The last few months have really got me thinking about all the excess that my family has. I just completed my own 30 Days of Thankfulness. I went back through each day and noticed that not once did any material possessions make the list! My list was almost all composed of people, experiences and events.
Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for the things we have as well, but what means the most to me is not my stuff! This almost seems contradicting because there is a lot more stuff inside our home than people!
December is a new month and new beginning. I am looking around at the excess in my home and feeling the need to simplify. Some of the stuff we have in our home is a blessing and loved (our refrigerator, favorite toys and blankets, and the heater blowing warm air on my cold feet to name just a few!) However, a lot of the stuff is simply excess that is not only cluttering up our home, it’s also cluttering my time with having to clean it, find a place for it, or take care of it. This leads me to my question: What am I going to do about it? It’s time to take a stance against the clutter and begin the process of decluttering.
December is probably the busiest month of the year for families (or at least for our family!) I really debated about if this was the right time to start a 31 Day Decluttering Challenge! However, the more I thought about it, I decided that I am tired of trying to decorate around the mess. I’m tired of my kids having so many toys that they can’t enjoy all of them. And I’m tired of spending so much time trying to pick up things that no one actually loves. I’m ready for a change, are you?
Are you tired of Christmas being over and having an entire house full of new stuff and no where to enjoy it? What would happen if you had the house ready for the holidays before Christmas? Join me in this new series December 1st!
The purpose of this challenge is not to make you feel guilty if you can’t complete the day’s decluttering challenge. The purpose of this decluttering challenge is to free you of some personal bondage (clutter). I love this challenge because many of the items we will be decluttering are still in wonderful condition! By doing this now, I can bless someone else this holiday season, which is exactly what this season is all about!
With that said, if you can find the time to complete the challenges, that’s wonderful! I’m going to try to keep them all under 30 minutes, preferably 15 minutes. Even if you get half of the challenges done, you will have made some significant progress in your home! No guilt here, just encouragement! I want us all to be able to enjoy the holidays with our families with less stress and guilt!
With that here are our challenges this December:
Day 1: Create a December Bucket List
Day 2: Decluttering Seasonal & Holiday Items
Day 3: Quick & Simple Holiday Organizing
Day 5: Decluttering Your Unique Spaces
Day 6: Decluttering The Entryway
Day 7: Cleaning Your Refrigerator
Day 8: Cleaning Out Your Pantry
Day 11: Decluttering Your Heart
Day 12: Making Your Master Bedroom A Dream Come True: Part 1
Day 13: Making Your Master Bedroom A Dream Come True: Part 2
Day 14: Making Your Master Bedroom A Dream Come True: Part 3
Day 15: It’s Christmas Prep Day!
Day 16: Decluttering The Living Room
Day 17: Decluttering The Dining Room
Day 18: Hobbies, Crafts, & Supplies, Oh My! Decluttering Your “Treasures”
Day 19: Making Your Office Cheerful and Bright
Day 20: Getting It Together For The Holidays
Day 21: Decluttering The Toy Area
Day 23: Last Minute Shopping & Wrapping
Day 24: Putting It All Together
Day 27: A New Tradition- Boxing Day? Decluttering Your Living Room & Dining Room
Day 28: Setting Goals For 2015
Day 29: Decluttering The Bathroom
What is one area of your home that needs the most help, when it comes to clutter?
Have you enjoyed what you read here today? Do you have friends or other women you know that could benefit from this resource? If so, please do me a favor! I have included the links below to share with other intentional women! They’ll be glad you did!
The area that is the worst in my house is the study which is unusable as a study thanks to everything we have stored in there. I have been making inroads though and bought some drawers to start sorting our busy bag/ craft collections in so that helped. I look forward to some added motivation for my plans to use my holiday time to declutter!
The room that needs the most decluttering is my craft/computer room…and I have been trying to get it organized for over 2 years – ever since we moved into this little 2 bedroom apartment (yes, the second room was for my craft stuff and my computer!). I actually started (again!) yesterday, but always get distracted – like, trying to sort out all of the empty notebooks and journals that I have bought or received and have ready to use when the others are filled up…and sitting there reading what is in some of them – yes, I said empty notebooks; but also have others that I start for something then put them aside – one for quotes; one for blessings; one for dreams, etc. Yes, this room needs to be decluttered – and I intend to get back to it today! Thanks for this decluttering challenge…I am IN; just don’t know how effective I’ll be with it!!!
Crafts are a tough one, especially when it comes to getting rid of stuff! Best of luck to you and I will have a day for hobbies! 🙂
What a wonderful idea. I’ve been slowly trying to de-clutter my creative area.
I think my whole house might classify as a “creative area” lol! 🙂
We’re on a decluttering mission at our house this month too! Just too much STUFF…Already we are enjoying the benefits of less clutter, and I think I am benefitting more than anyone because as I watch those bags of donations or garbage go out the door, I realize that is one less bagful of stuff that I have to manage, keep up with, keep organized…It’s truly a liberating feeling.
Thank you for sharing at Wake Up Wednesday!
This is great! I’m definitely going to follow along. I was thinking about decluttering my daughter’s toy box in preparation for new toys, but I hadn’t really given much thought to the rest of the house…but I know it needs it. Thanks.
You must have read my mind! I’m so tired of the clutter and I’m in a mood to purge so I can bless someone else! We have really limited the gift giving we are going to do this year and use that money to help others in need, and yet another benefit is less clutter! Yay! Stopping by from Mom’s Morning Coffee!
Great series. It is so important to enter the new year with a clean and decluttered space. I like to do this before the new year begins, as opposed to making a resolution for after it has begun. This series is right on time 🙂
Great article! Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for being a part of our party. I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm. It wouldn’t be a party without you!
Happy Saturday! Lou Lou Girls
We declutter in November and December. I know that we will have new things coming in during the holidays so it is important to me that I find things we don’t need and donate them to appropriate causes. Great post!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
We always like to clear out the old in December to make room for the new that will come in the form of Christmas gifts. Thanks for linking up at the Home Matters Linky!
~Bonnie
We decluttered all of our Christmas decorations last year as we put everything away. It has helped tremendously this year in being able to get decorated without my house looking like a bomb went off while I was doing it. This is an excellent challenge! Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMatters Linky Party/
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
I need to do my pantry again. I had organized it and then we started making cookies. We did our Christmas decorations. These are great challenges. Thanks for sharing @DearCreatives party. Pinned
I try to do a monthly clean out of my closet. But My kitchen could use a once over! I’ve been actively trying to declutter and get rid of things because I’ll be moving overseas next year so the more I get rid of the lighter my luggage!
I can’t imagine moving over seas! Good luck with decluttering and the move! 🙂