Category Archives: Decluttering

The Emotional Stuff

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Firstly, I would like to say thank to all of you who have sent your caring thoughts and healing wishes for my mother.  She continues to improve and will be home again in no time.

Tonight I want to share some words from my friend, Patty.  She posted this on Facebook today and I immediately thought that it may be useful to those of you who are struggling with the loss of a parent and the possessions that are left behind.  Dealing with them can be a challenging and time-consuming process.

Some of us are struggling with our elderly parents; in our care, in their death; in recent passing. My garage downstairs is full of my parents’ lives, and every time I go to unpack it, and sort it, I am taken back to my childhood and the re-living of this emotion is draining and emotionally exhausting. As much as we loved our parents, there’s a lot of “stuff” to be dealt with, in a practical way.

I hope this might help you? The Amen is complimentary.  Light a candle, and say this out loud. Tears are optional. It’s all release. No rules.

Parents Prayer

To my parents, grandparents, and my earthly ancestors who came before me, thank you.
Thank you for your love and guiding wisdom.
Thank you for loving me, every day; in every way.
Thank you for all of your hard work, your concern, and your complete acceptance of me and my spirit.
Thank you for your precious gift of life and love.
It is received with gratitude.
Thank you for our family, for all of the good times, for your precious memories.
I am now able to live my own adult life, and walk with my face towards the sun.
I shall swing my arms with happiness and freedom, knowing that this is what you want me to do.
Mum and dad, I release you, with love. Thank you for everything.
I love you all, forever.
I will remember you with respect and gratitude. Thank you.
I release you all, back to the universe. I release you all; back to the earth and beyond. Thank you.
It is so.

Amen.

2015-06-22 01Remember, it is the memories that are important and will sustain you.  The stuff is a separate issue.

My Turn

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Today it was time to clean and tidy up my pantry.

It is really not too bad but was definitely time to check for anything lurking in the background.  I wiped out all of the shelves, decanted a few things into the new jars and generally re-arranged it to work a bit better.

BEFORE

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001The space on the bottom shelf is where the dehydrator normally lives but I was using it when the photo was taken.  The pack in the bottom right-hand corner of the photo is some gluten-free bread mix which was 18 months past its best before date but I made it anyway and it turned out well.  There is a second pack in the box which I might make up next weekend.

I have moved a few things out of the pantry – a large coffee plunger which now lives on the shelf above the oven with the other coffee plunger and the teapot.  The coffee grinder which we never use is going to the op shop along with a plastic container which belongs in the freezer but I never have it in there as it just wastes space and limits how much I can pack in.  Finally, the pile of plastic plates and bowls (meant to be disposable but I keep washing and re-using them) have been moved from the pantry.  I have kept 2 of each in the cupboard for the grandchildren but the rest will be stored in the sideboard for use at BBQ’s or other events.  One day I may decide to offload them altogether but not just yet.

AFTER

005I did not take a photo of the bottom shelf and the floor but suffice to say they look a bit better, too.

Still Decluttering

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Posts have been somewhat lacking this week as my real life is demanding more of my time and I have barely been online.  Please bear with me as this will continue for the next couple of weeks.

I have spent a couple of days putting my decluttering skills to good use as I sorted and tidied the pantry in my mother’s unit.  Although it is a one bedroom unit in a retirement village there is a small but functional kitchen with a walk-in pantry.

I did not have my camera with me to show you some before and after photos but I will try to explain a little of what I did.

There was some great organisation already in place.  All of the small jars of herbs and spices live in a shoebox to keep them together.

The first step was to check for duplicates of items – there were a couple and then I decanted items that were in packets into appropriately sized containers.  There was no shortage of storage jars and canisters.  I then gathered like things together.  The baking ingredients – flour, raising agents, coconut etc are all on one shelf.  Dried fruit and nuts are together as are breakfast provisions.

One of the important lessons I discovered from this exercise is that we have to constantly adapt to changing circumstances.  My mother no longer prepares her own evening meal so many of the things that I keep in my pantry are simply not applicable to her situation.  I am aware that some of the ingredients that she has will probably not be replaced when they are depleted.

Pantry storageThe other consideration is the size of the containers.  The above photo is my pantry but the large red-lidded jars came from from Mum.  I have now acquired another 4 as Mum no longer needs them.  She simply does not keep that much of anything and the jars are quite heavy and difficult to handle.

