Life in the One Plus One Equals Six house has been difficult in recent months, this has impacted on our day to day life. Recently I lost my grandmother which came as a shock, I'd always thought she'd be around and because of this I hadn't talked with her for a number of years. I had the opportunity to travel back home to New Zealand with my sister to say goodbye to her and to pay my respects. I'm so glad I did because she was a remarkable woman and during my time there I got to hear family and friends talk about her with such love.
When I returned home I decided it was time to get my life in order and to turn this house into a home. During the last eighteen months I've participated half heartedly in various decluttering tasks so that I could clear out all the excess items that we no longer needed to be carrying around with us. On 6th January I signed up with my sister to participate in a 52 week declutter challenge. Lets be honest I only did one of the challenges, every week I read what my sister had done while sitting down looking at all the stuff that was building up around me. It wasn't until I read a post by Corrie from Retro Mummy about how she was collecting 40 bags in 40 days to prepare for her families upcoming move that I got the motivation that I needed.
When we sold our house three years ago I was pregnant and not in the mood to pack up the house let alone declutter. So I packed everything we owned into boxes and we stored them away. Fast forward three years and we still have all the things from the previous house PLUS the things we've accumulated since moving in two years ago. When I started my 14 day challenge I knew that I'd need to create three different piles as the bags were going to different places. Pile 1 was rubbish which went to the dump, Pile 2 was for the local thrift shop and Pile 3 was for the 'reuse shop' at our local dump.
After 14 days 24 bags went to the dump, 26 bags were given to the 'Save the Children' thrift store and a total of 6 bags went to the Reuse Shop at the dump. The house is lighter and less cluttered but I still have a few more areas to finish off so I'm sure I could add to these numbers.
I'm pleased to say that with removing all these bags out of the house we've been able to create more space within the house. In the coming weeks I'm going to share with you some before and after pictures of the kids rooms and hopefully I'll be able to start decorating the kids bedrooms rooms.
So far I'm pleased with the effort that we put into decluttering the house. The children are also pleased with their rooms and they're putting in the effort of keeping it clean. So far the children have made their beds each day and the girls are putting all their clothes away each night. I'd call this a success and I wish I'd pulled my finger out and decluttered the house earlier.
When I returned home I decided it was time to get my life in order and to turn this house into a home. During the last eighteen months I've participated half heartedly in various decluttering tasks so that I could clear out all the excess items that we no longer needed to be carrying around with us. On 6th January I signed up with my sister to participate in a 52 week declutter challenge. Lets be honest I only did one of the challenges, every week I read what my sister had done while sitting down looking at all the stuff that was building up around me. It wasn't until I read a post by Corrie from Retro Mummy about how she was collecting 40 bags in 40 days to prepare for her families upcoming move that I got the motivation that I needed.
When we sold our house three years ago I was pregnant and not in the mood to pack up the house let alone declutter. So I packed everything we owned into boxes and we stored them away. Fast forward three years and we still have all the things from the previous house PLUS the things we've accumulated since moving in two years ago. When I started my 14 day challenge I knew that I'd need to create three different piles as the bags were going to different places. Pile 1 was rubbish which went to the dump, Pile 2 was for the local thrift shop and Pile 3 was for the 'reuse shop' at our local dump.
After 14 days 24 bags went to the dump, 26 bags were given to the 'Save the Children' thrift store and a total of 6 bags went to the Reuse Shop at the dump. The house is lighter and less cluttered but I still have a few more areas to finish off so I'm sure I could add to these numbers.
I'm pleased to say that with removing all these bags out of the house we've been able to create more space within the house. In the coming weeks I'm going to share with you some before and after pictures of the kids rooms and hopefully I'll be able to start decorating the kids bedrooms rooms.
So far I'm pleased with the effort that we put into decluttering the house. The children are also pleased with their rooms and they're putting in the effort of keeping it clean. So far the children have made their beds each day and the girls are putting all their clothes away each night. I'd call this a success and I wish I'd pulled my finger out and decluttered the house earlier.
Megan
I am getting ready to do this. Cleaning out, donating, and decluttering. You did a great job.
ReplyDeleteDebi
Thanks Debi. I hope you have as much success as I did. The donating aspect was the best bit for me I really enjoyed seeing how much I gave to help others. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteI need to do this a good declutter just makes you feel better.
ReplyDeleteYes it does clear your mind. Now to remember to stop bring stuff into the house all the time.
Delete