Mindfully De-cluttering Your Space

Last summer I started my de-cluttering journey and I have learned a lot about the process. At first I was just trying to get rid of obvious trash and broken items. Over a year later here I am still downsizing and purging even more!

The big difference between now and then, is that now I understand the mental peace that truly comes with having less clutter surrounding you. I have changed my shopping habits as well as my rules for what is actually granted access into my home.

Prior to starting this process I would not give much thought to where in my home the things I bought would go. I would just impulsively buy items that I thought I would like to have, and then they would get put somewhere they ultimately did not belong. Quickly it seemed that shelves, desks, cabinets, and even under the bed storage was filling up. When we decided to move, it seemed like the perfect time to address the ever growing amount of things in our home.

I started with items that were broken, or stuff we had that never got used. Some examples are picture frames, a waffle maker, clothing that was beyond repair, and a lot of dog toys that had been chewed to bits.

After we got past all of that stuff, we started to notice a difference in how our home felt, and we were motivated! We went room by room and started to discuss every item we had. We looked at every piece of clothing, every cup in the cabinets, and every pen in the drawers, and after that we kept going!

By this point it was very apparent that a lot of things had been removed from the home. Some shelves were completely empty, and we even got rid of a lot of our furniture. Little bins and rolling organizers were no longer needed because we had purged all of the contents in them. This felt very liberating and gave us a lot of serenity, but we still had not actively made the decision to be more mindful, we had just made the decision to get rid of things.

After we had moved and got more settled, we talked about how nice it felt to have less to take care of. We had to clean and dust less, less of our things ended up broken or misplaced. We had more room to move around and enjoy our home. This is when we talked about our relationship to our possessions.

Looking back, I could not even tell you all of the things we got rid of, I truly do not remember most of the items we chose to give away, or had to put in the trash. We realized that if we chose to keep something in our home, it should be for good reason. Going forward we started asking questions. Does this item mean something to me? Do I use it often or at all? Does it serve a purpose or is it something that just takes up space?

Now I would not say that I am a minimalist necessarily. I do have some things that I keep as memorabilia, I do Sometimes get souvenirs when vacationing, and I do still have things that I keep because I just like them. I do think more mindfully about the impact of those items now, and I understand that if I buy something, it means that it will take up space in my home, and I will have to take care of it.

Almost all of my possessions now are very meaningful to me, I know where they are, and where they came from. I find myself buying a lot less at the store or online because I am happy with the things I have. I have learned to repair things that break, and how to better maintain them. When I make a purchase I think about it for a while before I buy, I tend not to impulse buy much anymore.

This whole experience has allowed me to be more grateful for what I have, and taught me that my house full of stuff was not making me happy, it was making me stressed.

I now avoid free goody bags at festivals, and SWAG at events or businesses. I love the peacefulness of a home that has cleared surfaces and drawers that are not filled to the brim.

I would like to end this by saying that when all of this started we were not hoarders, and our home was not dirty or unable to be walked through. It looked like any other home, we were living in a two bedroom apartment that had a detached garage. It was not until we had to pack up all of our things that we truly started understanding how much we really had. It was way more stuff than what we think two people need.

If you are interested by the idea of downsizing, or maybe even just doing a little purge, I would suggest starting by asking yourself what you think you could be happy without. For us it turns out we do not need much to be happy, and our home has never felt so peaceful.