Remember how we spent last year organizing our home and sorting through all of our closets and cupboards? We haven’t gone back to our old ways but it has been hard passing up free piles of junk on the street corner or estate sale treasurers.
The house does have more breathing room and fewer piles weigh less on my mind. Less stuff is easier to manage and feels mentally lighter. If you haven’t embraced it yet, try. It’s very freeing.
Here’s how we approached our over-crowding of stuff, and three questions we asked…
- Do I really need it, or can I live without it?
- Is it something I love, or not really?
- Is it sentimental?
Sentimental items are tricky. What I think is important to keep may not align with the people I live with. For those items, we came up with a solution that keeps everyone happy.
For every decade of your life, you get a “life container” that’s yours to pack with whatever you deem important. It’s different for each person. My husband’s container has a “Billy Beer Can Collection” from the 1970s. Remember Billy Carter? President Jimmy Carter’s brother? (If you don’t know who I’m talking about, check out a history book on U.S. Presidents.) Billy Carter had a beer line and we have the cans to prove it.
Now, I don’t mean to single out my sweet husband who has many items I wouldn’t keep. I’m sure my items aren’t ones he’d like to hold onto either. But, we each keep what we want, without any comments. The kids have their own containers and get to decide what they want to keep. Or not.
Our “life containers” are large tubs (14-gallon, Rubbermaid) that can be stacked on top of each other. These containers are easy to transport and can withstand our basement flooding. January is the month to buy them if you need to purchase them new. Home organization items are always on sale in January. (I don’t have photos of these containers because they’re stored in our basement, behind the furnace and there’s not enough light to take a proper picture. You know what these big tubs look like – I wrote whose tub is whose with a big permanent pen marker – because I love pens!)
Here’s the entire list of all our weekly home organization projects from the year.
- Home Organization Week #1 – kitchen drawers
- Home Organization Week #2 – sweaters
- Home Organization Week #3 – cleaning rags
- Home Organization Week #4 – coat closet
- Home Organization Week #5 – work at home files
- Home Organization Week #6 – games and toys
- Home Organization Week #7 – kitchen pantry
- Home Organization Week #8 – shoes – everyone in the family!
- Home Organization Week #9 – furniture
- Home Organization Week #10 – tower of power!
- Home Organization Week #11 – books
- Home Organization Week #12 – refrigerator
- Home Organization Week #13 – the office
- Home Organization Week #14 – piano music
- Home Organization Week #15 – bags and purses
- Home Organization Week #16 – framed photographs
- Home Organization Week #17 – my closet!
- Home Organization Week #18 – cars
- Home Organization Week #19 – jewels – hah!
- Home Organization Week #20 – sheets and blankets
- Home Organization Week #21 – bathroom cabinets
- Home Organization Week #22 – rats – oh drats!
- Home Organization Week #23 – top of garage – aka the garage attic
- Home Organization Week #24 – yard sale preparation
- Home Organization Week #25 – cloth napkins
- Home Organization Week #26 – half-way done, thank you very much!
- Home Organization Week #27 – sewing area before – total disaster!
- Home Organization Week #28 – workout clothes
- Home Organization Week #29 – sewing area after
- Home Organization Week #30 – garage before – another total disaster!
- Home Organization Week #31 – garage after
- Home Organization Week #32 – freezer
- Home Organization Week #33 – school year calendar
- Home Organization Week #34 – unmentionable dresser (undies, socks, etc.)
- Home Organization Week #35 – tool room before
- Home Organization Week #36 – kids’ closet
- Home Organization Week #37 – tool room after – a dream!
- Home Organization Week #38 – DIY and work on house clothing
- Home Organization Week #39 – storage containers
- Home Organization Week #40 – accessories – hats, gloves, scarves
- Home Organization Week #41 – holiday decorations
- Home Organization Week #42 – the husband’s closet!
- Home Organization Week #43 – art supplies
- Home Organization Week #44 – kitchen cabinets
- Home Organization Week #45 – home entertainment
- Home Organization Week #46 – preserved food
- Home Organization Week #47 – magazines
- Home Organization Week #48 – Christmas decorations
- Home Organization Week #49 – laundry area
- Home Organization Week #50 – gift wrapping supplies
- Home Organization Week #51 – household files
- Home Organization Week #52 – travel gear
And, in case you’re wondering, we finally finished a filing project that has been waiting for us for months! It was on the floor in our basement (next to our very cute chalkboard), totally covered in dust, and I was in tears when we it was done. Tears of joy. I won’t tackle a project like this again. It may be easier to move.
What’s happening with your home organization? Making progress?
52 weeks of home organization
As part of our New Year’s resolution, we’re cleaning out a different area of our house every week this year. Find all of the “weekly home organization projects” – or click the image below.
Go Gingham 
Sara, I loved your 52-week project last year. Wouldn’t you like to know how many people you inspired to organize their homes? After reading your posts for a couple of months I started looking at all my stuff differently and it got easier and easier to clean out, purge, and donate. In fact, I’m still doing it and I’m also much more conscious of what I bring in to my home. You are truly an inspiration, Sara, and you need to write a book, because you’ve got this thing figured out!
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Oh Vanessa ~ I hardly have things figured out (ask my teenagers!) but I do try everyday. 🙂
So glad it inspired you to clean things out. I still have to stop myself from bringing items home (estate sales!) or from keeping stuff we no longer need/want/use. You are absolutely correct that it does get easier. Ruthless!!
Thanks for reading and your enthusiasm!!
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I can’t claim to have spent 52 weeks organizing our stuff last year, but I also did some organizing, since I had my virtual friend Sara to cheer me on. 🙂 I find that my husband and I are now accumulating items from both sets of parents (who are trying to de-cumulate THEIR homes). That can be a little frustrating, as these items are typically brought and dumped off at our house, but it can be touchy to say “no more stuff” so I smile and nod and sort through things after everyone is gone …
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Oh Kris, you are a good daughter/daughter in law! 🙂 I may or may not have experience with this!! I think it’s hard to let go of things and when something is still useful, we want to pass it along – and have it live on. Finding that balance is hard – I know I’m saving items for when our kids are out of college and need to get started. Those items may not be needed by the recipients so my feelings are ready!
So glad you were inspired ~ nicely done!
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