How Would the Quality of Your Life Improve If You Cut Back 50%

I have this recurring fantasy wherein I remove 50% of the STUFF from my house and am able to breathe again. This is somewhat better than the fantasy wherein the entire house burns down, so I will focus on it to a pragmatic extent.

In a few weeks, a real estate appraisal will be made on my house, and I'd like to straighten out some of those 'dump spots' that every house has. Some things get tossed in the basement playroom since there is no other wonderful place for that stuff, and of course we have not one, but two storage rooms containing things that came from our old, larger house five years ago during our move. Yes, there are boxes still unopened, partly due to lack of time and partly because there is no place for those things in this tiny home.

My lifestyle has changed a lot since my move. I used to live in lots of space in the middle of nowhere, with the closest neighbor a mile away. Now I live in a small space in the middle of everything, surrounded by neighbors from whom many things are obligingly lent and borrowed. . I went from needing to purchase in bulk, simply because it could be a month before I got to a real store, to considering the option of travel size toiletries since we have no storage. But now, I am three blocks from a store that has almost everything we need.

Replacement items are always available at Good Will for cheap!

I am shifting my thinking from lack to abundance. Everything I will need is going to be found easily at Good Will. I don't have room to store things for a once-a-year special event; the 12 place setting formal wear I collected is never used. We don't even have a dining room that would hold that many people anymore.

In the next five years, I can imagine a change in our home's location and style. But for now, I would like to start thinking in terms of efficient and simple living. While the thought of getting rid of some of my things does stress me, the reward of having less clutter and more space is so rewarding its worth it.

I have a goal over the next month. By the end of May, I want to have reduced the items in this house by 50%. And I will say that we are not hoarders by any means. But I need to get some space in here. I keep a lot of things hoping we will use it in some homeschool project. Yet I want the kids' experiences to be ...well, EXPERIENCES, not so much collections and crafts. And the collections that we do have should be treasured and showcased, rather than huddled in a box somewhere due to lack of space.

So Here is my list so far, of things to be tackled. Today, I am going through the booksshelves in the living and dining room and decluttering by 50%. This is where it starts.

50% of all books, categorize by priority, importance, use and topic.
50% of all clothes, also switch seasonal clothes into chest.
90% (yes ninety percent!) of miscellaneous cloths, sheets, ties, fabrics, curtains, dress up clothes.
50% of kids' toys, especially those not used, and redundant toys. (Box up and label any toys/materials to be used in possible future pre-school)
50% of dishes, especially leftover, plastic dishes, duplicates, and things only used once or twice a year.
50% of furniture, including stored furniture, small items, bookshelves.
50% of decorations, stored, or unhung with no proper place.
50% of stuff on enclosed porch
50% of accumulation and supplies in computer desk area, including stuff stored in the desk (christmas cards, etc)

Put like items together to sort and reduce.

50% of stuff stored in front hall closet, over-stairs closet, and bedroom closets, especially extra bed clothes, sheets, pillow cases, seasonal items, etc.
50% of items in upstairs bathroom.
50% of items in basement shower/laundry/toilet room.
50% of crap stored in furnace room. Consolidate preschool supplies, homeschool supplies, and LABEL
50% of non-toy stuff in kids' bedrooms. (Prep to trade bedrooms as well)
50% of storage in garage, especially toys, duplicates, stuff with no home. Move extra book shelf in garage to store small items.
90% of stuff in the storage room under the porch. Its mostly stuff I havent used in five years. I don't need it.

Clear an area completely, THEN go through and only put back what belongs there.

50% of decorations and clutter in basement playroom
50% of school supplies, especially never used/to be used, out of date, too young, broken crafts and toys, and consolidate craft items.
50% of movies, dvds, wii supplies, and electronics (basement and upstairs)
50% of food in pantry, that stuff we keep and never eat.
50% of toys in the basement
50% of furniture in the basement
50% of mudroom items, switch seasonal coats, etc, put storage bag in car.

Its all so simple. Just get rid of half of whatever is here. Right?