Decluttering

When was the last time you decluttered? I mean really decluttered? Not just pulled some clothes out of your wardrobe or tossed out a few old pots and pans, I am talking about getting really into decluttering! 

As we grow we change, our tastes change, our circumstances change, friends come and go, relationships end, we move homes several times and yet we often still carry with us things we no longer need. We hold onto hundreds of old photographs and possessions that we never look at, but how can we throw away things that hold memories? Should we throw away mementoes that once meant so much even if we haven’t opened the boxes they are in since we moved home in 2000? (or whatever year it was). 

Well yes and no. Let’s face it things that mattered to us when we were 16 don’t usually matter so much by the time we are 21, and things that mattered at 21 may not mean so much to us at 30, and so on. When I was 16 my diary was everything to me, I thought I needed to hold onto it forever, I came across it one day in my late 20’s and was mortified by my immaturity lol! I thought I would want to keep it to show my daughter one day, umm NO!! What I did do though was go through it and rip out a few pages that I wanted to keep. I had written in there about when my Grandfather died and I wanted to keep that. I also kept a few great pages where I had written about some of the friendships that I held dear. But I didn’t need to keep the whole lengthy saga about boys, boys and more boys, boyfriends, crushes or movie stars I would one day marry!

Last September we sold our home and hubby pulled sealed up containers from our storage space in the roof full of photo albums. I hadn’t looked at them in the 4 years we had lived there, and I actually hadn’t looked at them for the 10 years we were in the previous home. I would usually say just pop them in the truck to take to the new house, but I decided to go through them. Some of them were so funny, some just beautiful memories. There were some wonderful ones of one of my best friends who had died before Adam was born and it was lovely and also so sad to look at them. I feel teary right now remembering them. I decided that I didn’t need all these albums. Some photos meant so much, but others not so much. It is against my natural personality to get rid of anything let alone photographs, but I did it! I selected my most favourite, the ones that evoked emotions of happiness, and sadness and one that made me laugh! The rest I said good-bye to. Yes I could have scanned them all and stored them, but I hadn’t looked at them for 15 years so what is the point?

Moving home is a great opportunity to declutter, but why wait? Getting rid of the old allows room for the new, it allows a beautiful gust of fresh air to blow into our lives! It may just be the perfect time to allow some fresh air into your home!

Click to Tweet: Decluttering can be such a liberating experience, it free’s up not only space in your home, but also in your mind.

• start with one room at a time
• do not try cleaning as you go, just get rid of stuff for now, cleaning can be done later
• don’t go out and buy new stuff to fill empty space, just be OK with it
• do it when you are not in an emotional or overly sentimental mood
• put on some happy music whilst decluttering
• don’t put on a time limit. One room may take a whole week, leave it and come back to it, there is no rush
• keep only the things that have real sentimental value like a handed down personal treasure or wedding photos
• when doing a child’s room keep a few baby mementoes in a beautiful storage box, you can’t keep ever pair of socks no matter how adorable they are, (be prepared for tears)
• as above be prepared for some tears, somethings are hard to part with, some you may decide to keep, but don’t keep everything.
• do not keep clothing that you may fit into again one day, donate them, sell them on eBay, trust me you won’t wear them again.
• donate things, it will make you feel good that they will be used gain and appreciated. When I was moving last year I donated lots of toys to a kindergarten in need. I could have sold them for quite a bit, but it felt better to see the smiles on these children’s faces
• be kind to yourself, it can be hard saying goodbye to things, so it’s OK if you need to stop for a cuppa or ring a friend for support
• concentrate on the room you are in, do not move onto the next until the first is completed
• be proud of yourself! Reward yourself with a little treat when each room is done

If you google how to declutter you will get lots of advice! But don’t go crazy reading every article, that’s called procrastination (trust me I am good at it lol). Just pick a room, grab some boxes and get stuck in to decluttering! Good luck and let me know how it goes! 

Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx

Follow me over at Instagram @macglanville

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