Why 'Declutter'?

Last night I was asked by a friend, "Why are you decluttering? What's prompted the change?" I wasn't quite ready for the question, and I stumbled around for an answer for a little while. It got me to thinking, 'why declutter?'

I wanted to declutter because I was aware I had too much stuff. Having way more that you need is bad from an ecological view point, but, for me, it has also been bad for my emotional state.  Too many things has led to mess, and mess has led to stress, and stress eats happiness. I want a happy, contented life, with little stress. I'd rather save my money than spend it on things I don't need.

As I look around my decluttered bedroom, I sigh with contentment. This is what I want, and for each room in my house. So far, we've done the laundry, shower room, vestibule, kitchen, understairs cupboard, sitting room, bathroom and bedroom.  

Part of my motivation in decluttering is to make our next house move so much simpler. My hope and desire it to move from this house into the house I am designing. I don't want to have to move tonnes of useless, unwanted stuff. I want to move the things we love and use.  Another part of the declutter is I want to renovate the current house, one room at a time. This will be so very much easier to do when the rooms are tidy and clutter-free! It's all working towards creating a house that will be easy to sell at the time we are ready to start on our new house.

It feels like it is time to have a good think about a functional description of a sitting room. When we are ready to start the process of house plans, I will have a wealth of images for the look of the various rooms, and also how those rooms will function.  The function will help determine room sizes and layouts. The images will determine the finishes, textures and colours.