Now, imagine…you walk in to your house, coats are hung up, shoes are put away in cubbies labelled by person. Backpacks are hung up and lunch bags are emptied. There are special mail sorters so that all incoming paper is handled immediately. There are hooks for keys, a bin for gloves or hats, and a basket for anything extra so the front entryway maintains its clutter effortlessly. There is maybe one current activity or toy being played with, but there is minimal other clutter that’s visible. Anyone could step into the house at any time and you wouldn’t have to think “oh no, what will they see…” All of the closet doors open easily and there is space to freely pull things out and put things away. The stairs are empty (all the way across each entire step – no stuff shoved to the side). You walk into the kitchen, all of the counters are clear and welcoming so that you actually are inspired to make a fancy dinner or dessert. You do only a few chores each day to keep up with the cleaning. You do only one load of laundry per day to ensure nothing piles up out of control. Nothing is overwhelming and its easy to get caught up even if you miss a day. After dinner, you can spend about 10 minutes and pick up anything that remains out of place so that you can reset for the next day. Then, after that bit of house work is done, you can do ANYTHING you want with your evening!! At home date night, or a hobby, or absolutely ANYTHING that YOU want to do…No lingering feelings of, I should have tidied that, or I still have put away that tomorrow, or now we just have to tidy EVERY room in the house! You can guiltlessly do whatever you want! Everything works like a well oiled machine.

I know right!? Who lives like that!!??

We are NOT there yet, maybe one day…

September 2020 marks our one year anniversary after the bin.

Standing in our house, I have vivid images in my head of where I thought we would be. There are definitely still places that I would choose to keep hidden, but things are getting better with every day. COVID happening somewhat helped and in other ways totally hindered our progress. Having the kids around always makes the house more cluttered.

We have still been working hard trying to organize our stuff even further. There are indeed some rooms or areas that I am particularly proud of that I will share over time.

Remember our clothing covered bed?

Well here is our room now!

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It is sooo much more pleasant and rejuvenating!

Everyone needs a sanctuary for themselves. A room that they just love to be in, a room that brings them peace. I am very happy to report that my favourite room is my bedroom! It gives me the best feeling. It makes me feel like I am conquering my stuff, like I am conquering this life…finally!

We are still not where I had hoped we would be. I would kind of like to get another bin, if you can believe that!? The problem is that now most of our stuff is worth something and so it is better to take the time to donate or sell. I really miss having the time crunch of needing to go through the entire house in a week. I suppose that I could simply set a week long event in my calendar and start, but it doesn’t have the same thrill. I am still setting up the systems of how we will functionally use the space that we have and the stuff that we kept.

Some areas of our house are really well organized, and some of the new to us shelves or bins are fantastic. I especially love all my fridges and freezers (yes, you read that right! FridgeS and freezerS!) and the pantry in the basement is still working well too.

The kids stuff and clothes are still my main nemeses!

Organizing the kids stuff is literally a never ending battle as interests change and types of toys change. I am confident we will get more organized as they move from toys to video games! But I am not counting down to those days! I’d much rather step on Lego than have the kids in front of a screen all day!!

I remember a man coming to our front door a couple of years ago to buy some used toys from me. While I was standing at the door trying to hide all of our front door clutter and chaos he smiled and said “you’re going to miss the clutter one day!” I remember thinking to myself “are you kidding me!?” But he was right. I am still fresh to having less of it around (and it feels SOOOO great!), but I can foresee a time when I don’t have to do much tidying simply because no one is messing with the house when I turn my back. It’s proof that the kids are growing up! Proof of time passing before my eyes.

I am very excited to share more pictures of some of the hidden gems in my house. The small ways that I have added more time to my day, and more peace to my life simply by having systems in place.

To anyone out there struggling to get rid of clutter, or debating on the selling vs donating vs garbage, I cannot recommend enough the idea of just getting the bin! If you’re overwhelmed and feel like there is no where to start and every room makes you cringe, then its SO worth it! For me it was easier to procrastinate, or post a couple things for resale, pat myself on the back then wait for the item to sell. But at that pace, I would have been selling stuff well into my retirement! If your house is as full or more full than ours was, then I guarantee that you have stuff that you may think has value. It doesn’t have nearly as much value as the freedom and quick payoff of throwing a TON of it out, literally! After that, take all the time you want to sell each item, or sort in more detail. There is nothing like a time limit and a big empty space, so that you don’t have to think too much about each thing.

Just get rid of it and move on!

The thing that kept haunting me before we decided to take action was, what if we had to move? I don’t want to pack any of this stuff! What if we had a water leak in the basement and someone had to come down to fix the pipes. Could they even find them?? What if something happened to my husband or I, and only one of us could go through everything! We needed the purge. We needed it for my well being!

Ask yourself,

“if I had to move in one week, is that even possible?”

Happy sorting everyone!

Thanks for coming home!