One Shelf at a Time: It’s Time to Declutter

01/06/2016

There’s nothing quite like that period of time right after Christmas to remind you how much shit stuff you really have. Our house is overflowing with everything from toys and shoes to mason jars and craft supplies. And quick frankly, something’s got to give here. My last post was all about opting for annual goal-setting instead of a single new year’s resolution. What better way to kick off 2016 than with a full-blown, cathartic decluttering.

If you’re anything like me you are busy enough as it is. You’ve got a pile of kids and commitments that make cleaning and organizing the house look like the least of your concerns. So unless you plan on sending your kids away for the weekend with Grandma so you can have a romantic weekend alone cleaning the house with your other half, give my one shelf at a time a try.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the #yegminimalist movement that happened last month and how awesome it was that people were getting rid of unnecessary stuff every day.  But I want something even more intense that will really dig deep into every corner of my house and enable me to reorganize the things that I do need to keep. So I’m going to start my own #oneshelf movement, even it’s just me.

Here’s how it works. Start by choosing a room, the kitchen for example, and on the first day clean out one cupboard or shelf. That’s it. Then on day two clean out another cupboard or shelf, and so on. I would strongly encourage you to resist trying to declutter the entire kitchen at once or even the entire fridge. Just stick with one shelf. That means one shelf or bin of the fridge at a time. Now that’s not to say that you can’t declutter more than one shelf or cupboard or even declutter an entire closet if your schedule, motivation, and mental state allow you to do so. It just means to avoid taking on too much at once, getting frustrated and giving up altogether. Maybe some days you’ll declutter three different times a day. Maybe others you won’t have time to declutter any at all.

Remember. This is not one closet at a time. Or one room at a time. This is one shelf at a time. A realistic way to declutter and organize your house.

As you declutter and start getting rid of things you don’t need anymore, I encourage you to put things into one of three piles: sell, donate, or trash. Remember there are so many amazing local non-profits who rely on donations of items. For furniture and household goods a great place to donate is FIND Furniture, an awesome local organization that helps furnish homes of families or individuals transitioning out of homelessness. A great place to donate men’s and women’s clothing is YESS, Youth Empowerment and Support Services. And the Bissell Centre is always a great place to donate items, especially outerwear, toiletries and other personal items. For gently used baby and kids’ clothing, toys and accessories, donate to WeeHelp, a local non-profit organization that benefits the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

Now if you can hire an awesome person to clean your house every few weeks or month, that’s amazing. But that won’t get rid of your clutter. It won’t be a purge. On the surface it will be clean but once you open that closet, cupboard or room, shit’s going to get real. Trust me.

~chelsey