What I learned when I cleaned and decluttered my home

Since Rona started I’ve been in this house cleaning and getting rid of things left and right. I realized since March that I’ve been living in clutter. I’m clean but I admit I am not organized and things are all over the place. My kids had clutter and things all over the place, my pantry was a hot mess, pots were just thrown in the closets. No order! I needed help so I called on my girl Janelle for some help. I’ve been following her for years and knew that I needed her help in the worse way possible. I called and she delivered. With her help I got my kitchen back in tip top shape. Here is what I learned when I cleaned and decluttered my home.

What I learned when I cleaned and decluttered my home

The first thing I learned is that you need an outside eye. I tried to do it on my own several times. Called a few friends who tried to help me but I realized they didn’t have the time and I was too much for them to handle lol. I watched the Home Edit on Netflix and boom I made a call to Janelle that night. I actually emailed her after the first episode because I knew that it was time and that was the word I needed from Gawd. I am the type of person that when I say I’m going to do it most of the I do it right then. Why wait? There is a lesson in that. We gotta stop waiting on the right time. What’s the right time? Never it’s either now or never. If I didn’t take action right then I would have kept putting it off and it would have never gotten done. Stop putting off things do it right now.

I cried when I had to get rid of most of my pots and pans. Janelle asked me point blank do you need 10 frying pans. But…..SHAT. No, no I don’t. I had to get rid of things that I’ve had for years. Here is my new rule. If I haven’t worn it or used it in 3 years it has to go. Say goodbye to it and don’t harp on things. This goes for friends and marriages too lol. If they haven’t poured into you or helped you go to a new level in 3 years say bye-bye. Stop keeping things/people around just because you’ve had it for a long time. They are taking up space! I cried when I got rid of 7 frying pans. I can’t use all the frying pans at the same time all I need are 3. A small one a medium one and a large one. I got rid of the instant pot too. I know folks are loving it but I never used it and frankly, I like my food cooked. Something about food being done in minutes doesn’t sit well with me lol. I’ll get on board later but for now I wasn’t using it so I gave it away. I also got rid of all the pots that didn’t have handles, the rusty ones that I was keeping because it belong to my mom and it was sentimental, and all the nasty plastic cups I’ve had for years. They are cheap, buy new ones every year or so.

Label things everything. AKA write it down. In order to have order you need to have it written down so you can get in the habit of following it daily. Make it a point to follow the directions and teach your household to do the same. My kids now know where everything goes and if something is out of place I make them do a small chore. They have to create good habits so that in their adult lives they can have order to it. If they don’t things will get chaotic and out of hand. Put things where it’s supposed to go and things will always stay in place. Like boundaries…create them and let people know how it will go and folks will either stay in their place or become a problem and then boom you gotta chuck em. Create boundaries…I mean labels for things. You know what I mean.

Do a 10 min clean out once a week. Pick a day to go through your fridge and pantry to organize and clean out things that may be out of date. That way you aren’t doing it all at once and get overwhelmed by all the cans of expired food that piles up. That way it keeps the closet/fridge clean, you see what you don’t need to buy, and you can keep things neat and clean at all times. This helps with your budget too and you aren’t buying 3 of the same things like I normally do.

Overall I felt good about making the call to start organizing my kitchen. I spend the most time there and I wanted it to feel free. Next up will be under my sinks and my closet but one room at a time. Have you delcuttered since Rona started? What have you learned about yourself during the process?