When Less is More

Our girls have graduated from college and now have their own apartments; however, a lot of their stuff is still in our house. Along with all of those items (mismatched glasses, pots, and pans) that we have collected over the years thinking they would want it one day.

As it turns out, they don’t want much of this stuff so Lisa and I have begun the big purge; getting rid of all the items that don’t bring us joy any more or take up space.

  If it doesn’t bring you joy, donate or toss it.

This process began in the kitchen of all places. Our dishwasher is on the fritz, so we wash dishes by hand. Our habit was to wash a dish and set it aside to “dry” where it was added to the growing pile of other clean dishes. The clean ones never seemed to get put away nor used, so eventually, every dish, pot, pan, and utensil sat in a clean pile next to the sink.

The thought occurred to me, “what if I only had one plate, cup, pan, fork, and knife”. I would only have to wash a few times and put them away; it takes no time at all. So this is what we do now. If you dirty it, wash it immediately and put it away. Because of this same plate, fork and knife get used over and over every day.  In reality, we only need a few items to be happy, not stacks of them.

The tidy kitchen now makes us happy and this process has begun to spread throughout the house.

Once you remove all of the clutter, you will find you have more space, fewer things to move when dusting and less “visual pollution”. As a side benefit, you have more places to store wine which is one thing that you can never have enough of.

As the weather gets warmer, it is important to store your wine where the temperature remains cool and consistent. It is better to be slightly warm but consistent then hot/cold every day. An interior decluttered closet floor makes a great place to store your wine if you don’t have a wine fridge. Bottles can stay in cases standing up or lay down, doesn’t really matter.

So after you get done decluttering, sit back and enjoy the stress-free environment you are creating with a glass of wine. And, just in case you are running low on wine, I know a “guy” who makes some if you want his name.

Create some Zen Time for yourself every day – you will thank yourself in the long run.

Cheers,