Decluttering your home

One of my goals for 2010 is to declutter my home. We are renovating - this year is the year for cosmetic changes and next year is a year for some big stuff. To ensure we have more time and space to manage renovations - and live! - I wanted our home as simple and as neat as possible. Nothing is to be left unturned.

I started decluttering on January 1 and am continuing to move through the house. I have slowed down a little over the last couple of weeks, mainly due to breaking my toe, but I have renewed vigour and have set myself some major deluttering goals over the next three months.
Life is just too precious to incessantly clean and organise and clean and organise. So I read Sorted and have decided 2010 is the year to remove everything from my life - from my house and surroundings - that is not needed. This includes all my sentimental stuff I have been dragging around for 36 years - yes, everything.

My goal is to declutter, clean and tidy one room in my house each week. Yes - one room in one week! I am going slowly so I don't expect too much from myself and perhaps some rooms will need more than one week - perhaps just cleaning in one week and tidying the next and decluttering the week after - but, for now, it is one room in one week.

This is my first week and I have opted for a seemingly easy one - but, it's in fact very difficult! It's our cluttered with everything other than clothing walk-in-robe. This is one room that is getting an overhaul next year. The floor is covered with boxes, guitars and craft things, the clothing racks need to be cleaned out and other clothes need to be hung up and the shelves all need to be cleaned and every item needs to find a new home, be thrown out or put back all clean and tidy.

What I am doing in the walk-in-robe this week is:

1. Starting from top to bottom - first off is getting all of the cobwebs out
2. Clearing the floor so I can move about - ensure all things on floor finds new home, is thrown out or put in bedroom to await shelf space
3. Going through racks to donate old clothes we never wear and to hang up clothes we always wear
4. Go through shelves - decide whether to keep items or where to store them
5. Clean as I go - dust, vacuum
6. Stand back and view my amazing decluttering work.

I have learned the art of knowing what to keep and what to throw away - if you have to think twice about keeping it - if you pause and are unsure what to do - it's time to throw it away or to donate it to your local thrift store or op shop.

If you'd like to declutter your home room-by-room link below - you can choose whichever room you like! We'll come back and visit each Sunday for the next three months :)