How to Declutter Your Life

Try saying, minimalism.

I admit, I get tongue tied when I try to say minimalism, minimalist, minimalistic…are there any other ways to say it? Mim-a-ma-lizm…at least I only have to type it to you right now.

“So what the heck is minimalism anyway?”

It is a question that I had when I first heard about it. Joshua and Ryan from The Minimalists say, “Minimalism is a tool used to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.”

From Becoming Minimalist, Tyler answers with a short, simple explanation: “I am intentionally trying to live with only the things I really need,” and adds:

MINIMALISM IS INTENTIONALITY.

I instantly was hooked on finding out more about this way of living. So, I continued to research about minimalist living. You would not believe how many people do this in their life. I really liked the concept of this way of living. I don’t think I could go full force this way, but I wanted to switch over as much as possible.

So, I wanted to pick the room that gives us the most problem and stress. I didn’t have to think long about it. The room that I would love to minimalize would be our kitchen.

We have an on going joke in our house that we have a “Jenga house” meaning, that you could open a cabinet door and twenty things would fall out on you. I guess I have a habit of not letting things go. I’m sure there are lots of you out there that are like me in thinking that the second I get rid of something, then I’m sure that I’ll all of a sudden need it and have to go buy it over again.

It’s crazy thinking, but it makes sense at the same time, ya know?

Well, I wanted to get passed that thinking. I HAD to get pass it. So, I went for it and started to declutter each cabinet.

Oh, I want to show you a before of some of my Jenga cabinets first:

Yikes!

Try finding anything in those cabinets!

While I was at it, I really wanted to make everything looked organized and matching and pretty too, so I took my birthday gift cards I hadn’t used since March. I bought a new set of white dishes with matching bowls and cups. I packed up all my mismatched dishes and cups and got rid of them. Now, everyone had a dish to use and would be responsible for it. I had a glass set that I bought on clearance forever ago that I got for my food photography. I never even opened them, so I knew they would come in handy!

I also wanted to switch everything over to glass containers so I can see what’s in them and how low they are. I put my baking supplies in them. I’m really big into herbs and spices, so I was thrilled to change one of my cabinet shelves into just a spice/herb shelf.

I went through everything and got rid of anything we didn’t need. Turns out, we didn’t need a whole lot! It took two days and three garbage bags later, the kitchen was finished!

Here is my favorite cabinet:

Maybe this isn’t the extreme form of minimalist living, but I feel so much more free. Like I said earlier, each person is responsible for what dish they use, and since we didn’t have a ton of dishes to potentially get dirty, there’s never dirty dishes in the sink.

A big win!

So, how does one Declutter Their Home? Here Are 7 Ways To Declutter Your Home:

1. Give away one item each week. Pick out something you can sell, donate, or throw away each week.

2. Fill one trash bag per room. When you first start out your journey in decluttering your home, take a large trash bag and see how quickly it fills up. If you want, you could even take two garbage bags so you can put things you want to throw away in a separate bag.

3. Make a list. Dana Byers recommends creating a list of places/areas in your home to declutter beginning with the easiest. I do this all the time with all areas of my life.

4. Take the 12-12-12 Challenge. This is so much fun and you could involve everyone in your family to participate. Just find 12 items to throw away, 12 items to donate, and 12 items to be returned to their proper home.

5. Pick up each item and ask yourself, “Does it spark joy?” Actually hold each item in your hands and consider it anew. Then ask yourself if it brings you joy. If it gives you a thrill as you hold it, keep it. But if it doesn’t, that’s all you need to know: throw it in the donate pile. Seriously, try this—it’s eerily accurate

6. Don’t keep gifts out of guilt. Admit it: you’ve gotten gifts you don’t like. After the joy of the gift-giving moment is through, donate the gift without guilt; it has served its purpose.

7. Get rid of unread books. “Sometime” means “never.” If your books are gathering dust for a while, your chances of reading it are slim to none. Donate that unneeded book to someone who will get a thrill when they pick it up.

While you are busy finding joy in making your home free of clutter, it helps to have your meals simple and easy. Racheal from Nourishing Minimalism, has some great recipes (30 to be exact) for summer.