I asked Irene if I could share this email she sent to me, and she said yes! She shares HOW she used the No Mess Decluttering Process to tackle her whole house. I hope you find this as inspiring as I do!
Hi Dana,You have been a life saver. Literally. My house has been a mess. We are a family of five (including my quadriplegic twins, so add inevitable medical equipment to an over-filled house). It’s a big house, and that has been my downfall. There was a lot of space available and I don’t know how on earth I managed to fill to the brim every cupboard, every room, every drawer. And I was suffering with headaches due to all that mess. Every time I needed something, although I knew I had that specific thing, it took soo much time to locate it.I have been watching you on YouTube for almost three years now. The first year it was only watching. The second year was the action year. This year, the third one, you are my sustainability guru. Really. It took a whole year to manage the house and it’s almost been a year that it’s still sustained and completely under control. I declutter at the go now, very, very often and brutally, with no maybes and no regrets. It’s the only way for me because I’ve vowed that I’ll never go back to how it was.So during my action year I followed what you said:1) I started with the 5 minute pick up daily at noon and late evening.2) The following week, I grabbed a black bag. I threw away A LOT. It took around two weeks for me to go through the whole house and outdoor storage to get rid of things that I knew instantly that had to go. Once the obvious things that had to go were out, I proceeded to…3) Grab a black bag AND a donation box. This was harder but manageable. This step lasted a good 7-8 months to be honest. There was so much to go. When this was done I felt empowered and managed to proceed to…4) Declutter OR organise with the ‘take it there now’ rule. If there was no home for the item I said farewell and I let it go. This was the hardest part because of the guilt of how much money had been wasted on things that I wouldn’t use or it wouldn’t occur to me that I had them. And then I proceeded to…5) Hard decisions and emotional stuff. I thought this would be the hardest but it really wasn’t that bad since I got used to making decisions during the previous steps.May I say that I’m down to having some completely empty drawers and cupboards in EVERY room now, my floor is clear, I can have guests over unexpectedly without having a mini heart attack at how our place looks. And the best of it, even on days that I feel like there’s such a mess, I only need 1 hour to get the WHOLE house dignified again.I can not thank you enough. You are a real inspiration and you offer practical easy to follow solutions.P.S. On the first week of step 2 above, I counted 26 full black bags. Regarding step 3 above, God only knows how many pick ups I organised regarding the donations, and how many more black bags kept appearing. I regretted none of the letting go or of the donated stuff. None.Love and many many thanks,Irene from Cyprus
Oh, Irene, You are so INSPIRING!
If You can declutter and clean with your busy and demanding family of 5,
surely ANYONE can (especially my 2-person household!)
CONGRATULATIONS on your life-altering success and Thank You for sharing.
Peace, Love, Blessings, Health and Happiness to You and your family!
Truly awesome. Thank you so very much for sharing an inspiring!
Phenomenal post, most relatable one I’ve seen on your blog so far Dana. I also live in a big house and have felt guilty about not managing it when so many struggle with small spaces. Thank you Irene for breaking down my path. This makes so much more sense to me.
I needed that reminder that we CAN do this. I have let myself slack off the general cleaning as life keeps getting more and more busy. (Just because the house doesn’t look dirty doesn’t mean you stop cleaning!!) Two months ago I took my jewelry off the mug hanger so I could put mugs on the counter hanging neatly and have space in the cabinet, but that left jewelry laying on top of the dresser with no place to go so I could dust it. Since I couldn’t dust the dustiest spot in my house, my brain decided I wouldn’t dust the rest of it either. Perfectly logical, right? After reading Irene’s inspiring odyssey, I am putting a couple of hooks up for the jewelry so I can get back to dusting!! Tonight I am reinstituting a 5 minute pickup after lunch and before bed, since I never really got that habit nailed down. The house was never as bad as it used to be, but I like being able to find stuff because it is put back where it belongs and I get rid of what I don’t use. Thanks for the boost!
This is really inspirational, thanks to Irene for sharing and being so vulnerable. I’m waiting for my garage repair guys to finish up and I’ve been taking the time to write down what I need to do before Christmas. It seems really overwhelming looking at my big list, but hearing how Irene did it, I can break my list down into smaller parts and get things done little by little. Thanks for sharing this, Irene is an inspiration.