Dejunk your house and make a donation to charity.
It's easier to put off getting rid of junk, clutter and all that miscellaneous stuff that accumulates in your house than it is to do something about it. Though the prospect of wading through every bit of junk you own may seem overwhelming, there are some tricks to make the process as painless as possible. Keep in mind how relieved you'll feel and how much better your home will look, and start your attack on junk and clutter today. Once you get started, dejunking your house will be one of the most satisfying projects you've ever accomplished. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Create a schedule for dejunking as you would for meeting a project deadline. Start with an easy area first, to get your momentum going. For example, do the bathroom first, as bathrooms usually have a limited amount of clutter and junk. For example, your schedule could be, Monday, bathroom; Tuesday and Wednesday, living room, Thursday through Sunday, kitchen; Monday, dining room, Tuesday and Wednesday bedroom; Thursday, hall closet; Friday, break; Saturday and Sunday, garage.
2. Set up a pick-up date with a charity. Many charities will send a truck, load all your discards and provide a tax-deduction receipt. Setting the date for the pick-up, putting it on your calendar and knowing the organization has time and labor invested in your forthcoming donation will make you accountable for finishing your dejunking project on schedule.
3. Start with 15-minute shifts of dejunking. Set a kitchen timer and attack your scheduled area. Start with one corner of the room and work your way around the room clockwise.
4. Bring a trashcan, a recycling bin and a large box marked donations and a box marked "?" into the room. Go through every item in every cupboard and drawer. Decide whether you actually use and enjoy each item or not. If you think you can do without it but you aren't sure---put it in the "?" Only use the "?" box for items you can't pry away from yourself on the spot.
5. Place anything you're ready to donate into the donation box and remind yourself that you are committed to that donation and you want to make it worth the charity's time and expense for scheduling a truck to help you get rid of your junk.
6. Have assistants help you place unwanted furniture in the garage to get it out of your way and have it ready for the charity pick-up.
7. Examine each room for large items to remove as you follow your dejunking schedule. Each room becomes more spacious as at least one piece of furniture and one large accessory get ejected. Good candidates for removal include vases you don't use, anything with unpleasant associations; items that don't go with your décor and anything you simply don't like. Look at interior design pictures for inspiration. You're on your way to a more streamlined, spacious environment you can be proud of.
8. Reward yourself along the way with a chapter of a novel, a trip to a local park or garden or any kind of pampering that makes the clutter clearing process feel worthwhile.
9. Attack closets with determination to donate anything you haven't worn in the past year--clothes that don't fit, shoes and accessories you don't wear---get rid of all of it.
10. Liberate yourself from collections and other space-wasters. If you have more than two of any item, ask yourself why. Share the bounty with others via the charity that's scheduled to get all of this excess stuff out of your life.
11. Take a walk through the house. Pretend you're about to put it up for sale and want to impress the real estate agent in hopes she'll get a top price for it. See if you can get rid of anything else.
12. Go through the "?" boxes and consider whether there's anything them that you'd miss. Add the boxes to the charity donation. Take all the donation boxes out to the garage or driveway for pick-up.
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