Harriet ~ I haven't made that organized of a plan yet!
The main points are
1) I am feeling utterly closed in and surrounded by too much stuff, and we haven't even hit the dark gloomy winter days yet;
2) I would like to get the dining room finally cleared of boxes -- but there isn't anywhere else to put those boxes right now; and
3) I tried to estimate how many square feet will be needed if I decide to pull our big Christmas tree and all of the decorations out of storage this holiday season instead of only the small pretties that I've used the past several years.
However, I remember all of my big decluttering plans for the summer went out the door with emergencies and schedule changes. I am accepting that I cannot count on ever having a long uninterrupted block of time unless I become a total hermit.
This is the only realistic solution I can envision. One square foot at a time -- with the physical help/reminder of a plastic crate that size which I have in the kitchen where I cannot ignore it. Reclaim the air space that I will then have the option of either temporarily filling with Christmas decorations, or leaving bare to enjoy the emptiness.
In an effort to make the whole thing even more simple, I'm linking the decluttering goal to a health goal of taking a walk every day, and calling it
1+1. I am cautiously optimistic that if I can manage to keep both goals extremely simple, they will turn into routines that will stick.
Edit:
see the edit in my first post about square foot vs. cubic foot