A home that is neat and tidy is welcoming and is easier to feel relaxed. Over time we gather more items while we stop needing or using others. Visual clutter increases stress and overstuffed drawers and cabinets makes finding what you want more difficult. It can be hard to get rid of the old and resist the temptation, but you might need it one day, but there is a sense of freedom of getting rid of what isn’t useful anymore. The key is remembering the end goal of keeping what you need and what brings you joy, having a place for everything, and passing along the rest.
When I was first married, I had a lot of things that had sentimental value for me. My husband asked, Should we keep this? This? What about having to dust this? And I would say, Yes, and explain what it meant to me. Later he wisely collected some of the things and put it in a box, dated it, and put it in a drawer. A long time later he asked me to retrieve the box in the bottom drawer. He pointed out since that date, I hadn’t even missed them in all that time! He suggested I take a photo of them to remember them by, and donate the items. Brilliant really. Sometimes we need someone without the emotional attachment to encourage us to move on!
How to Get Started
The key is to target a specific space at a time and focus on that. Break it into a manageable task. What would make the biggest impact in your daily life? What do you feel most eager to tackle, and reap the rewards of doing a great job? Make a list of what area, and then check them off as you go. Build in a reward for each one accomplished. Perhaps you can do a share with a friend with the hardest area(s) for you, they help you stay logical about letting go, and you do the same for them! Task them for making a donation list.
There are three choices to make for each item so stage an area for:
Take a before picture. Start removing all items in the targeted area. Try to respect your first logical instinct if it says let it go, for the emotional part that fears change may have you second guess. If you are really not sure if you should keep or not, put it in a bin so as to not stop the flow, and after you have put back all the keepers, do you have the space to add them back? Anything you keep you need to use and care for. We do not want stuffed closets, drawers, cabinets, or have to resort to bins unless they are kept for a specific purpose e.g. Christmastime, toys to pass on or save for grandkids. We want to be able to see what we are looking for in its logical place. In the kitchen, get rid of plastic storage without lids, any pots with nonstick coating that are scratched, stained cutting boards, chipped wood utensils, food you do not want.
Oftentimes what could not find a place in the home, gets put in the garage. The garage is often our first experience of coming home. It is good for that to be tidy as well. If you save the garage cleaning for last, you might have room to place things back in the house! It may good to invest in shelving with mesh and wire baskets for sporting equipment with sturdy shelves. Have clear bins to see contents. Start with collecting any hazardous materials you are not using to take to a hazardous waste facility.
Affirm yourself as you go along that clearing out the old is good, and acknowledge how items have served you in the past, but it is time for someone else to benefit from them. If you feel emotionally drained, take a break and start fresh again. Celebrate your win, admire what you have done compared to the before picture. To make closet clearing easy, start by putting all your clothes hangers “backwards,” and in a year’s time, if you have not worn it, give it away!
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy. James 3:17
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