Like everyone else, I think about getting my life more organized in the new year. But, I also think about getting my life more organized every week. And yet I’m never inspired to actually do anything to reach that goal. Well, no more!
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I have read a ton of posts, articles, and anything else I’ve stumbled over that has tips for getting organized. I even made a post about starting a purge before Christmas so we had room for more stuff. Spoiler: I didn’t get very far with that. I think I gathered one bag of stuff we don’t use and it’s still sitting by the door waiting to go to Value Village or somewhere.
Something I have noticed is that no one has a home, a schedule, budget, or life like mine. We’re all unique and tips that may work for one household might not work for another.
My home has very limited closet space. And we have a LOT of stuff. When we “tidy up” it’s usually just moving things from one surface to another. My kids bring home tons of “art” and other school projects that I’d love to keep, but where do I put them? And how do I throw them away knowing my kid poured her heart and soul into it for at least 2 minutes?
- I do throw out/recycle a lot of the kids artwork. But I wait until they go to bed, or they aren’t home, or the recycling box is about to go to the curb so they don’t see my trashing of their masterpiece! I also have a Rubbermaid bin in the basement for each daughter – a very small sample of their artwork goes in there for posterity. One day I will have to sort those as well, but it’s hidden for now.
And then there’s seasonal items. We had just put away Christmas when I discovered we had an entire box we didn’t even open up this year. Guess what? I still didn’t open it! I labelled it so when the “get the hell rid of stuff” bug bites me again that’ll be the first box I delve into. And if it isn’t dealt with by next Christmas I’ll post what’s in it online for sale (or free depending on what it is!) for my friends and neighbours to look at. Or I’ll donate it somewhere. Options are endless of what I can do with it, but I have to DO it!
- I love decorating for holidays – Halloween being my favourite. But here, too, I have tons of artwork and “homemade” decorations. I still throw some away every year. This year I actually had my daughters help me. They decided their old drawings and cut-outs weren’t up to our current standards and they let me get rid of stuff. I was amazed! And at Halloween we suggested getting rid of the “baby” decor so we can upgrade to a few more spooky and scary decorations. It worked great!
I’m a bit ambitious, I’ll be honest. If I can try to sell my stuff, I will. I’ve joined a few Facebook groups of the local “buy and sell” type. Quite frankly no one there wants my stuff. I also post things to Kijiji, and I do have a little more luck there. And when nothing goes anywhere for any amount of money I’ll post it on my local “Buy Nothing” project page (also on Facebook.) I’ve had a lot of success there – and it’s fun to meet others, and read about why they are looking for an item (or why they’re giving something away.)
- Find some local sites (Kijiji, FB groups etc.) but don’t join too many. My husband and I participate in different groups (because he and I have different interests) and between us we can usually offload our stuff. Plus we have family with younger kids than ours so a lot of the girls clothes head that way. We also have gotten a TON of hand-me-downs from family friends so it’s only fair we pass it on.
Getting organized isn’t really hard – it’s just a lot of work. And you have the make the time to do it. I started really small. I went through my pyjamas. And I found some I didn’t wear because they didn’t really fit. So I posted them up and I have someone coming by in a few days to get them.
When you have some success it’s motivating. But you can get motivated by the idea of creating more space in your life (and your cupboards) and sometimes that’s reward enough.
How do you keep your home clutter free? I’m looking for usable tips here. So please do share anything that may help me get, and stay, organized!
~Jess
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