Decluttering or "tidying" has been big in the last few years with the rise of the charming Marie Kondo and her KonMari method, books and ADDICTING Netflix show. (Seriously, I watch an episode before bed every night!). Now, I am definitely far from a hoarder, but I also have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. You can say it's because I moved away for college, filled a room there, and then moved back into my childhood room and so two rooms of stuff in one room is just a lot. Or you could blame it on YouTube and my former ways of buying all the things so I could film a haul or try on video. Or maybe I just like stuff! Regardless, it has gotten a bit out of hand so it is time to declutter my life.
I started a few months ago by just doing a clean up of my room. I got rid of some old products, some papers from college I didn't need anymore. I took a few books to Half Priced Books to sell, sent some clothes to ThredUp and just generally cleaned my room. This was not enough. I'm now on a mission to take small steps at a time to completely declutter my space. Now I may not go full Marie Kondo, (I really don't have time to thank every object I get rid of) but I'm definitely being harsher than I used to be with my three-times-a-year "clean up."
The first space I tackled was my closet. I'm currently on a major weight loss and health journey and to me one of the most helpful things I can do is not keep clothes that don't fit me. It is so counter productive to have a closet full of beautiful things that you don't and CAN'T wear. So I went through, I pulled everything out on to my bed, a la Marie, and went to town. I tried on nearly everything. I got rid of things that were too big and too small or I hadn't worn in months, OR even some things that I bought MONTHS ago and NEVER wore. NEVER. That's a little ridiculous. Now my closet is so organized and I only have things I wear (and a few pairs of jeans that are just so close to fitting again and I had to keep because plus size jeans are EXPENSIVE!). It is so nice to look at my closet and know that I would wear everything in it. There is nothing just taking up space and it is so so so incredible.
Next, I decided to tackle my least favorite thing to declutter - my makeup collection. When I started StyledByKaylaXO in 2012, it was as a beauty channel so of course over the past eight years I have accumulated a lot of makeup. I love makeup. I have emotional connections to some pieces in my collection because of when I got it, who got it for me, when I wear it, how the video I first talked about it in did. Lots of reasons. But that is not a good enough reason to keep something I don't use. This week on the StyledByKaylaXO YouTube channel I uploaded a video of this declutter. It was hard and took me well over an hour (that I have edited into a compact 25 minute video for you all) but it was worth it. I now can actually see everything I have, I only have things I will use, and my little sister got to double her collection!
What comes next? Well I'm not sure. It could be my books, but that is another one that might make me sad, so maybe it should wait. I've considered my digital life or maybe my sentimental items in the garage. All I know, is there is a lot left to do and I am excited to see what decluttering my spaces is going to do for my life.
What do you need to declutter in your life? Leave a comment below and let me know!
xo,
Kayla
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