HUGE Home Decor Declutter {Plus Tips!} and New Storage
January 28, 2025
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Tips to easily purge and declutter items from your home!
Have you caught the decluttering bug yet this year? Is there anything better after the busyness and STUFF of the holiday season?
The first few weeks of this year I was a decluttering FIEND. It's been a long time since I've focused so much on purging things from our house.
It's been almost ten years since I went through our entire (old) house and decluttered EV.ER.Y.THING. Back then I wrote about how much I like the Konmari decluttering method and how I used it.
The Konmari decluttering method.
I think the part that can turn people off from this method is the main message -- asking yourself if the items in your home bring you joy. If not, let go of them.
I mean, it's a little simplistic. I don't LOVE the whisk in our kitchen drawer, so why keep it? 😂 So when I use this process I focus on things that I truly enjoy and we use often.
These two qualifiers make it much easier to figure out what to keep!
Notice I said keep. This method makes me focus more on the things that I love, not things that don't serve us well. If I like and use it...it's easier to keep it in our home.
If it doesn't fit, I don't like the color, isn't my style anymore AND I haven't used it in years...then I let it go without a second thought.
For some reason, deciding what to keep is easier for me than determining what to give away.
The Komari decluttering process worked so well for me, I've been really good at constantly asking myself those questions as I go about day to day life in our home. It's not unusual for me to donate a small bag of items every week.
Home decor decluttering process.
But after the holidays, I knew it was time to tackle a spot I never focus on. Our basement storage room is wonderful and has plenty of room to store items away, but it becomes a dumping ground (especially after Christmas).
A few years ago I made an effort to organize the home decor items I was holding onto for future projects:
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When I think back to how much STUFF we moved into this house almost eight years ago, I truly can't believe it. Even after doing the major purge before we moved, I did another HUGE home decor declutter about a year after we moved in.
I still had a lot, knowing I would be building a few built ins around the house that would need decor. Now that the family room, office, dining and basement bookcases and builds are done, I can let go of a bunch.
Right after Christmas, I stood in front of those plastic shelves and realized there was very little I had a desire to keep.
When it hits, it hits. I wanted it GONE. Ha!
I say this all the time, but the with each year of my life, I want less stuff in our house. At least stuff that isn't meaningful. In my 20's and 30's I often kept more than needed. I know that was a response to a difficult childhood -- it used to pain me to get rid of something I had spent money on. (Even if it was 20 years earlier.)
This is a Konmari tip as well, and I find it incredibly helpful. Not only can you see what you have, but you also realize how insane it is that you have multiples of one random item.
I actually kept most of the glass decor pictured above. The inexpensive glass vases can be used SO many ways, especially during the holidays.
But when it came to items like candles, I realized how ridiculous the stash was:
This brings me to a big organization tip I've discovered over the years...I've learned (at least for me) that I tend to ignore items in opaque containers.
I had all of these candles in white storage bins that I couldn't see into unless I pulled it off the shelf and pulled the lid off. And they were all stacked on top of each other inside.
When I switched all of our Christmas decor storage to clear bins years ago, I realized how much I like them.
I'm a visual learner/person anyway, so I don't know why this surprised me. If I can see it, I pay more attention to it!
I went through each type of decor -- glass items, candles, vases/vessels, trays and baskets, etc. We keep a good amount of Christmas decor down there (mostly our Christmas village), and I purged a ton of that as well.
After numerous donation trips, I felt SO much better!
Simple built in wood shelving.
It was then that I went ahead with some built in shelves I've wanted to add since we moved in. I called our contractor guys who help me out with some projects and they were able to knock out wood shelving in less than a day.
They are very basic...built with 2x4's and plywood, but I am in looooove. Having everything easily accessible and on display has already been so wonderful!:
We had to work around the utility panels on the back wall, so the right side is about 15 inches deep and the left is 24 inches. I wanted to be able to slide the bins underneath, so the size is perfect!
I go all out with Halloween and Christmas in our basement, all of the holiday decor was previously in big storage bins:
The actual home decor pieces don't even take up two shelves now.
Crazy considering all of the stuff on the floor to ceiling shelving was decor before:
And all of those giant bins are gone! (I reused a few of them in our garage.)
I had 12 of those inexpensive storage bins on the shelves before, now six!:
Those stick on labels are awesome! I use them ALL over the house.
One extra step made a big difference -- the guys also installed drywall behind the wood shelving. No tape or mud, just the drywall. This prevents the little bits of insulation from falling on everything!
It feels so great to walk into this area now. It really does bring me JOY. ;) My serotonin goes up when I walk in there.
This storage area decrapification has spurred on more projects. I just finished up purging my closet and making it function even better with a few tweaks. I'll be sure to share those updates soon!
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Love it! Ordering those label stickers right now…it’s the little things! 😄
ReplyDeleteWell done, you deserved one of your favorite brews or drinks to sip as you put your feet up and breathe deeply. Kudos!
ReplyDelete