There are so many reasons that I have decided to become more minimalist in my home...among those reasons are these:  

1.) When people come over for unexpected visits, I will no longer have to be embarrassed about the mess that they might walk into.
2.) When people call and let me know that they're coming over, I will no longer have to run around like crazy, trying desperately to figure out where I can put all of the "stuff", and clear the clutter so that the house can look presentable.  
3.) The "I can't find my shoes!" problem (almost every time we're going somewhere) should be, for the most part, solved!
4.) I will actually be able to find and enjoy the things I actually CARE about.
5.) My house will no longer be a glorified storage building.
6.) I won't be spending money we don't need to spend, shopping at yard sales, or getting sale items at Walmart (unless they are NEEDED items- not that I won't mess up here and there, lol), therefore, we'll have more money for our savings!
7.) I will be able to actually relax and read a book every once in a while, without having to be constantly distracted by the overwhelming mess that I have to deal with on a daily basis.  (I never can really enjoy sitting down to do anything because of everything that has to be done).
8.) The kids will learn that we don't rely on THINGS to make us happy.  There is so much more to life!
9.) I will feel free to invite people over more often.
10.) I will be able to enjoy life and do more things, because I won't feel like a prisoner to the house, because I have "so much to do".

I'm sure there are many more, but those are the ones I thought of right away.   I am just so excited!    The house is becoming something I can actually enjoy and relax in.   Clutter has always been the number one stress area in my life....I can't tell you how many times I have become overwhelmed at the amount of STUFF that I had to manage, organize, and try to figure out how to deal with.  Why in the world did such a simple solution, to get RID of the stuff, never come to my mind? 

Over and over again, I would try to organize my clutter, buying plastic bin after plastic bin, and getting more and more THINGS to sort out the THINGS that I was most likely never going to use anyway.    Maybe I was still too attached to all of that STUFF to actually make the changes that were necessary.   I finally had a change of heart and realized that even those things that I thought were important, really aren't.  People really don't need nearly as much stuff as we think we do.  

I did fulfill the challenge that I posted a couple of days ago, and today, I have done even more.   All day long, I've been taking things from around the house, and am really ENJOYING just throwing things into a sack for the Salvation Army.   Clothes, books, toys, shoes, pots, pans, random things like weaving looms and laptop desks...anything that we are not currently using and have no real use for...going in the bag! 

Today I actually collected over 8 bags of things to give away, as well as three plastic bins and a box full of things we don't need.    I am starting to really see a difference in the house, and I LIKE IT.    The kids seem to like it too, because they keep offering to go in their rooms and get rid of stuff too.       Not only that, but I've been dealing with a lot of trash too....I've filled more sacks of garbage than I have in a very long time.   Old books and stained clothes that we don't need, old notepads, random papers and magazines, and things that are just not good enought to give away are all a part of it are all going..it accumulates so quickly.   I think that I have about 14 sacks of garbage from the last few days of work.   No kidding!

I think that for some people, being organized and free of clutter just comes easy and naturally.  Unfortunately, for me, it has always been a huge struggle, and I think the reason is because of the sheer amount of stuff- it is just not humanely possible to manage it all and still do all of the other things that have to be done in a day.   That is why I think this is finally the answer.   

As long as I can continue not to accumulate more after this cleaning spree is overwith, things should be much easier from here on out.

Has anyone else gone through a similar decluttering and had positive results?   Please share your stories!