I can see another bit of re-arranging of my own pantry coming up as I consider what other ingredients I will keep in the large jars and work out a way to fit them in.

Circumstances are constantly evolving as we welcome children into our homes, they grow and then finally leave home.  Later there may be the addition of grandchildren or the death of a spouse.  All of these things require us to adapt what we have and how we use it.  It is easy for the essentials of one phase of our lives to become the clutter of the future so it is wise to review our needs regularly.

I would love to hear your thoughts on changing circumstances and clutter.

Away From Home

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I have been away for a couple of days as I have had some family commitments.  Luckily, I had prepared the ‘Wordless Wednesday’ post on the weekend so it was ready to go.

I don’t have anything particular to share but I have noticed recently that everywhere I turn there seems to be discussion about excess stuff and decluttering.  Is it just me or have you noticed the same?

2015-05-28 01For ‘Flashback Friday’ I will find one of my previous posts on decluttering and living with less.  In the meantime please share your thoughts.  Have you decluttered?  Do you wish you could?  Is there any particular aspect you would like me to write about and discuss?

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Friday Flashback

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I found this post that I wrote exactly 3 years ago.

Just because I am away from the house does not mean that the organising has to be put on hold.

There are all sorts of small things you can do while you are out and about, particularly while commuting.

Digital files are one of modern life’s organising challenges and they turn up in all sorts of places.  Whether it is lists on your computer, contacts for your mobile phone, songs on your iPod or books on an ereader you need to keep them in some sort of order so that you can locate them when you want them.

I do not have a huge number of books on my Kindle yet but I have decided to develop a ‘filing system’ for them before it becomes too overwhelming.

This is before I started.  I had 4 pages of books that I have downloaded so far.

2012-05-22 01Once I completed the index, it is now much easier to find a particular book, especially as my Kindle library expands.  I may add more categories as time goes on but these are definitely enough to get started.  The categories I have chosen are all condensed onto one page and the books are sorted into the relevant collection/folder.

2012-05-22 02What digital files have you organised?

This is quite funny in a way because since then I have acquired a new Kindle and I have not organised the books on it.  This needs to go back on the list of things to do.  It is a reminder that we need to be constantly vigilant about keeping things decluttered and organised.  It is easy to let stuff slip by the wayside.

Project 333 – What Went Back

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As promised, I will share a bit more of my wardrobe clean-up.

This is an overview of the bedroom on Saturday morning before I started.

2015-05-19 01It is not looking the best as I have made it to the end of the full-time working week and now it is time to sort things out.

I mentioned in my earlier post that I removed everything from the wardrobe.  I made the bed and hung up the jackets from the end of the bed before I started so that I had a clear working space.

Although one of the basic ideas behind Project 333 is to actually remove all but 33 items of clothing from your closet I had never actually done that.  I believed that most of my clothes were worn year-round due to our relatively temperate climate.  That is still the case and I have not limited myself to a precise number but as we are approaching our coolest months of the year I removed my summer clothes.

2015-05-18 01Here is the small pile of dresses, sleeveless tops and shorts which I will not wear again until the weather is hot.  This is in addition to those items which I have specifically set aside for our trip to Singapore.

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I took the time to critically examine each garment and try on a few different combinations to discover what worked together and how I felt about it.  A few pieces have been taken by the local recycle boutique on consignment and a couple more gone to the op shop.

This is what I was left with.  I will wear these clothes for the next 3 months with 1 or 2 possible purchases.

2015-05-18 02There are 2 pairs of trousers, a pair of jeans, 2 shirts and a jacket not shown as I was wearing them/they were in the wash.  The pile of summer clothes is bagged and on the top shelf along with a couple of bags and 2 sunhats.

It is now easy for me to see what is ‘missing’ so that I can make considered choices when I go shopping.

One of the things that is obvious from my selection of clothes is that I love prints – florals, stripes, spots, checks – I have them all.  I can now see that this is what has held me back from pursuing a ‘capsule wardrobe’ as many like to describe it.  So many blogs and discussions seem to revolve around plain colours, neutrals and mix’n’match themes.  In general terms, they also lean to what I regard as ‘wishy-washy’ colours – cream, sand, khaki, pale denim which do not inspire me.  I love (and look best in) black and white as neutrals with strong, clear colour accents – red, emerald green, purple and fuschia and my clothes mostly reflect that.

