Declutter Like a Pro: Is Your Furniture the Problem?
I am determined that this time my decluttering is going to make a real difference in the way we live in our home. I’m not just going to cart off a few boxes of stuff to the thrift store and call it a day.
I want to spend less time moving, organizing, and maintaining stuff that we really don’t need – which means a lot of things needs to go. And not just any stuff, the right stuff. The stuff we really don’t need, use, or love (even though we thought we did).
And since I want my decluttering efforts to produce real results this time around, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what needs to change.
Whenever I start to feel like we are drowning in stuff and feel that itch to declutter, I start cleaning out closets and drawers. And these past few months, thanks to some new standards as far as what stays and what goes, I have actually been making some real progress. Lots of boxes and bags full of DVDs we never watch and toys that are never played with and unnecessary office supplies have been weeded out, ready to head to the Goodwill.
As I was cleaning out closets and drawers, I started asking myself a few questions about each little item: Do I use this? Do I really love this? If I was moving to a new house right now, would I pack this?
And it made a huge difference. I was able to let go of way more stuff and actually feel like I was getting somewhere. And I was feeling pretty good about all those boxes of CDs and toys and clothes that were headed out the door to the Goodwill.
Think Bigger
But then as I was wrapping up our master bedroom makeover, I had a sudden revelation. For some reason, when it comes to decluttering, I’ve always thought small but wanted big results. I tend to head straight for all the little things crowding our closets and drawers.
But what about when the problem is actually much bigger? What about when the problem is the actual furniture? Had I ever applied those same decluttering questions to our furniture?
Clearing out furniture never even crossed my mind. The whole idea seemed a bit crazy to be honest. I mean, clearly furniture is useful! We sit on our chairs. We eat at our tables. We store stuff in our dressers and desks and buffets.
But then I started to wonder, is it really useful or is that just what I always assumed?
When we installed our gorgeous sliding barn door to the master bathroom, our gallery wall had to be relocated. As I was trying to figure out somewhere, anywhere else in the room it could go, my eyes landed on our antique vanity and mirror.
The vanity was a really beautiful curbside find that I spruced up with some chalk paint. It was a great place to keep little bowls for my rings and extra earrings and the little drawers were perfect for corralling my socks and underwear. Plus, it was just super cute.
Furniture Clutter
But…the vanity never actually looked like the picture above. 9 days out of 10, the top of it was absolutely covered with clothes and random stuff pulled out of pockets at the end of the day. Which made it very much not beautiful.
But it was useful right? Well, there was a mirror which is great when I’m getting ready in the morning – if it wasn’t always blocked by the piles of clothes. And there was the chair which is perfect for sitting on to put on shoes. Except, well, more clothes there too. And then there was the storage; the perfect storage provided by those tiny little drawers. But as I really thought about it, I realized that it was a little silly to have this entire piece of furniture solely to store what amounts to two shoeboxes full of stuff.
So the vanity headed to the basement. The underwear found a new home in our vintage lockers. And most of the other random stuff in there headed to the Goodwill.
And the gallery wall found a new home.
Now the only furniture left in the bedroom is the bed, the nightstands, and the lockers.
And while there is room to add a chair or a dresser, we are really loving how the room functions without all the extra furniture. There is honestly, nowhere to stack piles of laundry or random receipts or library books. Which means we actually end up putting things where they belong. (Even my notortiously untidy husband).
So now I am looking around the rest of the house with new purpose. And I’ve got my eye on this white buffet as they next thing to go.
It also looks really cute…but it is yet another clutter collector. The top stays covered with all kinds of junk waiting to be taken to other rooms in our house. And the drawers are home to all kinds of vital things like broken laptops, DVDs we haven’t watched in five years, and about fifty sets of return address labels. I can’t wait to get it cleared out and see how it transforms the rest of the room!
Want more decluttering help? Check out the trick that helped us finally declutter our basement next.
you hit the nail on the head carrie…seems like any horizonal surface in this house becomes a dumping ground, we have furniture we don’t really use as furniture but more to hold laundry and it drives me nuts xx
Glad to know I am not the only one!
