See the playlist of WHOLE HOUSE DECLUTTERS here: ru-vid.com/group/PLZ-AWUEixtg3PfIghyhPLbMsHX36-yDUu -- thanks for joining us for the Mega March Motivation collaboration! Next week we'll all give "Organized House Tours" sharing our favorite organizing tips and tricks!
Dawn, these colab videos are great. BUT they are all 20-30 minutes long. I want to see them all, because everyone has great ideas. But I just don’t have the time! I wish you had picked some rooms for each week of March, like you did in January. And then come back in April to organize the rooms. I now see that you show your chapters, but no one else has so far. Just long half hour videos that I listen to while I do other stuff sometimes. It’s very stressful for me not to be able to see it
I just had baby #4 (she's 12 days old), and a week into having her home I looked at my husband with tears streaming down my face and said, "I am so thankful for Dawn. We could not function as well as we are if we were still swimming in all our old stuff." Thank you, thank you, thank you for your wise words and inspiration!
A 12 day old baby makes me cry over anything! Even happy or sad. I always feel most tired at 12-15 days old, the adrenaline is wearing off. Enjoy your newborn, it’s a special time. Glad for dawn too, our house is much simpler now then it was when I had fewer kids. I have 9 now and they are all home! But I don’t feel overwhelmed because I keep everything so simple
Agree with Susie. Lol, that is such a wonderful but exhausting time. Enjoy these moments because man, the more kids you have the faster it goes. I feel like I blinked and #4 was no longer a baby.
Yes! My #4 is 18 days old and I went through severe “nesting” before he was born. We decluttered SO MUCH stuff. I don’t know how we had it all. But if it wasn’t for these videos, I would be so anxious because of how messy/unorganized everything would be.
Awww, congratulations on ur new baby. "The Minimal Mom" is fantastic for all of us! She breaks down "home management" concepts easily & comes across as such a genuinely nice soul.
Honestly, I was surprised that you had stuff under your bed, at the top of the steps, and in your storage closet. I just did the same thing (full house declutter) yesterday since company was coming. When I cleaned out areas like you did, I was thinking..... “I bet Dawn doesn’t have to get rid of stuff like this!” LOL!!!! Thank you for your transparency.
I have actually, in 55 years...never stored anything under my bed...that never has occurred to me to use it as storage space...that is like storing things under the couch...! lol!
Honestly just having you on in the background while I work to declutter gives me COURAGE! You're so cheery and joyful in the process. It really changes the whole vibe. THANK YOU!!!!
I really appreciate that you don’t defame your kids online. I like how you said “they need more time”, because as a viewer of a video on a house declutter, we don’t need to know what about the kid’s struggles. They will really appreciate this once they are a little older.
I lol'd too 😅. I have no children but thought of our childhood. At home that would have meant we saw the belt, sandal come out to straighten the attitude. I understand that's not what it meant for Dawn. I can laugh now bc it's in the past 😂
I have been a minimalist for 2 years now and I declutter on a weekly basis...the more you declutter the more you declutter, because you are more and more critical about the stuff you have in your house. And it may surprise you, you will never get rid of everything you have no matter how often you declutter, it could go on forever
I heard someone say recently that we have a lot of ways in which things come into our homes and very few ways that things leave our homes which really helped put things into perspective for me. Periodic decluttering is always necessary because we’ll always be outgrowing things we have in our homes and needing to pare down or replace things, but decluttering gets a whole lot easier once you’ve gone through and done an initial deep declutter
I enjoy these videos where you talk through your decluttering decisions. I don't have the same kinds of items most of the time, but I do have other things, and I find your talking through your decision-making process gives me ideas for my own decision making. Thank you.
"It's amazing the stuff we walk around for, like, months!" This is SO TRUE! We have had our bathroom torn up for over a year. Finally they came to finish it, but now I am going to every room to find the bathroom closet stuff. Just putting away the junk we were walking around for over a year is so FREEING!!! I guess we become blind to the out-of-place stuff...
DAWN! I adore these series where everyone is doing the same thing across a ton of videos. It’s SO motivating and really helps me feel a sense of community and togetherness as I continue to take my house back with your course. I would love for these video series to continue! Because the onion? Many layers. 😆 🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅
Wow! I’m shocked at how much stuff you have! I’ve been watching your videos here and there for 6 months and I always thought you never had extra clutter! 😂
Write that's pretty judgemental. She always says it is an ongoing process. I find it helpful to see that even some one like dawn needs to do an onion process
Great video! I actually am doing a radical "decluttering" of my house this month -- We're moving! I am using this opportunity to purge, purge, purge! Usually movers just pack everything they see into boxes. But we are moving ourselves this time. I've declared that if it goes with us, we want to keep it. If we don't want it or need it, donation or trash it goes! Hopefully this will be a big leap forward in reducing my inventory!
