Declutter challenge - Day 2
After returning home from a Pennsylvania vacation, the very sight of my kitchen table gave me pause and a little shame. This led me to signing up for the Declutter Cure at Apartment Therapy. Want to join in? You can sign up at Apartment Therapy.
DAY TWO - LEARN FIVE DECLUTTERING RULES - Some things kind of keep us in a clutter mode. A mindset that makes us feel like we need to hang onto things just in case. You know, like a phone charger for a phone you don’t use anymore that also doesn’t work with any of your current phones, a crimping iron from 1981, and maybe an old watch you have since replaced. Today thanks to Apartment Therapy, we are going to stop worrying about the just in case and just go for it. Taryn shared five questions to ask yourself as you declutter. If you have a yes to any of the questions, keep the item. If the anwer is no, its got to go!
1 - Have I used this item in the past year?
2 - Will I use it in the year ahead? This one is a little harder we need to not think about mights and maybes but really measure on what we know.
3 - Would I buy this again today? (Does this even fit with your life now? Does it work? Do you even like it any more? )
4 - Is it worth fixing, if it’s broken? I can’t help but think of the meme of the several pairs of glasses all with broken left temples (that is the arm basically- I had to look it up). Sure you can keep holding onto the broken glasses hoping that one day the right temple of a pair will break off, but it looks like you’ve already got a solid pattern. If you haven’t fixed it in over a year, you probably won’t. If it is worth it, offer it to someone who will fix it and use it.
5 - Would I keep this if I moved? Scott and I moved from Arizona to Michigan three years ago. We got rid of so much stuff before we left, but still I have boxes filled with old insulated lunch bags. Do you know what I use to bring lunch into work? A grocery bag. Yep, those bags are hitting the road!
Okay now take those questions and head to a drawer. Put the trash in the trash and use your boxes, baskets or bags from day one to distribute the rest (oh and of course keep what you want to keep in the drawer once you take care of the rest).
Don’t forget it is not too late to sign up for the Decluttering Cure at Apartment Therapy.
