This fall, my husband and I began to go through our possessions, attempting to really clear out the unnecessary items as much as possible. We got rid of almost 2 van loads of stuff, which is hard to believe.
Even harder to believe is the fact that we don't miss any of it. At all. Instead, we found that we enjoy being in our home more, and we spend less time cleaning and maintaining things. Having less proved to be a very, very good thing.
So good, in fact, that we're not finished yet. This summer we'll be going through our home in a detailed, step-by-step decluttering process.
Over the course of 8 weeks, or 40 days (not including weekends), we want to purposefully assess each area of our house and our possessions, and pare down to what we truly need, use and love. Everything else? It will be sold at a garage sale, donated to others, or taken to the dump as a last resort.
Are you eager to free yourself from the demands of your material possessions, so that you can fully enjoy and engage in the parts of your life that are most important? Relationships with family and friends, time spent with the Lord, serving and giving to others, opening your home for hospitality, having time for creativity, for rest, and for purposefully pursuing the things you are most passionate about.
When we free ourselves from "stuff", we have so much more to give to the things that really matter.
Will you join me in 40 days of decluttering our homes?
The goal:
To spend 30 minutes or less each day working on a specific area of the home
and
To find 10 items to get rid of each day
At the end of 40 days, we can expect to be released from 400 things that we don't need… can you imagine the effect that this will have on your home and life?!
I do realize, though, that it's summer. We want to be outdoors, enjoying time spent with loved ones, soaking up some sun, and having a whole lot of fun making memories. I don't want to spend days or weeks cooped up in my house as I sort through what we own.
That's why I created a plan to work through your house very systematically, but in 30 minutes or less per day. There might be the odd task that is a more daunting one for you and it will require more time. On the other hand, some of these tasks will be a piece of cake for you, and could be finished in 10 minutes flat. On average, most tasks shouldn't take more than 30 minutes, and the areas that I think will require extra time have been broken down into bite-sized or multi-day tasks.
Are you ready to join me?
To guide you through the process, I've created a PDF file, sort of a mini-ebook (8 pages) with some thoughts on decluttering and getting started, tips on working through the process, and then a step-by-step 40 Day Plan.
Download your copy by clicking on the link below.
8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home PDF Guide
I made this plan detailed and specific because that's how I work best. If someone just tells me to take a week to declutter my house and go through it room by room, I'll get lost and overwhelmed.
This 40 day plan was created by mentally walking through each and every part of my home. For example, the kitchen is broken down into bite-sized pieces over the course of 7 days (with individual tasks like drawers one day, kitchen linens another, and cookbooks/recipes on another). Clothing is split up into individual closets, dressers, and even a specific day for shoes. I included the random areas, like the medicine/supplement cabinet and first aid kit, videos/DVDs/CDs, and holiday supplies and decorations.
Every day, you'll know exactly what to work on. It's all spelled out, and organized into manageable tasks, to keep it from being overwhelming.
How you can follow along:
Since it is summer, and I'm actually taking some time off from writing actively for about half the summer, I opted not to make this a blog challenge or to use a link-up.
Instead, I'll be working through the 8 week plan myself and tracking my own progress on the "8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home" Facebook page. I'll go ahead and begin this coming Monday, July 2nd.
(Note that this Facebook challenge is now finished.)
Please go ahead and "like" the page to follow along. I'll be sharing my own photos as I work through each of the 40 days, and I would love to have you join me by sharing your own progress!
You can also share on Twitter, using Instagram photos or just regular tweets, with hashtag #8weekdeclutter.
It's important to mention that you don't have to follow along perfectly, day by day. If you start a week after I do, or even want to get going before me, that's fine. The point of following along with Facebook or Twitter isn't that you'll necessarily be on the exact same step as me or anyone else, but rather than we'll all keep encouraging each other as we press on!
This is going to be so good
Honestly, I'm excited to begin. Our household purge last fall was such a positive thing and I am eager to remove more and more of the clutter from our home.
I've also set some goals for what I want to use the garage sale money more... even more motivation!
I hope that many of you will join me on this challenge and experience along with me the increased freedom and peace that comes from taking control of your belongings, instead of letting them control you. You will be happily surprised by how much more less really is.
Thank you so much for making this printable!! I am NOT a natural organizer. I really have to work hard at keeping clutter under control. This will be a great tool for me to use again and again!!
Upon reading the PDF, I came upon a good partner to this project. Spend the 40 days clearing out the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Cook with the frozen meat you already have in the freezer. Have a grilled cheese and soup night where every member of the family gets to choose their own flavor of canned soup from the pantry. If you're one of those people that makes meals and freezes them for a later crockpot evening, heat up those. If you can the food from your summer garden, come up with meals to use some of the tomatoes, relish, and jams. All these things have to be rotated through anyway, you might as well use your declutter time to do so.
