Decluttering my house is one of my many goals for 2019. Visitors wouldn't call our home cluttered, but living there, I see and feel it in various places around the house and in the attic. It was time for it to go. Here's what we tackled so far:
The Spare Bedroom: Between the ministry and jobs, we live far from our children and other family members. Since our girls have kids and live in areas with far more interesting things to do, we tend to visit them. Consequently, our spare bedroom is rarely used. Shortly after moving in, we began storing items in there for convenience. Eventually, it began to look more like a storage unit than a room.
That room was the first thing we tackled. In God's providence, the church where I work decided to have a rummage sale, so we picked out items we didn't intend to keep any longer, donated them to the church, and properly stored the rest. Then we dusted, cleaned the carpet, and rearranged the furniture into a more sensible layout (an older member of the family was the first to stay there and he wanted the full-size bed beside the door. Right beside it. Other visitors felt awkward being that close to the door.) The spare bedroom now looks like a cozy room.
Magazines: My father-in-law knows we love reading and the outdoors, so he graciously signed us up for several magazines that help us enjoy both activities. He also wants us to move back to Texas, so he included publications intended to lure us back to the Lone Star State. My husband also signed me up for several magazines including Catster, Southern Living, and Birds and Blooms. Those in addition to his magazines.
For some reason, we began receiving others as well. Subscriptions neither we nor my father-in-law ordered. Bills were sent, of course, but as solicitations. Soon, we were overwhelmed with magazines and the smell of ink. I can't even guess how many trees died for the cause.
First, we canceled numerous subscriptions. When I found out magazines in good shape would be sold at the aforementioned rummage sale, we began sorting through them. The best we took to the church. The rest were tossed out. They're now in a better place, and we're a lot happier.
Drawers: Do you have a junk drawer? I have three--one in our kitchen and two in my dresser. My dresser junk drawers were filled with work and veterinary information, drawings from children, cards, and memories from the past. I tossed out what needed to be tossed, then stored items I wanted to keep but didn't need immediate access to.
Accounts: I once belonged to and was involved in American Christian Fiction Writers. I had email accounts set up for membership and for the Genesis account (an anonymous account I kept for corresponding with authors after the close of the contest.)
I never got around to deleting them. This week, I deleted both along with a few social media accounts I no longer cared to use.
Next on my list is my yarn and my attic. I'm a knitter, and like most knitters, I have a yarn stash. Mine is small compared to others, but it's large enough to force me into storing skeins and hanks in various bins and tote bags in my room. I'm going to sort through it all, donate some yarn I know by now I'll never use, toss out the small balls of leftover yarn I've been keeping "just in case I need them," and focus on using the rest this year.
And the attic...I don't even want to think about it, but it's part of this year's goal, so at some point, I'll tackle it.