Location: Peace & love for all - I'm a secular humanist.
Posts: 7,150
One of the best parts of simplifying and decluttering...
is how EASY it is to clean my home!!!
Many of my friends have housecleaners come in, and I thought I'd have to do that too, but after decluttering and simplifying (aka get rid of everything we don't love) there is no need for one at my home!
I can pick up and clean each room in minutes! Even when my children are like tornadoes. The things we still have, have homes that are easy to get to for everyone to pick up after themselves and put away.
Ahhhhhhhh...bliss I tell you.
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Julie, mama to 2 daughters- a and a . Lover of life when properly caffeinated.
View from our new home...from sitting on the couch~
Location: if this were the wrong decision you'd already know it
Posts: 41,024
Yeah - but what about the dust and scuffs?
And, oh gosh the TOILETS.
That would be why *I* would want a helper!
I have to say, we have a lot of kids and a good amount of stuff - but I try to keep it all where it goes and have a place for everything. I have too much chaos in my life to have it in my house.
Location: Peace & love for all - I'm a secular humanist.
Posts: 7,150
Ok, yes someone to come in and do the floors, showers, tubs and toilets would be nice but I do have extra time for those things now since I'm not spending hours putting stuff away and cleaning up excess stuff.
Many of my friends have housecleaners come in, and I thought I'd have to do that too, but after decluttering and simplifying (aka get rid of everything we don't love) there is no need for one at my home!
I can pick up and clean each room in minutes! Even when my children are like tornadoes. The things we still have, have homes that are easy to get to for everyone to pick up after themselves and put away.
Ahhhhhhhh...bliss I tell you.
see that why my house and julies look clean all the time b/c everything has its place it makes it super easy!
i just can't wait to settle and never move again b/c it takes too darn long to find a home for everything when you are continually moving!
congrats to you! You hit the nail on the head!!!
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~ashley~
wife to toby
mommy to chopper, junebug and silly bean
i would LOVE to come and help you! I think it is fun to purge and organize and I feel good doing it and seeing my friends happy once it is done.
I am happy to help you walk through it if you want even if we have to go room by room and item by item.
in fact we could ALL do this and help each other!
I wish you could Ashley! I'd love to get you and Julie to come and help me whip my house into shape lol. You'd probably both faint when you walked in though, there is so much clutter. Most things just don't have a 'home' and I am having a hard time finding one with so little storage space.
Location: Peace & love for all - I'm a secular humanist.
Posts: 7,150
I'd love to be able to help. I think you're thinking of Juliebelle, I'm Julie too I'm probably not as good as Juliebelle, but I'm learning!
Start by taking small steps. What do you have a ton of that you can go thru and donate? I did alot of mantras while decluttering, I WAS () a packrat and a hoarder. Not horribly so, but so much that our closets and storage under the stairs was bursting and a room was full of boxes. I hadn't looked thru some since our move- about 2 years ago= so I knew it was safe to get rid of alot of it.
I only kept books that we love and need to reference, otherwise the library will do and in a pinch we could buy.
One of my mantras was that my stuff will go to the thrift where folks that don't have enough $ will be able to buy. That helped alot. I also limit the amount of clothing and stuff to hang on to. Really when the thrift has alot and Target shirts/shorts/pants are so affordable (for the kiddos) I can do that in a pinch too. I normally try to not buy China made items, but I had to adjust my priorities alot through this to be more sane. You have to totally change your way of thinking. The things you think have value, probably don't. Get over yourself (things I'd tell myself ). DONATE! The more you get rid of stuff the easier it is. I haven't regretted getting rid of anything. The process is so wonderful and it has brought alot of peace to my mind- it decluttered my brain too! It is amazing how much having a cluttered home and closets drained me! My big motivation was moving. I didn't want to move a ton of crap! Especially boxes that hadn't been opened since our last move, which were only a few, but still- it is eye opening.
One of my all time favorite movies is Fight Club. I don't watch the fight scenes (too much for me, I look away), but it is such a cool movie. One thing Tyler (Brad Pitt) says is "You don’t own the things-the things own you."
It is so much easier to clean less stuff. I have a mama friend coming in once a week to clean while I am on bedrest and she also goes to another friends house and cleans. She made the comment yesterday that she needed me to go in and teach our other friend how to declutter and simplify. She said it takes her twice as long to clean the other friends house, cuz there is too much stuff.
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~Angie~mama to Alexis and Payton, and baby James born 06/03/08~~STB wife to Tim
and a 
. Lover of life when properly caffeinated.
but I do have extra time for those things now since I'm not spending hours putting stuff away and cleaning up excess stuff.
wife to toby 
and I feel good doing it and seeing my friends happy once it is done.
even if we have to go room by room and item by item.
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