Decluttering in 40 days

I’ve been bit hard by the decluttering bug and wanted to bring you along on the journey!
With Lent just starting up this past Wednesday (the 14th), I have 2 goals:

1. Devote time to prayer each day
2. Declutter my home (this has nothing to do with my faith, but gives me an easy 40-day marker to use for my goal!)

I recently came across the 40 bags in 40 days challenge, which starts on Lent and runs for (you guessed it) 40 days. It focuses on decluttering your home one bag at a time, one day at a time. This challenge was started by Ann Marie on White House Black Shutters, and I’m completely inspired by it!

Ever since I watched the documentary, Minimalism, I’ve been drawn to the idea of owning less stuff in order to enjoy more of life. Can you imagine how much clean-up time would be saved each night if my kids had half of the toys they owned now? Or how quickly the laundry would be done if I reduced how much we own (and therefore, washed)? We could enjoy more time with each other if we didn’t have to focus so much on mundane chores.

If you are intrigued by this as well, you can visit Ann Marie’s blog to read the details on 40 bags in 40 days and download some printable lists and ideas for where and what to declutter.

Although I won’t be doing a bag a day, I do plan on setting aside time each weekend for the entire family to go through and get rid of “stuff.” We will have a bag for donations and a bag for trash. And it starts this Saturday!

Here is my overall plan to declutter and simplify in 2018:

Decluttering the Kitchen:

1. Drawers
2. Cabinets
3. Pantry
   1. Throw out old spices
   2. Clean out cookbooks
   3. Donate anything hidden in here (non-food related) that I haven’t touched in months
4.  Fridge
   1. Throw out expired condiments
5. Freezer
   1. Throw out anything old or unrecognizable…
6. Top of the fridge (what’s even up there??)

Decluttering the Kid’s Room:

1. Closet & dresser
   1. Clothes that don’t fit
   2. Closet shelves
2. Toys (while we have organization already in place, it’s time to clean everything out)
3. Books that are destroyed or no longer needed
4. Stuffed animals
5. Old, tattered sheets that need to be thrown away

Decluttering My Room:

1. Closet
   1. Decide what I don’t wear any more and GET RID OF IT
2. Everything else has been decluttered already! – see the transformation here

Decluttering the Living Room:

1. Toys
2. Books
3. Board games

Decluttering the Foyer:

1. Shoe storage – get rid of ones that don’t fit and vacuum out the shoe drawers in our mudroom bench

Decluttering the Basement:

1. Junk closet (yikes – this has become a “I’ll use this later” closet and it’s the area I’m most afraid of at the moment!)

Decluttering the Bathrooms:

1. Under the sink/medicine cabinet
2. Old towels that just need to be trashed

Get more ideas for yourself from Ann Marie here

My office and the garage are a whole other Oprah… they may have to wait until later in 2018 when I am able to muster up the courage. Once that is all taken care of, Ann Marie has an entire list of “non-stuff” items to declutter – like cleaning up your computer files and getting your finances in order (insert heart attack). One day at a time Ann Marie, one day at a time.

So what areas do you need to declutter?