Hello everyone! Welcome to BirthMay 2020 AND Self Care Sunday! Today, I’m talking all about decluttering the home (in general).

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In general, Self Care Sundays this BirthMay will have a decluttering theme. With small declutters I’ve done throughout the past year or so, I’ve noticed that it really helped clear up my mind and so I thought it was a great form of self care to share with you. I did find a lot of inspiration through books, blog posts, friends, and other sources, but here’s what I did as I was decluttering and what worked for me.

Also, this is the final Self Care Sunday for BirthMay, as next Sunday is the last day of the month, so it’s the wrap up post. (Spoilers!)

In case you’re new, BirthMay is my annual birthday celebration where I blog every day for the month of May. This is the fourth annual BirthMay and no matter how many BirthMays you’ve been here for, thank you for your support!

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Home Declutter

So when I first planned this post, it was before the Q, and now I have a slightly different view on it. I’d meant this post to be a declutter of things like unused decor or unused crafting supplies I have. However, with the Q, I totally see the value of being able to change up your space to refresh or picking up a hobby you’d meant to do but never got around to it. So this post is a bit different now, but even so, I do have some suggestions!

Step 1: Do I still like this?

I think the most important thing is to determine if you even like the item in question anymore. For example, if you have a vase that you just don’t really like anymore, then no need to hold onto it. Same would go for an old hobby that you don’t enjoy anymore or won’t go back to. An example from myself would likely be my old horseback riding helmet. I don’t ride anymore and my helmet was pretty new, so I don’t need it. I would love to go back to riding, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon so after the Q I’ll be looking around to see if there’s somewhere that I can sell it at.

Step 2: Can I repurpose it?

Of course, since I’m still in the Q, I would also see if I could turn that item or items into a project. Even if I can’t turn it into a project I see if I can use it in a different way. For example, the aforementioned vase. I have a vase that I still really like, but it doesn’t fit in my decor anymore. So I put it up on my shelf at the very top, behind other stuff and use it to collect loose change. I don’t have a piggy bank or anything, and since I don’t care to buy one, I just use the vase for it. That way I can still keep it for when I want to use it later (because I do still like it!), but it’s not in storage or useless.

Alternatively, if it’s something I can turn into a project it’s worth keeping, but right now I think only if I have the items I need already. There’s not really a point in keeping something to upcycle if I don’t have the needed stuff because I can’t really go out just to get something. For example, I wanted to try some embroidery art on pillow cases after seeing cute stuff on Pinterest and TikTok, but I didn’t have embroidery thread. I tried using regular sewing thread which didn’t really work, but it was fine in the end. If I hadn’t already had an embroidery hoop and sewing needles/thread, I wouldn’t have thought to keep the pillow cases to upcycle or even the hoop if I wasn’t interested in trying embroidery out.

Step 3: Am I ever going to use it again?

When I was going through my craft items I did ask myself if I was going to use something again. When I was cleaning out that stuff, it was mostly because I had planned to go to a local craft fair/swap where you could take stuff you didn’t need and get stuff from others that you did want. Unfortunately, it was the weekend the quarantine started in Illinois, so it was cancelled last minute but I still went through stuff to have it ready in case it was rescheduled. It was stuff like acrylic paints I’d bought that I barely used and only needed for that one project or an extra set of watercolor pencils I’d bought on a whim only to realize I already owned a set. I barely used the set I had already, so I knew I could donate the second set without missing it at all.

Another item that I managed to let go of was an old mug. I have way too many mugs and I’d love to make that collection a bit smaller. But while the mug is still usable, I can’t justify throwing it out! However, one mug I owned had a little chip on it and was showing a bunch of cracks throughout, so I decided it was time to let it go. Since it was at the back of the kitchen mug cupboard, then I hadn’t noticed it was broken, but when I was going through the cupboard looking for a different mug, I finally spotted it and threw it out. It’s definitely worth looking through everything closely to see what you can get rid of! Any kitchen utensils or stuff like that is fair game for looking through them.

Where can it all go?

As I mentioned, craft fairs/swaps can be a great place to get some crafting items out. There’s always the thrift shops that can take stuff like old home decor or other miscellaneous items too, but make sure you check for any restrictions/requirements before donating that might be in place if there’s any quarantine rules or something in your area.

Another idea is of course offering it up to friends, or maybe even trying to sell it on local marketplaces. I believe Poshmark now also has a home section to sell stuff, so you could try that as well.

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So that’s what I did when decluttering my general home items! For home items I feel that usefulness is just the most important thing, so if you can get use out of it then great! Otherwise, it might be time to part with those items.

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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