You guys, I’ve been hit with the bug.  The spring cleaning bug!

Every since I can remember, I’ve always loved a clean room/dorm/home.  But here’s something you should know about me. I am an instinctively messy person with a great desire to be clean.  I like things to be lacking in clutter and in great order, but in the same breath I pile my own things up!

One thing in marriage that I struggle with regularly is the fact that I am more stressed by Morgan’s clutter than my own.  As he would say it, it really just drives me nuts when he leaves his lunch box out on the table rather than putting it away… or the random screws that get left on the counter.  Meanwhile, I’m collecting piles by the second!

Call it springtime (after all, I’m sitting outside as I type this), call it the capsule experiment overflowing, or what you want, but I’m particularly inclined to clean out and binge things that don’t belong in our home lately.  It’s crazy how much stuff two people can accumulate in (almost) 5 years of marriage.

So in case you’re thinking about doing some binging yourself (let me know… I’m great at throwing things away), I wanted to share a few tips that I’m trying to utilize:

1. Don’t throw away anything that is Morgan’s without checking with him first.  I know this may feel like common sense, but it’s an important reminder to me.. queen of the trash can!
2. Take it one room at a time.  Bonus, pick the most satisfying first.  For me, I chose to clean out our pantry first! It’s one of the things you notice pretty immediately when you come into our house and so having it decluttered makes it automatically feel cleaner.  Plus, getting rid of expired food is always a good idea!
3. If you don’t love it, haven’t used it, or keep it just because someone gave it to you, there’s probably someone else out there that could use it instead! Get rid of the obligation!

These are just a few things I’m keeping in mind as I’m starting to simplify and declutter our home this spring.  I’m also reading through a book called A Simplified Life that really drives home the fact that physical clutter also makes for mental clutter, and I couldn’t agree more!

So let’s get rid of the clutter, together :) Oh, and we should probably get rid of the dirt, too! Whatayasay?