Easy Decluttering: 55 Items You Don't Need

All this and more, GONE!

I'm not much for spring cleaning, I still clean of course, but no more or less than any other time of year. But spring decluttering, now that's something I can get into! Yahoo's recent series on decluttering (found via Simpler Living) makes it easy to rid your home of 55 items you don't need.

I've been trying to purge some of the excess stuff around min hus for the last year or two. It's hard; I get way too attached to stuff. I purged 85+ items last year alone, but fell off the 365 days of decluttering wagon. Once again the level of excess stuff around here has been accumulating to the point where it bothers me. So I'm making an effort to cull the excess again this year. So after two days over the last two weekends, I've gotten rid of 72 items and organized some of the out-of-control zones that were driving me nuts.

Here's the list of casualties:

• 41 items of clothing that no longer fit or don't make me feel great
• socks & hose
• 6 health and beauty items I'll never use
• 5 cutting boards
• 6 books and magazines
• candleholder
• 7 outdated food items
• 1 tin
• 1 dish drainer
• 2 plastic travel mugs

As you can see I didn't follow the article to the letter, but that's not the point, the point is to get rid of unnecessary stuff. I still have work to do and while I'll never be one of those people who live with less than 100 items (nor is that my goal), I like the feeling of a lighter, more spacious home.

Not only was this method of decluttering quick, it was easy too. The boyfriend was a big help too. He did all the house cleaning for several weeks on Friday, leaving my Saturday morning and afternoon free to declutter. Which is a lovely treat!

As a bonus, once the clutter was cleared out, I organized some of my trouble spots, which were getting out of hand, like the hall cabinet, my closet, the tupperware cabinet, my hosiery drawer, etc.

I'm especially proud of this drawer. See, I have trouble telling black, navy blue and brown apart, especially in poor lighting, like when I'm getting dressed for work in the morning. I can't tell you how many times I've not been able to find a pair of socks that match when they were just all thrown in the drawer haphazardly. So I finally went through and paired all my dress socks, and placed the black and brown ones in separate labeled bags, so finding the right color will be a cinch!