To Purge or To Organize

I went down the Pinterest hole looking for ideas on how to organize our house. I have decluttered for 5-6 years and now I need to organize what we have. 

When I found this, I had to think long and hard. Am I finished purging or am I ready to organize? It has been a long road to this point and I hunkered down to think and read. 

Thinking

The road to getting to where we are has been shaped by many things. At first it was necessity. Part of our house was full of items that had no home at that given time. We were renovating a house room by room. As I climbed over items to find items, I pledged I would never be in this situation of overload again. 
At first, the decluttering process started with "Do I need this?" and "Will I be doing this ever again?" I'd pile it onto a clean table or spot on the floor and look at it over several days (and weeks) to make the decision. If the answer was no, out it went. It was slow going as I peeled the first layer of items off our belongings. Most were items that we or I were done with. We just didn't need them. There was some hold back due to emotional ties and that was fine. We had done enough renovations that I could unpack some of our belongings and put them away. 
The second layer of decluttering started about the time Marie Kondo's book was published. I got the book, read it, and tried it. It wasn't working. I did the "Does it bring you joy?" and my let go pile was huge. I was letting go but was letting go of too much. I had to shelve the book and think some more. I went through the let go pile and put a bunch of it back into the keep pile. There was some emotional keeping also. Not good if you do Marie Kondo's method. There was some guilt keeping also. Not good if you do Marie Kondo's method. I did the purge and started to organize. I bought items to organize with. But.........I still needed to let go. I had too much. And, we had too much storage in the house to hide things. The one good thing - I wasn't crawling over things to get to things. By the time we sold the house, we had everything behind closed doors. At the end of this purge I bought Marie Kondo's second book. Another big mistake. 
Moving was the next layer of decluttering. It was done in a hurry but it was done. We gave away, sold, and downsized to live in 1100 square feet of home. We lived in 1100 square feet for 2 years and I noticed something. Some of our belongings were seeping into the basement and the shed. And, I continued to purge, especially my fabrics. It was difficult as I was letting go of guilt. I had bought for retirement only to realize it wasn't what I was going to do in retirement. I gave those piles of fabric to coworkers who could use it. Did I regret that purge of guilt fabric. In the end, absolutely not. But items were still seeping into the basement until it became another storage hole for us. 
Our last move, was the last of our decluttering. It was the smallest purge we did and we took a lot to the thrift stores. Of everything we let go of, I miss only a few items; the glass milk bottles and old canning jars. Everything else is what we wanted to bring with us on this move. We were happy and bought items we told ourselves we could have. It was cheaper to buy than move. 

Reading

I read quite a few articles while on Pinterest. It has been over several months. Do I need to purge more? What have I learned while reading and looking at our house? 

• It is okay to have duplicates. 
• I need to own another set of sheets for our bed. 
• It is okay to have more than one set of dishes. I have three sets I love. But, I have another set that needs to go. It is a 2 piece setting that was my mother's and is not our taste. It is still a bit of an emotional keep. I think I have a solution to the problem. 
• You don't have to let it go because it doesn't bring you joy. We have items we keep because we absolutely need them. They don't bring us joy but we still need them. 
• Start somewhere small. 
• The bathroom is a great place to start. I bought some organizing items for the bathroom from Ikea. They work fantastically. Our bathroom is minimalist and I love it.  
• The linen closet. Mine has the towels, 2 table cloths, and a few other necessities. It is pretty bare but I'm okay with that. 
• What works for someone else does not always work for you. "Does it bring you joy?" when decluttering does not work for me. I have to look at it as "Do we need it?" That has been what has driven me to keep what we have. 
• Don't feel pressured into letting go of it. Most everything I read makes you feel like you must get rid of the excess. 
• Do you really need to? Will you need it down the road? Are you still feeling emotional or guilt ties to it. Keep it and try again later on. There is no law stating you need to get rid of it now.  
• Take your time. Doing it in layers allows you to make decisions when you are mentally ready to do it. Store what you haven't let go of and visit it down the road once again. To be honest, I go through our Christmas boxes every year and let go of some some items as we unpack or pack up the decorations. We have mainly what we love and cherish. Will be continue to do this? Yes. 

Do I Need to Purge or Organize?

After doing all the reading on countless blogs, I think I am at the point of 

• being mindful of what I buy. 
• sew up the fabric I have. Do simple sewing; pillow cases, grocery bags, placemats, napkins, soup bowl warmers. I have been good about not buying much fabric this year. 
• organize using what I have on hand to start with. 

The sewing room is the worst as it has the most in it. It also looks like a bomb hit it as I am getting ready to paint it. Though I need to clean house, the remaining rooms are in good shape. There is very little clutter and is easy to keep under control. Paper is our hardest thing to keep control of. 

Next

While organizing and make decisions on how to be a mindful shopper I am going to do a needs list for our house. In the bullet journal which is coming off the shelf once again. 

I have requested through the library the Swedish Death Cleaning. I figured I would read it and return it. I am sure there will be a few items I will pick up on and try to use in our lives. 

In real life, I have the paint, etc. to do the sewing room so I will be emptying it. Hello mess and stress but I am looking forward to having a light and bright sewing room. I would love to sew a bit every day to keep myself sane. 

My Question

How do you keep everything organized in your home? I'd love to know.