how to easily declutter your home with my 3 simple rules

How many times have you “tried” to clean out your home with lack luster results.

With the feeling that in the end all you did was move things from one location to the next without really decluttering and removing items from your home. 

Each week, it seems we all bring things into our homes and not much leaves.

I set out to change that in our home.

I think more of what I want and what I don’t.

I also decided I no longer wanted everything overfull!

I wanted my home to have less stuff.

A lot started when we remodeled the downstairs of our home a couple years ago and it really set things into play.

There is nothing like a project to get things rolling and maybe have it snowball into more helpful projects.

I LOVE our “new” kitchen, it’s so much brighter.

 See more about the before and after on our kitchen here.

 When we had to move everything to do the work, I did not want to put back stuff I just didn’t want.

So, needless to say, I’ve made numerous trips to the donations center nearby.

One day, I filled my SUV 3 times!

In two months time I had cleaned out every closet, all the stuff I had held onto that I thought I’d use someday…

My home began to feel like a place that had more space and less clutter.

I won’t ever be a true minimalist, but I don’t need so much “stuff” anymore. Simlifying really does give you some peace of mind, anad so much more time.

• No, “managing of stuff all the time”, 
• No more looking and searching for items you “think” you know where they’ll be, but since you have so much stuff, it’s just a project to get to them.
• It’s freeing to let go of items you long longer, need, like, have a use for, or gifts or items that you never selected in the first place. Stop thinking that holding onto something someone gave you is making anyone happy. It’s just keeping you from living the way you want, having the neat and clean home you desire.
• Take a photo of the item, and let it go!

 

(I see so many people saying they spend hours and hours, decorating for Christmas or whatever) or spending time doing things that maybe I’ve done before but know in my head do not make me happy anymore or make the people in my life happy.

I’m all about the HAPPY!

 

Take a look at my 3 go-to tips for CLEANING OUT once and for all!

Time is the gift you’ll never have enough of.

I know that. I feel it, often. Most of my friends have kids away at college. I can’t tell you how happy I am that mine are under my roof a little while longer, and no matter how much noise they make, (if you have someone in your family that plays fortnite or whatever video game is popular today… you’re bound to understand) or how many times they ask me to heat them up food and hurry they are running late. I always tell myself to enjoy it, it won’t last forever and one day my home will be… QUIET!

It’s kind of funny how life can go for years with noisiness… to calm.

Something that “BOOK” you know the manual you get when you have kids tells you everything you need to know about, the one… that NO ONE gets (Ha, Ha).

-It never mentions how fast it all goes. But my dad has been telling me for years how fast the time goes. I think this saying is VERY true: “The days go slow, but the weeks fly by”. Not sure who said it, but I believe it now more than ever.

Although my husband keeps me on my toes… he recently broke his collarbone, so the heating of meals and fluffing pillows, and handling of ice packs keep me pretty busy and my daughter now has a fractured foot. And I’m glad that we enjoyed a great Christmas, and I’m even happier that there was little to clean up.

HERE is my two cents on some things:

Life isn’t about the “big” events, moments, or a single day. Life is about all the moments in-between, that is what makes up a whole life, so I hope I can spread the cheer of live your best life, live the life you want, stop overthinking things, overdoing things you don’t want to do, and enjoy the time you have with the people you want to spend it with.

I’m blessed to have both my parents, healthy and in their 80’s.

I want to spend time with people I truly like.

I say no a whole lot more than I ever did before.

I don’t need “stuff” just piling up around me. I’m so happy to have it all cleared out. And I’m excited to share my tips with you:

I came up with three things that I know have really helped me in clearing out.

 

We hold onto “things” for all sorts of reasons.

I REALLY wanted to clean out, once and for all. That part it key; if you don’t want to clean out, then the rules won’t work.

I’m sure you could come up with a hundred excuses why you need to keep things, so try these rules when you really want to clean out.

• 1) use it:
  do you actually use it? Could you do without it, do you have other things just like it, how many do you really need?
• 2) love it:
  do you love it so much, you’d actually miss it.
• 3) buy it:
  This one is two-fold, would you buy this item again today, or do you keep it because you spent money on it and hate to get rid of it if it was a gift you received? Would you actually buy it?

Think about it, why have your home full of stuff you would not want, or buy or pick out for yourself, guilt is a terrible thing, so don’t hold onto so much stuff just because someone gave it to you.

If you wish, you could save it, take a photo of it, or take a photo of you holding or using the item, that way you can preserve the memory without storing it.

 

 

To begin decluttering an area. Having a clear table with some boxes or bags for unwanted items is a great place to start that way you can easily keep things organized. As soon as you fill a bag or box, load it in your car and donate it by the next day. REALLY, don’t drive around for days with it in your trunk. Find a couple of places to donate, and then no matter what direction you’re heading in, you can drop off the items easily.

Have you ever gone to new model homes? They look amazing…

The rooms are simplified,

and the decor isn’t typically overdone.

I know no one lives in the homes yet, but everything should have a place, and every day your home will be nice and cleaned up if you put things back in their place and don’t keep items you don’t want or have space for.

Be decisive when cleaning out.

Trust your gut instinct. Most items you spend a lot of time thinking about are most likely just need to go. If you love something, you know that right away! Don’t make the mistake of holding onto so much stuff when whoever gave it to you wouldn’t mind at all if you no longer stored it, carted it around, dusted it off now and then, only to “try” to preserve some sort of obligation that they aren’t even giving a second thought to!

Write the three rules on paper:
 Take them where you’ll be cleaning out and say the rules for the all the items you touch. It’s amazing how easy it is to clean out when you have 3 simple rules to guide you to a less cluttered home.

Now, after cleaning out my house, I made sure to keep it up,

I keep a tall laundry basket in the garage next to my car, and every week I end up putting things in it that don’t fit, we don’t use, or I don’t really love!

*Keep the motto: when things come in, things go out… for all the new items you bring in (which you should carefully think about, no use wasting money on this, you’ll soon donate) you have to be removing items at that time or everything won’t FIT!!!!

If you’re looking for some SIMPLE MEALS to make while you’re busy cleaning out. Take a look at my:

• Chicken Recipes 
• Deconstructed Chicken EggRoll Bowl
• 30+Recipes to make with a Rotisserie Chicken Recipes
• Slow Cooker Chicken
• 30 Minute, One Pot Chicken Soup
• Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese
• Goulash
• Taco Salad

 

BRING more HAPPY into YOUR life!