Hello! And a very happy Sunday my friends!
Can you believe we’ve reached Week Six of our {Sparking Joy} series?!
I’ve teamed up with an amazing group of bloggers to share our journeys as we rid our lives of clutter!
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A Journey to Sparking Joy with:
Anderson & Grant
Making it in the Mountains
DIY Passion
Dwelling in Happiness
Zevy Joy
Cupcakes & Crinoline
Lost in the Found
The Happy Housie
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Turns out the real magic to tidying up doesn’t come from clever storage ideas or organizing tricks, it all starts with the act of decluttering. Makes sense. The less you have to keep organized, the less work it will be to keep it all in it’s place.
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Easier said than done.
Following the principles outlined in the life-changing magic of tidying up, we’ll be working our way through the entire house to get rid of anything and everything that doesn’t spark joy. The ultimate goal of course is to simplify our life. Follow along as we share our journey to declutter … who knows, maybe it will even inspire you to start one of your own too!
*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.*
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Week One: How Decluttering can Change your Life
Week Two: Decluttering the Closet
Week Three: Decluttering Make-up, Shoes & Accessories
Week Four: Decluttering Books (& a million other things!)
Week Five: Decluttering All Things Paper
So far my bloggy friends and I have been working through each category as a group, but we’ve decided to change things up a bit for Weeks Six and Seven – for the next two weeks we’ll be taking on whatever categories we’ve decided need the most work in our own home. For me, there’s just no question that our kitchen and playroom were in desperate need of some tidying! So, for Week Six I’ve taken on my entire Kitchen and I cannot believe the difference it’s made to our lives!
It’s funny, when we first bought this house I remember walking into our kitchen and thinking to myself that it was so big and had so much storage space that I couldn’t possibly fill all of those drawers and cabinets. Then we moved our stuff in and surprise, surprise, each and every nook and cranny ended up filled to the brim. In fact, we even managed to completely fill our china cabinet and buffet table too. And then, because that clearly wasn’t enough, I started carting our lesser used items downstairs to store in order to create even more space in our kitchen.
Seriously, what is wrong with us?!
It is a pretty big kitchen, with what should be more than enough storage space. How can it not be enough?
It didn’t take me long to realize that we’d simply collected too much stuff. Though, I can’t say why it’s taken me so long to finally go through it all.
But, thanks to this brilliant book – this no-nonsense, black & white, just get rid of it approach – I’ve finally done it!
I blew right through our entire kitchen and in just less than an hour, things were looking less cluttered and tidier than ever!
And honestly, it was so much easier than I thought it would be! I simply worked my way around the entire room, going cabinet-by-cabinet and drawer-by-drawer.
Sticking with the KonMari Method, I picked each and every item up and asked myself whether it sparked joy, either by it’s sheer existence, or more often, by the role it played in making our meals. If it didn’t make our food tastier, prettier, or just plain easier to prepare, out it went. I donated every little thing that knew I no longer loved or needed, but thought someone else might appreciate and I simply tossed the rest. I was ruthless! Goodbye expired teas I’ve never really liked sipping on and hello pretty serving bowls I’d totally forgotten I even had!
In the end I had filled two whole garbage bags with trash – so much stuff that honestly had no place in my home. On top of that, we also carted 3 more giant bags to our local thrift shop. Seriously, I cannot believe I had 5 giant bags worth of useless crap filling up our drawers and cabinets, taking up valuable space in our kitchen and, when you really stop to think about, valuable space in our daily lives as we fumbled around it all.
With SO much less stuff to keep organized, I have no doubt that we’ll have no trouble maintaining a tidy Kitchen (and by we, clearly I mean me)!
Be sure to pop back next week as we take on the biggest disaster of them all – the playroom!!!
The life-changing magic of tidying up.
Have you heard of it? Read it? Believe in it?
What are you waiting for? Go grab your copy now and join in the fun as we embark on A Journey to #SparkingJoy and make the KonMari Method work for us!
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Did you miss something? Catch my entire journey to {sparking joy} below:The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: {A Journey to Sparking Joy}
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For me, having a clean and organized kitchen is so important! I get frustrated and have a hard time cooking when it’s not. So for my new house, I wanted to get off on the right foot by started out organized. I got some great organizational tools from Target and Ikea to set it up right!
