I recommend you dispose of anything that does not fall into one of three categories: Currently in use, needed for a limited period of time, or must keep indefinitely. — Marie Kondo author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Another Christmas is behind us, and soon another year. All the wrappings, boxes, bags, ribbons, and bows lay strewn across the floor, crammed into garbage bags, or neatly hand-pressed and folded for another year. The gifts from our wish lists are mostly ours now and we must find a place to store them. It would seem to be an excellent time to say “out with the old and in with the new.” Some cold and wet days urge us to stay inside and tackle those projects we’ve put off for a rainy day. The percentage of us who like to declutter our surroundings are probably small but once you declutter you become so pleased with yourself, you’ll want to do it again. There’s always some area you haven’t thought of or an area that tends to get cluttered up before you know it.
Take that under-the-kitchen-sink clutter. Of all the decluttering I’ve done I’ve not thought about under the sink until I was on my hands and knees looking for the drain cleaner, which happened to be in the very back hiding in a dark corner. After taking care of the drain, I pulled out every single item. There were six aerosol cans of wasp spray, two were almost empty. Some very old mosquito spray-very old, like six years old. Empty furniture polish, floor wax, the usual Windex, 409, Clorox spray, dish detergent and so on. After taking everything out I went to the garage where I maintain a small section of cardboard boxes. I pulled out three and labeled them: cleaning most used, bug spray and bombs, and extra cleaning. It is no longer necessary to crawl on the floor to find a product. Just reach for the item or lift the box out with one hand. The decluttering took no more than an hour including walking to the garage and back. Organizing saves a lot of time and frustration.
One blogger I follow mentioned the “One box challenge.” Pick out a nice size cardboard box and roam around the house looking for things you don’t need. The blogger found vacation souvenirs, odd drinking glasses, old hairbrushes, discarded make-up, broken sunglasses, unworn jewelry and other unnecessary odds and ends to discard.
Over the holidays I chose to declutter my bookshelves which I’ve done several times but of course I’m constantly adding new books. I don’t think there is a room in the house that doesn’t have a bookcase. I ruthlessly went through the books stacking some for library donations, some for charity thrift stores, and some for friends. Ah, it looks so much better and of course now there’s room for more books.
The next category, I’m still working on. I have a chest full of journals, like diaries, dating back to my twenties. This will take a lot longer but I’m going through the journals re-introducing myself to my younger self and then…I’ll kiss her goodbye.
Shannon Rule Bardwell is a writer, who lives in the Prairie. Her e-mail is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