@Kim Gordon Hi, we did our move. While packing the old house, I set up an area with several boxes for donation. As I picked up an item, it either went into a box to go to the new house or it went into a donation box (or the trash if needed). Since I had to pull everything out of everywhere, I got to see just how much stuff I was holding on to. It was shocking! My mother's neighborhood conveniently had a group yard sale during that time, so I took many items to her house. (She also purged her house, too!) We sold a bunch, and whatever was left was driven straight to the donation center that day. I have majorly purged my home, but I am still decluttering. Like a couple of days ago, I found an old box of college work. I thought for sure I had gotten rid of all that! Sometimes, clutter will sneak up on you! 😉 Now, if I could just get my husband and kids on board! That is what I am working on now. I've done my stuff and the general house, which makes my husband happy. But all of his stuff is "useful." Ha! So it is always a work in progress! Enjoy your decluttering journey!
My declutter skills have reached Buddha level thanks to your motivation and techniques. We've been in this house for 27 years; no basements in Texas, so the attic gets filled. Huge project, but I'm tearing it up!
It’s important to be minimal and intentional with purchases too. It always comes back to buying too much. Donations are a burden on the planet, especially clothes.
Very true. Much harder with gifts. And I didn’t mean to sound critical of Dawn - love her. I just see a lot of decluttering stuff where people are still not addressing the stuff coming into the home or their shopping habits.
I have been on DECLUTTER MODE for weeks since stumbling upon your videos and they are seriously just what the doctor ordered. I’m entering my 8th month of pregnancy and seeing EVERYTHING that I want to clear out or do before the baby comes, and I’ve gotten SO much done! I took a MASSIVE haul to Goodwill and the woman was like “you look like you’re moving.” I can’t tell you how good it feels!
This video has given me motivation to go through my house. If you found such a good sized pile, I'm sure I can too 😉 Also, Corbin is so good and sweet to his Mama! 💙
I love seeing how confident you are in donating without second guessing yourself. This video has me ready to tackle another layer in my house! You always inspire me Dawn. Every. Single. Time. Thank you for sharing!! 💓
Maybe we are missing one very important thing. Don’t buy something unless we are POSITIVE we are going to use it or wear it. It seems so wasteful to be donating brand new items. Let’s give careful thought to what we bring into the house so we can be good stewards of the finances God has given us.
I’m in the process of decluttering my apartment. It’s mostly my sewing stuff! When I do go shopping, I see things that I’d like but I know I’d have to rid of something else. Usually I pass on buying. It saves me money and the time it takes to figure out how to get rid of the old items. It also saves me the time of shopping! I don’t do that very often anymore. It feels good!
Yes! It has changed my shopping habits. I’m more mindful of my purchases instead of shopping emotionally. I ask myself if I “need it” or “want it” and find that I don’t really “need” most of the things I “want”.
I agree, I love all the advice here, but the landfill! ‘I’ll just Chuck it’ is a simple idea but all those black bin bags of junk we all produce don’t magically disappear when they leaves our homes
I really like that you are a REAL person! Your house gets messy too like the rest of us. Obviously it's not too bad because you've been doing this so long.
I just moved. I donated half or more of my possessions. My new house is simplified inside, but now I have a garage full of stuff that still needs to be sorted. It’s 5F degrees outside, I’m putting on my long underwear and warmest clothes and heading to the garage to finish the purge! You inspire me!
This was so motivational! I've been on the minimalist journey for almost 2 years now and even though we have decluttered a tonne of stuff from our house, I have just gone around the house and picked up about 30 items to donate or just get rid of! Thanks as always Dawn 😊
Can I tell you how relieved I was to see your bedroom. You’re a normal person! Lol I always feel like I’m doing something wrong, because my bedroom is also the dumping ground 😅
We are far from being minimalists when it comes to what hangs on our walls. But every single thing has a story behind it. Many are handcrafted. That's our rule, that every piece has to have a story. There's nothing that I bought because I thought it was cute, although some border on that. 😊
My walls are the same, but its because I like color on the walls. I dislike white and beige walls, but that's what you get when you rent. (No, I'm not allowed to paint them.) So I don't look minimalist on the surface, either.
“Thanks for talking it through with me!” Haha! You are the best, Dawn! So real-love getting in the action with the camera on the floor by the bed view!
