Tag Archives: decluttering

Circumstances Change

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One thing to consider when you are trying to declutter is whether your circumstances have changed.  That item which was previously perfect for your needs may no longer fit the bill.

This was brought home to me last week in a blinding flash as I tossed and turned on a particularly damp and humid night.  I had worn this nightshirt to bed and it was sticking to me and I was most uncomfortable.

2015-01-24 01I made this about 15 years ago when we were living in South Australia.  The climate there is much drier and it was perfect.  However, the weather here is often very humid and even when it is not spectacularly hot this satin nightshirt is not comfortable.  So, even though it is still in very good condition, I added to the bag of goodies to go to the op shop and dropped it off today.

I am in the process of making myself another pair of summer pyjamas from fabric that is in my stash so tune in tomorrow to see them and some of the other sewing I have done this week.

One Thing Leads to Another

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This morning I decided to clean the bookshelves in the office area.  I knew that they were quite dusty and that there was some stuff lying around that really didn’t belong there.

As I started to remove and clean the books I decided to sort them out and see if I could cull any more.  Getting rid of books seems to be fairly difficult for us but in the end there were nearly 60 books that have not made it back onto the shelves.

We have 2 identical tall shelving units from Ikea and it now looks as though one of them may be able to go to a new home.  I am confident that we will never need more shelf space as we both have Kindles and buying a physical book is a rare occurrence.

Here is one shelving unit cleaned and all of the shelves filled with books.

2015-01-17 01These are the 2 boxes of books which will be finding new homes.

002The other unit is a work in progress.

003As you can see, there is quite a bit of spare space on the other shelf which is the reason I think that it can go.  The random books are ones that I am unsure as to whether they should stay or go.  I intend to re-read them and in fact read some for the first time.  Why didn’t I read them when I first got them?  Maybe I did not really like them.  Anyway, I will be working on this pile over the coming weeks and deciding which ones I want to keep long-term and which can go.

The collection of Australian Geographic magazines will need to go elsewhere – probably the bottom shelf of the shelving unit in the lounge room.  There is 23 years worth of them – we stopped subscribing at the end of 2011.  I have never read them all so maybe it is time I did.  I used to joke that I would read them when I retired!!

There is also a shoebox of stationery items which can probably go in the cupboard.  Then there is the pile of photos that need to be sorted any scanned…………one day!!

004This is the cupboard which holds the 4 drawer filing cabinet.  I am in the process of trying to source a 2 drawer one to replace it as we have condensed the contents into 2 drawers.  When this eventuates we will use the top of the cabinet as a shelf and add another shelf a bit higher up.  There will then be plenty of space for the stationery box and photos.

If I had to nominate one room that is difficult to declutter, then the office would be it.  Mind you, we have managed to get rid of quite a bit over the past year but there always seems to be more.

Do you have a particular room or area that is your nemesis when it comes to decluttering?  Please share your stories.

Sew My Stash Sunday – 1

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I do not usually read heaps of sewing/craft blogs because they often feature projects or items that I am simply do not interest me.

However, I stumbled across this idea here and seemed almost too good to be true.  Basically, I can sew or make whatever I like as long as at least 50% comes from my stash.  I had pretty well intended to do this but had not thought of articulating my ideals quite so eloquently.  I love sewing and am working towards decluttering more stuff so this challenge will definitely help.

003My personal plan is to post each and every Sunday about what I have done in the preceding week which fits the challenge.  This will help to keep me accountable and will also be an interesting future record of just what sewing  I achieved in 2015.

002To see what I did last week see my previous post.

Thanks to the lovely Leasa who decided to run with this germ of an idea and also StitchnSewCreates for linking to the original.  Please check out these blogs if you are interested in this project.

001Then when the pieces are too small for much else there is always the ongoing patchwork!

I know that my fabric stash is not huge compared to what some people have but it is getting to the stage of frustrating me because I have so many plans/ideas for a lot of the pieces and I simply haven’t got around to doing it.  2015 is the year.

Filing Friday (on Thursday)

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Welcome to 2015!  A brand new year for you to make of it what you want.

I have been gradually decluttering for several years so there is generally only a few things here and there to leave the house.  However, there are a couple of hotspots that just seem to invite clutter to hang around unless I am constantly vigilant.

In the lead-up to Christmas I was particularly busy at work so things got a bit neglected at home.  Also, our car was badly damaged in a hailstorm at the end of November and was declared a write-off by the insurance company.  So, as well as everything else we had to buy a new car, organise insurance, liaise with the towing company to collect the old car and so on.  All of this resulted in paperwork, notes and phone messages on the desk. Everything was finalised on Wednesday – we have a new, insured car and the old one is gone so this morning I got up and decided that I had to sort out all of remaining paperwork.

I started with the desk, followed by the other hotspots which are the end of the kitchen bench and my dressing table.  It then turned into a major clean-out of the filing cabinet and other folders so The Duke and I spent several hours working through it.  Some papers had been carefully filed for up to 10 years without ever being looked at so we were really ruthless.

