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This week for Minimalist Monday Mission: Declutter 365 I finished the laundry room!  Yup!  Another room DONE!

After starting the laundry room last week and tackling the decluttering of the laundry room shelves and baskets, this week I wrapped up the room with the floor and tables.  They were really in bad shape!  You will soon be able to see why I was tripping over things while trying to do laundry!

I think I ended up taking about 10 trips downstairs to the Minimalist Monday Mission HQ (my basement room where I am holding everything for sale on my Becoming Minimalist Sale, and my upcoming community yard sale, and where I package everything sold up for shipment!  It’s become a sorting area too…) with all of the items that I will be going through this next week.

And then comes the task of sorting items for sale/donation.  Since the yard sale is coming up soon, I am trying to price the items I am keeping for that at the same time, just to save on the number of times I need to touch an item.

Which brings me to an interesting thing I noticed.  Most “experts” will tell you not to touch an item once you make the decision to get rid of it, because you could generate an emotional attachment to it again and want to keep it.  The more you touch it, the more you want to keep it, etc.

I think that this is definitely true in certain areas, such as clothes and sentimental items, and it may be true for some more than others, but I have noticed in my decluttering each week, that my emotional attachment to “stuff” is getting weaker and weaker.  This means I can touch and item a few times, once I have made the decision that I am going to eliminate it, then it’s not hard for me to touch it again and decide where it will go (donate/give/sell/yard sale), and even to touch it again when packing it up for shipment.

I’m excited that “stuff” is losing it’s grip on me, and that I truly don’t mind eliminating a lot of it.  In fact, the freedom gained has been worth every minute of every hour I have spent (and I have spent many hours).  And the more I do, the easier it gets.  There has not be one thing that I have eliminated that I have truly missed enough to replace it.  Not one.  I’m excited to share there is hope out there for you too!  I was once WAY more attached to my “stuff” too.

Okay, on to the before pictures (brace yourself…):

And now look at the after (ahh….peace!!!):

Total of items eliminated this week?

• Threw out/Recycled: 20 items
• Donated/Given: 0 items
• Sold: 3 items from my Becoming Minimalist Sale and Amazon

Overall Totals:

• Threw out 654 items
• Donated 545 items
• Sold 303 items

TOTAL ITEMS: 1502 items

Here’s where we are headed for the Minimalist Monday Mission: Declutter 365 in the next few weeks:

1. Clothes (closet and dresser) – DONE!
2. Master Bath Vanity/Cabinet – DONE!
3. Nightstand and Top of Dresser in Master Bedroom – DONE!
4. Kitchen Counters (main and island) – DONE!
5. Kitchen Cabinets (upper) – DONE!
6. Kitchen Cabinets (lower) – DONE!
7. Kitchen Counters (by fridge) – DONE!
8. Pantry – DONE!
9. Fridge/Freezer – DONE!
10. Kitchen Built In Cabinet – DONE!
11. Digitizing Files
12. Computer Files – DONE!
13. Office Desk Drawers – DONE!
14. Office Desk Top – DONE!
15. Office Baskets (in, out, to do, vertical file) – DONE!
16. Office Filing Cabinet – Part 1 – DONE!
17. Office Filing Cabinet – Part 2 – DONE!
18. Office Hutch – DONE!
19. Office Bookshelves – DONE!
20. Office Craft Table – DONE!
21. Office Built In Storage Area – DONE!
22. Laundry Room Shelves – DONE!
23. Laundry Room Corner Cabinet – DONE!
24. Laundry Room Table Area – DONE!
25. Guest Bedroom Closet (toy closet)
26. Child’s Bedroom Closet
27. Child’s Bedroom Closet
28. Child’s Desk
29. Children’s Clothes (upstairs)
30. Guest Bedroom Dresser
31. Guest Bathroom Vanity
32. Linen Closet (lower shelves)
33. Linen Closet (upper shelves)
34. Play Room
35. Living Room DVD Cabinet/Mantle/Entertainment Center
36. Large Storage Closet
37. Small Storage Closet Shelves
38. Small Storage Closet Banker’s Boxes
39. Downstairs Bathroom Closet
40. Downstairs Play Room
41. Screened In Porch Area
42. Downstairs TV Area
43. Downstairs Bathroom
44. Mud Room
45. Garage Left Side Shelves
46. Garage Middle Shelves
47. Garage Right Side Shelves
48. Garage Tool Storage Cabinet
49. Garage Floor Space
50. Walls/Pictures
51. Scrapbooking Supplies/Area

What did you do this week to declutter??

To your success,

Dr. Laura

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