Decluttering and Recluttering

Today I am giving you an update on an ongoing project that I have been working on to declutter my home.

Ongoing sorting

Perhaps a year or so ago, I wrote about my plan to eliminate 10 unused or obsolete items every day for one year.  That's a lot of stuff.  Having about 3650 less pieces of stuff in my house at the end of one year would have been a serious amount of clutter gone.

However zealous I was at the outset, I petered out after about two months.  To rid myself of 10 items every day was just so much pressure.  Too many decisions with no let-up.  I had to go back to the drawing board and think up a more realistic solution.

I have since then downsized the plan, as I see it was too ambitious for me.  Finding 3 items each day is way more comfortable and takes virtually no time each day.  Every morning immediately after getting dressed, I continue where I left off the day before - sorting and ridding.  I leave the box right there and when it's full, I take it right away to the thrift shop, which is roughly every two weeks or so.

Some of my drawers are now so decluttered that there's hardly anything in them.  Let's see if I can keep them that way.

With this method, I have now completely sorted through, decluttered, and reorganized my bedroom dresser, nightstand, and closet.  All that is left in there to sort and declutter is my jewelry box.  Three items a day.  I can do it.

I have heard it said by some organization professionals that you can cut down your closet by 25% by asking yourself this one question:  "If I was shopping right this second, would I buy this item?"  If the answer is no, out it goes.

So MY side of that room is looking pretty good.  It's the OTHER side that's lagging behind in the organizational progress.  The husband/lover/packrat is having some trouble over there motivating and gettin' er done.  He also has a closet, a chest of drawers, and a nightstand, and so far, he's gone through just one or two drawers.

There are also several piles of books over there in his corner, which have been there for, oh, years now.  When I asked him when he's gonna get around to reading them, he looked at me with a stunned look on his face, and acted like he has no clue whatsoever how those books got there.  And furthermore, if he didn't put them there, then why would he want to read them?

So we're at a bit of an impasse on those piles, but ironically I just came across this word that seems to fit the situation (you know how I love finding great new words!):

Bob is obviously suffering from a severe case of tsundoku.  I recognize it; he's in denial.

In other areas of the house, one could say I'm recluttering.  St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and when I asked the husband/lover/carrier of boxes to bring my St. Patrick's Day box up from the basement, there was no small bit of grousing coming from him.

But I say this is not really recluttering, it's simply relocating.

The rag wreath I made last year is happily back on the front door.

There's a little leprechaun hiding in some greenery on the kitchen table,

along with a nearby message of LUCK.

And, of course I loaded up the fireplace mantle again with the stuff I had made last year.

There's that washi tape shamrock,

all those old floral vases I repainted and repurposed,

and finally, that sparkly banner.

This spring and summer, my decluttering efforts will extend to the basement and the garage.  The plan is to ultimately make the one garage bay into a home gym.

Thrift shop:  Be ready!  Make space!  I'm coming to see you!