Thursday, January 8, 2015

2015 Goals Series: Declutter Our Home

This post is part of the 2015 Goals Series, where I'll share my goals for the year, why they are important to me, and how I plan to accomplish them. You can follow along here.

Sean MacEntee

Hi there!  Welcome back to the 2015 Goals Series.  Today is the sixth post in the series, and we're going to talk about my goal to declutter our home.

Yuck.

Let me just preface this by saying my family and I are not hoarders in the extreme sense, but we all tend to have an attachment to our things.  The daughters are emotionally attached to the toys they played with when they were younger, and their school papers going back to kindergarten.  The husband is attached to receipts and bills and other paperwork.  He hates to throw anything away for fear he may need it someday.  And me, well, I'm attached to notebooks and office supplies.

In addition to that, our home is pretty small for two adults and two teenagers.  It's barely big enough for the four of us, but throw all of our junk in the mix, and we have a space crisis!

I don't have a problem hanging on to the things we love.  But those things need to have their own space.  Because if they are out in the open, they tend to attract other things -- the unloved junk kind of things -- and before you know it, things are out of control.

So this year is the year of decluttering.  My goal is to get rid of the things that we do not love and that do not serve a purpose.  And then, find a home for the things we do love and bring us joy.

Here are the spaces I plan to work on.  Yes, this is every single space in our home.


  • Coat closet Living room
  • Laundry room
  • Girls' bathroom cabinet
  • Girls' bedroom
  • My closet
  • Girls' bedroom closet
  • Kitchen pantry
  • Kitchen cabinets
  • Dining room
  • Master bedroom
  • John's closet
  • Master bathroom cabinet
  • Storage room
  • Garage
  • Balcony

Some of the spaces don't have that much clutter, but they all need attention on some level.  

I don't have a plan, at the moment, for getting this done.  I've tried several methods of getting rid of clutter, but they never seem to take hold.  So this month I'm reading "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" by Marie Kondo.  In the book, Ms. Kondo shares her thoughts on our spiritual relationship with things, and how to clear the clutter once and for all.  I've just started it (I'm at 11%), but it's an interesting read so far.  I'll share my review of it here once I'm finished.  I'm hoping the book will give me a fresh perspective on things, and allow me to knock the clutter out for good.

Do you "suffer from clutter" like me?  Or is your space under control?  I'd love to hear all about it!

Thank you for popping in today.  I hope you are well!




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