Apart from clearing the papers that were in the previously identified spots, I actually have nothing to show for our efforts except that the contents of the filing cabinet have been reduced from 3 drawers to 2.  Everything was relatively neatly stored – it was just that much of it was no longer relevant.

001The desk is mostly cleared – there are just a few more things that I need to put away.

002I just need to set-up the pedometers so we can actually use them rather than be lurking in the bottom of the filing cabinet!

003This end of the kitchen bench is one of the most frustrating hotspots – the pile of papers never seems to go away completely.  It may seem counter-intuitive to put a basket here to dump “stuff” in but my theory is that it will be contained rather than expanding and spreading its tentacles across the bench.  I have also designated Friday evening as “Filing or Fling” so everything that is in the basket by Friday evening will be dealt with accordingly.  In a perfect world the basket would be empty but I will be surprised if that happens.  🙂

So, beginning next Friday (not tomorrow) the blog post will be about the filing or keeping the paper clutter at bay.

I would love to hear of any systems you may have in place to help you manage the clutter hotspots and filing.

The Culling Continues

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I have not written much lately about my decluttering efforts but that does not mean that it isn’t happening.

Today we finally got around to collating the documents we needed to have our tax returns done.  The Duke scanned these and emailed them to the accountant.  On thing led to another and I ended up cleaning out the filing cabinet as well as sorting and tidying the shelves in the cupboard.

We have one completely empty drawer in our 4 drawer filing cabinet and the others are sorted and tidied up.

2014-10-25 01There is a lot less stuff in the top cupboard.

2014-10-25 02The desk is spotless.

2014-10-25 03It is difficult to see but you will have to believe me when I say that we got rid of quite a bit of stuff.  All of the paper has been recycled.  Some went in the recycle bin but most was torn into strips and added to the the leaf litter in the new raised garden bed.  We topped it with a layer of mulch and watered it in well.  This will break down over time.

Things that have gone include:

Tax returns more than 5 years old
Bank statements more than five years old
A huge pile of scrap A4 paper from my old job for which I will never have a need
Old mobile phones
Old phone and computer cables
Empty boxes
Old ‘things’ that add no value to our lives
Warranties and instructions for appliances we no longer own
Information relating to previous jobs
Etc, etc, etc…………………….

Paper is one of the most difficult types of clutter to keep under control so it requires constant work to win the battle.  There will be more to do but I feel that we have made some real progress today.

This Time Last Year………….

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……….well almost.  It was actually 15th October 2013 that I published  this post which was the beginning of a series based on Francine Jay’s book, “The Joy of Less”.

I re-discovered it recently when I was working on adding back the photos to my earlier blog posts.  The series is now complete with photos and I would encourage you to take the time to read all of the posts.  I think there are about a dozen of them.  Even though I wrote them, there were some revelations which have inspired me to keep going on my journey to let go of more ‘stuff’.

The original catalyst for the series was the purchase of a new refrigerator and the fact that it required me to open the door of the overhead cupboard every time I needed to access the refrigerator.  We did have the doors re-modelled and this is what it looks like now.

2014-10-10 01

Two Heads Are Better Than One

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So the saying goes…………..  This is definitely true when it comes to decluttering.  Trying to justify why you want to keep something to another person is more of a challenge than just doing it yourself.

When we had the kitchen renovated about 4 years ago we chose to have mostly drawers rather than cupboards and I am really pleased with that decision.

On Sunday I cleaned out 5 drawers plus 1 small cupboard in the kitchen.  I actually removed the drawers from their runners, emptied the contents and completely cleaned the surrounding area as well as the drawer.

The large drawer below the microwave holds baking tins and trays.  The Duke and I went through each item and have rehomed several trays and tins that are no longer used for one reason or another.  Mostly it was because we simply no longer (or never did) bake those items.  It meant that I was able to consolidate the extra tins that were in the top cupboard into the same drawer as the rest of the baking trays.

Here is the end result.

Baking tins
One of the other drawers that got the treatment was what some people would call a junk drawer but I refuse to give it that name as it is not junk.  Everything in here has a use and is used regularly.  I have decluttered it severa times over the past few years and each time I manage to reduce a bit more and I am pretty happy with it now.  This time I have finally let go of the remnants of rolls of clingwrap and plastic for separating items in the freezer.  I have not used either for many years so it was time to move them along.

Top drawer
What have you decluttered lately?

My Life Laid Bare

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On Sunday we cleaned and sorted the open concreted area under the house.  This is a large space and The Duke unwittingly took a leaf out of Francine Jay’s book, “The Joy of Less”.  You can read more about the principle of ‘Starting Over’ here.

Everything, and I mean every single thing, was moved and put out in the backyard.  Hence, the rather dramatic title to this post.

Stuff in the backyard

We set about sweeping up the leaves, dirt and other debris then The Duke used the high pressure cleaner.  This process managed to remove all of the paint drips and splatters from when we had painted the fenceposts.  Some people would be appalled at the waste of water but we knew that we had plenty of tank water so that was not a problem.

Under the house
In true decluttering fashion, we wanted to make sure that only things that had good reason to be under the house went back there so we critically assessed the various piles.  It was very easy to see those things that did not deserve to stay.  We actually both made our decisions independently and then when we compared notes it was no surprise that we agreed on what needed to go.

