If I spent as much time cleaning...

... as I do READING about cleaning, or organizing, or de-cluttering, etc... well, you'd probably be able to eat off my kitchen floor. And I'd be able to find that Blockbuster DVD that's 2 months overdue. Anyhow... here are two great posts about "stuff" (which one of the authors, David Allen, defines as "something in your world for which the action is still unclear." So true.) These really struck a chord with me.

What's your standard for stuff?
Never organize what you can discard

Spill

Sometimes a small household mishap can necessitate de-cluttering. Yesterday my son spilled his drink on the dining room table, which was almost completely covered in junk mail, school supplies, medical paraphernalia, etc. (leaving barely enough room for the three of us to sit and eat a meal.) The magnitude of the spill forced us to remove everything from the table in order to clean it. Lots of things had to be tossed (fortunately, nothing important.) Lots of other things were returned to their proper places. That left only one small stack of papers (yeah, I know) and LOTS of empty table space. If I can just deal with this pile of papers and not ADD to it, maybe I can actually maintain a clear dining room table. Maybe.

Right now we are primarily dealing with the clutter in our bedroom, which is generally the messiest room in the house. I have thrown away 3 big bags of trash and two containers of recyclable paper in the past week, as well as ditching some clothing and books to be donated to our local thrift shop. I plan to get some before and after pics up here on the blog when I have a chance. This week, aside from the bedroom, I would really like to get the last few Valentine's Day and Christmas decorations put away (yeah, I know) and get some spring stuff on display. I'm giddy with the warmer weather.

Starting now

Clutter. You know the drill. I'm not the dirtiest person in the world, certainly, but I'm far from the cleanest. I hate throwing things away, I can't organize to save my life, and I hate cleaning. Add to that homeschooling my 12-year-old (who has Asperger syndrome and Type 1 diabetes), caring for my infant, attending nursing school part-time, running to appointments, and a husband who works 60-hour weeks and... yeah. I don't have a whole lot of time to devote to housework, especially on a grand scale -- which, sadly, the task of de-cluttering my house would be. (Although I somehow always seem to find the time for that pesky internet addiction...)

Enough excuses. The fact is: bugs love clutter. I hate bugs. Therefore, clutter is now enemy number one in my house. My plan: break down the task of de-cluttering into small, non-overwhelming jobs that I can do in one or two days. I'm not sure yet if I'll do one room at a time or go room to room (I can see pros and cons of each approach). My biggest challenge: getting rid of sentimental crap for which I have absolutely NO need (for instance, the buttons from the denim jacket I wore throughout junior high school). My goal: a clean, user-friendly house with A LOT LESS STUFF IN IT.

I want to keep this blog as a log of the progress I'm making towards my goal. I may even take before and after photos. This way I can keep track of what I'm doing and maybe, if anybody decides to read this, I'll have some accountability as well. Here I go...