Joy and Utility

So after reading The Minimalists' book this weekend (Dave the whole thing; me, parts), we made the decision to try to get rid of some of the inessential and clutter-y things in our home. 

And after swapping ideas with our BFFs Janae and Jeff we decided to have a competition to see which couple can get rid of something inessential each day for 30 days. 

Only there's a catch--we are going to give away one item on Day 1 and two items on Day 2 . . . and so on, and so on. 

Our Finish Date is February 14th. 

The winning couple takes the other couple out to dinner. 

Unless we both succeed, and then we just go out to dinner!

Sounds easy, right?

Until you realize it is 465 items!

Yup. 465 ITEMS!

Dave created a chart so we can mark off as we go, and we decided to also photograph the items so we can get a real sense that we accomplished part of our goal. 

How are we deciding what to part with? Here are some of our ideas:

--no kids' items--so long as they will store them (OR unless they are the ones asking to donate/give away)

--nothing that has a purpose (we use it daily, etc)

--no getting rid of items that are jointly used--without one another's OK

--keep items that bring us joy (art, bookcases, etc.)

--scan photos to the Cloud vs storing unseen in plastic contatiners 

--part with clothing, books, kitchen items--literally anything that isn't essential/purposeful or brings us joy. 

We are excited to see how these next 30 days change us. Or if they do. 

I know this morning as I went to buy cold medicine, I was thinking about buying a brush and I though "Nope. We have 7 brushes. I don't NEED one."

Wish me luck. If anything it is exciting/fun to take on a challenge like this in the wintertime when daylight is short and life can get kinda mundane. 

Game on Team Janae/Jeff!

Bye bye clutter. Hello intentional living.