I love this about her too!!! I just started watching her videos yesterday and I love them all so far!! She talks us through her process and let’s us know that we CAN change our thought process about so many THINGS
I love that you still have things to declutter. I also love how you don’t want to store stuff for the “what if” or “might use”. Very inspirational and motivational ❤️
Ooh, this was delicious to watch! I'm loving the practical and honest walkthrough as you face all the delayed decisions and clear out the clutter that tends to creep in. Thanks for sharing! I have a similar looking closet under my stairs. It's mostly empty storage containers, but it looks a little sloppy with random items that I'm holding onto even though they're rarely used.
After watching the previous video that explained the silent to do list I shared that with my husband and I could see the light click on. I explained that extra stuff mocks me....and makes me feel bad and he finally got why I have been decluttering and making him drop off donations every week. Lol
Did your son mention that the art he was pulling out of the Monica Closet was still new? 🤣 Even little men can’t resist telling us we are getting rid of something with the tags still on it. Hilarious!
Your videos have helped me so much. I've donated a record number of things in one go this time! So far, three boxes and a large bag and I'm still going. I had to go drop off the boxes and bag because it was taking up too much space. Imagine not realizing how much space your stuff is taking up until you put it all in one place. Crazy! I've got a lot more to go. I'm having trouble with sentimental items or things I don't want but were expensive, but no one wants to pay for them.
You are so much fun. Your video about decluttering without a mess has literally resulted in mega, MEGA shifts. 3+ minivans of donations, furniture gone, rearranged items. This video is also really helpful! I'd say the biggest shift for me is that I fell in love with thrift shopping which in turn means I can see something beautiful I never use, and *know* it's going to bring joy to someone else when I donate it. (It also makes donating clothes easier because I spend $4 and as I get tired of things, I replace with new finds, donating back what I don't like anymore.)
I have 4 children, similar ages to yours and we just did the "minimalist game" this week. It helped them reconsider their possessions and the promise of a gum ball for every item they got rid of motivated them to get rid of more than they might have otherwise 😂 We moved into our house almost 2 yrs ago so it was a good time to see what items were sitting around in my cupboards and not being used... It was also revealing of the different personalities of my children. My eldest, turns out is quite a gatherer, my second son was only able to go to about day 3 cause he literally had nothing else to get rid of (he always thinks of others and what he would like to buy for them). My 3yr old was the funniest. I would find stuff I was sure was trash, but she would give me an elaborate explanation of what that item was in her imaginative play...we actually didn't have as many things to give away, which was encouraging because it helped me realize how much progress I had made
THIS is exactly what I needed RIGHT NOW!! Thank you Dawn for letting us come along with you!!! You are a very good communicator that gets through to me. Thank you for helping me to get on track and get my house in order!
I think my husband gets perturbed with me now, for say “but are we going to use it?” I am moving at a snails pace decluttering but it feels good with each item that leaves my house. I always tell my husband “that’s one more item gone out of the house!”
Yup! I ask that question a lot now so many times before I even say anything my husband will address it and acknowledge we don't need to keep that item lol
A very needed video. I thought my house was decluttered...but we've been in here for 5 months now, and it's time to see what I've not touched in awhile, thank you!!
I couldn't help but laugh when I saw your son playing with the board game you decided to donate. That is how it always works here to! I try to consign as much of our nicer things as I can and weed out what to donate, but during that time everything the kids see they play with or want to keep. ;p
What an awesome environment for your kids to grow up in. Not only do they have room to play, think, be and grow, but they are leaning the mindset and skill of letting go; that is HUGE!! Thanks for sharing this. It motivates me to get up and set some things free!
I love all of your videos, but these declutter with me ones are my favorite! I love going room to room and doing a quick pass. It’s amazing how much you can find to donate.
I was feeling disheartened after months of decluttering and not to be at a stage where it is 5 minutes to tidy up. I still have a lots to donate and sell. Seeing your declutter today made me realize this is an ongoing process and I will reach my desired state one day and after that it will be just a few minutes every few weeks. I can't wait to get to that stage. My husband and I work full time and only get weekends to work on the house so it isn't that fast for us as we may skip some weekends. We got rid of close to 40% of our stuff.
The backpack would be a great first aid or other bag to keep hung up in the camper for when you go hiking - keeps emergency items together, easy to grab and in the camper is out of the house but is still useful
I noticed this too! I'm thinking that they aren't a family that sits around the table to eat for every meal, which is completely fine. There's no way that table cloth would last long with four kids eating 3 meals a day there either, unless maybe her kids are just way less messy than mine. ;)
I love the fact she talks about Energy, i just dont have the energy to go through this, or i only have 50% energy and need to use that on important stuff. I so agree
My mindset has changed so much since dipping into minimalism. I just don't tend to buy the stuff anymore. Especially decor items. I love the clean open spaces. Not having to handle stuff in order to clean etc. There's always more to do as you evolve during the process, and things get easier to let go of. My guest room is always a problem as it becomes a dumping ground. I've found Facebook marketplace a really useful tool to get things out of the house as our charity shops have been closed over here and donations were piling up!
