Yours, Mine and Ours

Good morning friends!

This month has been all about cleaning and organizing for me and Josh.  We are building on our new house yes, but we are also sorting through all of our stuff.  One of the first things you will notice when you walk into our house is how many things are still in boxes and in the "storage room" slash guest bedroom.  Or worse.  How much stuff is still in my car.  When you get married, your stuff gets married too.  If you have never considered how much you have, you might want to when you first get engaged.  Not after you buy the house and move in!  lol 

When we got married, I quickly began to realize how much stuff we had and how much of it was NOT going to fit in our house.  No matter how many bookcases Joshua builds me!  lol  A lot of my day is spent on Pinterest trying to find great storage solutions, but I think we are beyond storage.  Sometimes, you just have to admit that you are going to have to get rid of a few things!  

While I am no expert at cleaning and organizing, here are a few tips I have found that help you get started when it comes to purging your house and finding a place for everything your need.  

You don't have to just follow along.  The first thing all the expert tell you to get rid of is the "sentimental stuff" like cards and pictures.  Personally, this practice breaks my heart!  I have a collection of newspapers with important events in my life, and I tend to have a lot of cards from my family and friends.  This is not an impossible thing to keep.  For example, I kept the newspaper with my Paw Paw's obituary in it, sympathy cards, Christmas cards, graduation cards, wedding cards and so many more paper sentiments in a small clear shoebox I bought for $1.99 at Walmart.  It has a lid, it stacks, and more importantly, it has reminders of my life, and things my grandchildren will want to see and hold when they grow up.  Joshua has a similar shoe box filled with pictures of his family through the years.  Just because an expert tells you it is a waste of space to keep it, doesn't mean you have to follow along.  If it means something to you, then it will mean something to the people who love you, so find a way to store it and don't beat yourself up about keeping it!

If it looks like junk, then it is a junk drawer.  There is so much truth in this statement.  I have several "junk" drawers.  They are drawers that contain important stuff that I use, but because they look junkie, they make it easy for me to lose things that I don't need to keep.  Like screws that fall out of Joshua's pockets in the wash.  You can buy silverware organizers for cheap at dollar stores along with other cheap organizing trays and boxes.  One of my favorite things to use are my Birchbox boxes!  Get creative, but be sure you can see everything in your drawer.  If they are spots for junk to accumulate in, it will accumulate.  So know this and use it to your advantage!

If you don't use it, donate it.  If you are a sentimental person like me, this makes decluttering bearable.  It makes me feel like I am giving my stuff new life!  My favorite thing to do is to pick out clothes and things to take to Goodwill.  I know I love my clothes, but sometimes I just can't make them fit!  If I can't wear it, then it is just taking up space in my closet.  Same thing with my books.  I have so many that I love and reread over and over again, but I have a lot that I just wanted to give away.  My community has a lending library which is where people give their books to the community.  You can take a book or give yours away.  It is a great idea and it helps you clean off space on your bookshelves!  

Like I said, my advice it not expert, but it will at least help you get your feet wet when it comes to combining yours, mine and ours.  

What are some of your tidying tips?

Like I said, let me know!

XOXO,

Tricia