Do You Declutter to De-stress?

Thanks to the fourth of July holiday, I had a lovely four-day weekend with plenty of time to squeeze in some DIY project work. But alas, it's been raining for two straight weeks, so while people out west might kill for a little rain, it put a damper on doing the one project around here that really needs to be done, namely, the cabinet painting project (no mom, it's still not done yet).

before

But what the rain taketh, the rain also giveth back in the form of time to work on a project that sounds a little bit fun and an excuse to avoid something I should do, but don't wanna (hello cabinets!). I decided this weekend was a perfect time to engage in a little therapeutic decluttering.

I know I'm not the only one who derives a sick sense of satisfaction from decluttering and organizing, especially when I'm super stressed. So after watching an episode or two of Consumed online for inspiration (which my fellow Americans can enjoy via YouTube despite HGTV Canada's non-sharing), I decided to tackle my closet. Again. I don't even buy that many clothes, certainly not in comparison to the average Western woman, and yet my closet continues to attract clutter. Actually, it was kind of fun to have stuff to purge again, since I haven't been in the mood to declutter much lately.

after: sweet, sweet empty space

After the closet I moved on to my makeup drawer, another major clutter area and turned it back into a manageable storage spot.

In the end I filled another sack, plus a duvet, for the charity shop, which I packed up and dropped off on Sunday.

And it still feels so good.

Now I just need to figure out how to keep these spaces uncluttered.

gratuitous Mikko shot with reflection!

What have you decluttered lately?