Okay, I mentioned on my last post that I was going to create a mini-challenge each month. January’s challenge is decluttering. This is something that should be done routinely, especially if you live in a tiny home like we do.
I’m going to shock you here (unless you know me) but despite my love of planners and lists, I am not a naturally neat person. My work space is usually organized chaos and I’d really prefer you give me 24 hours notice if you want to drop by so I can make sure my house is presentable please.
I would love to be that person with the house that is always spotless but it just isn’t me (or my kids unfortunately). My husband may have been a bit OCD with cleaning and keeping things neat, my mom’s house is always very put together and neat, and you could literally eat off of the floor at my aunt’s house because she probably just mopped it. I am not that person. Walking into organized spaces makes me calm though so I’m determined to develop the neat habit this year to help bring some extra zen into my life.
The January Challenge
I mentioned on my goals that I want to purge 120 items this year. That works out to 10 items a month but this month I want to jump-start the process by clearing out 40 items out of my household, so that’s 10 items a week this month.
Week 1 and 2: My bedroom (but I’m also going to encourage the boys to go through theirs as well)
Week 3: The living room
Week 4: The kitchen and bathrooms (all three are very small so I should be able to do them in a week’s time)
Rules
Really don’t have too many rules. I am going to list the items I get rid of for accountability purposes.
Ideally I will be able to sell a few of the items I find to purge. Some items have already made it to the trash. A few items I am confident can be used by friends or relatives and anything else will go to a donation center for the tax write-off.
Also, I will take a few pictures of my results. I may take a few pictures of the before too but I’m not sure I can show those. We’ll see how brave I get.
Anyone Else On Board?
So who wants to join me? Obviously January is a big organization month. Have you walked into your local Target store and seen all the totes and shelving and organizers for sale? One last piece of advice though, don’t wreck your budget buying a bunch of fancy bins and boxes and shelving units during this process. Or at the very least, get the majority of your decluttering and organizing done before you buy so you know what you really need.