The older I get the more I realize how much room “stuff” takes up in your house, how much money you spend on it, and how much it stresses me out. Constantly having to keep picking up and cleaning up with 4 little ones that can only do so much is tough…and you know what? I’m so over it!!
This has really been on my heart for the last couple of weeks. I found this AMAZING podcast hosted by Kelsey and Allie. I was automatically was drawn to them because they each have 4 young kids?! Is this fate or what?! In addition, they both have their own blogs. Allie is the “minimalist queen” and Kelsey is a life coach that helps people focus and achieve their goals. I feel like it was the fate for me to find them because I have connected so much to all of their podcasts they have posted and the content they have shared.
Since then they have talked about how much “stuff” and clutter in your home can stress you out. My mind automatically went to that one those several times I was so fed up with the mess in our home that I snap at either Dustin and/or the kids and probably had a mini meltdown. I snapped at them even though the underlying issue wasn’t really them. The issue is we just keep accumulating stuff and it can get pretty overwhelming. Normally after I snap I feel pretty crummy that I yelled and it’s not their fault. Many times as a mom you have to decide, “should I spend this 1 hour I have spending time with my kids or picking up the house.” For my sanity, I normally pick picking up the house. But after listening to Kelsey and Allie I really want to be more intentional with what gets brought into the house and that I keep better tabs on what we have.
As you know I wrote a post here and here about getting rid of 1,000 items by 2017. While we succeeded with this challenge by going through each room, having a garage sale, and donating the rest, somehow we have gotten in the same predicament. Ha, I said somehow and I know exactly how it happened….Christmas….We really need to be stricter than we were last year with buying the kids presents. We did better than Christmas 2015, but there were a lot of things we learned this past Christmas and hope to use that going forward, especially since the kids are getting older and are more aware of Santa and gift giving another thing we are lacking is organization in specific problem areas like medicine cabinet, “junk drawers,” some closets, and toys.
Dustin and I decided to have one more garage sale on April 1st. though this time I’ll be trying to sell the larger stuff on Facebook pages and after the garage sale everything left will be donated. Allie has so many tips about how to go through each room and what to ask yourself to help you get rid of stuff. So, what I will do in the next 6 weeks is go through every space of our house decide what is staying and what is going. Throughout this process, I will also be giving items a “home” and try to be more organized in problem areas of our home. I tentative schedule is:
Week 5: Bathrooms and Utility Room
I will post every week giving before and after pictures and any additional information we learn along the way. I’m so excited to be taking on this challenge and if you are someone that has been stressed by clutter in your home I hope that you follow these post each week and take the same challenge!
Don’t forget to check out Allie & Kelsey’s podcast here and tell me what you think!
What about you? Does clutter cause you stress? What is the most cluttered area in your home?
[…] Last week I revealed that I have 6 weeks to conquer clutter in our home! Throughout the 6 weeks I’ll be seeling the more expensive items online. In 6 weeks, we’re going to have a garage sale, anything left over after April 1st is getting donated. […]