Category Archives: Decluttering

Marie vs Me – Round 2

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Back in March I wrote this post about the Japanese tidying guru, Marie Kondo.  Her ideas seem to have taken the world by storm but I was not overly impressed with what I found.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally caved in a bought the Kindle edition of her book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”.  I have read well over 50% of it and remained firmly unconvinced that she had anything new to offer and some of her ideas seemed downright wacky.  However, a few days ago I came to a section where she described standing her laptop computer on its end as though it was a book in a bookcase – now that really was a lightbulb moment.

I had been too busy for the past couple of days to try this idea but this afternoon I spent a few minutes repositioning the 2 laptop computers that we own and this was the result.

Check out the middle shelf.

2015-08-30 01The simple act of standing the laptops up has made a huge difference to the ability to make and (hopefully) keep that shelf tidy.  Now I need to find time to re-look at the top and bottom shelves.  The bottom shelf is actually the top of the 2 drawer filing cabinet.

While I do not plan on using her methods to fold my clothes, I am always open to suggestions and am really happy to have found this idea.

Have you read the book or applied any of the principles to your own circumstances?

Never-Ending

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Even though I have consistently decluttered for several years there are always random things that elude several attempts.

031These 3 little bottles of food colouring were in my pantry until tonight.  I have overlooked them each time I have cleaned out my pantry.  Tonight I opened the wire drawer to get out black pepper to season our dinner and saw these bottles of food colouring with fresh eyes.  I do not use it in any baking and it is a long time since I have made play dough or anything else that I may wish to colour so they went straight in the bin.  The fact that all of the “ingredients” are numbers made me even more certain that there is no way that I would ever use them again.

What have you decluttered lately?  Anything that should have been binned a long time previously?

Project 333 – A Capsule?

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Since I first tried the idea of Project 333 back in 2012, I have used “Project 333” as the preface for the title of all my blog posts about my streamlined wardrobe.  I would like a similarly short, snappy preface that is unique to my blog posts so I will give it some thought but in the meantime I will use “Project 333”.

Tonight I want to address a question which vexes me and that is, “What is a capsule wardrobe?”

I read and hear of a capsule wardrobe, winter/spring/summer/autumn capsules as well as formal capsules and gym capsules to name but a few.  Confused yet?  I certainly am. Here is the Wikipedia definition.

My wardrobe has never been bulging at the seams but I have had the same issues that many other women have identified and that is the feeling of looking at a collection of clothes and feeling that you have nothing to wear.  This seems to lead to random purchases which only further compound the problem.  Therefore, I have chosen to carefully select clothes which truly fit my lifestyle and reflect my personality.

I live in a fairly temperate climate so have very little need for heavy coats.  We do not have clearly defined seasons and generally have more warm weather than cool.

It is currently winter and the weather is as cold as it gets with overnight temperatures as low as 5C and some days when the maximum is only around 15C, however, on Sunday the daytime temperature reached 25C.  You can begin to see the folly of packing all warm weather clothes away for a 3 month period.

2015-05-18 01Nevertheless, I did remove some of my true summer clothes from my wardrobe a few months ago and it is easier to see exactly what season-appropriate clothes are available.

2012-05-28 01As I have continued to define and refine my style over the past few years, I have found that I tend to purchase multiple items of the same style.  For example:  I have 3 identical pairs of shorts – black, white and khaki as well as a very similar pair of red ones.  When I find a style that fits well and suits me, why not buy multiples?  4 dresses, 2 cardigans, 2 pairs of jeans and 2 skirts are other examples of where I have more than 1 colour of the same style.  I guess it is a matter of ‘when you are on a good thing, stick to it’.

What do understand by the term ‘capsule wardrobe’?  Have you tried to pare down the selection of clothes?  What tips do you have?

Back to the Laundry

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It is a while since I have cleaned the laundry thoroughly and it was beginning to show.  The general view of the room looks OK but I was starting to feel that things were just being shoved in the cupboards.  I was finally prompted into action after we went to the Kin Kin markets yesterday to stock up on more laundry liquid and pre-soak/stain remover that are made locally by Felix at Kin Kin Naturals.

005I have 2 storage areas in this room.  One is the cupboards under the bench.  The other is a tall cupboard opposite the washing machine.

This is what the cupboard under the bench looked like this morning.

003Then I pulled everything out.

006I found that I had a couple of half-used bottles of laundry liquid so I condensed these.  I also decided to change the storage container for the dry cat food from a large, round bucket which is never full to a more manageable oblong container.  The spare spray bottles which were living in the rectangular bucket have been removed and will be stored downstairs.

