“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.” Phyllis Diller.
When it comes to a clean house there are areas or rooms specifically I have to pick my battles with. I know the living room with all the toys will stay relatively messy throughout the day. Same with the kids bedrooms. But as soon as they are to bed, those toys are being stored in a bench so I no longer see toys, but a nice living room. There are areas that I NEED to have clean always. When it comes to clutter, organization and cleaning I have my strengths and I have some weaknesses.
I am not always a completely organized person. While my kitchen counter may be cleared, cleaned and spotless, there are a couple of drawers and cabinets that are overflowing and not even close to being organized. While my husband is okay with continually piling stuff on the counter, I need it off, so its usually shoved out of sight. Out of sight out of mind? Not exactly. Every time that drawer is opened all of the contents and their messy environment stare back at me and I am immediately filled with anxiety.
My unorganized drawer and an organized cabinet. They are right by each other
This is similar to the environment that I grew up in. We had a clean house with set chores we did routinely. But a lot of our cabinets and closets were jam packed. They were things we always needed, but to an overwhelming amount. We tended to hold onto things and not get rid of them. I feel these habits have continued on into my adult life. I still do have the random areas overflowing with stuff. My husband and I also chronically fail at harnessing space properly. We have cabinets that could be better utilized, but are not. Things we do not need or use fill those spaces, and things we need and use are stashed in random other locations. So what qualifies me to write a blog about cleaning and organizing? Nothing. But I’ve done some research and I’ve read some books, and I am willing to share with you what I have learned and how I am applying it to my home.
I decided to start reading “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo to get advice on how to get rid of clutter and better utilize the space we have. I have now read the entire book and I have my top 3 things from the book I will not utilize and the top 3 things I started to implement immediately.
The first point in the book that I either disagree with or know for certain would not work for me, was her stance to avoid sorting paperwork. I agree that paperwork can be something that adds up quickly, from statements, to insurance paperwork, to receipts and warranty information. Her goal is to get rid of any unnecessary paperwork and to only keep the necessary paperwork together, but in no order. I found this concept incredibly frustrating. I like files, I like labeled folders and I like paperwork to be sorted and organized. Although I am sure this would work for some people, my need to sort and organize would never allow me to be content with that method.
The second concept she introduces is to do one giant mass sort of all processions. She suggests starting with one category, like clothing, and bringing every single piece to a central location on the floor. Each piece of clothing would then be picked up, looked at, and if you don’t absolutely “Love” the item, you get rid of it. The thought of taking every piece of clothing out of my closet and drawers and putting them in a pile to sort, gives me extreme anxiety at just the thought. Besides not being able to find the time to do that, it makes me feel very overwhelmed. I understand that it may be easier to sort if you can go through every piece and make sure you really love it, but I would prefer to just go through them where they are.
The third concept is to store all like items in one place. For examples, she would store all blankets in a specific location and not want you storing any others in another area. For me this does not seem to work. There are some items that are that would be used in different areas of the home. If I have blankets I specifically use in the living room or specifically in the basement, that is where I would like to store them, where they would be more easily accessible.
The first of the three concepts that I loved and started implementing immediately was her advice to get rid of anything that “didn’t spark joy”. If an item is not a necessity, not something that is used regularly and is not something that you love, get rid of it. This helps get rid of clutter, helps prevent stockpiling items and prevents areas from being “overfilled” with things. This is what I need to work on the most. My cluttered kitchen drawer is filled with things I don’t use regularly, I don’t love and are not necessary. Very easily, a lot of those items can go.
The second concept is to not get caught up or go overboard with storage containers and devices. They can be bulky and take up a lot of space in an area, they can make you feel like you need to add stuff to them, or you end up buying something without knowing where you’ll even utilize it. We do that a lot. We find a storage container that is either cute looking, on-sale, or looks cool and we think “hey, we could use this somewhere.” And then it usually just sits and we don’t even use it. We have a closet that is holding multiple storage containers that are not being used.
The last concept I really like from the book is the life-changing effects of a tidy, minimized home. When you don’t have a lot of clutter or junk, you are able to think clearer. When you are not searching all around or through piles or drawers of junk for something you cant find, you have more time on your hands and you are less stressed. Living a more minimalized life will help you to appreciate the things you do have, and you will notice yourself using them more.
Ultimately this book provided me with major motivation to purge a lot of the stuff we own. Although I do not have the time or the patience to do a mass sort through all of my stuff, I definitely feel I can take it room by room, which she said is not something she suggests. In a previous post I shared that I follow a daily decluttering guide and I try to stick with that. Every night before bed I pick up all toys and put them away. I vacuum, clean the kitchen completely, start the dishwasher and wipe down all counters. I clean the bathroom counters and the toilet. I throw a load in the washer to start when I wake up the next day. I feel most productive when I start my day in a clean house. It also motivates me to keep it clean throughout the day. I am far from perfect and I have a lot of work to do on my house and my habits, but I will definitely utilize a lot of what I learned from the book. I definitely recommend the book, if decluttering, organizing and cleaning your home is a priority of yours!
My small but clean kitchen! Don’t look in my drawers 🙂
Please feel free to comment your thoughts and ideas, and don’t forget to like and follow my blog!
OutOfNormalblog 