Happy Friday, friends!
This summer — inspired by the Clutter-Busting Challenge hosted this past May by Crystal at Money-Saving Mom, and the amazing Victoria at Snail-Paced Transformations who is continuing to give away, get rid of, or sell 3 things from her home every week this year — I have been on a mission.
My goal: get things out of my house that I no longer need or use, and get them into the hands of people who do need or could use them.
It’s amazing how much STUFF we accumulate, right?? I am not even the biggest shopper, and still I am just floored by the amount of THINGS I manage to bring into my life and into my space. Books, clothes, magazines, papers, flyers, do-dads, mementos, knick-knacks … where do they even come from??
In regards to clutter, this summer has been a perfect storm of sorts. I moved back home into my childhood bedroom, which was still crammed with stuff from high school and from the year I lived at home after graduating college. Plus, I brought home boxes of new stuff I’d accumulated while living in Indiana.
I was determined to slowly sort through everything through the course of the summer and get rid of as much as possible before moving up the Bay Area to begin my Steinbeck Fellowship. Also, as longtime blog readers know, I really don’t like to waste things, not even uber-ribe bananas. So if an item was useful, I didn’t want to just throw it away — my goal was to repurpose or donate as many items as possible!
Three months later, I’m happy to report my room is much cleaner and less cluttered, and I’m feeling more energized as a result! Here is a list of all the things I got rid of this summer, including how I repurposed some items:
- 3 boxes of books: donated to the local library and the Boys & Girls Club
- approx. 40 back issues of various magazines: donated to local senior centers and hospitals {just make sure to tear off the address label and any other personal info before donating!}
- 2 large bags of clothing, including my heavy winter coat and a bunch of scarves: donated to Goodwill
- 3 lovely little girls dresses, still in great condition, from when I was a little girl: also donated to Goodwill
- 4 pairs of shoes I never wear: donated to Goodwill
- 2 large fleece Snuggies that were not being used: repurposed into two handmade no-sew baby blankets for two friends of mine who each welcomed beautiful babies into their families recently
- 2 outgrown T-shirts: transformed into diy pillows
- 10 small hotel shampoos and soaps: donated to a local homeless shelter
- 1 no-longer-used cellphone: donated to a soldier through Cell Phones for Soldiers.
- 3 large trash bags full of old papers no longer needed: recycled
WOO-HOO! It feels so wonderful to de-clutter! Not only did I physically get rid of a ton of items, I feel like the act of clearing and sorting and donating was emotionally cleansing as well.
This task was an amazing reminder of what a difference you can make little by little, day by day … I never imagined at the beginning of the summer that I would be able to get rid of so much unnecessary stuff, but slowly and surely I did!
What goals have you been working on this summer? Any fellow clutter-busters out there? I’d love to hear your tips for STAYING de-cluttered — my next task! :)
some related posts you might enjoy:
– cleaning out my closet clutter
– tips for selling things on craigslist
– year of kindness challenge: donating clothes
– year of kindness challenge: donating books
– year of kindness challenge: donating toiletries
