Decluttering

Currently in the midst of moving around pretty much every room in the house, we are taking the opportunity and having a massive declutter - my room, Alfie's room, the spare room, the office, both reception rooms, the dining room, the kitchen - you name it, it's being done! 

There's something really weighty about the house being full of unnecessary things and I feel like it works similar to my brain, in that the more organised it all is, the easier it is to live with. I also find we have so much "stuff" that we just don't need anymore. Things we haven't used in a very long time and are just gathering dust. So it made sense, whilst we're already taking everything out of its hiding place to move to a different room or space, that we "get rid" of what we no longer need. 

I'm quite a chaotic person on the whole but absolutely love a little organisation, so thought I'd share my tips and tricks here that I use to help me - maybe they can help you too, though I know everyone works in a different way, it's good sometimes to see how others do it to get ideas. 

Where in the past I'd just take all of our bits and bobs to the tip to save any messing around, the ease of access to selling platforms on the internet now & also wanting to penny pinch where we can means I choose to sell what we're getting rid off - even the smaller things, it all adds up! I'd definitely recommend Vinted for this, if you don't use it already. I also donate a lot of what we have to charity shops but try not to palm off every single thing to them, as it then becomes their job to sort through it all and get rid of what's needed which feels unfair and defeats the purpose of trying to help. 

Tackling the garage

The dreaded garage is next on the list for a declutter and let me tell you I am dreading this one: years of built-up odds and sods, toys Alfie outgrew half his life ago, old tools, materials, old gardening stuff... things that we just cannot sell or give away. This one will definitely be requiring a skip and I've no shame in that! 

Once we've skipped what cannot be salvaged, saved or sold, and we've moved all the rooms around in the house, got everything in order, we will find ways to keep it that way. 

Go back to the basics - putting things in certain drawers, having designated storage boxes for things, using the trusty labelling machine. 

Not quite minimalist

Though it feels lighter to be minimising what we've got in the house I definitely don't think I could go to the extreme of living an absolutely minimalist lifestyle - I do like having our little machines that might only come out once in a blue moon for a phase... nothing better than that toastie month out of the year where you have one for breakfast, lunch and dinner, to put it away and not see it for a year (I know you all know what I mean, no secrets here haha) 

I just think it's time to be more intentional and like they say, a tidy and clear home is a tidy and clear mind. 

What are your favourite decluttering tips, tricks and habits?