I have a mild fascination with decluttering my space. My home is far from a minimal lifestyle, but I try to adhere to the “a place for everything and everything in its place” motto. I’ve helped downsize cluttered three bedroom homes to fit comfortably into two rooms for myself and for friends and for family of friends. One thing that always seems to be a popular topic is how to know what to get rid of or keep. Some people want someone else to do this for them while some people stress for many sleepless nights about it. Me, on the other hand, love downsizing and find it’s a soothing activity that once completed creates a calm and appreciated living space.
You’ll need to make three piles: Keep, Don’t Keep, and Don’t Know
The first thing I ask for people to do is go through their closets. Clothes and accessories commonly accrue too quickly and too easily, especially if one is working with a large closet space. And who knows what else is stashed away in the closets. Pull out as much as you can at a time and separate everything into the three piles. Using the piles helps to go through items fast enough so you’re not stuck on one item when you have 30 other items you know for sure that you want to get rid of. Once you get through your closets, go through the rest of your spaces one at a time and do your best to enjoy the moment while you add to each of the piles. Getting rid of stuff that is no longer of use to you is extremely practical!
Donate it! When you are certain that everything in your donation box is definitely going to be donated instead of sold, repurposed, or trashed, don’t let it sit in your space for too much longer after it’s been packed up. Donating my stuff to a local, smaller thrift store that gives back to the community is my favorite way to finish the task, but sometimes there’s just too much and it needs to be picked up. You can use this donation location tool to find out if there’s a pick-up service in your area.
You can do this annually, bi-monthly, or as often as you like. I like to check through my stuff pretty frequently, like every other week or so and make sure I’m not holding on to something that’s taking up space.
How often do you go through your belongings to check their purpose? Do you have questions about how to determine if you should keep an item? Let us know!