To some, decluttering is a painful exercise. For me, it is cathartic :) When I see the amount of stuff we have bought which have ended up as white elephants, it really makes me more wary and careful the next time I purchase something.

I had previously tried to offload the items on auction sites but I have found out that Singaporeans are generally not keen on 2nd hand items unless they are dirt cheap :( Also if they are purchasing items for their children, they would prefer to purchase them new.

It really wasn't worth my time taking pictures, loading them, writing out descriptions, wrapping them carefully, going to the post office, etc to find my item selling for $2.00 or $5.00. And meanwhile, the items sit in my house, taking up valuable space while I wait for buyers. I'd rather bless someone else who needs the item and will use it or donate it to some homes. That's just my opinion of course.

So how and where does one start decluttering? It would be too overwhelming to do the whole house all at one go. As Flylady says (http://www.flylady.net) 15min a day is good! Meaning, you just plan to declutter one room of the house at a time for just 15min a day. Of course if you can devote the whole day to this exercise w/o interruptions, then you go girl! :) But most of us can't. So 15 min a day or better still, 15min in the morning, 15min in the afternoon and 15min in the evening can accomplish much.

I usually do the bedrooms 1st. Firstly, it is a smaller area to declutter. Secondly, I can then see what space I have released in these rooms in case I need to store stuff from the living room in here. Then I work on the living room and then the kitchen. Now we have a balcony so I would have to work on that too.

Decluttering doesn't mean moving stuff from room to another OR pushing everything into the storeroom! It means throwing out! Flylady has another tip that I like - throw out whatever you do not like! But this is easier said than done. Sometimes we keep things out of sentimental reasons even tho the item is really ugly!!! Or keep it in the hopes that one day we will use it. My friends, this is called hoarding! If you haven't used it in 6mths, you probably won't ever use it.

Why do we hoard? Usually out of fear. The fear that keeps us thinking "Maybe one day I will....." I have yet another easier-said-than-done solution :) Trust God! Yes, trust that He will provide when you need it. there's no need to hoard.

If you are quiverful llike us, then you'll need to keep some baby clothes, toys and books in the house longer than most people. But babies don't need a lot of stuff to keep them happy. So please don't keep them by the boxful!

Toys to me are easy to declutter. Anything that occupies the children's attention for all of 10 min is not a keeper in this house. Toys with missing or broken parts also get tossed out.

Clothes that don't fit anymore or are not in line with our standards of modesty also get booted out. We have been blessed by many friends willing to pass down their almost pristine clothing and even shoes to the children! So we can afford to be alittle more choosy. But I'd rather have a few pieces of modestly cut clothing than lots of skimpy spaghetti tops! :p

Books however are my downfall :( I find it extremely difficult to pare them down, esp my own books! But as space is tight, I have slowly released my books. It gets easier over time :) Children's books are a little easier to declutter. Books that promote backtalking, puts friends above parents, deal with the occult are of course weeded out. Some books are held in storage as they are not meant for younger readers. But when the children mature, we will be releasing these books to them so that we can have a dialogue on the topics the books deal with.

By the time I get to the kitchen, I often lose steam :( So once in a while, I start decluttering the kitchen 1st. Storage containers with no covers are obviously to be thrown out unless they make good toys for the beach or for playing masak-masak. If that is the case, they then goes to the toy basket. Appliances that no longer work for us are also tossed out.

If done regularly, decluttering does not need to be a major affair. But as with all things, the 1st time is always the most difficult. Start decluttering. Clear out the junk in your house and free up space! I love it when we have lots of space surrounding us instead of having to squeeze pass stuff all the time. It is also easier and faster to clean the house when you don't have to shift clutter from one place to another.

Have fun!