The final step was to rearrange the items that were to be put back.  Since we have finished painting fenceposts, we relocated the scaffold up the the back area and have stacked the posts, rolls of wire and the old kitchen sink on it.  Don’t laugh – we are planning to use the sink.  The plan is to have the sink set up close to the vegetable garden so that we can use it for washing fruit and vegetables.  We cleaned the hanging chairs and once they are rehung we will be able to relax in our refreshed space.

As well as cleaning the area and decluttering a few things, we have been able to identify the things for which we have a planned use.  This has led to new enthusiasm to get some projects done and the materials used rather than stored.

Too Hot to Declutter?

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It is easy to make excuses as to why you should not do things.  After not achieving much last weekend, we were keen to make some inroads this weekend.  It was hot yesterday and we managed to fritter most of the day away until late in the afternoon when we did a few jobs in the garden.  I will show you that in another post.  Today was actually predicted to be hotter with a forecast maximum of 36C so we adjourned to the coolest part of the house.  We call this area a cellar although it is not in the true sense of the word.  It is the space underneath the internal staircase, is partially below ground level and 2 walls are concrete block.  All all these things work together to keep the space reasonably cool.

The Duke removed everything from this space so I don’t actually have a before photo.  We dismantled the low shelving which we had placed there when we first moved here.  It was 3 planks of wood and several concrete blocks.  It was the concrete blocks that were the catalyst for this flurry of activity.  We will need them for building more of the low retaining walls under the verandah.  You can see the first one we built here.  The others will not be as high, no will they have the screening on top of the bocks.  More about that another day.

Once everything was out of the cellar we swept it thoroughly and then decided what would actually go back in.  We replaced the dismantled shelving with the shelf unit we built from old explosives boxes.  Next, we repositioned the wine rack from one wall to the other.  This entailed removing all of the bottles so it was a good opportunity to reassess what we have and replace the bottles in a logical order.

Cellar
Finally, there are a few things stacked under the very low part of the stairs.  Card table, boogie board, folding chairs etc.  We did get rid of/move a few things that had been on the old shelving.  We still have plenty of space on the shelf unit to store other things that we find in the workshop that would be better located here.

In the meantime, we are very happy that the cellar is clean and tidy.  It was great to be able to finish this job on a day when it was really too hot to tackle much else.

Do you struggle with getting things done if it is too hot or too cold?  Is it a form of procrastination to blame the weather?

You Must Remember This…..

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Remembering, memories and shared experiences all combine to be part of what we are today.

The past helps to shape the future.

For many people, our memories seem to be inextricably linked to things from the past.  It may be the souvenir trinkets you bought on holiday last week, your college sweater from 30 years ago or great-grandma’s fur wrap.

Eiffel Tower

What would happen if you removed all of this stuff from your life?  Would the memories disappear?  The memories will remain because the human brain is so smart that we do not need physical reminders of events and people from our past.

College sweater
Let us take the college sweater as an example.  Does it add value to your life by being stashed in a box in the attic.  Perhaps it is sharing a box with some old text books or the corsage from your debutante ball and the suit you wore to your first job interview?  If you got rid of the sweater, corsage and suit would that mean that you did not attend college or your debutante ball and the job interview didn’t happen?  No, of course not.  Moving items such as this along will not destroy the memories which you have kept alive, despite having no day-to-day physical connection to the item.

The holiday souvenirs are insidious.  The Eiffel Tower keyring, leprechaun fridge magnet and so on – are these the ‘real’ memories of your visit?  Did you need a keyring or fridge magnet?  Will you forget that you visited France and Ireland if these things are no longer stashed in a shoebox in the top of your wardrobe?  Time to move them on and remind yourself not to be sucked in to buying these knickknacks in the future.  Save your time and money for things that really count and add value.

Then there are the family heirlooms such as that fur wrap.  Do you wear it?  Can it be refashioned into something you will use?  If the answer to both these questions is no, then perhaps you could ask other family members but if no-one wants it perhaps it is time to let it go so that someone can gain some benefit from it.  Think of the alternative – the wrap sits in that box in the attic, gathering dust and probably deteriorating until you depart this earth and someone has to go through your possessions.  It will be tossed out without a second thought.

If you are struggling with decluttering stuff, stop and put yourself in the shoes of your children (or others) who are sorting through your stuff when you are gone.  Ask yourself, “What would they do with this?”  Better still, ask them if they would like the item now.  If they don’t, you can be rest assured that they will not want it in 10, 20 or 50 years time when you are gone.

Boxes in attic
I am not saying that you need to get rid of all of your possessions but rather, we need to evaluate what we have and keep that which is useful, we truly love and which adds value to our lives.  Anything that has been stashed in a box or cupboard for more than a year needs a careful re-assessment.  Depending on what it is, put it on display, use it everydayor refashion it so that it fits with your current needs.  If none of these actions are right, move it along to someone who will love and use it.

Don’t let your memories hold you back.  Let go of some stuff, free up time and space, go and create new memories.  Enjoy!