If you're reading this in the future, I hope you think to yourself, "Why in the world would I not be able to donate right now?" But my guess is that if you looked at the date when this post was written, March of 2020, you'd say "Ohhhhh . . . . " We're living in a crazy time in history. We're stuck at home, with nothing to look at except our …
decluttering
Finish The Project and Call it Decluttering!
Projects are fun. The idea/planning/collecting-of-stuff stage of a project is fun. The finishing stage is fun. But today I'm talking about the middle stage. It's fun, too, but it can make decluttering difficult. It's the stage when you've gathered the stuff and started, but you're not done. And then life happens. And the unfinished …
A Reader Declutters and Containerizes Her Office
Home offices can turn into storage spaces for random stuff so easily! This can make them so hard to declutter. I love this story from one of you, sharing how working through the process, even in an overwhelming situation, works. If you don't know what process I'm talking about, you can check out my decluttering page for lots of links, or for a …
From Our Mailbox: 93 Shirts!
I love this story. I gasped at the shirt count, but then admitted that I have probably been in exactly this situation in the past. I especially love how she used the actual numbers to help loving shirt-givers understand that the giving needed to stop! Yay math! I just finished a purging (really, the only word that truly describes it) of …
Clutter: Defining The Word
Clutter. My definition of clutter is whatever I can’t handle. Clutter is anything that consistently gets out of control in my home. Decluttering isn't about deciding what I do or don’t need. It’s not even about knowing what I should or shouldn’t keep. It’s about understanding what I can handle. Even if I believe in my heart of …
Building Decluttering Momentum
I know you’re in the mood to declutter because you are reading this post. If you’re anything like me, inspiration more-often-than-not translates into huge bursts of determination. And then I crash and burn. Build momentum. This means starting small. Y’know, the easy stuff. I know how it is. You’re inspired to declutter, so you determine …
Do You Need a Bigger House?
I lived this excuse for a very long time. As long as I wasn’t fully “settled” and knew I would one day live in another home, I felt the need to keep things. Surely, my next home would have a space for that. And obviously, if I had a bigger home, I’d be organized . . . Duh. Because of this mindset, I don’t remember much about my college …
Why Your Family Won’t (or Can’t) Maintain Your Organizing Systems
I hear from people all the time about their frustrations over family members sabotaging their organizing efforts. They put organizing systems in place, but other people living in their home don't (or can't) keep them up. When I get these questions, I always feel a little awkward. Like, maybe they didn't notice the name of this …
Declutter While Moving Houses: Using Dana’s Decluttering Methods!
I know how hard it is to declutter while moving houses. I've done it the wrong way several times! I don't write a lot about moving strategies because I have lived in the same house since before I started my deslobification process. I'm excited to share this reader story with you. I absolutely love hearing how the basic, game-changing …
