Thanks for your honesty and sharing your struggles.

Decluttering is messy business. There's a lot of trial and error but you're learning what works best and making progress!

When I was doing a whole-house declutter a few years ago, I found that it helped me to schedule major decluttering sessions for the day before trash and recycling pickup. That way items can be taken straight to the curb, minimizing the time that unwanted items hang around cluttering up the house. In the same way I would load donations straight into my car and schedule a time to drop them off at the donation center when I was going that direction for other errands.

some thrift stores will send a truck to collect furniture.

7 kids ages 30-11. 100% team “Things are made to be used.” I skew more towards Dawn from the minimal mom these days than anyone else. Things that earn a space in our world are things we are actively using for this season of life. Life is so much better. Space to breathe, easy to tidy, easy for everyone to help keep the space clean at the end of the day. Keep going!

I used to be in a decluttering group on Facebook and I remember someone commented that they had spent a total of $10,000 on a storage unit over the years and the stuff inside wasn’t even worth $10K 😩

Perhaps you need a collab with April from Space Maker Method 🤩

Have you ever tried to just put stuff in front of the house with a sign that says free. I know it doesn’t work everywhere, but it’s worth a try. And if no one takes it, in the trash it goes!

You still really really crushed it! Give yourself a lot of credit!!!

❤ I think you hit the nail on the head - so tired at the end, you wished you were done, but you still had a bunch of stuff to finish. You got so much done (yay!) but also wore yourself out! You might not be as willing to do another session for a while after burning out. And there’s always the risk of having to stop and never getting back to the unfinished stuff. I struggle with the method too, and from what I’ve seen Dana also struggles with it, even now 😆 so don’t beat yourself up.

We've been lucky to get into a good loop with friends where we get clothes that are a few sizes too big for my daughter from family 1, hand them off family 2, then get them from family 2 when they're done and we're only 1 or 2 sizes away. We end up with slightly fewer things (because they get lost/damaged) than if we had 4 sizes of spare clothes in our basement which is totally worth the extra space in our house.

Okay just finished watching ❤ first, it definitely looks better! 🤩🥳🥳🥳 yay! ❤ and I’m cheering you on as I watch you challenge your decluttering muscle memory from methods we’ve tried in the past (and I say we intentionally I’m on the same boat)

❤Obvious donations you absolutely rocked in this video 🎉 don’t make up any brain power or emotional energy

I thought of decluttering question number two whenever you were going through your kids future possible toy interest “if I was looking for a second hand Barbie doll would it occur to me that I already had one?

One of Dana’s sayings that redirects me whenever I get stuck is if I have to DECIDE it’s trash then,,, it’s not😅 and I don’t start there.
Look for trash 🗑️ hunt it down 😂

So excited for your journey ❤ you’ve got this 🎉🎉🎉

Ps: the secret sauce of the “take it there now method” you’ve already experienced when you did your kitchen drawer, by the third trip you weren’t asking yourself “do I need this?” You started asking yourself does this deserve the trip? And you made faster energy conserving decisions

And so often we're interrupted or simply run out of time (and energy, as you experienced) to take piles to where they belong at the end of decluttering. We end up shoving stuff into drawers, a closet (or under the bed ;-) instead of removing an item to decrease clutter in that container/space. We're too pooped to care. Living and learning! EXCELLENT video.

Congratulations on your progress each week. It is much better to see the floor and furniture. I think what it still boils down to is having too much. In addition, to putting everything in its place. I have found getting rid of things and then making sure everything has a home and put it there to be the most helpful.

The furniture you want to get rid of I would post and try to get out before the new couch arrives.

Proud of you that you are getting rid of so much :) I always wish I could jump through the screen and help you. Can you not put the big items like chair and coffee tables out onto the curb for free? Not sure what the situation is where you live. Might save the dumpster cost but that is also a good solution especially if you maximise it by really decluttering everywhere. Also, can you put your laundry baskets in your actual laundry room?

The good news is you did make progress & at the end put things where they go. We rented a dumpster 3 years ago & pretty much filled it up my hubby had at lest 85 plus pieces of random wood in the garage we had tons of small plastic items we can't put out for recycle just crap everywhere we didn't want this was after living here for 15 plus years. Seems like we didn't declutter much before that. I am getting more ruthless with disposing of items am getting sick off too many items in the house we don't use or want. Meg your decluttering is helping me to  keep going. I Brought back towels from inlaws home we are cleaning out so went through my  linen closest it was a 2nd pass so it went pretty quick only needed to donate 5 items. We are getting our homes to a better place for me I wish I would be faster about it lol

I've watched 3 or 4 videos where you are trying to use Dana's method, and have enjoyed every one of them.  Subscribing to your channel today, because you're easy to listen to while I watch, and you just seem really real.  And I gotta say, I just love the......sparky?.......attitude you show in your comments.  I'm looking forward to seeing your upcoming videos.

For the ice cream truck: tape off the windows and wheels, spray paint it brown or green, and repurpose it as a Jurassic Park dinosaur scientist vehicle. She will play with it endlessly! 🦖🦕

Ooh, a laundry day video!