Clean + Organized = Happy

I'm so pleased with my kitchen now that we completed two mini-makeovers, one of which I showed in the last post and one that I'll show you some time next week. Probably. I'm surprised that taking out the bifold doors makes the space seem so much more spacious, but it does.

In fact the whole house seems lighter and brighter lately. I am really starting to notice and appreciate the end result of all my past decluttering efforts.

The decluttering urge has been particularly strong this weekend. It's becoming one of my favorite things to do really, and is most an obsession lately. I was even more inspired by a few posts I read, namely reading about the Minimalist Mom's overseas move and this post at the trephine.

The themes of these posts really resonated with me, because one of my major roadblocks to getting rid of stuff I kinda like, or might use, or might want someday, is that currently I have plenty of out-of-sight space to store it.

It's cheaper to keep it just in case you need it one day, besides you have plenty of room, whispers a voice inside my head.

But this weekend I realized that some day I'll likely want to move, and like every other move I've ever made, it will probably involve too much to do in too little time. It's to hectic to purge and pack, so I usually pack everything, thinking I'll declutter as I unpack, or after I'm in the new place.

Really, the best time declutter is now. When I'm not rushed, when I have the urge and when I can take the time to do it when and how I want to. This realization has made such an impact.

So far this weekend I've decluttered some letters and mementos, some of which I've had for 17+ years. There are others I want to scan a copy of before I let them go. I almost like this photo collage better than I liked the items.

Along with 18 items from my kitchen and half a trash bag of expired food. These items survived past purges, but still weren't being used, so it's time to let them go.