Decluttering Your Kitchen and Home

I'm currently obsessed with decluttering.

Paul and I have been in four apartments in our three years of marriage. The more I move, the less attached I become to our "stuff." We currently live in a 600 sq. ft duplex with our baby and the "Decluttering Bug" has bit me hard. The clutter in my pantry, closets and "behind closed doors" is annoying the dickens out of me. So...I started a game with myself and I think I'm winning.

My game has two rules:
1. Everyday, get rid of 10 things in your home.
2. For every new thing you bring home, get rid of two (This is actually a Flylady rule)

When I say "get rid of" I mean recycle, give away, and if necessary, throw out. I've been doing this off and on for about two weeks and already it's making a huge dent in the clutter. The items can be as little as some paperwork or as much as a piece of furniture.

I love displaying canned goods in my kitchen because, to me, they are both useful and beautiful.

This method is really helping me get my kitchen organized. As a new mom with a baby, I don't always have the time or energy to set aside two hours to organize my kitchen. By playing this "game" it's an easier way to quickly look though my cupboards to see if there is anything I'm not using.

What a thing of beauty! :)

My 10 items today were:
1. Laundry lint (A rather painless disposal)
2. An old wedding invite lurking on the top of the fridge
3. A recently used Amazon gift card
4. Really old and cheap vanilla extract
5. Really old sheets of nori seaweed
6. A wrapper from some slivered almonds
7. A headband that I never wear
8. Lanolin from when Elaia was a newborn
9. About a dozen used matches from lighting our gas stove
10. An REI receipt

Sometimes it's the small stuff that gets ignored the longest and contributes the most to a cluttered home. Eventually I will run out of small things and be forced to make decisions about larger items (like that stamp collection in the closet...you think I'm kidding!). The game is over when everything in my home is either very useful or beautiful (and yes, sentimental items like old love letters from my hubby are extremely beautiful). I'm planning on winning this game and I'm off to a good start.

What are some ways you help keep clutter to a minimum in your home?