SYL - Week 24

This is the week where I need to find a way to get past the hurdle I always fall at.

Clutter prevention

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I have decluttered in the past (obviously, or I would have been on the TV show Hoarders by now). I love to declutter, to start again with a blank slate...... but it never lasts. That clean bookshelf, table top, mantel piece, etc, always ends up collecting stuff again. I need to find a way to keep myself motivated to declutter and clean constantly. I also need to teach the rest of the family that if you just put it away when you're finished with it, then there is no tidying to do later. I'm guilty of forgetting this myself of course.

I can tell that we are heading in the right direction. Areas of our house are less cluttered. The mantel piece is a good example, Trav and I cleaned it off months ago as one of the jobs we were going to get done that week. Right now it has photos and candles on it, Mother's Day cards (ok, they could probably come down now but one of them is a pink Super Mum card and I love it!! so they stay until we move house very soon), and 2 bottles of perfume which need to be put away. To me, this is a win. After the last clean of the same area there would have been full of all kinds of things that had been picked up and no one had bothered to find a home for. We are learning and I'm proud of us.

We are moving house in the next couple of weeks so again, this section of SYL has come along at the perfect time. We've had a big declutter so far, more will be done as we start to seriously pack, and I have found the perfect motto to keep in my head as I decide what moves with us and what has to go somewhere else.

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I love this quote. It is simple and easy. It puts me in control. When I see something, as I pack, this quote will help me stop for a second and think. If it is neither useful or beautiful out it goes! Simple. Must go and get some boxes out of the shed and start packing......