Decluttering

I finally emptied the boxes that were in the guest room closet! It has been a constant pit of disaster since we moved in 7 months ago. Thankfully, I made a special request to my father-in-law when we first moved into the house for some shelves for the closet. The generous man that he is, he custom made a built in shelving unit that attaches to the side wall of the closet. This allows for a bit more storage space and I still have room in there to hang clothes and add some unneeded items!

I was hoping with yet another move I could get rid of "stuff"! I am such a pack rat that I keep things forever! The things I talk about are crafty things that I aspire to pick up sometime in the near future. I have fabric, yarn, paper, paints, a dress manequin, books on scrapbooking and sewing, and the list goes on. I love my artsy things, now I have to make time to use them!

Of course the other nemesis is all the toys the kids have aquired over the past 6.5 years. We have buckets of cars, a small collection of trains, a full LEGO table ( which gets used the most), stuffed animals, light sabers, big trucks, etc.... I know many friends who rotate their toys, but they also have to deal with storing the ones not in use.

The crazy thing is, I find it hard to get rid of a lot of these things because for some reason I get attached to them! What is up with that? I am trying to de-clutter and here I am keeping things that my kids do not or will not ever play with again! I am sure it has to do with the fact that when I was younger we moved a lot and many things got lost or given away without my consent and I never really got over it. Lame as this may seem  they are memories that I just have a hard time surpassing!

This is the year when I declutter my house. Once the summer comes I want to see my basement floor and every other floor in the house! I did purchase some shelving bins and I already have many storage bins, so once we do the winter to spring switch I will be able to see what storge bins are left. I want everything on a shelf, in a bin, or out the door!

My best friend, Julie, is a pro at this stuff. When I was pregnant with my first child, Logan, she came to Montreal to help me declutter. From getting rid of papers, to finally hanging pictures on the walls, we worked for two days and I felt great afterwards. Of course three months later we moved, but I didn't have to pack as much "stuff". Now she is a new mom so her time is limited, but maybe I could convince her to come and help me out again!

Decluttering and simplifying life has always been a challenge for me, but I do not want to make any more excuses. I do not have a busy schedule like I used to and I do have some family help if I need it. So here I go on a mission to declutter!

Blessings
Lee-Anne

 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  (NLT)