It's coming along..

Five months post-move, and the dust is finally beginning to settle. Literally, some weeks. (Two kids is buuuusy). I am so proud of how much we've been able to simplify; we've gotten rid of so much excess in the last few months. Although we still have a long way to go, I'm happy to be living with less (still too much, but less than before) and our environment is more peaceful because of it.

Here's what we've done so far:

 Reorganized and streamlined the pantry. 

In an effort to get rid of food we don't often use, and also in a bid to improve our health, I recently gave away a ton of pantry items to friends and family who can put them to better use.

Held a garage sale.

It wasn't a total flop but we didn't exactly make a killing, either. We did get rid of a few things and Jay took the rest directly to Value Village. You can almost see the garage floor now!

Cleaned out the closets.

It was a ruthless cull, and it continues. I try to re-evaluate each item that I come across in my wardrobe and be brutally honest about its usefulness. If I haven't worn it the next time I come across it, I donate it. I think this ongoing process is important - there's so many things I've hung on to the first time I went through the closet that I look at again later and realize its not actually that important to me.

Organized toys and started a toy rotation.

We reorganized our playroom storage so that the room itself is much less cluttered. There's more play space and less "stuff" cluttering it. There are three large bins in the garage with toys that weren't seeing any action. In a few months, I'll rotate a few items in and some out - whatever doesn't get use then will be donated.

Ruthlessly reduced the baby clothes collection.

We are still undecided about having a third baby, so we decided to keep our favorite items and sell or donate the rest. The clothes that our older son has outgrown are in labelled containers in the closet under the stairs - I allocated one bin per size and that was it. Everything else had to go. You'd be shocked to see how much we had, I know I was.

Despite still having way, way too much stuff, I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Its much easier to clean and stay organized and this house is really starting to feel like our home. I love the feeling of peace that comes from a decluttered space. And now the challenge is to keep it this way.