In today’s go-green manic world, one begins to feel as if you can never get rid of anything.  Everything from milk jugs to egg cartons to junk mail must be put to another use.  But what’s the use of all that saving if your own house turns into a mini land fill?  Keeping clutter does nothing to save the earth - it just turns your own beautiful home into an unregulated trash dump.

For 2009, one of my new years resolutions was to clear out the major clutter in my life.  I’ve succeeded in doing that in a large way too over the past 7 months!  I’ve managed to rid my home of over 150 lbs of clothing (50lbs of which I tried to sell on ebay), talked myself into throwing away all of those old class notebooks from high school and college, donated 35+ large trashbags full of miscellaneous items to Goodwill, donated a huge amout of goods (including a black & white laswer printer and a home theater set) to our church yardsell, and kindly left 27 clothes baskets at the laundromat with a “Take me! I’m Free!” sign over them.  (My mom is a clothesbasket-holic…and I somehow inherited many of her basket’s children).

With all of this stuff gone, you would not believe how free I feel inwardly.  It’s akin to walking out of a 5×5 dark smoke filled room and into the fresh air of the wide open Appalacian mountains.  Seriously, getting rid of needless clutter definitely feels like a spiritual awakening.  I can finally breathe deeply.

To have come this far in getting rid of things is a major feat for me.  I’m a self-proclaimed packrat.  A junk keeping, non-trashing, hoarder of the 3rd kind.  When I was younger, I use to feel panic attacks approaching at just the thought of throwing away a paper plate!  For real.  I mean, that paper plate had memories attatched to it.  Plus, wouldn’t it be useful for something else one day?  Perhaps it could be painted on or rolled up and used as a vase.  Anything to keep it in my life!

Memory attachment & perceived usefulness.  And there in lies the trouble for the hoarding mentality.

Overcoming the attachments and ridding yourself of thoughts of “saving it for a rainy day” will take you a long way in your journey of clearing away the clutter.  It’s been a long internal process for me, and has brought me through a complete mental shift in how I think about objects around me.  Perhaps in the future I’ll do a post on some specific focus thoughts I used to rid myself of my hoarding tendencies.  But for now, I wanted to show a small look into one thing I got rid of last week.

You know how no one likes to gift wrap nowadays?  Every present you see now comes in a bag.  A big, charming, beautiful, cutesy, gotta-love-it, themed gift bag with nice rope handle.

Now how many of you, unable to throw those beauties in the trashbin, fold them up and stash them somewhere in your house instead with the thought that you will re-use it for someone else’s present in the future?

*RAISES HAND HIGH*

Yep.  That’s exactly what I did too.  And considering that I had 2 bridal showers and 3 baby showers in the past 3 years - on top of all the normal birthday / Christmas bags received - that makes for a LOT of bags.  In fact, more bags than I will ever use in my life.  I even had bags I’d been saving from as far back as 1997.  Nice bags!  I just never thought to use them, they were never accessible when I needed them, I forgot about them, or the theme wasn’t appropriate for the few times I give gifts in bags.

So, whilst going through my house a few weeks ago, scouring every corner for more stuff to get rid of (it’s quite addicting once you start!) it hit me - those gift bags were just clutter.  They were of no use to me and there was no good reason to maintain an emotional attachment to a bag.

CLUTTER:  Something in your home that is taking up space that you have no immediate or proven need for.

The day after I had that revelation, I hopped on over to my local Freecycle yahoo group and posted an add for “Various themed Gift Bags”.  At that time I hadn’t counted them, but estimated in my post that I had at least 30 of them.  I received 10 responses immediately!  Many of them were from homeschoolers stating they wanted them for crafts.  How good it felt to offer something to someone who actually needed it!  The bags ended up finding a great home with the first person who got an email through to me.  And with great relief I passed on those bags - 58 in all, of sizes ranging from small to medium to XXLarge! - along with some wrapping paper and other assorted gift wrapping accessories (bows, ribbons, tinsel, tissue paper, etc).  Even after all that, I was able to keep some of my absolute favorite bags - and once all the other unimportant ones were gone, I was able to find a proper home for those bags so that I can have easy access to them.  And lemme just say,  10 bags take up sooo much less space than 70 bags!

