Do you feel a sense of dread when a friend or family member comes to visit?
Photo by nateOne
Thoughts start racing through your head over where they will sleep, how you will get things organized in time, and hoping they will not judge you for being so cluttered. If you are any kind of packrat, the guest bedroom is usually the first place you start storing things.
I used to be that way, too.
This weekend my nephew came to visit from New Mexico. We live pretty far from our families, and visits to us are rare. We mostly visit them.
So I’ve always been able to get away with being a bit of a packrat. We live in a small place, so it takes a lot of maneuvering to get things ready for company.
That is, until we did our big decluttering project in April. Now things are simple because we live more simply.
To prep for this visit, we moved some sweaters from a drawer to a shelf to give him some space for his things, and I put some fresh towels in the guest bathroom. Total time investment: 10 minutes.
Our house is now decluttered enough that a change like this doesn’t mean moving everything around to make room. No more stacks of books, piles of extra clothes, weird items I’ll use “someday,” shoes we never wear, bathrooms full of junk, or items for which we have a false sense of sentimental attachment.
So this week we’ll be able to enjoy our time together without feeling cramped even though we are in a small space. And that is a wonderful thing.
Have you found an unexpected benefit to your decluttering efforts?
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Betsy Talbot writes about carving the lifestyle you want out of the life you already have. When she’s not writing, she’s paring down, saving up, and getting ready for a year of travel with her husband.
About Betsy
When I went back to work full time, I found myself enjoying coming home because it was a haven and not time to clock in to clean and organize. I can spend that quality time with my family and getting ready for the week and just relaxing. It’s VERY nice. My usual routine during the week is to vacuum once (We have a a dog, 2 kittens, one 4 year old boy and hubby) : ) And I just wipe down, light a candle and clean the bathroom once, as I go. SO much easier and less stressful. I remember the days of growing up and someone would knock on the door and we had to hit the prone position because my mother’s house was never company ready. Or we would do the hour fire drill dance, shoving whatever we could into closets, under beds or into the basement. I swore to never live like that. : )