7 Tips For Letting Go of Clutter

“Honey, there’s a hearse that just pulled up to purchase something I sold on Marketplace! Can you come down and meet the guy with me?!” Seriously, I sold a box of radiant barrier that was stored in our shed (insignificant detail) to someone who pulled up in a hearse. My neighbors had to have thought I was crazy, not to mention my husband must have questioned what I was up to. After a good laugh, we stopped to momentarily reflect on how awesome it is to make a profit on what has been lying around our house, useless. 

Over the past couple of years, living in our home for four years now, I have worked on becoming minimalistic in living and design. I don’t want you to mistake this for aesthetic purposes, but rather for mental health and clarity. Minimalistic living isn’t about getting rid of everything; it’s more about only keeping what has significance, meaning, or purpose. Minimalism is a mindset. I’m sure throughout the years, I will be confronted with seasons where I need to evaluate things that have accumulated, whether that be kids art projects, trinkets that have been gifted, etc, but one thing I guarantee is that it will never have control over me. 

Living simply is about having control over the environment you live in. It’s about being a good steward of what you have, repurposing things that you already have to avoid going out and buying more, and constantly evaluating what’s coming into your home and what’s going out.

Rather than talking more about my own experience, I’d like to share some simple steps you can take to purge unnecessary items in your home.

1. Every season of the year should include a few days of organizing what you have. You can’t save it all for “spring cleaning”. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, allot time each season to go through what you have, get rid of what hasn’t been used the past year, what you don’t value (yes, even if it was gifted to you, don’t hold on to it for that reason), and get rid of toys that you children have outgrown or no longer use. How you get rid of them is up to you, but if you choose to try and sell online or in a garage sale, give yourself a timeline…”if it doesn’t sell by ___, then we are donating/throwing out.” Setting a timeline guarantees that those items won’t be forgotten about and continue to crowd your home.
2. Just because it was gifted to you, doesn’t mean you have to keep it forever. Essentially by doing so, you’re equating the value you have for that person to an item, a materialistic product. Choose to value people because of who they are to you and the memories you have made with them, not within items they have given you. During the edit of this blog, my husband reminded me of something I told him long ago about gifts, not even knowing the impact it had on him. When a person gifts you something, they are intending for it to be enjoyed and used. If you aren’t enjoying it, and you aren’t using it, you’re doing the gift a disservice. Pass it on to someone else who would use it the way the gifter originally intended!
3. Seasons of life change, it’s good to let go. Find a way to make that letting go, easier and beneficial. Letting go is a part of moving forward. I immediately think of all the baby products, blankets, clothes, etc that I’ve accumulated since having three children. The first time I let go of my daughters little pink blankets, I felt a tug on my heart, but I knew it was healthier to let these things go, than to hold onto them and live in the past. Donating them to a local women’s pregnancy crisis organization took the edge off that “letting go” feeling when I knew that they would be swaddling new little baby girls and bringing them warmth and comfort. I discovered the joy in knowing that God had blessed me with abundance, and His plan was and is for us to respond by helping others. Letting go welcomes new things. Keep the mindset that if you bring something new into the home, something else has to go.
4. Utilize Facebook Marketplace or something comparable. We cannot believe the things we have been able to sell! Trust me, it works!
5. Have small garage sales. My secret to making a profit in a day is to use signage like this:

6. Stop purchasing seasonal decor and junk. You can admire it, but bringing it home means that you now have a find a place for it. I don’t know about you, but I clean up enough in a day, I don’t want more things to dust or clean around, and I don’t want to look at more clutter. By decluttering my life, I don’t despise or get overwhelmed watching my kids make a mess with their toys, because it’s all in my control.
7. Every toy must have a home and purpose, otherwise use it as an opportunity to teach your kids to let go and pass on. If my kids don’t play with a toy, or misuse it (and I don’t mean creative play, I am referring to destructive play or irresponsible play with a toy because they don’t value it.) we use it as an opportunity for them to give it away. As a parent, if you’re confident about the action, your children with follow in your footsteps. We are called as parents to train our children. When I confidently say to my children “you don’t play with this toy anymore/you have outgrown this toy and another little boy or girl would love this, so we are passing it on” they don’t think twice about it. I’d like to hope that by doing this, I’m raising children who will be giving adults and not hoard what they have. Unpopular opinion maybe, but I don’t think it’s cute when kids show obsessive tendencies toward toys that they don’t play with or have outgrown. It is time to be the parent and teach your children that getting rid of unused toys allows for new things in the future.

I’d like to conclude by mentioning that the more you clean and regularly maintain your home, the less stuff you will want to have. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I disinfect and clean my home daily, whether it be early in the morning or after putting the kids to bed. A clean home creates an atmosphere of rest. As a Christian, a wife, a keeper of the home, God instilled a desire in me long ago that no matter what is going on in the world, when you enter our home, I want it to feel peaceful, I want it to feel like a sanctuary; where life can be lived, where conversations can bloom, where good food is shared and stomachs are full, and where Jesus’ light is evident. If I don’t have those things, then all the things in the world were in vain. That is why I’ve chosen to live a life free of clutter and stuff, so that my life and home can reflect something else, and that is Jesus and the importance of family.