Too much is not always a good thing. (A lesson learned from decluttering.)

So I have gotten bit by the decluttering bug.  I am sure I am not alone since Marie Kondo’s new show has taken off and has become so popular.  Funny thing is I read her book awhile ago. I did end up doing a purge and reorganizing of some of our stuff after that but then after a few months things just started piling up again.  I kind of forgot about being more thoughtful about what I was keeping and what I was buying. And I just started stuffing things back in to drawers. As long as we could fit things reasonably in the house, I thought we were fine.

Then I started watching her show.  I don’t know if it’s the personal stories, seeing the people and families, or watching Marie Kondo herself go in to these homes and help transform not just their messes but the actual people that really got to me!  After just one episode I called a “Decluttering Day” and my entire family spent a whole day, from dusk till dawn, going through our closets, dressers, toys, books, and even the garage. We filled garbage bag after garbage bag with items to donate and throw away.  My husband and I were both sore from just the sorting, packing, and carrying the bags! We managed to get through all of it. (There are more areas that need work but that will have to wait.)

After doing this I felt a sense of satisfaction for sure.  Things do look cleaner and neater. And looking at the mound of garbage bags (we totaled about 20) plus furniture and odds and ends, I could not fathom that all of that was crammed in to our house.  We have only been in this house for less than 3 years. We do deep cleans and purging several times a year. How could all this stuff have accumulated? I think part of it is that every time you purge and reorganize, no matter how cutthroat you are about what has got to go, there are some lingering items you think you love or will use and then you forget about them or they are no longer of use.  So when you revisit that item a few months or a year later, out it goes! Also, and this is a big one for me, you buy MORE stuff.

I am hoping that after this session of decluttering I will be able to really be more aware of what I bring in to our home.  I am a fast decision maker and when it comes to buying things I don’t hesitate too much. But I need to. I have come to realize that clutter not only takes up precious real estate in your home but it also takes up space in your mind and takes up your time.  And I could really use more of the latter 2. I would like to try to continue to simplify and streamline more things in my life. I want my and my family’s environment to be clear and uncluttered so we aren’t burdened by things we need to clean, move around, work around, and even to make decisions easier.  Now that my kids have less toys to play with they are more inclined to play with what they have instead of throwing everything out on the ground and then running to play with the laundry basket or empty boxes instead.

Clutter can be so distracting and overwhelming.  I am a person who loves variety and options. So this translates in to what I decide to buy and acquire for our home and for our family members.  But I realize that this can lead to just having too much, which is not always a good thing.