How are you doing in the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge? It's the 177th day of the year today so if you started in January, your target is to have purged 177 items by now. But don't worry if you're behind ... there's still lots of time to declutter! And with summer upon us, it's a good time to declutter so you can feel relaxed in your home instead of overwhelmed.
We have over 500 people in the 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group! I wasn't even sure we'd get than many by the end of the year, and we did it in less than 6 months. It's a wonderful, encouraging, and motivating group of people who are all committed to decluttering. If you haven't joined yet, click here.
Today it's my turn to share what I've been decluttering since my last update. My hope in doing this is to give you ideas on items you can declutter too. With my vacation in May I didn't get to update my progress, but I did do some decluttering before I left and since I've been back.
This update is really random. I didn't declutter any specific areas of my home in May or June. But I've still purged a lot of things!
First up is a remnant from decluttering our kitchen. My daughter was ready to give away her Dora dish set (she had only been using the bowl and the cup without the sippy lid for the last several years anyway). She gave these to a friend of ours who has a little girl.
We had a charity drive at our church this spring, and we donated quite a lot there.
- 1 belt, 2 shirts, and 40 kids' books. My daughter did a great job giving away lots of her early reader books and picture books! She wanted to make room on her shelves for the early chapter books and non-fiction books she's starting to read now.
- 1 sheet set, 2 water bottles, and 1 pair of running shoes
- 1 Dora backpack with 5 Dora toys inside
- 2 boxes of miscellaneous books that my hubby and I haven't read in awhile and either won't likely read again or we can get them from the library when we do. I forgot to record the number of books {hanging my head in shame}, but it was approximately 30 books in total.
While my daughter was going through her bookshelves, she found other books that she wanted to give to her younger cousins and friends. Here are 51 more books she purged! I'm so proud of her... she loves her books and usually has a hard time letting them go. But she has really improved in her reading this year and this was kind of a celebration of that.
After going through the house to find items to donate to the sale at church, we still found more items to purge. I gave this Concordance to a friend of mine. And as I was pulling out Disney movies for the kids to watch before going to Disney World, I came across this case for The Jungle Book that actually had another videotape inside it. We bought it at a library sale years ago and I guess we never looked inside. And clearly we haven't watched the video since we bought it! Luckily a friend of mine loaned us some Disney DVD's to watch on the way to Florida and Jungle Book was one of them so the kids still got to see it :) This case and the non-matching video went in the garbage.
As I packed for Florida I swapped out some of our winter and summer shoes and hats. In the process I realized my feet have grown a bit and these 3 pairs of shoes no longer fit well. And the hat I didn't wear very often. All these items were donated to the Clothesline program.
Also while packing for Florida, I came across 2 bags I haven't used in awhile. I donated them to the Clothesline program too.
Our kids' school had a fundraiser carnival last week and each student was asked to bring in at least one craft or activity item for baskets that were raffled off. We have lots of unopened craft kits so I asked my kids to go through and choose a few that they wanted to do this summer and then set aside the others to give away. Here's what we donated to the school.
And here are 25 more activity books, colouring sets, and craft kits that my daughter had outgrown. Some of them were partially used so she gave them to her younger cousins so they can enjoy them this summer.
I'm working on decluttering some bins in my basement. I came across one that had several folders and binders full of old notes from camps and retreats I led years ago. I'm not sure why I held onto them all these years, but it was definitely time to let them go. Here's a stack of paper about 2" tall that went in the recycling bin.
I also Freecycled one binder, 1 recipe box, and a stack of blank recipe cards.
We also had a lot of "replacement" items in the last two months as my parents downsized from their home of 43 years into a condo. We were quite careful to follow the one-in-one-out rule with most items, so as we received items from them that they no longer needed (that were better than the ones we had) we gave away, donated, or through out our old items (or we will be in the near future). Things like a patio table and chairs set, a rake, a few shovels, and a deck box.
We did gain a few other things (like a tea cup and saucer that was my grandmother's, a huge mat that will hopefully help keep our garage floor from deteriorating quite as quickly, and a pretty outdoor dish set with plates, glasses, and a tray). But I was careful to only take items that we needed and would use.
My parents gave away or donated a ton of stuff over the last few months and I'm proud of them for being able to recognize what they really need, use, and love, in order to be able to live a simpler life in their new home. And I'm proud of myself for not cluttering our home with a lot of their excess things, even though I grew up in that home and have fond memories associated with a lot of the things they were purging. A year or two ago it might have been different, so I'm happy to see where my decluttering and simplifying journey has taken me.
All totaled, that makes 179 items decluttered in the last 2 months! Which brings my challenge total to 651 items so far. While I've already passed my goal of 365 items in 365 days, I'm planning to keep decluttering! There are still areas of my home that I feel are cluttered and I want to work on them in the 2nd half of the year. It is so great to be doing this challenge with all of you and sharing our progress together!
I hope my random decluttering has inspired you to look around your home with fresh eyes! It just goes to show that you don't have to take on a big decluttering project to find items you can purge.
In our Facebook group, a few members were commenting recently that they are looking at everything in their homes differently now. Even items that at the beginning of the challenge they were sure they would hold onto. They're now finding that they are ready to let them go. It's interesting how what we think is important can change over 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 :) With over 500 participants already it's going to be good!
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? Do you ever find random clutter? Have you joined the 365 in 365 Challenge yet?
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Here are all the posts in the 365 Items in 365 Days series:
