Back-To-School Mission: DECLUTTER

We have been pretty preoccupied this summer with a lot of activities. Now that school is nearing again, we're in the process of clearing up the house from all the stuff we've gathered from since the last school year. Which, surprisingly, isn't that much any more.

However, I'll confess that I'm responsible for most of it. Again.

Because every time I clear up each area in our house, here's what goes on in my mind:
While my obsessive-compulsive side instantly throws the item in to the trash bag, the innate crafter in me says, "Hey, you could still use that for your recycling project!" And so I'll take it back and put it in the box outside the house that says "For Future Projects" or FFP. Unfortunately, most of the time this box gets full so easily that I have to set up another box. (Sigh)

It has been this cycle for me, and every time, I need to go back to my FFP box for a number of times to really check which ones I really need to throw out and which ones to keep.

Finally, the realization occurred to me that this was only consuming so much of my very valuable time so I decided to finally act on it and followed a number of advice in the 'net on WAYS TO DECLUTTER. (And also to keep my husband from diagnosing me to have a "hoarding disorder."

1. Set up a Garage Sale. This was what we did last summer. We had too much items that took up too much space everywhere in the house, that's why I decided to set up a Garage Sale -- just so I'd be able to free myself from any guilt of letting go anything that's still useful to someone else. The plus side of it is I get to earn some extra funds for some future projects. Which, I think, makes the best point of all:
Less clutter + more money to buy new project items = Happy and clean home :)

This summer, however, we didn't have enough items to sell on a garage sale because we've let go of most our old and not-so-old stuff for a very good cause.


2. Donate. As a sign of thanksgiving for not being badly affected, my whole family agreed to let go of our unused clothes, bedsheets and towels to the victims of the previous super typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan) that badly hit my dear country late last year.

Image credit: Mashable.com

It was very heartwarming that everyone around the world did the same gesture for my fellow countrymen who were left homeless by the catastrophe.


For this summer's batch of cleared items, however, the bulk consisted of old text books, and magazines that have been a part of my collection which I haven't even opened for some time now. I also have decided to donate them to my daughter's school for their summer arts workshop. Likewise, I gave up some of our beads which I saw they've used in one of their projects.

3. Recycle/Upcycle/Repurpose. Whatever it may be called, this is what I've been meaning to do for every item that I have put back in to the FFP box. I'm really fond of getting into the small details of dismembering and putting stuff together to create something more useful.

Now here's what I did to the boxes that got piled up in storage:

I just didn't want to stop with these, because I still have some items left in the FFP box. However, I'm quite relieved to see that there aren't much anymore, and that they'll soon be part of a recycling project once we start covering the books and notebooks of my kids for school.


4. Organize. There are items that deserve to be left as they are, but are unfortunately causing clutter because we've left them somewhere they're not supposed to be put in. This often causes problems of misplacing stuff around the house. We even sometimes blame the unseen beings to have "moved" those stuff somewhere else. :) But seriously, we wouldn't be all panicky if all our stuff had been properly sorted and packed in containers, or shelved accordingly. (Now, I'm actually talking to myself here.)

If you're looking for inspiration, head on to Pinterest. I've been visiting this site every now and then because of its endless collection of images that will inspire you on just everything beyond organizing!

Image credit: 79ideas.org via Pinterest

5. Throw it in the trash. Yes. Just let it go.

I made it a point to go back to my FFP box each month. If by that time, there is/are item/s there that I won't be using any time within the week, I throw it out. The first few times felt heavy to my chest, but the succeeding ones were much easier to bear. I learned to move on.

Well, our home may not be perfectly free from clutter just yet, but I'm content with the thought that we can have more than enough space to move again around the house. Likewise, I'm very happy I can think a lot better this time and grab my tools whenever a lightbulb moment for a new project strikes me.

How about you? How do you clean up and declutter your place? Have you found an interesting way to keep your place much organized and free from clutter? Please share! I'd love to hear and learn from you. :)

Stay glam!

F