My Decluttering Process

Every few months I get this itch, this desire to purge myself of stuff I don’t need anymore.

It’s an addicting sensation, and such a satisfying experience. 

My initial declutter was completely inspired and fueled by the Marie Kondo. Since then I haven’t had to do a full house cleanse, but because I’m not a bare bones minimalist, things accumulate. I don’t pretend to be perfect and I look at minimalism as a spectrum, as a journey, as a way of life. 

So over the next month I have my eye set on four areas in my home that need a good combing through:

My closet:

And not in the sense of my clothes. I will go through them of course, but my closet is also my “storage unit”, where I house all my business related, craft and project related sort of items. And I want to rearrange my closet in order to better organize what I have in there. Because I don’t have a big wardrobe that leaves most of the space for everything else, which currently consists of:

+ six large tubs and two boxes of Period Project items

+ shelving unit where I store sewing stuff, camera gear, screen printing stuff, arts and crafts items, etc.

My bathroom:

It’s in pretty good shape, but I know that I’ve switched out some beauty products, and so I want to go through and get rid of everything I’m not using. I also want to find a basket to store toilet paper in above our washing machine, because currently it’s just sitting up there as is, and it isn’t very well contained. 

My kitchen:

I try to go through my fridge each week or so when I grocery shop, but unfortunately there are a number of cabinets that sit dormant for a few months. 

I want to go through my mason jar collection, because let’s just say I know I have too many. I want to analyze all my utensils and machines and make sure we need each of them. We have way too many wine glasses, I somehow ended up with my mom’s cheesecake pan, things like that.

And I want to go through the pantry, enough said.

My living room:

It’s where the bookshelf lives, which is going to be my focus, but I wanted to look at some old picture frames (that fell of the walls) and our um, growing blanket collection, which has blossomed out beyond my nice wood crate they are supposed to live in. 

So, how am I going to do all of this? 

Well, as you can see, I’ve already started by breaking it up into four areas. And then when the mood strikes I begin!

I’m going to work through it in this order so I’ll talk you through how I’ll go through  my closet. 

The first step is to pull it all out, every last thing. This acts as a shock to the system. A “Wow, I have a lot of stuff” sort of moment. 

I’ll go through my clothing and shoes first, that’s an easy thing. Then I want to go through my items for the Period Bag Project because that takes up one side of the closet. Then the other side is that shelf, which houses so much. I need to go through and get rid of a lot. I’ve already started making a mental checklist. 

Once I have it all separated between “get rid of” and “keep” I’m going to take a look at possibly rearranging my closet because right now I have a shelving unit stuffed into the left side that could be better utilized if I could access the whole thing. 

Along with rearranging, I’m going to look at the organization/storage systems I have and if there is any way I can reallocate that or pick up some new containers to help house my items. 

Once I’m happy with my closet, I take on the bathroom.

Just talking through how I’m going to do it is giving me a sense of accomplishment.

What’s your decluttering routine, and how often do you work your way through different areas of your home?

Why I Declutter My Closet Every Three Months

I’m constantly editing out different things here and there in the space around me. 

Try as I may things are bought, given and borrowed, which all end up taking up residence in our home. And if you don’t stay on top of it, it can all get out of hand. 

Case in point: my closet. 

I think my personal style has changed more in the past two years then it has in quite some time. Maybe that’s just part of growing up. 

I try to take this information with me when buying things. A consistent goal of mine is to be a conscious consumer. To not buy something that I don’t need, or worse — I’m quickly going to get bored with. And while I’m not perfect I’m getting there. I’m learning along the way. 

I’ve been doing capsule wardrobes for almost a year now, and this has given me a perfect timeline to reassess my closet every three months. 

I start by making sure all of my laundry is clean and put away. Then I will pull all my out of season clothes in with my last capsule so I have all of my clothes in one place. 

I will then work my way through the selection, picking pieces for that upcoming season, creating my new capsule. And as I’m doing this I often find a piece or two, sometimes several, that I haven’t worn in quite some time. 

And there are still a few pieces I’ve noticed that I’ve held on to even though I knew I didn’t wear them. A dress I bought a few years ago from H&M in London. It was blue, it was velvet and it was tight. I wore it to one wedding two years ago and haven’t worn it since. I’ve kept it for so long because I felt guilty for the money I spent on it, hoping I could find an occasion to wear it again. 

I just folded it up with my give away pile today. 

I’ve also noticed I’m still transitioning from my college self into my “adult” self. I’ve evolved from oversized, comfortable and eclectic to more put together, refined and cohesive. I’ve been trading in for staple pieces that can be worn with multiple outfits, and aren’t trendy so I can continue to wear them for years to come. 

And even though I first cleaned out my closet over a year and a half ago, I still find it hard at times to let go of certain things. 

But boy oh boy do I still get this incredible sense of satisfaction from decluttering. It’s addicting if I do say so myself. 

Having a capsule wardrobe has given me the perfect opportunity to continuously stay on top of my closet. If you don’t already I encourage you to take a good look at your wardrobe every 3-6 months, and pass along those items you don’t wear. 

I promise you’ll feel incredible afterwards.