A mum who has done a major clear-out of her home getting rid of more than 3,500 items has shared her decluttering tips to help others lead a 'minimalist lifestyle'. Casey Jones, a mum-of-two, decided they didn't need everything they owned and wanted to reduce the amount of clutter in the house - attempting to cut their possessions by 50 per cent.
The 36-year-old and her husband, Jason, also 36 and a project manager, cleared sentimental decor from their wedding day, their children's toys, and left the family with just four plates. She initially started selling their unwanted items to clear their debt but then ended up donating things to charity that they realised they no longer needed.
The family of four now keep only the essentials, with just four plates and four coffee mugs. Casey has ditched 3,000 household items and over 562 kitchen items and uses a clothes hanger hack each year to organise her wardrobe.
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The mum says maintaining the house is now "a lot easier" with tidying up now taking her as little as five minutes - 55 minutes less than it used to.
Casey, a part-time teacher, from Niagara, Ontario, Canada, said: "We're so much happier now.
"We're able to spend more time together as a family and focus on things that are important.
"I now find that I'm cleaning less, not spending as much time looking for things and I have less to maintain.
"Sentimental things are always the hardest to get rid of but really you only keep them thinking your kids will want it one day."
Casey said starting the clear-out was the hardest part, but after building some momentum she became "ruthless" and was able to sort through the clutter with ease.
Casey gets rid of any clothes that haven't been worn in over a year and turns hangers backwards until the item has been worn.
She said: "I turn our hangers backwards at the beginning of the year and as we wear each item I turn the hanger forwards.
"At the end of the year I can see what hasn't been worn and we donate those items."
She has copped some criticism after revealing she also gets rid of her children's toys.
But has defended her decision, saying she only removes toys if her kids - aged eight and nine - aren't playing with them.
Casey said: "Toys are hard to get rid of – the kids are like 'oh my gosh, that's my favourite toy, I love it,' every time I try.
"So, I tell them that if they play with it in the next week or two, they can keep it, but of course, they won't play with it.
"We donated the toys and showed them the process of moving stuff on.
"I told them it's OK to pass things on and show them the good things that come from it – less cleaning of the toy room and more time for family playing board games.
"Before, we had so many toys – they didn't know what to play with and now they will play for hours and use their imagination more."
To help keep tabs on what's important, Casey and her family each have their own designated box to keep 'special' items in.
"If the box gets full, we have to go through it and decide what's meaningful and what's not," she said.
Things like family photos remain safely tucked away, however, other potentially sentimental items like candles from her wedding day ended up in the bin bag.
Casey admitted that she was keeping 'meaningless' things, often in case of future use.
She said: "You always hold on to them thinking 'one day I'll need these dishes, but I haven’t used them once in the last five years, so they've got to go'."
Casey says she has people reaching out to her all the time, wanting to start decluttering their house but not knowing where to start.
Casey's top three tips
Her top three tips for anyone wanting to decrease the number of their household items are:
- Find out why you want to do it – write down what you're hoping to come from it.
- Start small to build up momentum – start in car for example, less sentimental areas, then try the bathroom draws and removing stuff from there.
- Slowly build momentum, go into each room and approach same way. Do sentimental things last.
What they got rid of
Casey's number of items she got rid of in each room:
Son's bedroom - 331 Items
Casey's bedroom - 391 Items
Living room - 94 Items
Spare room - 172 Items
Bathroom/medicine cabinet - 374 Items
Daughters room - 120 Items
Toy room - 434 Items
Pantry - 60 Items
Fridge - 36 Items
Coat closet - 21 Items
Laundry room - 13 Items
Office - 256 Items
Kitchen - 562 Items
Game closet - 57 Items
Shed - 95 Items
Garage - 182 Items
Holiday decor - 215 Items
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