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    • I'm Christina, a full-time web developer with a dog sitting business, home renovations, and a blog on the side.

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You are here: Home / Homekeeping / Another tip from one year of simplifying

Another tip from one year of simplifying

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Homekeeping, Simplifying

Last week, after 4 months, the minimalist game we’re playing was finally starting to get hard.  That made me quite happy.  It’s been a major accomplishment and it made me think back to when we started simplifying, exactly 1 year ago.

I didn’t know anything about minimalism until an interview with Joshua Becker, but immediately after hearing it, junk started getting bagged up.  I posted here about it here.  We had this yard sale:

yardsale

That was the end of last spring.  We continued to get rid of things throughout the fall, and in November, started the minimalist game.  Since November alone, we have gotten rid of 1,700+ additional items.

All items

On average, for the last 12 months, we decluttered 10 items a day.  Our house (and life) has changed quite a bit because of all this.  The basement is usable:

basement-before-and-after-small.png

We got rid of our upper kitchen cabinets all-together (and had to bring in decorative items just to fill the shelves):

kitchen-before-and-after

The wardrobe shrunk:

wardrobe-before-and-after

I posted some tips for simplifying a few months ago, but I have one more today: work in rounds.

Make a list of all the places you could declutter (like the bathroom drawers, a bookshelf, the dresser, etc), and go through the list.  Once you’re finished with the list, start over for a second round.  It’s easy to think after the first round that there is nothing more to get rid of, but by the time you come back to it, you find a lot more to toss.

We’re currently on round 3 of our whole house, and I’m still finding things.  The next 10 days are going to be the biggest yet in our simplifying mission, I’ll tell you why next week.

So who’s getting ready for minimalist game in April?  I’m keeping the Google+ community open.  Leena did a whole month of the game with us, my mom has completed a few months, Alana is about to finish March, and my friend Maryanne is about to finish her second month.  Join us!

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  1. homestilo

    March 27, 2014 at 10:07 pm

    I find the idea fascinating.. .but scary too (I admit it, when I see the picture of yard sale I find myself thinking “oh, I wish I could’ve shopped at that sale..” lol)

    Reply
    • Christina

      March 28, 2014 at 9:31 am

      🙂 Yes, I had the same problem in the beginning. The first month was just my mom and I and we kept eying each others items.

  2. Alana in Canada

    March 28, 2014 at 12:24 am

    I am debating whether to go another month–or take a month off and make sure I get rid of the stuff I’ve put aside to sell. Still, I’ve worked ahead–March is finished–and I have this pile of stuff I want to get rid of–but no days left, (Big smile).

    It is a great exercise. I feels fabulous, truly lighter. It’s not just a cliche.

    Reply
    • Christina

      March 28, 2014 at 9:28 am

      That’s so good to hear, Alana! 🙂 The community is going to stay open whether I’m able to continue or not, so do whatever works better for you.

  3. Leena

    April 2, 2014 at 3:04 pm

    Thanks for having the community open, I’ve decided to participate again. Like you said, simplifying is best done in rounds, and now is a time for another. (although I might skip days here and there, but it counts anyhow)

    Reply
    • Christina

      April 4, 2014 at 9:35 am

      So glad you joined again.

  4. Emily Metcalfe

    October 12, 2015 at 10:32 am

    Lovely post! We moved recently and decluttering was the most important part of our move. I’m so glad I managed to purge all that stuff. Like your ideas!

    Reply

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Before Footer

Finished! (ish) let's just pretend the new mantle Finished! (ish) let's just pretend the new mantle is painted a warm gray. It will be soon. 
It was $94 for the whole thing. 
Swipe for the before. See everything at littlevictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
So we were making great (though last- minute) prog So we were making great (though last- minute) progress. Then we're putting the picture hanger on the DIY art I made for the room when the 80-pound dog comes in and steps STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ARTWORK. 😵 

Hubs is trying to fix it as usual. But seriously...I don't know if any more obstacles could be thrown at us during this challenge. 😂 

3 hours to go. 
#100roomchallenge
Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃

We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
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And we're going to try to make it pretty with a super tiny budget of $100 in 4 weeks and we're joining the #100roomchallenge to keep us (me) motivated.
The bedroom design is starting to come together th The bedroom design is starting to come together thanks to Craigslist and Goodwill. 
#OneRoomChallenge
@little.victorian

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