Welcome to my Decluttering Journey…
I have always struggled with clutter, but over the past 2 years it has gotten a lot worse. I think it is easier to SEE clutter when you come back home, but we haven’t done a whole lot of leaving lately, so I think we have gotten used to seeing it (and ignoring it).
I keep trying to remind myself that my house didn’t get this way overnight, and that I cannot expect myself to be able to fix it overnight. I always felt like if I ever had a new house, that it would solve all my problems… that the clutter only piled up in our old houses due to lack of good storage, or some other nonsense. I think I have to admit to myself that the house, or its storage potential, was never the problem. Some of the challenge was due to the frequent rearranging of the house to accommodate the changing needs of our 3 kids (who were 17, 11, and 2 when we moved in 10 years ago), as well as my then undiagnosed ADHD. I am going to be sharing my real struggles here in hopes that someone else may not feel nearly as alone, or as ashamed as I am, about their house and clutter.
So I have a PLAN. I am going to pretend that we are going to be moving… soon. We are actually planning to move in about 6-7 years when my youngest finishes school, but some days I feel like it might just take that long to get the house finished. I am going to tackle each room of my house; decluttering, painting, steam-cleaning and staging. I think this is the perfect way to deal with my house, while embracing skills that I think will benefit me in my new career as a real estate agent. Feel free to come along on my journey, just please be gentle with me, as some of this is hard for me to share.
Craft Studio (Before)
It started out as a cold garage with concrete floors and wire rolling racks containing totes and other clutter. We had never really had a garage before, except for the rental house we lived in for a year before we moved into this house. Up until that point, all of our clutter had been shoved into random totes, to protect from the damp of the basement, or the critters in the shop. This was an improvement but not a solution.
Craft Studio (After)
This space has been a work in progress for several years. It may have started out as a garage, and a hang-out space for my adult children, but it evolved into my magical haven. I still need to deal with some clutter, but it is coming along nicely.
My Office (Before)
I have worked from home for over 22 years, nearly 10 years in this house… and my office looks like it. I have shared an office with others, but can no longer blame others for my mess.
My Office (After)
It took a lot of sorting and decluttering, but it is finally finished. I am pretty happy with some of the dedicated areas that I have setup and feel confident that they will help the clutter not return.
Click here to see what it took to dig my way out of this clutter…