Most of you know that I am going to attempt a major overhaul of my house during the month of December.  The kids and I are on break from school, so it’s the perfect time to gut the house and toss the stuff tidy things up a bit.  The past several months, as I have looked around my home, I notice that I am literally surrounded by STUFF.

Call it memories, clutter, junk, or whatever you want to.  No matter what you call it, I feel it sucking the motivation right out of me.  I feel smothered by STUFF!  I posted last week about how I am starting to organize things.  I’ve hit the kitchen and my bathroom, and they came out looking pretty spiffy if I do say so myself.   Now it’s time for the hard work.

First, I want to share some of the great resources I have been using to get some ideas (and motivation) to do what I know needs to be done.  My two favorite sites thus far are Org Junkie and The UnClutterer.  I have been bouncing between the two, reading the posts and the dozens (and dozens!) of comments which each post has generated.  I’ll send some more great sites your way next time too.  Now back to my organizational challenges.

What is it about organizing that causes me to make such a horrible MESS??  I mean seriously, I knew we had a lot of stuff, but when I pulled it all OFF the shelves and into the living room, it really hits me how MUCH there is! Today I cleaned out my school closet, and school cabinet.  As I type, I have a pile of boxes we picked up at the grocery store stacked up on the living room floor, and many piles of books, notebooks, packets of paper, folders, and various other things all taking up space on my sectional couch. There are also stacks and stacks of books.  Stacks of children’s picture books, curriculum I use, curriculum we plan to use, curriculum we will probably never use.  All in all it looks like a schoolroom barfed into my living room. I know that sounds awful, but you should see what it looks like!

My challenge presently is how do I get rid of all of these books?  I remembered I have purchased used books through Amazon Marketplace, so I think I will list some for sale there.  They don’t charge huge fees, so I am hoping I might be able to sell some books through there.  But the children’s books?  I can list them here and on VegSource or some other homeschool swap site, I guess.  I could donate them, but I also have a box of things to donate already. I’d like to at least make a little bit from what we have to get rid of.  I’ve already tried Paperback Swap, and while I have been able to unload three whole titles, it takes too long and I want my space back!

The one piece of advice which I have seen repeated over and over on every single organization site I’ve come across, is the one piece of advice I keep using as I go through these books and household items:

Ask yourself  “Do I need it?” and “Do I love it?”  If you don’t need it, and love it, you don’t need to keep it.

Now isn’t that a very freeing idea?