We've been working on decluttering our house this winter. Our house is 1600 sq feet with 5 people and a dog. We are cramped. We are doing a good job on our own, but I'm looking forward to following your ideas to help us along. Thanks for sharing and helping us live clutter free
We've been working on decal uttering our house this winter. Our house is 1600 sq feet with 5 people and a dog. We are cramped. We are doing a good job on our On my way!, but I'm looking forward to following your ideas to help us along. Thanks for sharing and helping us live clutter free
Hi Stephanie, I was so motivated by your post that though your challenge is way over, I still wanted to tackle it with your help. I also have a blog and I'm sharing my journey with my readers. Thanks so much for this! I can't wait to make my home more livable. - Lindsey
http://inspiringpretty.com/2013/02/05/my-less-cluttered-home/
I just want to get some ideas in saving money.... I have a mortgage, car note & school loans to pays but cannot seem to find a suitable plan to help myself save biweekly. Can u help me?
Do you have tips for on how to handle a husband who is a borderline hoarder? My husband will not let go of ANY of his stuff. He has a lot of stuff, some of it untouched for 10 to even 20 years! This has resulted in some very bitter arguments. He has boxes and boxes and boxes full of clothes that are BRAND NEW, complete with tags. These clothes haven't seen the light of day since he put them in the boxes. He is not a "fashion" oriented guy. He will wear the same three t-shirts until they are completely worn out. I can't get him to part with a single piece of this unused clothing. Same thing for books and papers. He has so many books. He was an elite runner. He has shoes. Shoes and shoes and shoes that he was given, doesn't exactly like, but won't get rid of. Many of these shoes are brand new, never worn. Same for marathon t-shirts. He has like three boxes full of marathon t-shirts. He has books. Boxes and boxes and boxes full of books. His stuff is taking up all of my closet space and a good chunk of our spare bedroom. Ironically, he wants the house tidy, but considers it completely okay if this stuff is piled in the corner. FOR YEARS. I am not talented enough to make order when there is so much stuff tumbling out of every nook and cranny. Any suggestions??? Help!
I'm no professional but I know there are often physiological reasons behind this kind of hording. My mom-in-law would buy new things and store them until the house was full and she wouldn't allow anyone to move or sell anything. If he doesn't want to talk to someone, you may have to seriously consider renting a unit.
Hi Jennifer - I am a professional organizer, and the child of a hoarder. I have intimate experience with what you are going through, so I feel your pain! The critical missing element in the situation you describe is, your husband not really being in touch with the fact that this behavior is genuinely a problem. What is likely to help him stop hoarding, is some behavioral therapy, like the therapy suggested in the "Buried in Treasures" self-help program. This program is available in only a few areas, unfortunately, but you can read the book "Buried in Treasures" or the book "Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things", both authored by Randy Frost and Gail Steketee. The two authors are psychologists who went on to create the Buried in Treasures self-help program, which is still in its early stages in terms of growing and being available in more areas. In the books, they describe some of the therapeutic techniques. I suggest you read these books, and realize your husband has a disorder, and needs help to get past it. Hopefully with these books, you can provide that help, or some of the first steps of it. Also, Messies Anonymous is a good online community for self-help. Please feel free to post any questions or follow-up on my website http://www.zeroinorganizing.com or blog (where I am more likely to see it than here). I wish you and your husband all the best.
Have you thought about making or having made a quilt from all the special t shirts.something that can be used saved and shown
My man is just on the packrat side of the hoarder line. He doesn't actually have an emotional attachment to any of his stuff, he's just too lazy to go through any of it. In our last apartment (larger than this one), we had a second bedroom that I would sit in and go through his boxes of stuff. I got really into Freecycle and got rid of things I knew he wouldn't miss; things like soft-side lunch boxes, land line phones, non-usb mouse and keyboard, etc. He'd come home to plastic grocery bags tied closed and labeled with someone's name to be put out on the front stoop. If he didn't see what was in the bag, he didn't care what got donated. I also announced that he did not get to keep any clothes that were more than two sizes too small for him; so, since he's a 3x, everything 1x or smaller got donated. He still won't let me touch his CDs even though all his music is on computer, but we're making decent progress. Good luck!
I am with you. 25 years. It is hard. There are times I finally take things and box them and date them. When they've not been touched in a year, I donate them. The piles drive me crazy. I do ask him to tackle a specfic pile at certain times. If he doesn't, I box it up and put it away. Most times he never even notices. Again, it is dated and disposed of in time. If you can afford a storage unit, I would pack it all in there and let it set for a year and then get rid of it. I do think the idea of a quilt with the tshirts woud be cool. I can understand some sentamental stuff, but that has to be minalmized. So sorry. I know it is very hard.
