How are you doing in the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge? It's the 62nd day of the year today so if you started in January, your target is to have purged 62 items by now. But don't worry about that if you've just started. Just jump in! It's always a good time to declutter :)
Today I'll be sharing what I've decluttered in January. I'm a little behind on sharing but I've been decluttering a LOT! I'll share my February decluttering soon.
By doing these updates I hope to give you ideas of things you can purge from your home! Ready to see what I decluttered in January?
Christmas Decorations
I was determined this year to declutter our Christmas decorations enough to be able to reduce our number of bins by at least one. I've been decluttering our holiday items every year for the last few years, but we also buy new Christmas items or receive them as gifts, so my collection hasn't really decreased too much. Here's what I was able to declutter this year:
- 1 set of Christmas pajamas
- 1 Christmas sweatshirt
- 2 Christmas candles
- 1 strand of outdoor lights
- 4 large gift bags
- 1 strand of lit garland (we don't really have a good place to use it and we barely ever plugged it in this year in the place we did have it)
Also decluttered (not pictured):
- 1 set of Christmas towels
- 2 Christmas books
- 2 Christmas cards
- 1 Christmas notebook
- 2 Christmas CD's
- 1 Christmas cassette
- 1 box of tinsel icicles for the tree
- 1 Christmas craft kit
- 1 large candle holder
And with all that decluttering... I was able to use 1 less bin when I put everything away this year!
Linen Closet
I went through my linen closet and decluttered lots of toiletries (I received some new ones for Christmas, and I hadn't gone through our overflow toiletries in awhile so there was a bunch!). Here's what I donated or gave away:
- 7 rolls of dental floss
- 6 hotel sized bottles of shampoo
- 1 hotel sized bottle of bubble bath
- 1 full-sized bottle of shampoo
- 1 set of bubble bath, lotion, and body wash
Gift Bins
I always find January is a great time to declutter my gift bins. After giving away so many gifts at Christmas, I look through to see what's left in the bins and if what's left aren't things I can see us giving away for upcoming birthdays, then I can safely declutter them. I'd already decluttered our gift bins before Christmas, but after seeing how empty they were, I decided to declutter them even more and combine some bins together.
I let go of the following:
- 10 new picture frames (I've had these for a few years and kept thinking we'd give some pictures away in them, but never did... time for them to go to someone who will use them!)
- 2 framed pictures of flowers
- 1 colour by numbers book
- 1 CD case
- 2 t-shirts
- 1 sticker kit
- 2 pairs of socks
- 1 Lego minifigs kit
- 2 children's books
- 1 toddler sleepers set
- 1 card game
- 1 journal
- 1 pencil
- 1 pin
- 1 pair of child's earrings
- 1 craft book
- 1 box of stationary
Some of the items were donated and some were given to other family members who I thought could give them away (we don't have any little kids we give gifts to regularly) or use them.
Office
We don't really have an office, but every January I go through the file drawers in our dining room desk. I also declutter the file cabinet and desk in the basement to get rid of any older paperwork and office supplies we no longer need. Collectively, those spaces make up our "office".
My kids helped with the shredding and we ended up with 2 small bags and 3 large bags FULL of shredding. Plus we recycled 2 large bags of paper. That's a lot of paper!
That meant I could also give away 33 hanging file folders and 1 binder!
We also sent an old computer to electronics recycling (most of the parts weren't working and the rest we no longer needed or it was outdated). We recycled:
- 1 computer tower
- 1 monitor
- 1 keyboard
- 1 mouse
- 1 set of speakers
- assorted cords
Also from our office areas I decluttered (not pictured):
- 1 decorative folder
- 2 sets of binder dividers
- 1 desktop document holder
- 1 document sized frame
- 1 monitor riser
- 1 energy saving power bar
- 1 extension cord
- 1 USB extension cord
- 1 Wonderfile
- 2 phone holders for outlets
My Family's Decluttering
Decluttering is a family affair in our home. I generally do more than everyone else because I go through not only my own personal items, but general household items as well. But my hubby and my kids make all the decisions about their things. And this month they were busy :)
My hubby surprised me one day and came down with this pile of clothes to donate. Love that man :)
- He donated 11 shirts and 1 pair of shorts.
- He also gave away 1 winter jacket because he received a new one for Christmas (not pictured).
My kids went through their games cupboard and gave away a bunch of games that they have outgrown or that they don't enjoy as much any more.
- All together they gave away 15 games
My son decluttered "his" dresser drawer recently (the one he stashes stuff in and I'm not allowed to look in). Just spontaneously one day he decided to go through it and clear it out. He was so proud when he came downstairs and told me he had done it! And he had 1 full bag of garbage and 1 pile of recycling in hand when he did. Then he asked me to help him decide what to do with a few remaining things. We relocated some items and he gave away the following:
- 3 sticker sets or pages
- 2 bookmarks
- 1 slide ruler
- 1 notepad (not sure why he had a Hello Kitty notepad lol!)
Random Decluttering
You know I love me some random decluttering :) These are items that I just set aside whenever I come across them. They aren't the result of decluttering a particular area or space in our home.
- 2 puzzles and 1 DVD - We received both puzzles for Christmas, did them over the Christmas holidays, and then gave them away to family members who enjoy puzzles too (they aren't ones we'll likely do again). And the DVD was a gift awhile ago and we finally watched it over the Christmas holidays too. Won't likely watch it again (or can stream it if we do) so I donated it too.
Here's some more random decluttering (not pictured):
- 1 purse
- 1 set of my pajamas
- 1 of my hubby's sweatshirts
- 1 magnet construction set that the kids haven't played with in a long time
- 1 more Christmas cassette
- 3 sets of princess / Barbie fridge magnets that my daughter was ready to part with
- 1 old pillow
My Totals
All totaled, that makes 185 items decluttered in January. Since this is my first update of 2017, that makes my 2017 total 185 items as well. It feels great to not only be clearing the excess from our home but giving many of our belongings a new life somewhere else!
It is so great to be doing this challenge with all of you and sharing our progress together! I hope my decluttering has inspired you to look around your home with fresh eyes!
In our Facebook group, we've had lots of activity lately! We went through the 31 Days of Easy Decluttering series together in January. Remember you can declutter whatever you want, whenever you want, but having mini-challenges and games is kind of a fun way to keep motivated and maybe find some things you wouldn't have thought to declutter.
Come join us if you need some motivation and cheering :) The details are always in a tab at the top of the page here on the blog.
So, that's my decluttering journey for January! 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?!
While it's still winter, take advantage of being indoors and let go of some your belongings. You won't want to tackle it as much when the nicer weather comes along.
Remember to tell others about this challenge. They'll thank you for helping them declutter. Feel free to use this image 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 the other posts from the series below... I seem to write about decluttering a lot :) You can also follow my Decluttering/Purging Tips & Ideas board on Pinterest.
What did you declutter this month? Do you have clutter you want to purge during the winter? Do you declutter on a daily basis or in big chunks? Have you joined the 365 in 365 Challenge yet?
Happy decluttering!
