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Join me as I begin a four week decluttering challenge for the month of December. My first challenge is a KonMari declutter of our Christmas decorations.

It’s no secret that this time of year gets busy. Extra busy. In years past, we have been right in on the action. Buying all the gifts. Attending all the parties. Hanging all the twinkle lights. This year though, we are attempting to slow down and be truly mindful of the special nature of this season.

Our family is on a journey toward simplicity in all aspects of life. Because of this, we are also attempting to be more mindful of the things that surround us. We want to be faced with less stuff, so that we can enjoy more life.

For the month of December, I will be attempting one declutter challenge each week. It is my hope that by the end of the month, and the start of the new year, we will have cleared our spaces and our minds a bit.

I am starting in week number one with a pretty obvious first step, the Christmas decorations.

DECORATING IN YEARS PAST

Each year, our typical first step to decorating for Christmas is pulling all of the items out of storage. Multiple bins are hauled into the room where the tree will be set up. Then, we proceed to dig through each one, in an effort to determine which items will brighten up the room and the tree.

Ironically, but maybe not so coincidentally, we almost always go for the same things. Year after year, our favorites make it out of the bins. The rest is put back into storage.

NEW TECHNIQUE TO TRY

This year, I decided to go through all of the items BEFORE the decorating session begins. Once again, I pulled the items out of storage, but did so while the kids were at school. Without all of their little hands rummaging through the bins, I was able to slow down the pace a bit. This allowed me to hold each and every piece and give it consideration.

I used the Konmari declutter method. This organizing technique was developed by Marie Kondo and is quite popular among minimalists.

Ms. Kondo recommends that all items of a similar type be grouped together and laid out on a flat surface. This allows you to see the large amount of items that all serve essentially the same purpose. In my case, with the Christmas decorations, it was a pretty obvious visual that we had accumulated far more than was necessary for the job of decorating for the season.

Most organizing methods have you asking yourself which items can be thrown/ given away. A KonMari declutter is different in that you are supposed to focus instead on which items to keep. The end goal is that you will choose the items that bring you the most joy.

OUR JOYFUL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

With everything laid out in front of me, my focus was immediately drawn to my favorites. These items bring me the most joy or have the strongest memories.

I knew for sure that our Willow Tree Nativity Set would be kept. It is usually the first of the decorations to be put up each year. We love the simple details of each piece. And, it is the perfect visual reminder for our family of the true meaning of Christmas.

Another favorite item that I found is this antique angel Christmas tree topper, which was my absolute favorite as a little girl. I have plans to remove her wiring, and turn her into an ‘Advent Angel’ – the Christian alternative to Elf on the Shelf – as a new family tradition.

SORTING THROUGH THE ORNAMENTS

We had an entire box full of ornaments, most of which haven’t made it up on the tree for many years. Using the KonMari declutter method, I picked up each and every ornament. A quick decision was then made whether it would find it’s place in the keep pile, or the donation box.

While sorting, I found many precious ornaments that hadn’t been used for years because they were hidden. For example, this collection of fire department related ornaments.

My husband was on the fire department in our city for ten years. The department gifted him a special ornament each Christmas. We have always said that we would like to have a small tree to display the collection. Unfortunately, we have never actually done it. They will be saved, to be used at our new house.

WHAT TO DO WITH WHAT’S LEFT

After the KonMari declutter was complete, two large boxes of decorations were ready to be donated. In turn, we were left with only a handful of Christmas decor items, and a small bin of ornaments.

I decided to keep two vintage suitcases, one of which was my grandparent’s, to store the decorations in. Because they are hard-cased suitcases, I was able to discard most of the protective packaging for the breakable items. I opted instead to wrap them in light-weight bubble wrap. All of our decorations, minus one large basket and the Christmas tree, fit in these two suitcases.

They will be easy to store, and bring out each year when we are ready to decorate. Another benefit to having fewer items is that we will not be digging through multiple bins anymore.

DECORATING WITH LESS

A very interesting thing happened when the kids got home from school and were ready to decorate. Though the items that remained were far less, they were not at all upset. Instead, rather than rushing through the task in an effort to be the one who put the most ornaments on the tree, they slowed down. They took the time to observe each individual piece before finding it’s perfect place.

This alone made the KonMari declutter worth it to me. They truly seemed to enjoy the decorating even more than in years past. In turn, I did too.

WATCH ME KONMARI DECLUTTER

I documented myself sorting through all the Christmas decorations, to share the process with all of you. I’m still pretty amazed at all I was able to get rid of, without regret!

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS CHALLENGE

This was my first time using the KonMari declutter method. I have to say that although laying everything out was a bit more work upfront, it was beneficial. Seeing all those like-items together made it easier for me to spot our favorites.

I could see this method being used for all types of items – from clothing to kitchen gadgets. It is likely I will try to declutter this way in the future.

Above all, I learned from this challenge that the intentions behind your actions mean more than the action itself. Decorating with 200 items doesn’t mean that you enjoy or love Christmas more than someone who decorates with 20 items. And so, with that in mind, going forward, I plan to focus on the right number of decorations for OUR family. Because we know our intentions at Christmastime, and they may not always match up with what society says.

