The Pain of Decluttering

11 people in the family means a bunch of stuff.

I am constantly working at decluttering and minimizing what we have in our house and in our lives.

I'm at the minimalist end of the spectrum so this comes easily in most areas, though one TOUGH area for me is books. I hate getting rid of books.

Our kids are all over but the kids over 6 like to keep things I don't want them to.  The younger ones have no choice about what I keep, and don't notice (generally) if something disappears.

Today we're working on removing items, and reorganizing, one of the bedrooms. The children in that bedroom deal with frequent allergy issues and there is a lot of dust in the room. There is enough stuff that it has proven impossible to clean it well.

So we're working to clear that room out so it can be a cleaner environment.

We also removed ALL the bedding and are washing and drying it. That's a big job too!

It is emotional and challenging to get rid of precious items, but a clean room is a great thing.

The pile of bedding and stuffed animals we threw down the stairs to be washed and/or dried today.