What if I told you that I cannot handle clutter in my life or house?
What if I told you that sometimes the clutter causes me to stress and even worry about more than I should?
Are you with me?
Now, I’m not saying we are hoarders, but we have really accumulated a lot of “stuff.” Furnishings, TV’s trophies, supplies for cleaning, supplies for woodworking, books, more books, camper things, a camper, a Jet-Ski, well, you get the idea.
We have some stuff.
Our garage has probably housed our car at least 5 times. I might be off (in that it is less than 5) or it might be a little more than 5 (like 6). One day, all those “things” and all that “stuff” will be placed and organized so well that my car will have a home.
I read a study that showed (sometimes) women seem to be hit the hardest by the clutter.
Are you with me, ladies?
Kids cause clutter. That’s just life, and I’ve learned to accept that they are going to have stuff, and get more stuff through the years. We have an abundance of Legos in our home. We have a lot of softball items here and there, and even some clothes that could be donated.
Dog stuff. We have so many things in our home for our dogs…we’ve got two bins devoted to dog toys (and if you’ve seen Memphis with his peppermint you know that one does not go to the bin). We’ve got travel containers for water and food, beds, blankets (each dog has their own blanket and pillow), and special items for Memphis.
I never thought I would live in a home with a dog, let alone three.
So, how do you cut back on clutter? How do you de-clutter a home?
Well, here are a few things we do in the Hoekstra Home.
1. Go through items that are “keepers” and make sure that it is an absolute keep. We have items that are sentimental, important, and probably never leaving our home. That is okay. They are must-keep items. Everyone in the house knows what they are (and may have a few too). We stay firm with this.
2. Donate or Give Away…some stuff we just have to get rid of because we do not have the space (or we are making space for something new). Clothes are a big one at our house because the kids have grown like crazy and sometimes they barely get use out of a pair of jeans or a top…in that case, we hang on to it and try to pass it down to someone in our family, or we donate. This goes with furniture, coffee mugs (I have a mug problem), and other items that might be in decent condition to share or give away.
3. Make a trash pile. Sometimes you just have to throw things away. Sometimes it is hard, but old junk (like papers, magazines, things you don’t need) should be considered for the trash pile. I had a sad moment going through old school things: papers, graduate school stuff, notebooks, books, etc. But, I realized I might not need all my translated notes of Chaucer, so…
4. Storage. Storage is good. Sometimes you have something you love, or that you just can’t imagine being without. It may have a home (like the garage) or a storage shed/area. Sam has a lot of military things, totes and containers from various deployments, old uniforms, boots, you name it, I bet we could find it. PT uniform (or running shorts and a t-shirt), we’ve probably got one. Those items are loved, they are not used all the time, but we can’t part with them.
Some weekends are spent cleaning and de-cluttering. We might wash our vehicles and clean them out (and find a dog toy or leash in them too). We might go through various rooms of the house and start with closets, dressers, etc. until we’ve hit a point where we just can’t look at the stuff (or we’ve made a mess)…and that’s okay.
There’s something refreshing about cleaning up around the house. Turn on some good music, and it might even become fun!
Sometimes it is just hard to be an adult. You have to do all the things (like de-cluttering)…and sometimes it is no fun to have all the responsibility…but, we can do it!