I have that Dollar General Cow picture too. I'm keeping mine. This video really inspires me to prove that it doesn't take a lot of time to stay on top of the declutter sweep through a home fro.m time to time. I like a recent declutter video that I watched that said to have a set aside place to be your catch all area to keep the whole house from becoming that. I'm definitely taking that idea and the central communication place from another video to heart. I watch a few other declutter posters too and you all have such great interchangeable ideas
Well done!! I'm inspired. I loved your daughter's death glare at her sibling when she got ratted out for not doing her chore hahaha. Question! How do you keep the games under the table intact with little kids around? I'd love to keep our games accessible like that!
We have a bench/ottoman in which we store our games. The children know they have to take care or they lose the privilege of playing with them for a while. My 3yr old isn't allowed to take a game without an older person present, and she usually obeys (otherwise she completely loses the opportunity to play in that instant) teaching them to care for the games and having clear guidelines makes it possible to keep games readily available instead of "put away" so "the little kids won't get to them". . Start with having 1 game out, then when they have become comfortable with keeping that properly, add another, so on.
We haven't stepped foot in a grocery store in several years. I just order everything and pick it up packed and ready to go. I needed a ladle and ordered one but when I saw it in person, I hated it (flimsey), so it didn't even leave its package - went straight to donation. I just couldn't be bothered to go all the way to town to return it for two dollars. A year ago, it would have gone into my drawer with probably three other ladles that I also didn't like. So happy to be getting into the groove of reducing STUFF!
So many gems in this video! "Anything that holds stuff WILL hold stuff." "I don't keep guilt clutter. " etc. etc. Thank you for sharing this wonderful video. God bless you and your family.
One of the comments on a video of yours was something to the effect of the money was gone when it was spent, not when you're donating the items. That mantra helped me to get rid of a bunch of things today.
Hey Dawn, who invented that phrase "MMM" was it you lol ? Dawn I still haven't started watching the course oh no and now March is here 😩. I just can't believe how fast time goes by. Anyway, you know how some people "like" having other people to hold them accountable ? Well I'm the total opposite because it usually doesn't help me do something faster instead it reminds me how much I'm failing not achieving what I'm trying to do. So what I usually do is try doing something and NOT TELL anyone so if I do achieve it awesome but if I don't then I don't have other people reminding me that I fail yet again. Does this sound CRAZY to you ?
Amazing video, Dawn! I want to be just like you when I grow up! 🤩🤭🤭😂😅👌👌👌 I’m on my journey of decluttering and I absolutely love it! Even though I don’t see the end of it YET! Just taking one day at a time. Feels so good! Thank you for doing what you do! 🥳🙌🏻🥰
I am so inspired by this challenge. I’ve watched many other Mega March videos as well. So armed with all that enthusiasm, I went around my small apartment that I thought was already decluttered, and came up with two bags to donate and one bag of garbage. I did not time myself, too many interruptions, but probably spent about two hours. Keep the inspiration coming. Thank you.
You can ask your husband to put another shelf in your serving cabinet. It would protect your cake stands. The plastic one you can use in your RV. I do also love to use them. I put cookies, cupcakes, Mexican sweet bread or as a fruit stand.
This was so helpful to me yesterday. Watching you with the pictures made me look at my arts and crafts stuff and finally let go of some fabric that I will probably never use (ideal self issue...someday I will sew....) and it felt so freeing. I don't mind crocheting and doing collages, but I really really had to let that go.
Dawn, I’ve been watching your videos for a little over a week, and I’m purging a lot of things. It’s taking hubby a little longer to get in the groove, but we’ll get there. Thanks for your suggestions and philosophy.
Dawn, I had to laugh when you said that you had to adjust some attitudes ...I remember those day well, and I agree, Corbin is an awesome helper! I've been going through my house, room by room, and removing no-longer-loved items and trash from my home. I still have a long way to go, but I'm starting to feel better about the items I've intentionally kept, as well as how much inventory I've removed. Thank you Dawn, I'm finally starting to feel happier in my own home. Less is more! I loved when Gage said he wasn't donating the picture of him as a one-year old, and I half way expected him to say 'Bub Bye' at the end. He really reminds me of Tom!
