For the last several years (probably at least 7 or 8 of them anyway) I've talked over and over about how much I need to sort through my house and get rid of all of the excess items that are cluttering our home. It is a source of frustration for both my husband and myself. Clutter is visually, mentally, emotionally and even at times physically draining. It affects the peace of our home. Causes us to feel less rested. It causes me to feel a little like a failure as keeper of my home. I've complained about it. Tried to reorganize it. Tried to hide it. Ignored it.............
Not anymore.
I have determined that 2012 will be the year that I will be free of clutter. But first I need a plan. Not just any plan because I've made clutter-be-gone plans before and they didn't work. I need a plan that I can actually make happen. A plan that I can follow through with. Something with a lot of built in flexibility to fit around my fairly unpredictable schedule (hello being a mother of 4 kiddos...and all their friends...and wife to the king of spontaneous dinner plans) so that I will be able to accomplish the task without being overwhelmed. I suspect once I get started I will be able to accomplish some of these spaces in far less than a month, but knowing how I've operated in the past, I am purposely giving myself the month long window of opportunity so I am less likely to get behind and feel like I can't do it. My unfortunate Achilles heel.
Ugh. I know what some of you are thinking.....an ENTIRE HOUSE worth of decluttering? Acckkk! Where would I begin?
I started by writing down a list of each room and storage space in my house. Then under each one I wrote all the needs for that particular room. I had to ask myself what I want out of the space, what it's used for, if anything needed to be fixed about it and what I wanted it to look like when I was finished.
Then comes the hard part. I will ruthlessly purge the room of unused items, remove items that belong elsewhere in the house, fix issues in the room, paint if necessary and then reorganize the items that are staying in the room. So with there only being part of a month left I am starting with the least cluttered area in my house...my kitchen.
When I finish each space I will post before and after pics here and add a link to the "Clutter Free 2012" section in the sidebar. I'm actually excited to see that list fill out.
How about you? Are you ready to declutter your life this year? Join me! Let's do this together.
I'd love to read about your choices to go clutter free in 2012! Please share your thoughts, progress, struggles, encouragement, tips and ideas in the comments below.
Here's to a clutter-free new year!
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