How are you doing in the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge? It's the 111th day of the year today so your target is to have purged 111 items by now. But don't worry if you're behind ... there's still lots of time to declutter!
Our 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group continues to grow! I'm still adding new people on a regular basis and you are jumping in and sharing pictures, asking questions, and encouraging others. It's amazing to be part of.
If you haven't joined yet, click here and ask to join and I'll add you. It's a great way to be encouraged by others who are decluttering and find motivation to continue when you're feeling discouraged. I often see someone else's decluttering posts or pictures and think, "I should purge that too!"
Today I want to share what I've been decluttering this month. My hope in doing this is to give you ideas on items you can declutter too.
I'm seeing progress in my decluttering efforts which is exciting! Here's how I can tell...
I actually commented on Saturday night to my hubby that this was the first Easter in a long time that I didn't have a minor meltdown before hiding eggs for the kids. In the past our home was so cluttered that it was hard to tell what was left behind by the bunny. Which always made me feel bad. But this year our home was less cluttered and fairly tidy. Yay! #itsthesmallthings
Most of my decluttering this month has been spontaneous. Whenever I was getting an item out, putting something away, or working on a task, if I felt annoyed because it was too difficult to do what I was doing, I checked to see if there was clutter in my way. Usually there was. So I decluttered and then moved on with whatever I was doing. Felt good at the time and it continues to feel good to not be annoyed when I'm trying to complete basic tasks!
What am I talking about? Here are some examples:
I was putting away laundry and my sock drawer was getting too full so I decluttered 6 pairs.
I ran out of homemade laundry detergent but I knew we had a bunch of samples to use up, so before making a new batch I grabbed a sample. Except a whole bunch of fabric softener samples fell out of the cupboard when I did. We don't even use fabric softener (I thought they were scent booster samples), so I Freecycled them, along with a Tide stain remover stick and a mesh bag.
I also recycled 2 containers that I'd been hanging on to so I could refill them, but we don't use these products anymore, so they're gone.
Stay tuned for pictures on the blog of my newly organized my laundry cabinet :)
I put away some of our winter gear and purged 2 scarves I didn't wear this year. We're still transitioning out of winter and into spring here as far as temperatures go, but hopefully I'll have lots more winter gear to pass down before next month's update!
I also gave away this snowman making kit. My kids are more into making forts than snowmen so I wanted to pass this on to someone who would be able to use it more than we did.
As I pulled out the Easter and spring decorations, I set aside 6 items. I donated the book ends, and I Freecycled the chocolate mold, Tic Tac Toe game, bunny magnet set, Winnie the Pooh bag, and matching game.
I did a little "intentional" decluttering too! I have 4 bins with books in my basement that I'm working my way through. This month I tackled the bin with my old piano and music books. I recycled 3 files of music course notes, 2 old notebooks, 4 music workbooks, and a stack of my old flashcards. I also tossed a bunch of rusty clips and 1 folder with rusty hinges.
I also set aside a bunch of old piano books and music books that I plan to Freecycle (I won't count them yet since I haven't actually listed them yet).
My hubby did a little decluttering too and donated 1 sweater and 1 shirt.
I continued decluttering in my kitchen this month too. Here are some more items I purged:
- 4 hot plates, 4 plastic cups, 4 plastic bowls
- 1 pair of oven mitts and 1 "Good Moms' plaque
- 8 plastic forks & spoons and 8 plastic medicine cups (I'm not counting these disposable items but wow... I can't believe we had that many cups without tossing them... and the cutlery... well that's a whole other story... my son has this thing about keeping these)
- 2 Pez dispensers and some glasses that squirt water (don't ask me why those were in the kitchen... they've been hiding in the back of a stacking bin for awhile!)
- I donated 1 coin collection holder because we didn't end up collecting those coins
- When I was setting up a homework supplies shelf in the kitchen, I decluttered a bunch of extra school supplies from our desk drawers
- I also threw out a few fridge and freezer items when I organized my fridge and freezer (I didn't count them though)
All totaled, that makes 114 items decluttered this month! Which brings my challenge total to 472 items so far. I've passed my goal of 365 items in 365 days, but I'm planning to keep decluttering! I've got lots more clutter in my home... but it feels great to be doing this challenge with all of you and making progress!
I hope my spontaneous decluttering has inspired you to look around your home with fresh eyes! Whenever you're annoyed when you're trying to do something, look around and see if there's some clutter nearby that's getting in your way! Do that every day and you'll have a less cluttered home in no time!
So, that's my decluttering journey this month! I'm so glad you're part of the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge and I hope this post gives you some ideas of what you can purge next! If you haven't joined yet... jump in!
Are you ready to declutter?!
Remember to tell others about this challenge. They'll thank you for helping them declutter. And don't forget, I'll be basing the the prize at the end on how many people participated :)
Feel free to grab this button to spread the news if you're a blogger or have a website.
If you need any decluttering ideas to get you started or keep you going, check out my Decluttering/Purging Tips & Ideas board on Pinterest.
Plus my 31 Days of Easy Decluttering series is always in a tab at the top of the page here on the blog.
What did you declutter this month? Have you ever spontaneously decluttered? Have you joined the 365 in 365 Challenge yet?
Happy
I link up at these great parties - Check them out!
Here are all the posts in the 365 Items in 365 Days series:
