I could easily have had a garage sale.
JUST with the stuff I decluttered this month.
See that pile waiting for the Magical Donation Truck to come pick it up? That’s nothin’. I also hauled away at least five back-of-the-Suburban-fulls of stuff.
My house feels lighter.
There are some months when my heart sinks to go back and check my decluttering categroy, only to find that it is almost empty. But March was a good month.
It began with the Big Fridge Clean Out. Although I didn’t donate any of that stuff . . . it needed to go. Cleaning out the fridge is difficult because it requires time, and timing. If something can’t go in the garbage disposal, but might start to stink if left in the trash for more than a short while, it means I have to purge it on Trash Day. And many a Trash Day can come and go before I remember.
Then came the playroom. Fine, the Big Playroom Clean Out. (I know the titles sound overly dramatic, but these cleanouts deserve a little drama.) It . . . was . . . bad. But now it’s good. And getting rid of several bags of stuff from in there evidently worked, because it has stayed fairly orderly.
And then . . . there was the biggie. The garage. The Place Where Homeless Items Go to Die. While it still has a shelf full of boxes-to-be-dealt-with-later, it is now officially free of randomness, and I can find things. Garages are scary, and I was petrified to get started, but I’m incredibly proud of it now that it’s done.
Really, after the garage, I didn’t plan on doing much more in March. But of course, real-life spurred me on. (That’s how it generally happens.) Lost tap shoes opened my eyes to the fact that my daughter’s room had once again fallen into chaos, and it was clear that whatever “system” we thought we were using . . . wasn’t working. Based on the success I’d seen from huge purges, I decided to go all out and clear her room of everything but what she consistently plays with. So far, it has been a huge success.
March is over.
Part of me wants to take a break from decluttering because I’m tired. Another part of me is energized to keep going at this rate. Honestly, I don’t know what April will hold other than Easter and birthday parties and weddings and general spring craziness.
I’m making it my goal to keep chugging along. Whatever that means, I’m going to keep going. Maybe it’s doing a little here and there to maintain what I’ve done. Maybe it’s jumping on a “free” day to accomplish something that’s been bugging me.
It’s all I know to do . . . keep going.
Now I want to read about your decluttering progress! (Or your decluttering frustrations!) You can share in the comments, or write a post on your blog to link up below. If you do link up, please say something like, “I’m linking this up to the March Decluttering Update over at A Slob Comes Clean” and link to the specific decluttering update post, not to your homepage. If you have any questions on how to do this, please let me know.
Sorry, I haven't been using my blog in forever, but I decluttered and cleaned out the fridge and I got rid of tons of paperwork… still have tons to go through though. It's a never-ending battle it seems. My motivation is the Hoarders show… I never want to end up like them! And you are definitely my inspiration as well, I love coming on here and seeing how well you are doing and knowing that I can do that too if I put my mind to it. Thanks Nony! You're doing sooooooo well!!!!!
Wow! You were rockin' it!! I'm impressed!! I just started my blog a little over a month ago and I'm amazed at how motivating it has been in this process. I have decluttered my wardrobe/closet, my desk, toys, and I'm hoping to finish my fridge and pantry by Saturday.
What I like most about you Nony is that you are REAL! I have the same/similar cleaning/decluttering issues that I have at my house. Things that I have been reluctant to conquer thinking that they were to big, to overwhelming to even try & start. You have inspired me. I look at it & think 'Nony did it' and hers was as bad as this.
Keep up the good work. You're the best!
Well, I don't blog anymore 🙁 But this month I decluttered… practically everything. My girls were sick, my husband was away, and no one was sleeping. My total was 15 black trashbags full of trash, 9 bags of clothes / baby stuff for donation, 1 bag of winter coats going to a friend, and a stack of empty boxes that weighed about 200 pounds.
Girl's room has stayed clean. Boys room has stayed clean. Living room is clean…ish.
Thanks for the motivation to log my decluttering efforts for the month Nony.
Well done on your big projects from this month – only hope I can make as much progress in our barn/garage/dumping ground when I finally get up the nerve to tackle it!
G
Awesome job Nony! Not only did you get alot done, but you got big spaces done! 🙂
Reading from earliest to front. It’s October and working on the Master bedroom. Really dislike the amount of stuff that is stored there. The hubby has wood working projects in the garage so anything in that dump all is at risk of needing sawdust cleaned off. Anyway my bedroom is a dumping ground and storage for all the sizes that we are saving in hopes they work for us later on currently there are 4 sizes between the boys that is one thing that will change and as it does we continue to store clothing. Still big accomplishment is that the boys rooms have been cleaned out this month.
Hello, I’m new to your blog, as I said before I found you by accident, but anyway I started from the beginning of your posts and am still reading them. I did get my kitchen dug out, and instead of moving on I decided to paint my counter tops,[ yes they have paint for that now], is the rest of the house clean by no means. I don’t quite understand how one room needs a decorating rehaul, so here I am a month later and my counter tops are still not done not because of lack of trying, I think I got some bad paint as the counter tops are like little bubbly thing, so I’m having to sand them all down and recoat them Urrrh. It’s not as if I don’t know how to paint I’m alway’s painting something. It doesn’t dawn on me that I should wait to do the decorating. Same thing you said about painting your entry way.M y main problem is I do it to make myself feel better but the mess that comes from my good intentions isn’t working and now i’m stuck. It seems as if I get mad because I have to do it all myself. So now my kitchen is a disaster again, I can’t do much about it till I finish those darn counter tops, the hand sanding was killing me so I bought a palm sander to help, [ yes I have one some where but can’t find it.] shoot looked at the livingroom and my christmas tree is still up with the lights still on it. You have to understand Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I just want to put away my christmas tree. Oh by the way I read about your bugs in flour add a bay leaf to your containers they really do help keep bugs a way.
Spouse asked me to clear a small chest of 6 shallow drawers of office supplies so he could use it next to his desk and toss the stacked floppy disk drawers he’s been using for his office supplies for the last 30 years.
I’ve made it my prime directive to say yes to each of his requests to declutter. When he saw me melting down at the beginning of my first session though, he said, “Never mind. I’ll buy something. ”
That stirred a rise to the challenge that I didn’t think I had in me. Over the last 3 days, I’ve cleared 5 drawers. I expect to clear the last one tomorrow, and he can take it!
I’ll take this opportunity to declutter and reorganize all the rest of our office supplies, too. It’s our first pass through in over a decade, so I’m sure there’s lots we can toss or donate!