Join me next week, when I take on a new challenge for the December Declutter!

PIN THIS FOR LATER

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I mentioned in a previous post that I have been reading the book ‘Enough‘ by Will Davis Jr. The author explores what it means to have more, or less than, enough – and how our perspective on this is shaped by our lives and what we deem as valuable. It is quite eye opening.

If someone asked me if my own family has more or less than enough, I can say with complete certainty that we have definitely been blessed with MORE than we need.

**What though, is ENOUGH? Just right? No more than necessary?**

That seems to be the more difficult question to answer. There seems to be two ends to the ‘enough’ spectrum:

One is the idea of stark/ extreme minimalism. The thought that you should clear out all of your belongings, save a few items of clothing and basic household necessities. An extreme minimalist’s home is clean and sleek – and can sometimes be seen by those who aren’t following the principles, as cold, stoic and depressing.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is something resembling the show Hoarders. The thought that everything is important and special – people who cling onto earthly goods so tightly, they find it difficult to throw even a small piece of trash away.

That isn’t to say that people have to fall in one camp or the other. In fact, There are minimalists who have very comfortable homes, and avid collectors who don’t become hoarders. I would venture to say that the majority of the American population falls somewhere between these poles. But where? And why?

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit, and have come to my own personal conclusion that it has to do with the amount of rules and regulations we put on ourselves.

Both extremes have a tight set of rules. The minimalist has strict about what can be kept (very little), and the hoarder- rules about what can be thrown (basically, nothing).

The rest of us though?

It seems to me that most of us just go on in life, with little to no rules about ‘stuff’. Simply put, we just don’t think much about our accumulation, or disposal of it. And when we aren’t paying attention, items slowly begin to creep in.

We pick up the freebies, the items that are on clearance because they are ‘such a good deal’, and take hand me downs without hesitation. Suddenly our Tupperware drawers are overflowing and we have duplicates of things, because we had forgotten we already had one, and then brought home another.

Psychologists have long studied the relationship between humans and our possessions. It is becoming more apparent, especially in modern day America, that consumerism is a sort of mask that covers up other emotions – a way to fill a void that we may have.

In short, many of us have tied our sense of belonging to our BELONGINGS… without even realizing it.

So, perhaps it is up to each of us and our own families to determine the rules and parameters we want to follow regarding what to keep and what to pass up – to decide what is ‘enough’. Rules that can help us to be mindful of every item that enters and exits our home.

Rules though, that are not made just for the sake of making them – but are instead pointed directly to the WHY

I should get rid of this item –

WHY?

Because my family means MORE to me than these THINGS that are surrounding me.

WHY?

Because when I have fewer things, I appreciate those I do have even more.

I should keep this item –

WHY?

Because this item enriches the lives of my family.

WHY?
Because this item holds valuable, irreplaceable memories.

We’ve begun the process of determining our own family rules regarding ‘things’ recently.

Besides the project bucket list I have been tackling this summer, I have had a bit of a side gig going. De-cluttering. It’s an ongoing battle, especially in a house with five kids; But I really wanted to dig deeper into the ‘stuff’ and really think about the items we choose to keep around.

I have mentioned before that when we move into Arrow Hill Cottage, hopefully one year from now, we plan to only bring with us the items that are truly useful or bring us joy. In an effort to get a head start on making those decisions, we cleaned out one of the large hall closets in our rental house and deemed it the ‘sell room’. Items that do not have a place in our new home will be stored here, and sold at a large garage sale the end of next summer – before we make the big move.

I figured that we would have enough things to eventually fill this room, but had no idea that in just a couple of months – after only sorting through toys, clothes and a few household items, that it would be as packed as it already is! I will show you a picture of the room, but you need to promise not to gasp.

These are things that we don’t need – don’t wear, don’t read, don’t play with, don’t use. So. much. more than enough.

With every item that is added to this space, I am finding myself conflicted with emotions. On one hand, it feels freeing to cut out the extras – and on the other, I feel guilt that we have been living with this much excess for as long as we have.

This process of deciding what truly is ‘enough’ will be a journey for our family – but one we are excited to take.

What is your ‘enough’?

Tag: simplifying

KONMARI DECLUTTER – CHRISTMAS DECOR

DECORATING IN YEARS PAST

NEW TECHNIQUE TO TRY

OUR JOYFUL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

SORTING THROUGH THE ORNAMENTS

WHAT TO DO WITH WHAT’S LEFT

DECORATING WITH LESS

WATCH ME KONMARI DECLUTTER

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS CHALLENGE

PIN THIS FOR LATER

THOUGHTS ON ENOUGH

**What though, is ENOUGH? Just right? No more than necessary?**

The rest of us though?

In short, many of us have tied our sense of belonging to our BELONGINGS… without even realizing it.

Rules though, that are not made just for the sake of making them – but are instead pointed directly to the WHY

This process of deciding what truly is ‘enough’ will be a journey for our family – but one we are excited to take.