On January 1st I spent the day organizing the apartment and purging it of unnecessary items that were resulting in clutter and a lack of storage space. If feels so refreshing to start out the new year on a clean slate. Organizing and de-cluttering helps me to breath lighter and think clearer....and it is even a little fun (because I am weird like that). So when I came home from spending Christmas with the family I got to work. I had to make room for all of the new gifts we brought home :) So, there are a couple of rules that I used when determining how to go about de-cluttering.
1. Use the help of a spouse. (I do not always have Ryan help me, but on this occasion it was kinda necessary because a lot of the items that we got rid of were old electronics). I am not a techie person by any means so the only person that can determine if we can get rid of those items is Ryan himself :) I hate going through boxes and finding old cords and gadgets because I always want to throw them away, but I never know what they are exactly for. So Ryan helped out a lot in this part of the process and was willing to do away with a lot of old items.
2. If you haven't touched something in the last 6 months then chances are you don't need it. I had a lot of items from my college days that were still in boxes. They have remained in those boxes for a good two years now, so it knew it was time for them to get the boot.
3. Throw away/Donate old clothing. Rotate seasonal items so that your closet doesn't get overwhelmed. Store the clothing your not currently wearing in clear plastic bins.
3. Old books can take up lots of room. So donate any books that you have lost interest in/have no use for.
4. Get rid of CD cases. Even though they are small, they can take up lots of storage space. Throw out the cases and store your CD's in something like this:
5. Get rid of old boxes that items come in. (I noticed when I was going through some of our closets that we tend to hang onto old boxes a lot.) We would keep them out of fear of needing to return the item in the future. This is fine to do for the first month or so, but after that the box needs pitched. Just store the warranty info and the product registration and you are good to go.
6. Finally, try to organize your home at least once a year. This is the best way to ensure that you are not holding onto old items that you no longer need. Sometimes we just forget what we have, so the best think to do is just go through your items and get rid of items you don't need periodically.
There are a lot of cleaning/storage tips out there, but these were the points that I focused on the most during this last apartment purge. When all was said and done, Ryan and I were able to get rid of 5 large black trashbags worth of stuff!!!! Now the closets are clean and neat and have lots of room to spare.
Happy purging!!! : o )
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