Perfectly Practical #143 - Decluttering

Remember this?

Did you and your family write out New Year's resolutions to clean up and clean out?

We didn't write out New Year's Resolutions this year.  As a family, we have one big goal that we hope to achieve by the end of the year (and I'll let you know if/when it happens.)  But I do start every year with the intention to have a clear out of superfluous stuff.

Every year I get started on it and every year I burn out because I go in like a forest fire.  This year I have taken a completely different approach - the slow burn.  I am giving myself the whole of the month of January to reach my goal.  The Little Pink House has 7 rooms and 5 closets (6 if you include the pantry) that I need to get through.

Decluttering, especially in the new year, helps to bring on that feeling of a clean slate...but only if the job gets finished.

My Potential Problems:

• I'm not the only person who lives here - therefore it is not all my stuff and some stuff needs to be scrutinized by my cohorts before extraction from the house.  
• We are no longer in holiday mode - real life has kicked back in so I don't have all day to pootle around.  
• Getting to the hard stuff - some stuff needs to have decisions made about them that I have conveniently chosen to burn out right before I get to those rooms/challenges in the past.  

I don't have a problem decluttering in general.  I don't break out in a cold sweat at the thought; I just get burned out.  Here's where the fabulous Nony of A Slob Comes Clean and her new e-book Drowning in Clutter? comes in.

She is a self-professed "Decluttering Expert."  I love her idea on what she can handle as opposed to finding a home for/organizing everything.  Although she mentioned something about seeing how many cookbooks one could handle and tossing the rest, yeah...you might have to convince me there Ms. Nony.

I've said before that closets are a problem for me (as evidenced by the photo from last year up top) because my house can be clean in a matter of minutes when I shove all clutter into laundry baskets and shut the doors.  No more clutter just left with a clean house...and closets that are potential avalanches at any moment.

Even the Celtic drum has a new home

I started with my closets this time.  To get over the first hurdle.  Which is contrary to Nony's book (sorry Nony but I started this process before I got your book.)

Nony's advice is simply real and really simple.  Simplicity is often brilliance.

The bottom line is change your mindset and habits, do the easy stuff first, and keep going at your own pace.

At the time of posting this, I have cleaned out all five closets (there is even some space for more hats empty space in them) both bedrooms, the pantry, and two bathrooms.  Not too shabby.

I may even get rid of a few laundry baskets as a show of commitment...okay, I won't go that far.

From now until the end of January, Nony is offering her e-book for $4!  That's a steal.  And whether you are drowning in stuff or a perpetual declutterer, this is a great read

This is part of Works for Me Wednesday.

I am an affiliate for Nony's book (because I liked it that much.) Nony provided me with a copy of her e-book to review. All opinions and photos of random Celtic drums in closets are my own.  Thanks Ms. Nony!