Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Decluttering

Lately I have been really on a mission to declutter our house. We have SO many things and it seems like we don't use most of what we have. I honestly have boxes of "stuff" that I have carried with me since college that I have never even really unpacked. It's time to go through everything and get rid of the things that we can't or don't use and hopefully pass them on to someone who can and will use them. I truly think that will help us appreciate more the things we have.

Last night I finally got around to watching an Oprah episode that I tivoed several weeks ago. It was about clutter and how it affects your health. It was actually pretty eye opening and I agree that there is a connection. I don't necessarily think clutter makes you unhealthy, but I think they're both symptoms of the same cause. The main thing that I took away from the show is that when you're weighed down with too many things and too much stuff, you can't fully appreciate and honor all the things that you have.

Griff and I started last weekend, cleaning out our bedroom closet, which we had barely been able to walk through lately. We both got rid of a lot of clothing that we haven't worn in at least the last year. I had 2 and a half big garbage bags full and he had 1 and a half. It's amazing to think of the amount of money spent on the clothes in those bags, but we are giving them to organizations who hopefully will be able to provide them to people in need.

For all the other "things" we come across that we are going to get rid of, they're going into a huge pile for the 3rd annual family yard sale which we'll host in the next few months. It's a family affair, with Griff's parents and sisters bringing stuff literally by the vanload and this year my parents are getting in the act too. I actually have a lot of fun at the sale, everyone comes over to help out and we get to spend a lot of time visiting together. The money this year will go towards our family vacation in Arizona that we'll be taking in June. We've rented a huge house and there will be 14 of us heading out west for a week (including both sets of parents and at least 3 of the nieces/nephews).

I'm looking forward to clearing out and getting organized - one closet down, the rest of the house to go! I'd like to take pictures along the way and I'll share them here.

2 comments:

Nicole Puckett said...

The family yard sale is such a great idea... Especially to use it for a vacation.
I am a veteran purger... I hate having stuff, especially things I don't use... I have tons of throwing away tips if you ever need them:)

Doug said...

Is that the episode where they filled two warehouse rooms with that family's things? My mother showed me parts of that when she tivoed it. I think it was over Thanksgiving or something. I couldn't believe all the crap those people collected. It was such a sickness.