With a new year upon us and Christmas just passing, it’s a great time to start decluttering. My family of five can really accumulate the stuff over the course of a year. We also live in a small three bedroom home, so there’s just a lot of stuff EVERYWHERE!
Now, if you’re anything like me, you like to hold onto stuff. Things become sentimental to me, and I have a hard time parting from them, but God tells us that our heart shouldn’t be in things. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We can’t take it with us, so sometimes that stuff, no matter how sentimental, has got to go.
Below are some steps to hopefully make things easier for you. My husband and I have been doing this in our home, and it’s amazing the stuff we’ve gotten rid of and how good it has made us feel.
1. Start in one room – First of all, don’t overwhelm yourself with your entire home. Even in my extremely small home, that would be daunting. I started with my son’s room, mostly out of necessity. He got a train and track for Christmas, and I had to have it out of my living room.
2. Have a plan – Take a look at the room and decide what you want to do. I knew in Witten’s room that I had to move out a piece of furniture that wasn’t being used, and I also wanted to rearrange some things in a junky corner.
3. Have at least 2 bags – Now depending on your sit, you may have more, but I always have two. One is for garbage and the other is for giveaway. Anything that can be reused and still looks decent goes into the giveaway bag. We either give this to our church’s clothes closet or the Union Mission. Anything that is no longer in good condition goes in the garbage bag. Now, I know some people do well reselling items, I normally don’t. We normally just go the route of giving away.
4. Clean when finished – This is probably a no brainer, but I feel like it needs to be said. Be sure you take the time to vacuum, dust, or anything else the room needs to be fully cleaned.
It may not always be easy to get rid of things, but it is always so much better when those things are gone. We don’t need all the “stuff”, and now is a great time to declutter.
What are your tips for decluttering your home?
Ribbons and Lace 