I’ve spent the last three weeks decluttering. We’re upwards of ten bags that have gone to the donate bin and selling the things we weren’t using paid for all of the spending money and extra excursions on our upcoming vacation. Bags and bags of things have been removed from our house, essentially reducing the ‘extras’ like the toys and stuff in half.
The word we’re going to focus on for 2016 is less.
As I’ve combed through our belongings, I’ve made notes of the things that I’m not buying in 2016 - those things that end up causing more work organizing than they do joy - a Konmari technique. Here’s what I’m not buying in 2016:
Serveware
Going through the bottom cupboards, that I can barely close, I see a lot of serving ware. It would seem that I’ve got a bit of a problem and I’m just going to avoid that entire section of Costco. When we entertain, I use our Sophie Conran dishes. Why am I still buying cheap dishware? This year, if I need to get a fix of serving dishes, I’ll just stash that money away and add it to our Sophie Conran collection.
Build a Bear + Accessories
We’ve got a tradition. Every year, we take the day off and head to the waterpark for the day, hitting up Build a Bear on the way out. This year, we’re going to start something new. Five years of build a bear accessories that are very, very expensive and that get stashed around the house in various baskets - and they’re just getting grouped up to be sold on a local buy sell website.
Books
We have a pretty impressive home library, with shelves and shelves of books for the kids to read. But, they tend to read the same books over and over. This year, we’re going to make use of our library card and find more books to read there, on weekly trips.
Pretty Thing at Homesense
Candles, the things they call ‘room changers’ to dress up the room. I’ve got a weakness for these things. Since we’re thinking about moving in the future, it doesn’t make sense to buy things for our already-full-house - rather, save that money when we know which items are going to work.
Kids Subscription Boxes
We purchased the doodle crate on a year’s worth of subscription, so that will continue to come, but we’re going to stop our subscription to the Koala Crate. We love it, but we’re months worth of crates behind and we’ve got many, many crafts to do with busy lives. Right now, we’ve got more than enough stuff to entertain us.
Tea Mugs + Cups
When Jamie asked what I wanted for Christmas, I told him more winter mugs from Davids Tea. He said he wasn’t adding any to my collection, and I didn’t realize why until I was decluttering the kitchen and counted nine of them. There is never a time when I have nine friends over for tea, so I’ll be staying away from Davids Tea sales in 2016.
Seasonal Decor
Valentine’s Day, Easter - I love these small holidays and love to decorate with unique items. This year, we’ll skip those and do a few DIY projects - unless we find something that’s versatile enough to use for all holidays. That’s going to clear a bunch of space in our pantry!
Movies, Music + Video Games
In 2015, we made the switch to digital and got rid of most of the video games and movies. Though we’ve got a few video games laying around, we’re going to continue on buying these things in digital versions to save space in our home.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve cut the ‘stuff’ in our house in half. In half. Tidying the house? That’s easier now. Feeling like I’m not drowning in ‘stuff’? Done. Earlier, I mentioned that the theme for 2016 was less - and we’re well on our way to starting this year off right.