The cupboard, shelves and inside and outside of the doors was wiped down and cleaned.  I was astounded at how grubby the insides of the cupboard doors were.

The finished cupboard is a bit more organised.

008Then it was on to the tall cupboard.  Here is the before photo.

002For a moment, I was tempted to just ‘tidy it up’ but decided to remove everything (including the rack on the inside of the door) and do it properly.

007Everything got the ‘once-over’ before putting it back.  I scrubbed the small stepladder, removed and cleaned the liner of the laundry hamper, washed the plastic bag holders and repaired the rag-bag where it was coming unstitched.  I realised that I barely scratch the surface of the pile of rags in the bag so I sorted through them and have sent a few downstairs to the workshop and thrown a few in the rubbish as the fabric was not terribly good for any sort of cleaning job.

I checked what cleaning supplies I had and made sure that they were all things that I will use – either currently or in the future – before putting them back.  Like every other area of the house, I have been working on reducing the amount of ‘stuff’ that is in here by using it up and in some instances not replacing it.

Once I had refilled the rag-bag and plastic bag holders it was time to put everything back in its place.

013Whilst the overall view is not substantially different, I am happy that I know what is in the cupboard and exactly how much I have.

Project 333 – Shoes

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Today I decluttered my shoes – again!  I am now down to 15 pairs.  This includes my thongs and slippers which live in my wardrobe but excludes the gumboots and old gardening sneakers which are downstairs.

This is the least number of pairs of footwear that I have owned anytime in my adult life.  I do like shoes but in recent years my fascination has not been about falling in love with totally impractical styles and colours but rather about the pursuit of the ‘perfect’ shoes.

It is interesting that the more I streamline the selection of clothes that I wear the easier it is to let go of shoes.  If I tend to wear lots of a similar style or colour it stands to reason that the same shoe will work with many different outfits.

2015-07-25 01Here are the shoes that are in my cupboard today.

On the floor (from left to right)

Hiking boots – rarely worn but still make the cut
RM Williams dress boots – worn with jeans in cold weather
Short boots (red) – bought last year overseas when I needed some to replace a pair of shoes that wore out
Red lace-up shoes – Ecco brand – worn with jeans or trousers
Sneakers – for walking and exercise
Australian Geographic slippers – lightweight, great with socks
Purple thongs – summer casual wear

Top shelf

Bronze Mary Janes – super lightweight and comfortable, can be worn with dresses or trousers
Red Mary Janes – as above
Black patent kitten heel – dress shoe for after-five wear
Red walking sandals – Ecco brand – very comfortable

Lower shelf

Black low-heeled sandal – Taos brand – flexible sole, comfortable but quite dressy
Black low heeled ankle strap shoes – dressy winter shoe
Pink summer sandals – very comfortable
Red summer sandals – as above

Comfort and ease of wearing are my main criteria when buying shoes and they also need to be able to be worn with a variety of outfits.

Here are a couple more that I would like to add to my collection.

2015-07-25 02These are identical to my red and bronze Mary Janes and are available here.

2015-07-25 03I love red shoes and this pair look perfect.  I don’t know that I can justify them at the moment but I do love them.  They are from Frankie4.  I have not bought any shoes from this range but a friend has and she recommended them.  I like the selection of summer sandals that are both stylish and look comfortable.

2015-07-25 04I will be keeping an eye out for their spring/summer catalogue as I will definitely need some new summer sandals.  The pink and red ones that I have are just about at the end of their lives after a couple of long, hot summers.

What do you look for in shoes?  Have your criteria changed over time?

Keeping it Clear

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At the risk of boring you, I have one more post about the new desk.

After years of an open table top with no storage, it is a novelty to have 2 large drawers on the right-hand side of the desk as well as the storage above.  The top drawer has some paper that I salvaged from the IKEA packaging which our grand-daughters will be able to use for drawing as well as last year’s Christmas cards that I need to sort and file.  The lower drawer is designed to hold suspension files and there is nothing in there at the moment.

2015-07-20 01This is a close-up of the left-hand side of the shelving above the desk.  From the top – monitor for solar panels, modem, phone and stationery items (pens,paper clips and bulldog clips).  There are 2 speakers on the centre shelf but the remainder are empty.  How long will that remain the case?

I have a couple of lists and a notepad in the small drawer on the left.  I really like the idea of being able to put them in the drawer so that they are not lying around on the desk.

My plan is to keep the desk looking pretty much as it is and I see no reason for that not to be the case.  It is a great opportunity to start with minimal stuff and keep it that way.

The Emotional Stuff – Part 2

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About 10 days ago I wrote this post.