Ooooooo, I so wish we still had a Target here in Canada! Sounds like you’ve got things all figured out! The big purge has helped a ton and I’m really hoping that we’ll be able to add even more organization when we finally get around to renovating! Thanks Jenna!!!
My least favorite part of cleaning and organizing is that things start to look clean and pretty…….until I realize just how much stuff I’m putting back in a space. Good for you for clearing out so much stuff. You likely will not miss any of the things you got rid of, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy the extra space and ability to find things!
You’re SO right Jamie!!! Thank you!
Great job on your kitchen! I’m fairly newly married, so I haven’t accumulated too much kitchen stuff, but it is easy to let it build!
One thing that has helped me is to remember that I don’t need a bunch of the same thing. I don’t need five spatulas when 2 will be plenty. Same with pots and pans, I can only fit so many on the stove anyway!
I’m enjoying following your progress, keep up the good work!
Thank you Hannah! You are SO right – it’s funny how much we think we need, until we really stop to think about anyway. Thanks again Hannah!!!
Great job. I laughed. When we moved in this house I knew I could never fill it up. I did and it’s packed. I need to try that method.
Ha! Isn’t it crazy how much we can collect over the years?! Good luck Debbie!
I’m a little OCD when it comes to my kitchen, or control freak as my husband likes to call me, and I like to put everything back in its place so there’s no declaring needed. My other rooms….that’s another story, lol. Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
That’s great!!! I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep everything in check now that I’ve paired it all down. Thanks!!!
I love how you put your cookbooks in the cabinet. Looks nice and tidy. I think I ‘ll give it a try. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty
Thank you Vickie! It’s out of necessity – they won’t fit standing on end ๐
This is such an interesting concept!
Thanks Alicia! It’s been incredibly freeing clearing our home (and lives) of all that clutter!
Last fall I went through my kitchen and got rid of a lot of stuff, especially the sippy cups, small spoons and forks, etc. that my kids don’t use anymore. Now that I’ve read this book, I would love to go through it all once more with the KonMari method! You did really well!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Thank you Carrie! I had a ton of sippy cups to get rid of too ๐ Good luck girl!
I recently cleaned out part of my kitchen, and it was so refreshing to see everything nice and neat! However, the pantry is a completely different story! One day, one day… Thank you so much for sharing with us at The Creative Circle Link Party ๐
Thank you LZ! It’s made SUCH a difference!!!
Kristi, I totally agree! It can be rejuvenating to declutter and get back to the basics. I’m always trying to be better at it and I’m learning to check myself more and more as time goes on. Thanks for sharing!
Shonee
http://www.hawthorneandmain.com
Thanks so much Shonee! I still can’t believe the far reaching effects of getting rid of all that clutter!
Wow, what a transformation! I’ve been hearing a lot about KonMari method these days, and have been trying to at least incorporate the ‘sparking joy’ philosophy. I can see how the things you kept do that, you have some gorgeous kitchen pieces! Thanks for sharing with the Wednesday Showcase!
Thank you SO, SO much Cristina! It really has been life-changing!
This looks like a fantastic series! Cutting down on clutter is such an important task for any homemaker. But it can be so overwhelming to know where to start. Your kitchen looks beautiful and I bet you are so glad you set aside the time for this project. It is so worth the effort.
Thank you Sarah! It’s been an incredible journey! Working our way through the house to get rid of all of things we no longer need has had such a far reaching impact on our day-to-day lives and has made keeping things tidy so much easier!
I’ve been slowly cleaning out closets and it does feel good having things organized. One good thing about the kitchen remodel…the kitchen is organized already!
Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
Blessings,
Cindy
A new kitchen that’s all clean and organized – sounds like a dream come true! Thank you Cindy!
I LOVE all your white dishes! Where did you get them all?!
I wish I could claim them as my own, but it’s actually a stock image (but, one that I hope my own dish collection will mirror soon!). Thanks Ann!
Yes!! I just “konmari”ed my kitchen last week. Love the philosophy behind The Magic of Tidying Up. Thanks for sharing your progress with The Creative Circle.
Isn’t it BRILLIANT?! Wishing you luck with the rest of your decluttering journey!