I thought this process would literally just be getting clutter out of the home and having more room. But, the past few days has been so much more. I completely cleaned and removed SO much stuff from our bedroom today and walking into it every time is so peaceful. It's simple, clean, organized, and fresh. With having half the house in a minimal setting, I feel like I can do so much more during my day. It's like a snow ball effect. At first I was afraid to get rid of things and as time has gone on it's just refreshing to get things completely out of the house and out of our lives.
So, today I was also busy busy busy taking that first step to a minimalist lifestyle. This post is about our dining room and my (And the hubby's) bedroom.
DINING ROOM
My dining room table is NOT a storage space.
This was the SIMPLEST room to complete. I have always had the motto that the dining room table is just for that... Dining. No matter where we lived, our dining room table is used at least 3 times a day for eating. So, nothing is ever on it, except wipes and paper towels (Because I have messy kids...). I just wiped it down and swept around it. Nothing to do in this room. But, I figured I would show it. I love utilizing my dining room as a place to eat, enjoy company, and make memories, not to be a storage space.
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| Completely clean, ready for a meal to be eaten |
Okay, Thank goodness I started in the dining room this morning. Something super easy, no-brainer, and no questions asked. Because once I moved to my bedroom, things changed. It got so much harder to get rid of things.
I started on my bedside table. Seems simple enough. This is supposed to hold my lamp, clock, a few books... but then it started getting water bottles, crayons, bobby pins, nail clippers, legos, coins, a random cord, coloring books, and lots of dust. This thing isn't big.... It's actually really small, but I could stack stuff on that bad boy. It was frustrating at night when I would get into bed because I didn't have anywhere to place anything. I would have to move stuff around, carry stuff to the kitchen, etc. It was NOT a peaceful sanctuary like it should have been.
So, I went for it. Books I have read and will never read again, GONE. My clock that hasn't been plugged in for about a year, GONE. A pickle jar holding odds and ends (bobby pins, change, etc), GONE. All I have on there now is my lamp, a few books I am currently reading and my glasses. Nothing else. I love to drink water at night so I usually have a glass sitting there, which I will remove each morning. Simple. Clean. Organized. So much better. And, I don't miss a single thing I threw away.
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| Side table, after. I can now enjoy my evening more |
I then moved on to my hubby's side table. His actually wasn't as bad as mine. My husband LOVES books. So, that was one thing that I wasn't going to get rid of. There were a few that haven't been read in a long time or that were mine and needed to be gone anyway. He had lots of papers, binders, and random things sitting on it. So, he now has his fan (That he likes to sleep with) on top, and books on the bottom. Simple. Clean. Organized.
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| Simple. Clean. Organized. Goodbye clutter! |
I then moved on to the TV stand (Honestly, a dresser). This holds on one side DVD's, some paper work and cords for different things. It then also held so many different things that I could barely shut the drawers. You know, when you are cleaning and don't want to take the stuff to the trash or you aren't sure what to do with it, so you just shove it in a drawer... Yeah, that stuff. It is now completely organized, and almost empty. Who knew majority of the stuff in there was unneeded JUNK! The other side is our pajamas. I had 2 drawers, one for shirts and one for pants and the hubby has the bottom one for his pajama bottoms. My overflowing drawers are now almost empty because I truly only wore 2-3 of the PJ shirts and about 3 pajama bottoms. No need for 2 drawers. My hubby's drawer is almost empty also because he really only wears a handful of his shorts and the rest were tossed into the donation pile. The top of the dresser holds our TV, a DVD player, our AppleTV and the XBox 360. Clean, clean, clean and nothing that is unneeded.
We have a huge IKEA closet in our room. Stuff falls out of it all the time. We just keep shoving more and more and more stuff into it. I have over 10 sweaters, tons of dresses, and lots of papers in the drawers. I don't wear 80% of it, making it the reason it's just shoved in there and the hubby's side is the same way. Dress shirts, ties, sweaters, most of them unworn for over a year. I cleaned out and put into the donations 2 diaper sized boxes and 2 garbage sacks full of unused stuff. It's completely gone and out of our lives!
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| Ready to be boxed up and donated! |
I also threw away 3 garbage sacks full of garbage and a huge pile of recycling from the bedroom. I thought my bedroom was semi organized. I would clean it and make the bed every day. I vacuumed twice a week, but everything was just hidden. Now, everything is gone and it's so clean and freeing.
Today was harder than the last couple days. I like to hold on to items. But, once they were gone it's not like I missed them. I felt more calm and at peace. Like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. Not being held down by my stuff anymore. It was an awesome feeling.
I am loving this first step to a minimalist lifestyle. I know I'm just in the beginning stages of it, but it is feeling so good already.
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