5 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Decluttering Our Home

Before decluttering our home (aka "letting go of over 70% of our possessions in a year"), I thought I had this jettisoning-possessions thing figured out.

It was October of 2018 and I'd decided to jump on the minimalist bandwagon, which actually was more like a life-raft than a wagon, promising to pull me out of postpartum depression and overwhelm.

I knew my excess stuff was weighing me down and had to go.

How hard could it be?

Collect the random trinkets and tchotchkes, place them in the donate box, and send them off to a new life far, far away from our canary yellow rental home.

Turns out, planning to declutter and actually decluttering are two distinct things. In deciding I'd simply box up my massive amount of excess stuff, I had not considered things like: where to start my decluttering efforts, how to make time to actually do it (I had a baby and a four-year-old at the time), and what to do when I couldn't let go because of cognitive or emotional roadblocks.

Ignorance was bliss, until I realized it wasn't. So, I signed up for several decluttering courses in search of letting-go guidance.

While the courses got me started, it turns out—no surprise here—that experience was the best teacher.

And after maintaining a decluttered home for five years now (with a family of six), I want to share with you five things I wish I'd known before decluttering our home in hopes that it helps you on your simplicity journey.

Here are 5 things I'd wish I'd known before decluttering our home:

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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist whose teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached over 1M people worldwide through her blog. Julia also practices what she preaches in her Kansas City home. She resides with her husband, two extremely lively young daughters, three-year-old son, and baby girl. You can also find her on Facebook.