The Mom Files

I love a decluttered space, decluttering however does not come that easy. I own (or used to own) a lot of sentimental items, or better said items I made sentimental. You gifted me something? Sentimental! I got a gift for an anniversery that I did not like? Sentimental! I scored a fantastic vintage blazer? Sentimental! Even though I never wore it.

The one thing that really helped me to declutter and honestly to just see what was truly sentimental was this method. I call it the gentlest declutter method. It is basically only decluttering 3 things, this could be daily if you have a lot to declutter. This could be only when you feel like it, or weekly. Whatever you like and fits your needs.

I am only decluttering 3 things today. That’s it. It’s manageable. It is not big, it won’t change your home in one week. But it does help so much if you feel like you need all the things you have. Like there is nothing to declutter. Because that’s what I thought, so I rarely bothered to check and see. But when I went into (almost) every drawer I easily declutterd hundreds of things!

Hundreds of things! And I even considered myself fairly minimal… but as it turned out I had probably 30 hair elastics, half of them not very useable for my hair. Or random letters I had to keep a year ago but are totally useless today. The list goes on and on.

So how did it help with sentimental items? Well I have two thoughts to help you, because they helped me.

1. Think about the space you will save for actual sentimental items. The random gift my grandmother once gave me is not as sentimental to me as the chest of drawers I always played with in her hallway. The random little hanging cabinet she gave me is not as sentimental and important as her wedding photos. So I decluttered the cabinet (that hung on my wall) and framed the wedding photos instead. They mean much more to me!

2. If you were moving abroad would you take it with you? I feel like if the answer is a definite NO than I should not be keeping it in my home. If it’s a maybe I will probably keep it, because life isn’t about decluttering and being minimal. I can always still declutter it in a later moment!

After implementing this menthod I have become so much better at deciding what gets into my house. I am no longer buying, or accepting stuff I know I will need to de lutter right away. Nowadays I sometimes even ramp it up to 10 items a day if I can!

Decluttering now comes easy, because I no longer force myself, or guilt myself for not decluttering enough.

I hope this helps you as it had helped me! With love, Romina