Let the Decluttering Begin!

As I was in my closet choosing my outfit for the day, I suddenly became disgusted by the amount of clothing that I owned and the amount that actually wore. There were things in my closet that I haven't wore in over 5 years! I couldn't believe that I was still holding on to these things. It got me wondering about what else was lurking around the house that was just taking up space. I have so much stuff that I sometimes feel like I am living in chaos.

I decided that starting today I was going to do a whole house cleanse in an attempt to live more frugally and simply. If I was going to do this I had to set up some simple rules about what I was going to keep and what had to go. These are the guidelines I set up for myself:

1. If it wasn't worn or used in the last six months, it was going.
2. If an item could be repurposed into something that we could use, then I was going to keep it.
3. Any duplicate items were going to go.
4. During the house cleanse, I could not bring any new items into the house.

I got started right away with my closet. With our Earth in mind, I thought I should try to find all of my unwanted things new homes. As I pulled things off of hangers, I separated everything into three piles; to be donated, to be given to friends or family and to be sold. An hour later, I had finished and had 5 large bags of clothing I no longer needed. What a great feeling to be able to look in my closet and not see just a bunch of stuff in there. Everything now I knew was there because it had a purpose and it was something I needed.

From this day forward I am making an oath to live a more simple life and only consume things that we need. In doing so I hope to teach my children that things should not be the most important thing in life, but instead the relationships that we create. Please join me in this oath and help create a better world.

Check back tomorrow to see how decluttering of my kitchen and dining room went.