Doesn’t the picture above just make you exhale – to feel like you could sit and stare at the sunset, to forget all that is going on around you? Yep, me too – in fact I’ve learned that some of the clutter that is going on around me is to my own doing – to my own collecting. This has become my equation:

Sell + Trash + Giveaway = Declutter.

To some that is a dirty word. I have to admit, I once could barely utter that word. I remember when we were first newlyweds and my husband got all excited about the first move and used the “D” word. I cringed.
“But, we might need that!” I said with clinched fists.
After about the, oh let’s say, the third move I had come around to liking the word. Declutter meant less to pack into a box and less to unpack once we got to the new place.

This week, I’m decluttering the apartment. Not because we are moving (that was last year), but because I am in need of it and the school is sponsoring a flea market. Yes, me…the one that could say the word only if we were packing up to move.

In the last five years I have come to realize that clutter controls you. Clutter wraps itself around you and tries to smother you. It hides in closets and builds up until one day it explodes all over the room to only leave your defenseless daughter buried beneath it. Clutter piles up on desks and oozes out of drawers. Clutter is bad. Declutter is good. Very good.

How do I do it? I tackle one room at a time. I have three piles. Sell. Trash. Giveaway. I ask myself these types of questions as I move from room to room:

• Has this been worn in the past year? Will I truly wear it? Is it too small for the kids?
• Do the kids play with these toys? 
• Do I use these many pots and pans in the kitchen? How about plastic bowls? Do I have way too many?

The trick is to be honest with yourself and do the toys when the kids are NOT around. Seriously, they don’t miss anything you’ve not seen them play with in the last few months, at least mine don’t. 

Another quick tip: Don’t do it all in one day. Set aside a half hour or so depending on the room and declutter just that room. Do another room another day, but keep going until you have looked over every room.

Well, it’s back to decluttering and pricing for me. I just hope that I’m not tempted to buy more “treasures” this weekend. 😉

If you want to read another expat’s take on “decluttering” check out this article from Aisha Isabel Ashraf. Click here to read.

Your Turn: So is the “D” word okay to use in your vocabulary or does it make you cringe? How do you declutter your home and how often? Please comment below.