When my husband and I were first married, we didn’t have a  lot of stuff. We had our clothes, some furniture, dishes, and several presents from our wedding. Ten years later, I found myself walking around our home wondering how we had acquired so much stuff. People say three moves are as good as a fire, but in our case three moves hadn’t helped lessen the stuff and I needed to take a good hard look at the problem. I resolved to get rid of what we didn’t use or want.

First, I went through my clothes and managed to fill several bags with items I wouldn’t wear again. I talked to my husband about going through his clothes and he was pretty resistant at first. However, when he looked at our closet and saw how much room there was, he agreed to look through his clothing and get rid of the items he didn’t need.

Next, I looked at our linen closet. There were sheets, bedspreads, curtains, and blankets that could be given away. When they were bagged up, there was lots of extra space to organize what was left. The shelf that held our toiletries was full of complementary items that could be donated, so out the door they went too.

I then took a look at our bookcases and set out to get rid of the books that we wouldn’t read again. We gave several boxes away to different libraries and second hand stores. Voila! Our bookcases were no longer an earthquake hazard and there was room for the books we may want to acquire in the future.

Finally, I went into the kitchen and saw that our cupboards were so full that I could hardly cram anything more into them.  There were coffee cups, pots, pans and a few appliances I rarely used that could be given away. Some of the appliances had been given to us as wedding presents and I assuaged the guilt from giving them away by telling myself someone would get good use out of  them.

The whole process took several months, but when it was finished, I was much happier with how my home looked and felt. I know I could have had a garage sale and sold the stuff but I was working at the time and didn’t have the desire to organize it all and spend a weekend selling it.

Since then, I try hard not to let our home get full of stuff we’re not using any more. I keep a bag in the coat closet and when I see an item we don’t need anymore, I just stuff it in the bag. When the bag is full, I donate it to a thrift store. That is how I got rid of the glut of stuff in our home!

What about you? How do you get rid of the glut of stuff?