My decluttering year plan

I love to think about decluttering, read articles about it, make lists of areas in my apartment that need it. But I’m not so good on the follow through, on actually doing the work. And I tend to have too much stuff. I’m a bit in awe (and not in a good way) in how much I’ve built up over the past 10 years I’ve been in the same apartment. Now I come by it naturally, as both of my parents were/are what I lovingly call packrats. If there was a “clutter” gene, I would definitely have it. But I am determined that 2023 is the year I break the cycle.

One of the articles I read wanted people to declutter something everyday for 30 days. It was a lovely sentiment but let’s be realistic, it’s not one I was ever going to be able to accomplish. So I decided to put my own spin on it. Since I like making lists, I created a list of nine areas in my apartment that need decluttering. Easy enough.

Now the hard part, I’m going to tackle one area each month this year. Yes, I know that a year has 12 months but it’s already April so nothing can be accomplished in January, February or March.

Note that I broke my bedroom and living room into chunks to be more manageable.

April – My closet

I thought I would start with not only the most obvious but also the one area I most want to tackle. I own too many clothes, many of which I don’t wear at all. While I’ve been good at not buying much in the past few years, there’s still a lot of pruning to be done. And once I get rid of the detritus, I can then organize the rest better.

I’ve done closet cleanouts before but I’m going to be more enthusiastic at removing the clothes I don’t wear and know I won’t in the future. No more keeping sentimental pieces that just take up space. I’ve already set a clothing donation pick up date so I have a deadline. This one will also be an ongoing process as I would like to do it again in the fall.

May – My coffee table

May is a busy month for me at work so I’m giving myself a smaller decluttering task this month. My living room has a coffee table, which collects stuff. There’s currently a large pile of books to be read, and a basket filled with random papers among other things. While I know I’ll never have an empty coffee table, it definitely needs to be decluttered.

June – My living room bookcase and kitchen island

I have Expedia bookcases from Ikea in both my bedroom and living room and both need to be decluttered (and dusted, lol). Basically, I’ll remove everything, dust and then put back only the stuff that should be there: books, cookbooks, photos, Blue Mountain pottery, my shot glass collection, and a few other key collectables.

I’m including my kitchen island this month as it’s right beside the bookcase and more in the living room than kitchen. The one end of my kitchen island seems to collect stuff and needs to be decluttered. Again, I will simply remove everything, clean and put back only what should be there.

For both places, everything that doesn’t belong will either be put away properly in its correct spot, thrown out or donated (mostly the first two).

July – My living room (the rest)

In addition to the coffee table and large bookcase decluttered in May and June, there is also a basket under the coffee table, an end table, a table behind the couch, the TV stand, and a small bookcase which all collect stuff. Well, less so for the TV stand but July will be about decluttering them all following the same routine as above.

August – My kitchen (the rest)

Other than my kitchen island, my kitchen isn’t particularly cluttered. But I do have a couple of drawers than seem to collect stuff and so August will be the month that I declutter my kitchen.

September – My bedroom bookcase

Basically, this will be the same procedure as what I did for the one in my living room. Remove everything, dust and then put back only the stuff that should be there: books, jewelry and part of my Blue Mountain pottery collection (the rest is and will be in the living room). Everything else will either be put away properly in its correct spot, thrown out or donated (mostly the first two).

October – My storeroom

I have a small storeroom under the stairs, mostly filled with camping equipment and suitcases. While it’s not really cluttered, I would like to organize it better. So the task this month will be to remove everything, take inventory (mostly to see if there is anything in there that shouldn’t be) and organize it so everything is a bit more easily accessed.

November – My laundry room

It’s a small, functional room so not much clutter but the area under the sink could definitely use some decluttering and organization. Much like last month, this month’s task will be to remove everything, clean, take inventory of the cleaning products, and organize it better. More organization than decluttering this month.

December – My bedroom (the rest)

While I’ve tackled my closet and bookcase, there are still a few other areas that collect clutter and a few I’d like to change. So, the task for this month will be to declutter the remaining areas and give my bedroom a deep clean. And hang the couple of pictures that are currently leaning against my bookcase.