So here we are on Day 1 of Spring Cleaning Party! The goal today is to quickly go through your home and purge items you no longer need or want. Tsh at Simple Mom outlines a couple of reasons why this project is a prefect for the starting gate:
1. A clean sweep is an easy task that gets you energized for the Spring Cleaning Party and sets the tone for your cleaning over the next two weeks.
2. Cleaning the surfaces in your home is an eye-opener and really lets you see where your clutter trouble spots are located.
3. Fresh clean surfaces will help you accomplish the rest of the spring cleaning tasks to come.
I chose to take pics of the two worst spots in my home: my entryway and my master bedroom/toddler toy/stockpile item/anything to keep away from kids-dumping ground. Take a look at my before-and-after pictures!
Entryway Before After
Master Bedroom 1 Before After
Master Bedroom 2 Before After
I didn’t throw out too much stuff because I try to keep the unnecessary items that enter my home to a minimum. My home is a big game of “which one of these items just doesn’t belong” and so most of my surface clearing was putting things back in their home.
And my thoughts on purging: the fewer items we own the better. I spent 7 weeks in rural, poor Mexico in a small town called Chichimixtitla (chi-chi-meex-tit-la) where the 180 residents had one light bulb, one refrigerator, and no running water. As I left behind my American materialism I learned that you can live on very little and really experience what is important in life, like community and spiritual optimism. Since then, I am constantly examining what I own and wondering, “do I really need this item? Is there someone else out there who might need this more than me?” I realize that with children “extra” is convenient, but I hope to instill in my children a spirit of conscious consumption and selfless giving.
So, if you are visiting from Simple Mom, welcome. I can’t wait to “meet” you and get cleaning! Also be sure to visit Mandi at Organizing Your Way for a little Decluttering 101.
Suzanne,
My husband’s family fled south during the Korean war on foot. His grandparents had to leave behind their home, their ginseng farm (their wealth and livelyhood) and take only those possessions they could carry along with their three children. It is amazing to me not-so-distant relatives endoured such hardship and survived on so little. You are right it is quite humbling.
It looks great and I bet it makes you feel better too. And it definitely is eye opening to go to another country (or even a very poor area of our country) and see how people do without. It always makes me wonder how we Americans got to be so “needy” (as in I need new shoes, I need an iPod, etc.).
Good job!
Great thoughts! Your pics look great!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, especially the one about so many people owning only what they carry on their backs! It’s humbling and sobering to think of that as I look at all of our “stuff”. I’m off to get going and have a big job ahead of me.
Buffie, I so agree that it is a never ending battle. Kids grow so fast and relatives are always looking to buy them the latest and greatest toy (that has a million pieces of course!)
Great job. I feel like we are constantly fighting a battle of stuff in our house. We are always giving stuff away and I try to be very conscious of what comes into the house, but we still have lots of stuff that we don’t need. It’s a never ending battle.
Love it! It looks great.