Cleaning and decluttering this weekend

I read an interesting article earlier today that suggests that there is a direct link between your stress level and the amount of clutter in your home. The more clutter that you have in your home, the more likely you are to struggle with stress and in many cases depression. It makes a ton of sense to me.

I have been feeling VERY stressed lately and have been fighting depression. I have also noticed that the piles are forming in our home and that there is "stuff" everywhere. When I walk in our house, in our mud room, the first thing I see is stuff and piles on top of shelves and things on the floor and so really there is no way to relax. At the same time, I have been spending more time in our bedroom, and I think that that is because it has been decluttered for the most part and I feel calm in there. So, I decided that this weekend I am going to try to tackle some cleaning projects that have been weighing on my mind.

I kind of started this project this past Monday when I bought a new cubby unit for our living room so that we could organize the kids' toys better in our living room. So I decluttered that area and it looks so nice and neat now.

I also have an ulterior motive in that it looks like we might be having Benjamin's get together for his birthday at our house. We are just doing cake and ice cream, but we were hoping to do it at the park, but the weather has been raining here all week and I think it may be too muddy. I think the only ones who are coming over for Ben's birthday are my parents and my sister and brother but still, I would love to have a clean, somewhat organized house.

Earlier today, I made a to-do list for the main floor of our home. Bill said he would help me clean and this way we can just mark off what we have done and work on things as we go. It is a big list, but completely doable I think.

We started on the mud room this afternoon. It was a disaster. I started by taking taking everything off shelves, moving the shelves, fixing the backing on the shelves, sweeping and mopping under the shelves. I also got rid of some old mops and things that were in the corner and took the shovel, salt and ladder out to the garage. Bill helped me move the freezer and swept and mopped under it. It looks so much better in there. I still need to go through the coat closet, but I smile now when I enter that room. It was a great start! Now just to keep up with it tomorrow....