Gigantic bag full of the 58 giftbags I gave away.

The bags I gave away.  This photo doesn’t do the sheer size and bulk of these justice!
I had them folded tightly and stuffed in the outter bag, which was one of those XXlarge
bags about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide.

My leftover bags in their new container.  Yay!

There are some things that we do naturally around the house to keep it clean - sweep, mop, vaccuum, dish washing, and laundry.  While these are huge things that make a difference between a well kept home and a messy one, there are many tiny chores that can easily be overlooked, but when done occassionally, they make a huge difference in the overall upkeep of our homes. 

Make sure you eek out some time occassionally for these tiny chores around your own home!  If you are a FlyLady follower, you may also want to add one job per week to your routines.

1. Wash the Baseboards - Foot traffic, sweeping, and dusting can cause these bottom of the wall areas to become filthy.  Yet we often pass right by them without giving them a second thought!  Soon, that gleaming white trim becomes coated in dust, and leaves an otherwise great looking room in a dull state. 
2. Wash the Window Casings - While you may remember to Windex the glass windows, do you wash the window trim?  Those too become caked with grim.  Ours is wood, so I occassionally polish them as well, leaving them a great shine.
3. Sweep the Ceiling - Floors aren’t the only things that need sweeping!  Cobwebs, dust and soot will collect over time not only in corners but on main ceiling areas as well, and leave them in a darkened state.  Running an occassional broom or extended vaccuum hose over them will give the entire room a great boost.
4. Remove and Wash Light Switch & Outlet Covers - This is another thing we don’t pay much attention too!  Yet with all of the touching they are exposed too, germs and grim can build up really quickly, especially during cold season.  Removing them can be done quickly and easily.  Once removed, give them a quick wash with some Joy or Dawn Detergent, or let them soak overnight for a thorough cleaning.  You’ll be surprised at how great they look afterwards!
5. Wipe Down the Top of the Refrigerator - Even if you can’t see it, dust from the top can cause a very unhealthy atmosphere.  The thought of it accidentally falling in food should be good enough motivation as well!  Grab a dishrag and step stool, remove the cereal boxes and tupperware, and get to scrubbin’.  It’ll only take 5 minutes tops.
6. Hose Down the Mini-Blinds - If you have typical suburbian mini-blinds, you may already know that dry dusting them does not always help.  Furthermore, wet washing them isn’t easy either because it’s hard to apply pressure when they’re hanging.  Instead, just remove them from their hooks and hose them down outside (or give them a good soaking in the tub). 
7. Scrub the Air Vent - Do you have one of those AC intake vents in your home?  Ours is approximately 2′ x 2′, located in our hallway, and houses the filter.  When the air flows into the vent, it traps dust that would otherwise travel through the ducts and exit in other parts of the house.  This metal vent sees far more dust and grim then I would like to admit!  Removing it, giving it a good soaking, and finishing off with a damp rag and elbow greese restores it to a bright, shining white sheen. 
8. Wash Your Cabinets - Our kitchen cabinets catch all sorts of splatters, grease, and finger prints.  Wiping down your cabinet facing with something that is safe for your woodwork, will help restore a wonderful clean feeling to your kitchen  Be sure to pay special attention to the handles and knobs!
9. Vaccuum Lamp Shades - Lamp shades collect surprising amounds of dust if left alone.  Washing fabric based shades is usually not feasible since it does little more than smear the dirt in.  Instead, use your vaccuum to such up the dust.  Light will shine brighter once it isn’t obscured by those dusty layers!
10. Wash the Glass Shades on Ceiling Fans or Lights - Have you paid close attention to the glass shades that house your lighting fixtures?  Those too collect layers of dust that obscure proficient lighting.  Removing them and giving them a quick wash will make them look beautiful again.  If you’re daring, you can also chance putting them in the dish washer like I do.  To date, I have successfully washed ceiling fan glass, ceiling dome housing glass, and even gas light domes in the dishwasher with no mishaps.  The heat dry cycle always leaves them with a crystal clear look that my hand washing alone can’t achieve.