I feel like my wardrobe works for me.

Project 333 – Clearing the Cupboard

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While this post is not strictly about Project 333, it is about decluttering my clothes so I have kept the Project 333 tag for ease of locating the post in the future. Today I decided to empty the entire contents of my wardrobe and dresser.  Here is the empty wardrobe. 2015-05-16 01The first category that I chose to scrutinise was shoes.  Here they all are. 2015-05-16 02Yes, all 21 pairs.  Now, I don’t really know how that compares with what other people have but it does seem like a lot for someone who supposedly tries to keep things to a minimum. I sorted them and these are the ones I have worn in the past week. 2015-05-16 03An additional 3 pairs in the past couple of months. 2015-05-16 04Winter footwear that has been worn in the last 12 months. 2015-05-16 05Three special-purpose ones that have not been worn in the last year but still get to stay.  In fact, while typing this I remembered that the patent heels have been worn in the past year.

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This brings the total to 18 pairs which have made the grade and will return to the wardrobe.

Here are the three pairs that are moving out.

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Black heels which I had replaced but not got rid of them.  They have not been worn since the new ones were purchased.

Red flats which are nearly 3 years old.  The heels are worn and they are not overly comfortable.

Pewter sandals which were a mistake as they are really a half-size too small.  Hopefully someone else will get a really good pair of sandals that fit them well.

I did not cull a great number of my shoes as most of them do get worn on a regular basis.  This was a useful exercise as it made me consider each pair and the value of keeping them.  I have also identified the next pairs which will go over time and I will be giving more thought to the shoes I buy in future.

Over the next week I will be sharing some of the other discoveries and decisions I made when I emptied my wardrobe.

Meanwhile, I would love to hear about your shoes – what sort?  how many?

Marie vs Me

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Over the past 6 six weeks I have become increasingly aware of the name, Marie Kondo.  For those of you who feel like you have been living under a rock, she is a Japanese decluttering and tidying guru.

One of the things that seems to have captured people’s imagination is her method of folding and storing t-shirts and underwear.  When I first read about this, I dismissed it because I figured I did not have enough t-shirts to warrant having a special method of folding them.  Origami, anyone?  Anyway, my clothes fit quite nicely into the available space.

All of the hype got the better of me tonight so I resorted to Google.  There are many links but here is a Youtube video on folding underwear.

As far as I can see there is nothing particularly startling about that.  I do know that I would go insane if I had to unhook my bra every time I went to get dressed!

Here is my version.  Unfortunately, no video, just a couple of still shots.

2015-03-24 01This is one of the small drawers from my dressing table.  I have put it on the floor for this view.

Back left – 6 bras
Front left – 6 pairs of knickers
Back right – 6 pairs of stockings
Centre right – 3 pairs thick socks
Front right – 11 pairs of ankle/lightweight socks

I have more socks than I need but I see no reason to throw any out.  I will keep them until they are worn out and not replace with as many.  There are already about 6 pairs that have gone in the past couple of years.

2015-03-24 02This is a closer view with the drawer back in position.

Dressing tableMy underwear drawer is the top left-hand drawer.  The other top drawer holds my pyjamas, scarves, bathers and sarong.  The lower two drawers are full width and contain shorts, travel pants, tops (short and long sleeved), cardigans and my home and exercise clothes.

Nothing is over-stuffed and I am happy with the way everything is folded and fits in.

I will probably have a bit more of a look at what Marie Kondo has to offer but I don’t think I will be changing how I fold and store my clothes anytime soon.

Are you a Marie Kondo afficionado?  Should I set up my own decluttering business?  🙂

Flashback Friday

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Here is a post from February 2012 about accessories.  In particular, the earrings that I own.  It is interesting to note that my current collection is identical to that which I had 3 years ago – nothing has changed.

I have enough, probably more than enough, earrings and I wear most of them regularly and some just occasionally.  I do not feel the need to have any more and I am happy with what I have.

Tell me about collections that you have which have not changed over time?

I can’t imagine having so many earrings that I would need storage like this.

2015-03-20 01