Many of you are here because of my decluttering posts.
During our big years of decluttering, 2024 and 2025 - see sidebar for all of those posts - I read many books and especially leaned on The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. We quoted famous organizers/decluttering experts with key phrases like "Does this bring me joy?" or "If I was moving would I move this item?"
If you've been here a LONG time, you'll remember that our decluttering journey really began when the kids were 5 and 9 as we prayed over an opportunity to move. We didn't move that year BUT we started a new lifestyle.
Now we find ourselves in 2026, rather unexpectedly moving.
Yes, you read that right, Amy "Hates to Change" Riley and family are MOVING IN SUMMER 2026! I will save the incredible God story behind the move until we have everything closed, but for now we are in the greatest declutter session of our life!
We moved into our current home in the summer of 2013. We had a one year old and were moving from a 900 sq foot house to a 1900 sq foot house. We just moved all of our stuff and then slowly filled this house over the years.
Even though I wrote in March that I felt we had truly decluttered and that we were in a maintenance phase...the move has pushed us to clean-out all over again.
So, now that we are moving out after 13 years, with an 11 and 14 year old, what are we decluttering?
1. Items We Have Outgrown
While the co-op free table and kids sale have held us pretty accountable, we still had quite a bit of things the kids have just gotten to be too old for. We did a very deep declutter in our school room and passed along totes of games, puzzles, books, and activities that the kids have outgrown. We were able to bless many homeschool families and also my nieces and nephew. Because we have custom storage, thanks Dad, in our school room it's been very easy to just keep things. The move forced us to really evaluate having it just to have it vs passing along to someone who will actually use it.
2. Items We Won't Have Room for at the New House
While the new house is larger than our current one, the set up is different and the main living/dining spaces are more condensed. Not everything that we have here will have a place at the new house so we have been trying to pass along as much as we can.
3. Items that are holding us back
Through our decluttering journey, I have let go of many sentimental items. Lots of pictures, cards. yearbooks through Grade 8, etc BUT I still had some items that were leaving me stuck in the past.
Most specifically, was a clearance rack white dress that I bought as my original wedding dress. I bought it while living in my apartment in Louisville for around $20. I LOVED this dress. I remember trying it on for my family and everyone being very underwhelmed by it. In the end, Mark and my mom planned a bigger/fancier wedding that I had wanted. I have held onto that dress, moving it home from college, to our apartment in Greenwood, to our house in Greenwood, and to this house. I just couldn't let it go. It represented what I had wanted, as all of our first major compromises were about the wedding. Finally, a few weeks ago, I said "Amy, do you really want to move this dress again?" I don't. I want to finally let go of what I wish my wedding had been like and getting rid of the dress is a huge part of that process.
4. Items that no longer serve us
Examples: Skirts that are 3 sizes too small, a glass measuring cup with all of the measurement markings worn off, holiday items we used for a holiday but never again, scrapbook stickers/supplies when I haven't scrapbooked in years, etc
None of these things are big. None of them were taking up heaps of space. That is probably why they were skipped over in all of our other cleanouts. THIS is the time to let them serve someone else.
All in all, we have had hundreds of items leave our house since deciding to move and it feels so freeing! It feels wonderful to know that we will only be moving items that we use, that we love, and that bring us joy!
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