Home - Decluttering and making our spaces work for us

I'm easily stressed by the amount of clutter that seems to accumulate in our home! I have a good splurge then its like its all back again. Living with all boys I find it difficult to put too much of a feminine stamp on the rooms!
I woke up one morning and thought enough was enough, the boys are back at school, the husband works odd hours, I'm now working part time and also trying to run my own small business, things needed to change.
The best way I imagined was room by room, I made notes (I love lists!) about each room and what their primary function was and decided on a plan, one that I thought I could share as I go along

I started with some downstairs spaces, just totally gutting, deep cleaning and decluttering them
From the front porch, hall stairs and landing, living room and understairs cupboard I've managed to fill 3 bags full for donating

Our living room feels calmer and more cosy, our porch more welcoming, the stairs clear and the storage space actually useable
I still want to add some decorative accessories here and there and I'm always on the search for the perfect sideboard in the living room (one day I'll find it)

I'm all for simpler living, having a budget and I donate all of my decluttering to an amazing charity 'Emmaus'

Home Storage!

Theres not many storage cubby holes in this house! I have nowhere to hide my larger cleaning items!

As part of my simpler living I decided to totally declutter under the stairs and make it into a useable space for what I needed!
Everything came out! The cupboard went back in which has all of our dvds and cds in (ones that we seriously cannot bear to part with!)
There was so much in there that I quite literally did not know where to start! but I started with bags! donate, rubbish and keep!
It worked! only what we needed went back in with plenty of space for my hoover, ironing board and happily the ironing basket too

Dont get me wrong, its not a pretty space! but it is a pretty darn useable space and thats what matters isnt it!

I've been using this new space for some weeks now to make sure it really did work before I posted it on here, well its certainly worked for me so now I wont be getting stressed falling over the hoover and mop bucket all the time will I!

Therefore helping towards my simpler lifestyle, and believe it or not I had a large recycling bag of rubbish, and two bags of home items for the charity shop just from this small space!!!

Simpler Life - Family Room

I decided to start decluttering properly, I looked in each room and thought about its purpose and how it was used
I started with the living room!

 Living with a welder means when we see metal artwork its generally a must have purchase!

 Who needs dozens of cushions on a sofa when you have a fluffy shih tzu pooch!

This is our tv room, our family room, our huddle in the evening room, we still need a few more essentials like a large mirror above the fire place and more family photos (on new unit once found)
We still havent found the perfect unit for in the alcove but until then a retro table will do, as this always end up as my home craft corner as its kind of out of sight (sometimes!)

Our nintendo wii hadnt been used for so long so I donated it to my gorgeous niece who was more than happy to rehome it, on the plus side when we visit we have something fun to all take part in

I feel decluttered in this room! Its made me feel very happy! very happy indeed!