Saturday morning, I went to visit a friend for coffee and conversation. We’re in similar stages of singleness, kids grown, and nest is empty, but we both still work. Entering her home, you won’t find a single item out of place, but she’s acquired a lot from previous generations, and I didn’t experience that. From my mother I have a candy dish and a ring she wore all the time. I don’t have anything from my grandparents, so my friends’ home has intriguing items you don’t see every day and she won’t part with any of them.

She knows I’ve been decluttering on and off this year and asked about it, so I told her it’s to the point if much more is removed, it won’t look welcoming. What’s happened is I’m about 75% to only having my favorite things and soon I’ll need to go back though and ask, “How much of a favorite are they?”

Here’s one method used for decluttering.

Choose an area in your home you’re not happy with and remove everything from that space. Now, put one item at a time that really sparks your heart back in that space. If you think of something in another room that you’re not properly enjoying, go get it and put it there. You want that space to make you smile whenever you look at it. I did this recently with a lamp. The one in my bedroom is fun to look at, but nobody get’s to enjoy it there, so I swapped out lamps. Looking at what didn’t return to the space, I find a space better suited for it, or it goes in the giveaway area. This is where decluttering can stall but it doesn’t have to….

Grab a box. Place the items that no longer bring a smile to your face in the box and tape it shut. (This doesn’t include people) Grab a sharpie and write the date, room it was in and the word, “Maybe’. Now, get it out of your sight, but somewhere safe. The bottom of my pantry has become a good place for the maybe box because I rarely look in my pantry, but yours might be a guest room closet. This is where I normally forget about it, but some set a reminder to look at it’s contents in 90 days. If you haven’t missed any of it you’ll know it needs to find a new home.

Is it a feather duster, or a lamp? Maybe it’s both! 😂

Happy Monday lovelies! 💜