes to find the stuff I was never going to use again.

My first awaking to clutter clearing as an adult was when I courageously tossed out some ribbons I had won as a kid when I used to take part in horse-shows.

*GASP*  I did not die…and in fact it felt…good!

From there, every time I moved, more stuff would find its way out of my life. But I was not so diligent about bringing new things into my world. So for many years, I was in a cycle that kept me with too much stuff, but I was moving every now and then, so it sort of evened out. That seemed to be my ‘trick’ to keep it in check.

Then came the book ‘Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui’.  Love this book. It helped me say goodbye to a lot of stuff and start off in a different direction.

But in 2014 things changed yet again, I did not move, but I was living in my house alone and making some changes in my life.  Not that I have a big home, but it is a three bedroom Cape with a full basement. It is way too much space for one person and a dog. I started clearing out stuff because I did not want to deal with the space or HEAT it all winter. I just wanted to clear it out and shut it off.  I did just that.

I started using my declutter skills from my first guide but I still had (in my opinion) a fair amount of stuff.  Allowing me to enjoy two empty bedrooms upstairs, empty living room, a basement that contains only the basement stuff (furnace, water heater, washer and dryer) I was using the downstairs bedroom, the dining room was now the office/living room space and my kitchen was ….the kitchen/dining space. The unwanted items were going to my porch to be dealt with in the proper way.

Then it happened… ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’.  The next level!  People were going crazy for this book.  Stories about the book and its ideas were everywhere.  Like the fact we seem to collect a lot of stuff is a new idea.  For me, the book did help for those more personal or meaningful items I was stuck on. Where is that line between a must have item and a must save item?  For me that keeps moving.  But at least it keeps moving in the right direction.

Renee clutter
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That photo is the last of the personal stuff .  The stuff with meaning, memories and all those sorts of attachments.  I have a little different way of doing this, I have to wait for ‘the mood’ to hit. If I try to force it, it does not work. But the right mood...things move quickly. Once an item makes it to my porch (aka the porch of death)…it is out of my home and only one or two things have been saved in the process.  Might I add, only a couple of things that I have tossed have I ever wished I still had…that seems to be a good track record.

I have a few weeks with a bit more free time so it is perfect. I need to address the personal stuff, revisit what I have in my kitchen and explore a capsule wardrobe.  Then,
I will only have the stuff I need and those things that bring me joy.  Check out the ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ to understand what I mean by that.

My three tips to take on your clutter:
1) You have to be in the mood for it.
2) You do you. You can't make others do it or it can get ugly.
3) Do it in rounds. Then do it again when you are ready. Repeat as needed.

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