It's rainy Saturday here--perfect for a decluttering project!  Or I like to refer to this as decrapifying.  I'm still debating on my next decrapification mission because I've actually tackled quite a few HUGE rooms and projects and am feeling the need for a smaller one to be able to quick cross off my list and have some immediate gratification without hours of effort ;)  But before I start on mine, I thought I'd share some of the spaces around my house that I've tackled and decrapified.

Used to be junk drawers (don't we all have those?)...and yes, I still have other junky drawers to tackle so not all of my spaces in my house look like this:

I condensed a HUGE shelving unit devoted to crafts (aka crap) and chose only the things I think I will truly use.  This is currently housed in the storage closet on the back of a door.  I'm obsessed with the clear plastic over-the-door shoe holders and have them all over the house for storage.  I have even cut them in half to be just the right size and nailed them to sides of shelving.  Helpful tip--before you arrange all of your 'stuff' on an over-the-door spot, make sure the door actually closes or doesn't scratch at the top with the metal hanger hooks (not that I know anything about that).  Of course, you can always shave the door off on the top a bit, but that might be a lot of work.  Here's the condensed craft supply area:

Or another space that my daughter, Elli, and I just reorganized....our pens, pencils, markers and a few of my books I'm reading right now (or hope to be reading soon).  This is in a small side table near our kitchen area by the 'snuggle chair.'  And yes, I have an obsession with these little organizational containers and labels.  I'm blaming that on my previous years as a teacher!

So far, not too exciting of a blog post here but I can't tell you how these little spaces bring me a sense of organization in a once cluttered spot of a bunch of 'junk.'  If you're feeling like your house is full of clutter and disorganization, this is where I recommend you start--ONE SMALL SPACE that's driving you crazy.  Once you get started on your decrapification mission on smaller projects, it can be motivating to tackle the bigger ones.  And I don't know about you, but the pens, pencils, crayons, post-its, junk drawer type stuff just seem to be....oh....everywhere.  Not to mention, you could just drag a drawer to the center of the floor and plop down in front of the TV with a good movie while you work!

So, what is clutter?  According to my clutter book, "Clutter Free" by Kathi Lipp, clutter is defined as 'anything you don't currently use or love, or anything you wouldn't pay for again.'  It's ok to give away and (gasp) throw away or recycle.  You have not failed!  You are 'intentionally making room for the things that are important to you.'  (p. 129 of her book really spoke to me :)  As you're going through any space in your house, as yourself:

1.  Do I currently use it?  

2. Do I really love it?  

3. Would I buy it again?  

See, sometimes clutter really isn't 'junk.'  You might have a lot of 'nice' clutter but it's still just that!  So find your 'homes' for all of your non-clutter items and if you're like me and could find 1,000 unsharpened pencils throughout your house or a huge tub full of sharpies (half of them not working), put your kids to work!  Have them sort them out and start throwing away or a great place to donate all of your extras to.

Back to your small space or junk drawer that you're tackling...  I would recommend dumping everything out and sorting into three piles:

1. Goes to another 'home' in the house (does this 'home' really make sense?)

2. Goes Back in the space/drawer  

3. Goes to trash/recycling/donation pile.  

Once you've narrowed it down to what goes back into the space/drawer, assess what you have and decide how you'll organize from there.  The more defined your spaces and homes are for your stuff, the more likely you'll be to put it back in the same spot each time.  You don't need fancy organizational compartments either.  Some of my drawers, I've recycled little boxes for organizing my things.

And in the meantime, if you feel so inspired, I HIGHLY recommend this 'Clutter Free' by Kathi Lipp book.  For me, it's definitely made me reevaluate many aspects of my house and my habits.  And I could be delusional in my thinking, but before I bought this book, I would not really even consider myself a hoarder or a clutter type person.  Honestly, one of the reasons I bought the book was because it had the word 'simplifying' on the cover (ummmmmm, my WORD for 2015 is simplify!) and I spotted it at the Christian bookstore in the sale section.  It was like a sign from God!

Cheers to your decluttering and decrapification mission!

Diana