Happy & Healthy
YOUR HOUSE DECLUTTERING IS SO 2017
7x how to tackle it smartly
As I mentioned yesterday I have to move. And do you know what the absolute worst part about moving is? Your stuff has to go from A to B. Now, of course, this is immediately a perfect opportunity to become nicely minimalistic and throw out all the junk you don't use, but for someone like me (a hysterical hoarder), it's pure terror squared.
Yes, yes, yes: I have definitely encountered myself during the moving process. I lamented over clothes I hadn't fit into for ages – okay, that never fit, damn it. I stood for half an hour in front of the jewelry drawer with ‘super cool’ bead necklaces we wore when we were fourteen. The ugly name tags went away (seriously, anyone who shows up with those at a birthday party will never be invited again, except for the eighty-plus crowd). The wardrobe that was half falling apart went to the bulk waste. The decluttering has begun. And it's GREAT, I can tell you. Are you in the middle of a move too? Or just in the mood for a big clean-up XXXXXL? 7 top tips for decluttering:
1. Buy moving boxes at Action
Why expensive moving boxes? Do they have rhinestones on them? Were they crafted by a certain designer? Can you eat them? YOU WON'T EVEN KEEP THEM AFTERWARDS.
2. Make sure you are rested, adequate, and especially NOT emotional
Very important in the context of decluttering. If you do this in an emotional flow, you want to keep everything. Even those dusty stuffed animals in the attic that you don't even look at, but you also don't want to throw away because aaaaaah.
“Well, decluttering... No one said it would be easy.”
3. Ready to declutter? Good. Then start with the most important question
It's very simple. Breathe in, breathe out, and repeat: do I... use... this... NOW? So not: oh, but I don't use this milk tooth box now, but it's handy for my daughter later. Just kidding, right? No way Jose.
4. Consider this: if you really miss something...
Then you can always buy it again. But for now, all those bras that don't even fit well and therefore always stay at the bottom of the pile can go straight into the bag for Max. Bye bye.
5. The broken items dilemma
That shoe without a heel, that jacket without a button, that iPhone with the broken screen... Throw all the broken items in a pile and ask yourself out loud if it still makes sense. If yes? Then it goes in the repair box. And then actually take those items away.
6. Finished tidying up?
Who knows, someone else might still need the items you want to get rid of. Ask your friends, hold a garage sale, donate it to charity. If you know you won't do any of this, just call the thrift store.
7. And finally, the golden rule for decluttering...
If you if you buy something new something must also leave the house. Otherwise, you'll close up shop again within six months. And we’re not going to do that, right, friends? Well, decluttering... No one said it would be easy.