Love love love the painting of you ,dad and baby can I ask how you did it ,that would make a great DIY project
Danielle, thanks! I really love that piece too. I shared how I did it over at classy clutter: http://www.classyclutter.net/2014/07/wooden-silhouette/
Love this post. I have started decluttering our home this spring too and we have started in my daughter’s room. She wanted her room painted and wanted more of a pre-teem room with less toys. She is doing great going through her own things and has purged a whole lot. I have given very little supervision this time. We usually do a bigger annual purge of toys before the holidays, but this year she has done it earlier and we have a whole lot to give away. And yes, some furniture will go as well. I think it just really makes sense to ask yourself: “Does this piece still serve it’s purpose?” And if not, can it be sold or given away.
Trine, how awesome that your daughter is taking charge of going through her own things! I can’t wait for that to happen. We are definitely still in the sneak the outgrown toys out while he is a asleep stage here. Sounds like her room is going to be great!
You are so right on this. Making me eyeball a table that is right now drowning under clutter.
When we were kids, all 4 of us immediately dump our stuff on the buffet near the door rather than put our things in our rooms. The mess so irritated my dad, who even as a child was neat, that he removed the buffet. I can’t remember where it got relocated to, but I remember that we all carried our stuff into our rooms after that.
My husband calls it the horizontal surface rule. All horizontal surfaces will attract stuff.
regards,
Theresa
Theresa, I think you are right about the horizontal surface rule! When there is nowhere to lay things, it does force us to actually put them away. Too bad I can’t get rid of our kitchen counters because they are horrible offenders of the rule!
Hi Carrie love the tips your bedroom is bigger is way bigger than my whole apartment here in Tokyo!
Thanks Michael! It sounds like you have to keep your apartment decluttered with such a small space!
Hi Carrie,
So happy to have stumbled on your blog post! Living in a small space is challenging for sure. I’m definitely joining the mission to declutter and look forward to seeing your progress!
Thanks Bonnie! Hopefully we will make progress together!
The idea of furniture itself being the clutter makes so much sense! With the kids grown and out, I find I want less in my house. Less furniture, fewer tchochkes, less STUFF. And tables do tend to end up as junk and clutter magnets, don’t they? I only wish my husband agreed…he’s a reincarnated Victorian as far as the idea of cramming as much stuff into a room as possible goes.
It can be so hard when we don’t see eye to eye with our spouses. My husband is always saying how it would be so much easier to keep our house clean if we had less stuff but as soon as I start actually cleaning out, he has second thoughts!
I get you on that furniture clutter! I had a massive, chunky, dresser with a big vanity mirror on it. While the mirror was nice I hated how much room the dresser took up so when moving I sold it and used the money towards a smaller furniture. This also helps to make it impossible for you to start unknowing hoard clothes that you otherwise wouldn’t if you were to have less storage space ;) Thinking ahead! haha Great post, I loved it!
xx
Thanks! And you are so right about storage space. You think having tons of storage will help make you so organized but really it just gives an excuse to never get rid of anything! Definitely a lesson I’ve been learning!
Love that family silhouette.
Thank you!
Hi Carrie,
Thank you for this helpful, motivational article! Did you mention where you got the gray metal lockers? That looks like a viable solution for my house.
Thanks.
Deb B.
I actually got them from a yard sale and yes, they are such good storage! I would check your local Facebook marketplace. I often see lockers listed there.
I have been trying to find SOMEONE that has a decluttering blog about FURNITURE for too long! Finally, THANK YOU! Haha. I have accumulated so much furniture from passed loved ones and have felt obligated to keep it for years, but it has turned into the biggest, not to mention heaviest, struggle I have come across when trying to declutter and purge. I think the hardest part for me is some pieces of furniture my grandfather made, so I really don’t want to purge those items. This post really helped me realize the way to go about this is the same as if you were decluttering a room or even a corner of a room. Instead, have that piece of furniture be the “room” and clean it out so it can be moved for donation or yard sale. Thank you for your post.
I am so glad it helped. I think our furniture is something a lot of decluttering advice overlooks! It’s tough when you have furniture with sentimental attachment, but I firmly believe that once you inherit something, it’s yours to use however is best for you. Good luck!