Ever feel like it’s a constant losing battle to tidy up? You give up an entire Saturday getting everything in order, it looks so good you want to scrapbook your accomplishment! Sadly and much to your confusion, within a few weeks it’s all back to the way it was before. All your hard work and lost Saturday was for nothing, there’s even a few new items added to the clutter.
We went through this more times than I care to admit, then I found the book The Life Changing Art of Tidying Up. For once, and hopefully for good, our space has stayed tidy for a long time now. Here’s a few quick, easy tips we learned on how to declutter for good.
I like to start in the garage since, for us at least, we spend much of our time there. You really only need three things to make the process quick and easy. You’ll need a few tarps or old blankets, a dumpster, and some storage containers. Start in one area of the garage and go through everything quickly, don’t overthink each item. Everything goes to one of three places-on the donate tarp, storing tarp, or in the dumpster (my personal favorite). I know this sounds drastic, but after going through every area of the garage and house, I’ve found there’s so many things I have duplicates of or hardly use at all. I’m not even sure where some of it came from!
Once you’ve completed the process of sorting, only put back the things you truly love and actually use . Try to keep similar items together in well marked storage containers or on shelves. We have found a number of great organizations in Wichita to donate our items. Passageways for household items still in good condition. The United Methodist Open Door also accepts household items that are still in good condition. If you have chemicals, old paint cans, or spray cans The Sedgwick County Hazardous Waste Facility will accept these items for free. Everything else can quickly and easily go inside the dumpster. It’s all really that easy.
Now is the time to start! The kid’s are almost out of school and can help, and renting a dumpster is easy. Getting started is the hardest part, but once you do, it’s easy to keep going. When you’re finished the sense of relief you’ll feel is amazing!
