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Okay, the closets are done. And I must say, they look fabulous. I have so much more room now! I’m tempted to go buy new clothes, my old ones look so lonely now. But I won’t. The point is to clear out, now clear out and refill.

The next part of my de-cluttering weekend is to tackle the rest of the house. Now, it sounds like a big job when I lump the entire house in one unit, but I’m going to do it in phases. The first phase will a quick once-over, going through each room with a trash bag and seeing what can just be tossed away and what needs to be put away (books back in the bookcase, shoes in the closets, etc.)

The next phase is to go through and see what things I have that I don’t need or want anymore. A lot of things in our homes are special to us. Antique furniture handed down from Grandma, a vase given to you for your wedding. Other things might not have a special meaning, but we just really like them. Like the picture frames that perfectly accent your living room, or the rug that you bought at a flea market and always get compliments on. All of this stuff is what stays.

The rest, however, is stuff that we bought or were given and have found room for, but maybe we don’t necessarily like. Take a look around and I’m sure there are knick-knacks and home accessories, even small pieces of furniture, that are just taking up space without any real function (or sentimental attachment). Box all this stuff up and give it to Goodwill, where it can be adopted by someone who really does like it.

The third phase is to beneath the surface, the stuff that’s hidden away. We’ve tackled the closets, but what about the cupboards, the drawers, all the places that aren’t in plain sight? Sort through the DVDs in your entertainment unit, clean out the junk from the kitchen drawer, clear out the old notebooks in the kids’ desks. It’s stuff that may not be out for everyone to see, but still causes clutter, it’s just hidden.

This will be one of the biggest parts of my de-cluttering. I’ve given myself a day for the second and third phases each, which hopefully is a generous estimate of how long it will take me. I realize that I might no be able to get rid of absolutely every bit of clutter in my house this weekend, but I will be off to a great start. And I can always pick up where I left off next weekend.

Hopefully you’re making progress in your clutter-busting. It’s hard work, but it’s worth, so don’t give up!

Amy

Tags: closets, clutter, home, home accessories

This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.