Organizing, Decluttering and Purging

Time is flying by so fast….I can’t believe its mid May already. There has been a lot going on and the biggest project was the purging.

Back in September I started the slow process of going room to room and purging items that I do not use on a regular basis. I had grand plans of doing it in a month. hahahahaha…..who am I kidding?

http://winnieg.wpengine.com/?p=1373

I really did do some purging each week, but I worked slow and steady; revisiting areas and rooms a few weeks after my first pass. My final haul was VERY large. I had enough for a garage sale all by myself…but I had one and my mom joined me.

We got rid of a lot of items and hopefully those items are getting new life in a new home. Anything that did not go during the garage sale was donated to our local MRM. Let me tell you how awesome it is to not have that hanging over me. Quite frankly I wish that I was a little more ruthless in decluttering. I will start over and go room to room.

Here are some of the ground rules I set for myself:

Does it fit or I have I worn it in the past year? I chose a year based on the 4 seasons that we have, if I did not wear during the last season it was appropriate to wear….then I probably won’t this time around. Get rid of it.
Is it a tchotchke gathering dust? Does it have a use or does it bring me joy? There are many knick knacks in my house that I have just dusted over and over again with no real joy or attachment. I just felt that its been here, I spent money on it, I shouldn’t be so quick to get rid of it…..Think again. Get rid of it.
Is it a kitchen appliance that you are hanging on to, just in case you may use it in the future? Get rid of it.
Do you have more than 1 set of dishes? I did – but they were not sentimental or heirloom. Why then, did I have them? Get rid of it.

Here is an in-progress pic of my purging. Fun times. Once I was finished, I started re-evaluating where to put the things that made the cut.

(iPhone pic above…sorry)

I did replace one item with another. My TV corner had a very small stand that our cable box and router sat on. I always felt that they got too hot, so in the midst of the purging I did a painting project.