I am about to be brutally honest with you. I think the Mayans got to the year 2012 and were like, "DUDE! That is enough!! Somebody else needs to step up and finish this sucker!" And here we are, a few thousand years later on pins and needles thinking the world is going to end based on a calender.
I don't buy it. My God is waaaay bigger than the Mayan calender. So, all I'm saying is, I'm not sweatin' it. And in light of the fact that the new year just began, I am expecting a wee babe in a few months...and my house has way more junk in it than I could ever hope to use in a lifetime...I am making public my New Year's....GOAL. (I am with the "I don't like the word resolution" group of people)
My husband and I are on a quest to de-clutter-i-fy our home over the course of the next 4 weeks or so. We've actually already gotten a good handle on it...BEFORE Christmas...to make room for the new toys that would inevitably be coming into our playroom. So far, the toys have been seriously overhauled and we went through 5 boxes of books that have been packed away for nearly 5 years now. (Did I just say that?) We got rid of 4 full boxes of books...and a ton of toys. Here are a few of my problem areas:
clothes...
shoes...
unmatched socks...(oy)
I have to appologize and say that these are not actual photos of my home, although they definitely could be! We also have already hit our daughters' room where I cleared the whole thing out (including the closet) and pitched a bunch of things. Now, everything has a place...and I am proud to say that after 2 weeks, everything is still in it's place--meaning the room is currently picked up!! Another area that has been a problem is the corner or our kitchen. It's a catchall for any number of items and drives me crazy!! As I type this, my wonderful husband is building a tall shelving cabinet (with doors and a drawer!!) that is taking the place of what used to be there: an old bakers cabinet. It takes up much less floor space...something that is a hot commodity in this house especially with another child on the way! All the cabinets were hit last week, cleaned out...purged...you know, all those wonderful, organizy kind of words. Pretty soon, my microwave will be behind closed doors!! Awesome!
Now...the clothes: a HUMONGOUS undertaking!! These kids have so many clothes it's crazy! We get them in all manner of ways, but regardless, I have come to the conclusion that less is more. We are ditching all but what we actually need. Roughly, 4 pairs of pants, 4 shorts, 4 long sleeved tops, 4 short sleeved tops, 4 dresses/dress outfits. This will do many things: cut down on the amount of clothes I have to fold, keep me up to date on getting laundry done, makes it possible for the kids to get their own clothes out of non-stuffed drawers, keep me sane!! I think at this point, I have taken 5 bags of kids clothes to the local thrift store and I think I'm only about half way there.
Socks...oh the socks. One of these days I'm going to locate the little blue men who steal them away!! (Smurfs anyone?) In the meantime, we have ditched all the socks...and I mean, all of them. We purchased the same exact sock type for the girls (they even wear the same size right now! Score!), same for my son, myself and my husband. It has been...sooohooohoooo much easier to match socks! I HIGHLY recomend it!!
Shoes...currently are literally in a laundry basket in my closet. Compared to some women, I really don't have that many, but I most definitely have not found an effective means of taming the shoe problem: meaning how to store them until such time as I need them?? Have I figured it out yet? No...but, my bedroom is now #2 on the list of cleaning out/purging/decluttering so I will have an answer for you VERY soon.
Here is my checklist:
Son's Room
Basement closet
Unfinished portion of the basement
Our bedroom
My Craft Room--I really could use more storage space!!
I am also happy to announce that the living room has stayed neat and picked up for a week. (I can NOT tell you how huge that is!)
So...what is your New Year's Goal??
I am with you on the sock thing. I now ONLY buy white socks, and when I get them I put little marks on the toes so that each size has a different mark (I just use fabric markers). The other thing that has made life sooooooo much easier in the sock department is that I only sort them by size. I do NOT - EVER - match them up or fold them. And I live sock-stress free. Hallelujah!
ReplyDeleteI am not a picking a WORD person either. There have been so many post with it and good for them, but it's not for me. Good luck with your decluttering. That's something that needs done in my home. It's all those misc items that get us and I don't know what to do with.
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