7 Ways to Declutter Your Home

Can your house make you fat and broke? Absolutely.

The Oprah show recently featured a family whose house was, literally, making them fat. While both the parents and children were overweight, their house was, too:  drowning in clutter, garbage, junk and stuff. This family's situation may be more extreme than the average, but the message applies to us all:  our homes are symbolic representations of our inner selves; extensions of our beliefs.

What does your home say about you? How do you treat your belongings? How do you take care of your home? Can your home show you the ways that you're keeping yourself from your goals and dreams?

One of the simplest ways you can change the energy of your home, as well as the energy of your life, is by decluttering:  tossing and donating those possessions that no longer speak to you. Hoarding is draining because it's fear based. We hold onto clothes that are 10 years old, from a time when we wore a smaller size, because we fear that getting rid of the clothes means that we'll never wear that size again. We hold onto things we don't use or love or need because we're afraid that we might need them again...someday. We hoard because we worry about hard times, when we won't have the money to buy new and we might need that old lamp that we despise.

Holding onto things we don't love or need keeps us stuck. It prevents us from attracting new things into our lives. How can new experiences, possessions, a slimmer body, or a bigger bank account come our way if we're drowning in clutter, or we're treating what we do have with disrespect? Not appreciating or caring for our things sends this message to the universe:  I don't respect my things. I don't respect the money that bought these things.

If our lives are overflowing with possessions, activities, and to-do lists, there's no room for new opportunities. Author William Bridges says we need to ask ourselves two questions:  What do I need to let go of in my life right now? And, What is trying to come to me, after I let go of what no longer serves me?

Over the past year, our home has undergone a massive decluttering. I instituted this practice because our family is undergoing several major transitions. I viewed simplifying our home life as preparation: laying a positive foundation for the changes ahead, opening up pockets of empty space---both figuratively and literally---to allow for those new things to come. Afterwards, my husband and I both remarked on the positive changes we felt. It was as if getting rid of the clutter unclogged the drainpipe, sending a rush of new energy through our home...and our lives.

If you're hoping to make changes in your life, start with your home. While eliminating clutter takes both time and practice, here are seven ways to begin:

1. Buy only what you really, really love. For years, I was a garage sale and thrift store hound. I also held garage sales. Guess what? Most of the things that ended up in my garage sale were things that I had bought at other garage sales. This example illustrates a greater principle:  how our buying habits are often motivated by things other than love. I've shopped because I was bored, because I wanted to have something new, to ease my sadness or anxiety, to experience the thrill of scoring a bargain, and to feel better about my body. Is it any wonder that most of these purchases ended up in the give away pile? Over the past year, I've become much more reluctant to part with my money. This doesn't mean that I don't spend it; it does mean that I wait to buy something that I really, really love, even if it means saving up for months to do so. It's hard to wait. We don't like delayed gratification. But waiting to buy what you love will transform your life. You'll walk into your closet, into your home, and open your drawers, and be surrounded by things that you adore. You'll feel treasured, and abundant, like someone who is worthy of nice things. 

2. Appreciate the beauty of something without having to own it. I love Target. I love darling boutiques where the stores are arranged like works of art. I love beautiful clothes. And yet, my love for these things doesn't change whether or not I own them. Learning how to love and appreciate something without having to possess it was a huge stumbling block for me. But now I am able to appreciate beauty, to admire someone else's beautiful home, outfit, or car without having to own it myself. You can look at shopping in this way, too:  enjoy the beautiful presentation of the goods, the artful displays, without having to buy them.   

3. Borrow rather than buy. In my decluttering process, I took several boxes of books to the library:  books that had served me in some point in my life, but that I no longer read or needed. Or books that I didn't read often enough to justify storing them in my home---books I could borrow from the library, for example. Now, I pause before I buy books, CDs or DVDS. I use Netflix to watch movies, buy songs on itunes, and borrow books from the library. If there's a book that really speaks to me, that I believe is worth buying, I'll buy it. But I found that this was the exception, and not the rule.

4. Use what you have. My children each have a dresser full of clothes, and yet they all wear the same five outfits over again. I'm the same way. I tend to wear the same, favorite outfits, too. I recently went through my jewelry box and noticed a similar pattern:  I wear the same two or three pairs of earrings; the same two or three necklaces. Think about your things:  what do you really use? How about limiting your stuff to what you really love and enjoy? When we hoard things, we think that our happiness expands with each new thing that we buy. So if a wardrobe of a few things makes us happy, we'll be even happier with more. But, in my experience, this isn't the case. It takes courage to limit our options. We fear that if we strip our wardrobe down to the clothes we actually wear, that we'll run out of options. But when I simplified my closet last summer, I found the opposite to be true. Getting dressed was easier with fewer clothes, because everything in my closet coordinated together and was something that I loved. I found it harder to get dressed when my closet was overflowing.

5. Recognize that we all get tired of our things. We all get tired of things; their familiarity can breed discontent. We get tired of our furniture, our clothes, our house. But when we go to a store or a friend's house, everything is new and unfamiliar---of course it looks more appealing than what we have at home. But there are ways of dealing with these feelings besides shopping. You can rotate the decor in your home, keeping the excess in closets. You can also cultivate gratitude for what you do have, to take the time to really use, enjoy and love your belongings. 

6. Separate the memories from the stuff. Getting rid of dated clothes and old magazines is one thing. But what about things that have sentimental value? While, certainly, there is nothing wrong with holding onto objects because of the memories, if we're not careful, these things can take over our homes, as well. One thing I've learned to do is separate the memory from the thing. I hang onto lots of memories; I don't hang onto as many things. So, while I keep baby books, photos, and a small box of keepsakes for each of my children, I pick selectively:  one or two baby outfits that were my favorites, rather than a whole box.

7. Let things go for others to use. One thing that helps me release objects in my life is picturing the joy my things will bring to another person. Just the other day, I donated a beautiful pair of shoes to the thrift store....shoes that I've only worn once in the few years that I've owned them. I know I won't wear them again, and yet their beauty made me reluctant to part with them. Instead of focusing on my loss, I switched my thinking, picturing the happy woman who will stumble upon my shoes with great delight. With this mindset, I was able to part with my shoes with ease. Too often we focus on ourselves, and forget the other half of the equation:  how decluttering our lives helps everyone.

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Comments

[Glass Half Full]

I caught that episode on Thursday. What a concept and so true, I think.

As I get older I realize how holding on to things can really weigh you down, so to speak. I've learned to let go which really does make you feel lighter and free.

Lori