172 | Your Home Should Be Living Space, Not Storage Space – Declutter Today!

In general, we have way too much stuff in our homes. They are overfilled and over-packed packed full of belongings that we rarely use. Sometimes these things are never used and we continue to store them year after year after year after year. Why are you keeping the things that you are keeping? Why are you keeping these things packed away in your closets and cabinets and on the shelves? And what’s the plan to move forward to have a less cluttered more peaceful home in the future

On this episode, we are going right back in to one of the most common things I talk about. We’re talking about clutter, how much clutter, how much stuff, how much excess is in our homes. It keeps piling up. It keeps stacking up unless you have a plan to get rid of it, to get it out of your home, to remove it from your environment. You have to go one step further [00:02:00] and change your mindset and be intentional about what you allow to come back into your home. When you set up these practices and good routines, you don’t bring in a lot of the access because you don’t need it.

You’re actually using the thing is that you have, and the things that you do need. It’s very clear because when your home has been decluttered and you’ve spent the time organizing, and then you’ve set up those intentional routines to keep your home functioning well, And to keep it organized and orderly. And clutter-free, you don’t have to worry about bringing in too much stuff because you know what? You have, you are well aware of the inventory that is in your home, but to get to that space where your home is organized and orderly, and clutter-free, you have to do the first step, which is removing the clutter.

many of you have already hopped on board and participated in the practical purging project. That is a challenge that I have for you. It’s a starter guide to decluttering your home. That is completely free. The link is in the podcast description, whatever app you are listening to this on, scroll down, look at that description, click on the link. It’s a free resource. It says practical purging projects complete this challenge.

This gives you instructions to successfully declutter 10 different areas in the house by a complete. Completing a daily task. You can complete these usually in about 15 minutes a day. And if you do one every single day in 10 days, you will have decluttered 10 areas in your home. This is not the end all be all. This is not going to get you from.

A house with a lot of clutter to a completely clutter-free home. This is a starting point. This would be the baby step. The first step you would take. So that you can start to eliminate the clutter and you can do it with 15 minute tasks that are not overwhelming, where you could find [00:04:00] 15 minutes in your day. Get the decluttering done, remove the excess, remove that clutter.

And feel good about the stuff that you are getting out of your house because it’s bogging you down. It’s adding to your stress right now. go to the link wherever you are listening to this sign up for the practical purging projects. Think of it as a starter guide to decluttering your home, know that if you follow the instructions and you move through each step,

You will complete decluttering for 10 different areas in your hole. And those projects usually take about 15 or 15 to 20 minutes each. And it feels great to get these things done. This is the perfect way to start your decluttering journey. If you haven’t already decided what to do, and you don’t already have a plan in place that is going to guide you through and help you with the proper steps along the way of the purging and the decluttering journey.

So grab that again. It’s free and it’s called practical purging projects and it is available on the intentional edit website, or just click on. The link that says practical purging projects. In the podcast description, wherever you are listening to this. We are talking about clutter and why we have too much stuff and how the clutter is holding us back.

Your home, is it place that you should enjoy? That should feel good to be in that you want to invite people into where you can play games and make memories and relax and unwind and feel great being there. It should not be adding to your stress. The average household in the United States has 300,000.

You’ve heard that 300,000 individual item is. Do you really think you are using all of those things? 300,000 things. I mean, I can’t even imagine that. I’m imagining right now, like opening all my cabinets and drawers and every little thing and [00:06:00] counting that up. And I just can’t believe that that adds up to 300,000, but that is the hemorrhage of items in a us household in this industry that I’m in with all of these.

Professional home organizers and decluttering experts.

There is a statistic that comes up very often. I have shared it here a few times on the podcast and it is that 80% of the items that we choose to keep in our home is we never use, we don’t use 80% of those things. I want you to take a second right now and visualize your closet or your dresser drawer.

Pick one of those spaces. A specific area in your closet or a specific drawer. imagine what does that look like? How many items in that drawer, do you aware on a regular basis, if you were to go to that section of the closet or open that drawer right now and look inside of it, how many of the thing is.

In that particular spot. Do you wear. And how many of them do you wear on a regular basis? How many things get left in this drawer that haven’t come out in months. And to be perfectly honest, I maybe haven’t even come out in years. Think about these things. And if you are really visualizing this space right now, I can visualize my space and I am organized. I have things in order. I go through things.

I know that I can identify things and each section of my closet or each drawer that hasn’t been used in at least six months, there are not very many because I am good at purging. I’m successful with that. But even for me, there are thing is. The after time do not get used. And there are things like the pants I have on today.

I’ve wore them last week and I wore them a day. The week before that. The shirt I am wearing is a shirt that I wear often. And there are still many clothes in my closet that don’t get a lot [00:08:00] of attention or don’t get worn very often. I know you can identify with this.

Think about the thing is that you’re not wearing that you’re not using, but you’re choosing to keep them now. That was what we did for the closet or the dresser. But what about the kitchen? What about, what is inside of your kitchen cabinets or your kitchen drawers or your pantry? Take one section of that, that you don’t go to very often that isn’t the go-to location.

Open that up in your mind and imagine, what does that look like? And what are the things in there? How many of the thing is in this cabinet or in this drawer or on their shelf? Do I use on a regular basis? Are these things getting used weekly? Are they getting used monthly? Do they get used once a year on a special occasion?

