Declutter your life!

Clutter... Stuff... Things... It's everywhere you look. I like to think of myself as someone who doesn't really need or own much. Since we've moved quite a bit over the last five years or so, and have thrown out a lot before every move, I really thought we didn't own a lot we didn't need or use. Man, was I wrong. It's amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in no time whatsoever. We had this huge wall unit in our living/dining room that Adrian hated from the beginning. It looked fine in our old house but simply never worked in the new space.

We kept it because I convinced Adrian we needed the storage. Finally, we both agreed that we had to change something. Not only was the unit way too big for our tiny house, we also didn't have a place to hang our coats or for our shoes and were always tripping over them in the kitchen. So we tackled the frustrating situation and started decluttering. As we went through each cubicle of the unit, we were amazed at the things we found and really had no use for. We went through everything asking ourselves three simple questions.

Does the item have any emotional value to us?
Do we use the item on a regular basis?
Do we really need this item?

If the answer to all of those questions was no, we either threw it in the garbage, or donated it to the local Salvation Army. After getting rid of over half the stuff on that unit we felt so much better, almost lighter. It felt like a weight was lifted from our shoulders and as Adrian took the shelving unit apart and started building a better looking and more functional shelf, I had a huge smile on my face. I love changing things up and looking at something new every once in a while, and I love the fact that we now own one more piece of furniture that was handmade by my very talented man. It's a quality piece and will certainly last longer than the cheap unit from IKEA.

I love watching Adrian work and I love how Noah watches his daddy's every move and how he gets out his tools and copies everything he's doing. It's adorable. The house is looking so much more spacious now, nobody is falling over shoes anymore, and our family, as well as our guests finally have a place to hang their jackets upon entering our home.

We felt so good after decluttering and making our house function better, we promised ourselves to do it more frequently from now on, because you really don't realize how many things you keep but don't need and how fast those useless things are taking over your home and your life. Don't be a hoarder! Get rid of the things you don't need and you'll feel so much better for it. Things are just that, things. We need to learn to let go and I mean that in a general sense. Sometimes if you let go of certain things you also let go of the memories or the stress associated to them. It can be a form of stress relief to throw things away that no longer serve a purpose or have no value to you anymore. As your life changes and you as a person change, so does your view on whether or not something is important. If you sort through your stuff on a regular basis you'll stumble over a lot of things you didn't even remember you kept all those years ago. Do you have stuff cramped in every nook and cranny? Are your drawers bursting at the seams? Do you currently have clothes in your closet you haven't worn in over a year? Give yourself more room to breathe and donate the things you don't use to people in need! It's a win-win.