A Thrifter's Decluttering Guide

An organized home requires strict discipline that I lack. Like most thrifters, I have trouble passing up cheap thrifted items. By constantly editing my home and decluttering I'm able to avoid living in a house that looks like an episode of Hoarders.

 My freshly decluttered desk area. As an artist I NEED stimulation, yet I cannot function when clutter exists.

Decluttering Staples: Many Boxes (at least four), Time, and a Friend to Force you to get rid of the junk!

 1. See all the clutter littering the floor and counter tops? Get it all into boxes and out of the way.

2. Label those boxes as: Donate, Re-Sell, Art Supplies, Keep or whatever labels suit your needs. Keep a large trash bag handy for trash.

3. Start to sort through your boxes. I recommend doing this with friends and an open trash bag.  Once all items are sorted into appropriate boxes, take the sealed trash bag outside to the dumpster. Load the Donate box into your vehicle so you can take it a thrift store immediately.

 My old bedroom, a bit of organized and decluttered chaos; I like stimulating spaces with lots of character and neatly displayed collections. 

 4. Display the items you decide to keep with pride.

Deciding What to Keep When You Declutter

This is the hardest, and perhaps defining aspect of the decluttering process. Like all the best things in life your home requires careful editing. Keep only what you USE. Keep only what you LOVE. The rest is just useless clutter and it needs to go. When you thrift for more stuff, think before you buy it. It may be cheap, but will you continue to use it? Does it inspire you without cluttering your life?

Favorite Decluttering Inspiration:

• Get Rich Slowly's The Hidden Costs of Stuff- JD  is a Stuff addict. He makes progress but admits its hard to let go and change his obsession with Stuff. Thrifters can relate!

• Penelope Trunk's 5 Steps to Taming Materialism from an Accidental Expert- About leaving everything behind. Very inspiring.

• Think Simple Now's How to Cure Packrat-itis

• Zen Habit's A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home

• Zen Habit's Zen Mind: How to Declutter

• Flylady How to Declutter

• Organized Home's Declutter 101: Where Do I start?

• Life Hacker's Cut Your Clutter Calories

I might make decluttering posts a regular feature here. I always need inspiration in this arena....



This blog post is linked at My Backyard Eden / Room to Inspire / Me and My Bucket / The Penny Pinching Party / Whatever Goes Wednesday / Idea Sharing Wednesday / The Boardwalk Bragfest / Trendy Treehouse and Flaunt in Friday

Please share your decluttering tips in the comments. I'd love to read them! I need all the inspiration I can get as I embark on a week-long home purging!