Or is this a situation where you can’t even remember the last time you used it? You know, you’re keeping it. You know, you’ve had it for awhile. But can you even remember the last time that you used it? Let’s think about this other space in the house and visualize the linen closet. How about what is on the shelves in the linen closet, or if you don’t have a linen closet, think about, uh, a storage closet under the stairs or a similar location like that.

Are you really using the thing is that you have decided to keep you’re choosing to keep these things you’re choosing to store them in your home. Are you really using those things when you’re visualizing this, or if you’re at home and you could walk up to that space and open the cabinet or open this closet door, do a quick glance. Are you really using the things that are in this space?

Think of health, those things. You chose to keep them, you made the decision to keep these things, but do they get used? And if they do get used, if you’re answering, yes, I use them. How often are you using them? If you’re using them every week or every month. That’s great. If you’re using them every couple of years.

Is it worth [00:10:00] keeping them or do you have something else that could do double duty and you could use it for a routine?

Thing that you need. Something that you use on a regular basis and for this every couple of years situation, or are you keeping this just because you’re keeping it and you don’t really know the last time you used it and you don’t have any intention to use it in the future. But you think you might. I used the word and I kept using the word choose or choosing. And the reason I use choosing is because you are choosing, you are making a decision.

Every individual thing in your home. You have made a decision. You have chosen to let it be there. You’re allowing these things to take up space, whether it’s in an organized closet or it is a mess at one point, you or someone in your home decided that this item, these things we’re talking about were worthy of taking up space in your home.

They might’ve been important at one time you made the decision to bring them home. At one a time, we make these decisions for many. The reasons maybe we really wanted something. Maybe we love it or we use it or we need to have this To get something done to accomplish something. It serves a purpose. Some of these things, they are serving a purpose and we have to have them in our homes.

Those are the things we want to keep, but studies show that the majority of the items in our home do not fall into these categories. They are not something that we need. They’re not something that we use. They’re not something that we want. They’re not something that we love. They are simply in our house. They’re in our living space. They are taking up this space and really if that’s the case, Then the space in our home is really storage space. The shelves drawers cabinets, closets in our home are being used as storage space for things we aren’t even using, or that you [00:12:00] haven’t used in a very long, long time.

We do not have to fill up every square inch of the space that we have available to us. That is the truth. It’s better to have empty space and open space available to us than it is to have every spot filled up to the max. When you think about the sh that sheer number that I shared 300,000. Like, oh my goodness.

300,000 things that is a ton of individual items and our homes, 300,000 things taking up space. That means they’re taking up. Time. They are something that we have decided we’ve chosen. This is important to keep, we’re keeping it in our homes. It’s taking up our space. It takes up our time. We own it. We have to maintain it.

If you’re listening to this episode. You know, that clutter is causing you. Stress. Clutter is adding to your stress. It’s causing you to be stressed out. And there are times where you feel overwhelmed by the state of your home because of the clutter, because of the mess, because of the excess, you know, that there are solutions and there’s routines and systems that you can follow.

When you follow these things, they allow you to have an organized home. With less clutter with significantly less butter, you know, there’s a better way to run the day to day stuff in your life and to get those things done, the day-to-day household stuff. And for sure, there’s an easier way to keep things picked up and to have an organized, orderly home.

That feels good to you when you’re there, you feel good inside your house. Now, how do you get these results? You have to choose to make changes. You chose to keep these things. Now it’s your turn. To make other decisions and you have to choose to make the changes that get you to that end result. You have the power to simplify the daily tasks in your life. [00:14:00] You have the power to remove the clutter. You have the ability to turn the current state of your home into that home that you desire into the home.

You think about that house that you really want that feeling of a piece. And clutter-free living. That’s why you are here. That’s why you’re listening to this while you’re spending time, searching websites, reading books, listening on audible, looking for answers on social media posts. You’re looking for the answers and you can do this. I believe in you. I know that you have the ability to conquer the clutter, to remove the excess from your home and to.

Turn your house, even if it’s a mess out. In to a space with significantly less clutter that is organized and that you can maintain that your family can enjoy. Today, I’m taking the time in this episode to give you a bit of a challenge. I challenge you to make a change, to make a decision, to choose, to move in the direction that gets you to that desired home, to the organized home with less clutter.

Plain and simple right now, your home should be living space that you enjoy to be in. And it should not be serving its primary function as storage space. A home is not meant to be a storage unit.

You know that I offer programs and I have solutions to all of these issues. You can learn from, uh, me from these programs that many people have had success with. You can learn how to declutter and organize and how to set up the routines. That will teach you how to truly simplify the things that happen in our daily lives. The simplified home masterclass has been available to you for some time, but I’m not going to try to sell you on anything here right now. I want you to reflect after listening to this episode.

And being [00:16:00] given the information of that alarming fact, about 300,000 items in our homes. Take the time to reflect and think about the struggle that you are currently in the things that are stressing you out, the things that are overwhelming you. And ask yourself, what is keeping you from moving forward with decluttering the right way with putting in the effort for a home, with less clutter? What is preventing you from doing this?

You know, you want it. Why aren’t you moving forward and making the changes you need to, to get these results that you actually want. Take the next few minutes when this episode ends and think about what you really want and how you’re going to get there. Make the plan and stick to it. The thing is you are not intentionally changing in your life, in your home. The stuff you’re allowing to stay there. If you are not intentionally changing it, you are choosing to stay in the stock.

And you have the power to make a great changes for yourself, for your home, your family. I know you can do this. I’m going to enter the episode. And I want you to take the next few minutes to think about how you’re going to move forward. What are the steps you are going to take to finally do something about the clutter and the excess in your home?