A Place and a Space

I have been continuing on the journey toward minimalism and moving stuff out of the house.  I've gotten rid of at least 6 more black yard waste bags full of stuff.  I've given away another 10 books to a friend.  I've used some of my craft supplies to make kits for a class I'm teaching.  I've taken another large black bag of clothes to a high school clothes closet.  My son decluttered them from his closet here.  I have a new brown grocery sack started with some sidewalk chalk and bubble blowing supplies I removed from a coat closet.

Those brown grocery sacks are key to ongoing decluttering.  I keep one in an inconspicuous place in the living room.  I add to it as I come across things.  When it gets full I add another and when I have three full ones, I put them in one of the large black bags.  Having somewhere to put things as I come across them makes decluttering part of every day life.  Every member of the family knows the its location and its use.

I have slowed a bit this month and have been feeling quite lazy.  The main entertaining rooms are almost complete not counting shelves, drawers, and walls.  Almost all of the stuff in boxes, bags, etc. on the floor has been gone through and decluttered.  Those things staying have been put away.  This means that with a quick sweep/vacuum, I am ready for company.  That is a great feeling but I'm not done yet.

My goal is to have every room cleared.  Every surface decluttered: floors, walls, shelves, drawers, and closets.  The visual space is calming to my mind and it seems to satisfy something deep in my soul.  Space is good.

At this moment, I have gathered the extra supplies I had out on the dining room table and am getting ready to put them away in the craft room in their designated places.  When I walked in that room this morning, there was a moment of feeling overwhelmed.  That is how clutter always makes me feel.overwhelmed.  I realized it would just take five minutes or so to get the things organized and ready to go downstairs.  Five minutes later, they are.

Having a place to put your things makes a difference.  When I have things I don't need or more than I need, it is overwhelming as I have no where to put the stuff.  I notice it is the same for laundry.  After the big closet clean-out a couple years ago, ongoing purging has meant made putting away my laundry a five minute job.  Things have a place and space to go.

Keeping up what I have done so far is very doable.  However, I notice when I buy anything new, if I am not replacing a used up item, it takes a minute to figure out where the new item is going to go.  This is a part of my thought process whenever I buy new things now.

Recently, I purchased a countertop water filter.  We drink a lot of water and having purified water is important to me. However, I did not know where I was going to put it before it arrived.  First, I couldn't picture the exact size of the item and second, I wasn't sure how far the spout was from the bottom of the container.  I didn't know if I would need to purchase and additional stand.

The packaged arrived and it sat for several hours as I delayed unpacking it while I figured out where I would put it.  I determined that if it would fit under the upper cabinets, it could go one place, if not but it was not too wide, it could go in another.  If neither would work, it would have to stay on the island until I could purchase a floor stand.

Well it has found its home and we have been using it for two weeks.  I had to move an item somewhere else before I could place it.  Since I had been decluttering that pantry, there was room for the other item in there and all worked out.  I may still decide on a floor stand but for now, its place works.

I do find myself asking, "Where will I put this when I get it home?" whenever I am shopping.  I like that I am more mindful of my space and a thing's place before it comes into my home.  Still a ways to go but the progress I have made is noticeable and  appreciated each day.