New Year Decluttering Challenge

I'm dreaming of a New Year's Decluttering Challenge.  If anyone else is anything like me, resolutions are strong at the beginning and tend to fade.  For that reason, I think a reverse decluttering challenge is in order.  Instead of a particular number of items that increases with the days, this challenge will focus on a time frame.  Whatever is the maximum amount of time you are willing to commit to decluttering, do it.  Use the following blog post and its questions to make decisions on what to purge.  http://embracingsimpleblog.com/12-questions-to-help-you-declutter/  The idea is to take time to master the questions when your resolve is strong.  Your efforts will be rewarded immediately; further decluttering will be easier and take less time.  Ideally, the progression will keep the ball rolling long into 2016.

My New Year starts right after Christmas.  My husband is on vacation every year to help and for motivation.  This weekend after being inspired by articles I found on families downsizing to tiny homes, I knew I could do better.

My first round of decluttering was those items hiding in plain sight.  Things I had ignored because they were part of the landscaping, so to speak.

My second pass had me going into the hiding places in the master bedroom.  Mainly I went through the nightstand drawer and under the bed.

Then I moved to the bookshelf and the guest room where the closet was calling my name the whole time.

And here's the closet before.  There is a possibility my mom will be staying with us for a time.  I wanted the room to be fully functional for her which meant clearing out the closet.

Here are the items I pulled to donate. The other stored items found a more appropriate home in the storage room in the basement, but it wasn't much.

Here is the closet after.

I was able to accomplish a lot over the weekend. With the questions from the article in mind along with the inspiration of whole families moving into spaces that were less that 900 sq. ft. and practice from decluttering throughout the year, I was on a mission.  Are you ready to declutter in the New Year?