The world has been taken by storm as Marie Kondo continues to educate with her Konmari method and how to declutter with the rise of her popular Netflix series. However, January has typically been a great time for people to ‘clean up their act’ and make a fresh start for a fresh year.

And its totally liberating! At the end of 2018, our family ventured into our determined decision to declutter our house after feeling swamped with all of our material possessions. The result? We are appreciating the value in our things more than ever before! We enjoyed discovering items we had forgotten we owned, and are reading some of our owned books for the first time! We are relishing the feeling of peace and cleanliness in our house, and as a Mum I am enjoying the feeling of being more in control and on top of things. We were able to sell a few valuable items on ebay and make further contributions to our financial goals. We are also loving the fact that we were able to contribute to those who were less fortunate by donating items.

However, it was not easy. It was interesting to note the emotional attachment to ‘stuff’ and what thought patterns emerged that had been holding us back from releasing things earlier. In October 2018, I attended a short course on Decluttering and learned that some of these emotional attachments are to ‘broken promises’. Items that we tell ourselves that ‘one day’ we will use, while it quietly gathers dust and continues to make us feel bad about ourselves. It was a meaningful lesson to be able to learn to let these items go. Likewise, the sentimental dust collectors that we didn’t really love however felt we ‘should’ keep hold of them. It is important to realise that it is the memory of that person and not the ‘item’ that is the priority. Goodness knows, they wouldn’t want us holding on to something we didn’t truly love or appreciate.

By working through our home as a family, we were able to uncover these tips that may just help you!

1. Its best to remove everything from the space you are decluttering, clean that space and then determine which you will either keep, sell, donate or throw away. Items not used in more than 2 years should go. So should those items that are more than a size up or down that may fit ‘one day’ that just sit in your closet making you feel crappy.
2. Anything that is broken, has holes, rips or tears needs to go. If you haven’t repaired it by now, you aren’t going to.
3. One thing at a time! Don’t try and tackle the whole house at once! You took years to accumulate this , its not going to be completed in 1 day.
4. Realise that decluttering will be an ongoing practice to keep your home in harmony.
5. Relish the gratitude of being able to enjoy your items again that add value to your life.
6. Get your kids involved! Listen to them when they tell you an item or toy does not ‘spark joy’. Teach them how to follow your practices so that they learn the valuable lessons you are passing down.
7. Take before and after photos! You will be so proud and amazed with your achievements!
8. Revisit your ‘keep’ pile regularly. Are you really using that item that you held on to? Do you have another similar item that does the same job? If you were to shop today, would you buy the same item again? Give yourself a time limit, and if its not used then give it a good home.
9. Now that you have determined what you want to keep, its time to invest in storage and organisation. We found the following items to be invaluable in helping us sort the chaos: Shoe Rack, Drawer Organiser, Jewelry Tree, Storage Baskets, Kitchen Cupboard baskets, wall mounted utensil rack, wall mounted mop and broom holder, and of course plastic containers with lids in various sizes! A great tip is to keep any gift boxes or storage containers to see how you can use them once you are ready to tidy up!

In summary, now that you have a new appreciation of your home remember that it takes just a little time each day to maintain it so that you don’t fall into old habits. One agreement to make with yourself is that for every one piece of clothing that you purchase , two pieces need to go. This will help curb impulse buying which will help your financial situation, but it will also ensure that any purchase will be of value and can be utilised well. We hope you enjoy your journey just as much as we did and look forward to hearing any comments xx