Stephanie - I just linked to this entry on my new blog, because I'm attempting to eat the elephant that is my house. Hoping to get some friends to join in! Thanks for the inspiration and the pdf.
Have you heard of the book Seven by Jen Hatmaker? What you're doing sounds very similar. She now has a Bible study to go along with the book. I'm hoping to declutter and simplify this year and look forward to using your resource to help! Thanks for sharing!!!
What about saving baby clothing/toys for future babies? I have tons of boxes of clothing that Im saving for another baby, Do I keep it and only keep what I really want or get rid of it and rebuy it when the baby actually comes?
I definitely save children's clothes for future babies. I just try to keep only the best items, the ones I really like that are in good condition, and then I store them in Rubbermaid bins that we keep in the garage or in closets. If you know that you still hope to have more children, or you have an older child growing out of clothes that a younger child could wear one day, I totally agree that it makes sense to save it!
Use Space Bags for the baby & kids clothes you're saving. I just started doing this myself. Saving lots of room!
I can't seem to get the PDF to download or it's not available. Is there another link to it? Thanks!
This is the link for the PDF- http://www.keeperofthehome.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/8-weeks-to-declutter.pdf. It depends on which browser you are in. Some will pull it up as a file for you to download, while others will open it up as a new tab or window from which you can print or download.
I guess I need the PDF? Jonica
Can I start the 8 weeks to a less cluttered home project? Do you send an email each day? How does it work
Please. Thanks for your help. 43 years in this house and we are out of space! Jonica
There's a link in the post to the PDF file. There are no regular emails or anything, it's just a file that you can print out and follow along with.
Try this- http://www.keeperofthehome.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/8-weeks-to-declutter.pdf
I can't locate the link for the pdf. please forward as this sounds what I would like to do.
Many thanks,
Staci
It's in a blue-ish box in the middle of the post, in bold turquoise font. :)
I am sorry to be so much trouble but i just seen this and really want to do the 40 day challenge,any possible way you could email me? Thanks
Decluttering is always in the back of my mind. I have an area in my basement that I collect things for donation. As I come across things I want to get rid of, I take it right to the area. When it fills up, depending on what it is, we take it to the local Kiwanis, Habitat for Humanity, or the school District's PTO thrift shop.
A little over a year ago we moved to a condo from a big home and had to get rid of 1000 square feet of property. We donated about 25 van loads of items. We also had a garage sale and sold a number of things. We left behind 2 rooms of furniture and 10 sets of storage shelves for the new owners. It took me more than 40 days - probably 4 months total. Our new place has a fraction of the storage place as our house so it was a necessity to get rid of things. Yet, somehow I still find things to get rid of.
I'm so sorry I missed this post earlier! I need to do this badly. Is the PDF no longer available? It seems like it would be a huge help. Thanks for all you share!
Oh my goodness! Thank you for posting this! I printed the 40 day PDF this morning and got to work. 3 hours later I'm still working in the kitchen. Tossed out expired seasonings/herbs, vinegars etc. Boxed up unwanted and unused small appliances. Wish I could post the throw outs! Feels so great to purge. I'm feeling a lot less overwhelmed now, organized, so thanks again for the inspiration :)
You're so welcome, Laura! It feels good, doesn't it? :)
Hello! I'd like to get the Less Cluttered Home guide; however, I couldn't get the PDF Guide. Is it a possible for you to send it to my email, please? :) Looking forward to read your email. Thanks!
I have been doing your challenge and I'm on Day 5. I have several friends doing it with me. I text them the task
of the day. I love how you broke it down so that attention deficit people like me can easily focus on one small area at a time. Thanks!
Love that you're doing it with your friends, how awesome! :)
Just read this I am starting tomorrow
My husband and I started decluttering after 5 years living and working in our house.
I'm a chef, author and he a photographer...we have lots of stuff plus a kid! No garage, just a shed and attic. He attacked the attic first and decided to make "collections" in clear bins from stuff around the house. For instance, the kiddos ceramic works of art (lots of them) we don't need all of them around but can't toss most of them. We will bring one collection at a time down from the attic. They are all labled, we ended up going through our house and collecting a lot of little stuff that was serious clutter!! It feels so much better! Thanks for the post, nice job.
Just found this! Love it so much. I sent it to my sister and sister-in-laws and now we are doing a friendly competition with money involved. If we all get rid of 400 items we will all be winners!! We are excited and all geared up to conquer our cluttered life! Thanks for your simple program.
I found you on Pinterest tonight, and loved this post! I will be starting this tomorrow. I have a ton of stuff to get rid of! :) thank you!!