2015-06-22 01Tonight I would like to follow that up with this piece, also written by my friend, Patty.

 In the town of my youth, behind the double brick home that is my mother’s neighbour’s house, is a hoarder.
The daughter of a very cranky, intolerant almost-100 year old father, (who lives in a nursing home on the other side of the river) she lives by herself with her mother’s memories and furniture.
Downstairs, you are barely able to squeeze past the belongings of her mother’s old home.
The furniture, the tables, the sofas, dusty with age and just covered with plastic, the china cabinets, and boxes, and boxes, and boxes of glassware and who-knows-whatever-else. All stored.
Filling up her house, cluttering her own life.
She moans to my sister as they hose their lawns. “I wish I could travel! It’s too expensive.”
My sister and I would sympathise and suggest she sell some of her mother’s possessions.
“Oh no! I could never do that! It’s too precious!”
And so her life is unlived, her home a rambling, chaotic mess of someone else’s life.
There’s barely enough room for herself. Her mother lives on, in every room.
It’s physically demanding, cramped and unacceptable.
She lives within the shadows, unhappy, miserable, resentful, and unable to move on.

She knows the answer to the situation, she just hasn’t asked herself the question.
Why keep it all, and what happened to MY life!

I have said to my own sons: “When I go, keep what you want, no obligation, and chuck the rest!”

While this is probably an extreme example, it is a stark reminder that we cannot live our lives if we are weighed down by emotional attachments to the stuff of previous generations.

How do you feel about this?  Have you had to deal with this sort of situation?

An Antimacassar

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I recently made a new antimacassar (headrest cover) for an armchair which belongs to my mother.

001The original concept of these linens dates from the Victorian era and you can read more about them here.  They were draped over the headrest of a chair or sofa but I chose to use some elastic to hold my handiwork in place.

I cut up a brand new pillowcase which had some promotional printing on either end.  It was in Mum’s stash of new linen but was unlikely to ever be used as a pillowcase and it was perfect for making this.  In fact, this is only half of the story as there were 2 pillowcases and I made another for a second chair.

It is easy to forget how much wear and tear the headrest of an armchair takes.  The other chair is also leather and the ptch at the centre of the headrest had actually worn right through some time ago.  Mum had made an antimacassar for that chair using a small linen table runner but that had subsequently worn to the point where it was almost worn out.

Now the two chairs have new antimacassars, there are two less pillowcases stashed away and I did not have to buy anything new for this simple but effective sewing project.

Bookcase – A New Home

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After my busy day yesterday and long post I thought I would keep it short and sweet tonight.

The bookcase has gone to a new home via the local Buy, Swap, Sell page on Facebook.  It is destined to be a storage unit in a new nursery.  The lady is intending to get some wicker baskets to put on the shelves.

I am really pleased that it will be used and useful.  Much better than cluttering up our home unnecessarily when someone else can benefit.  Keep this in mind when you are trying to declutter things.

003

Home Office/Library

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Today I have been revamping the home office/library area in our home.  This is really a follow up post to one I wrote in January which you can read here.

I finally moved the Australian Geographic magazines to the bottom shelf of the shelving unit in the lounge room and finally the bookcase was empty.

003I advertised it on a couple of local Facebook Buy, Swap, Sell sites and it looks as though it will be going to a new home tomorrow.

2011-12-21 01This is what one side of the office looked like a couple of years ago.  The freezer has been moved downstairs and with one bookcase ready to go we now have this blank corner.

009I am planning to get a comfy chair to put in the corner and create a reading nook.

Meanwhile, on the opposite wall we have a folding trestle table which we use as a computer desk.

001This was always only a temporary measure but it has been like this for nearly 10 years!  After much searching I have found this piece at IKEA.  I have only seen it online but hopefully it will measure up to my expectations.

indexThe look of the room has been changed by re-arranging some of the artwork we have.

007These are above the computer desk at the moment but if I end up getting the IKEA desk I will relocate them to the other side so they will be above the reading chair.

Here are a couple of others which have also been changed around.

008The office/library is a rather strange room due to the fact that the house was extended many years ago before we bought it.  This room was originally the main bedroom at the end of the house, however, it is now a walk-through room to the additional bedrooms.  The cupboards in the above photo would have been the original wardrobe.  The right-hand side is my linen cupboard and the left-hand side holds the filing cabinet.

004As you can see from the link in the first paragraph, we downsized from a 4 drawer filing cabinet to a 2 drawer one.  This left plenty of space but it was not particularly functional.  Today, we have cut down an offcut of melamine coated shelving and created a new shelf.

006There is still more to do but I feel as though I a winning the battle to make the office/library into both a functional and pleasant space.