Tag Archives: decluttering

Project Streamline – Shorts

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I know it is almost winter (and the temperatures definitely reflect that fact) but today I am going to review my selection of shorts.  Perhaps it is easier to be rational about clothes in the opposite season?

SHORTS

Once again, I will catalogue everything that are shorts regardless of the state of them.

2012-05-28 01Good casual shorts – 3 pairs – black, white and khaki in the same style.
PROS – colour, fit
CONS –none
DECISION – they all stay – basis of my summer casual wardrobe

2012-05-28 02Rugby knit shorts x 2 – grey and red
PROS – comfortable, worn at home
CONS – 11 years old, paint-spattered
DECISION – keep wearing until they wear out

2012-05-28 03Refashioned shorts from some hiking pants
PROS – super comfortable and lightweight
CONS – generally worn at home or locally
DECISION – keep wearing them

2012-05-28 04Board shorts
PROS – hardly worn
CONS – not sure how much I will wear these
DECISION – reassess my swimwear/board shorts when it gets closer to summer

Today I heard of someone planning an overseas trip who thought 1 pair travel pants, 3 pairs jeans, 3 pairs cargo pants and a skirt was a reasonable number of ‘bottoms’ to pack.  I don’t even own 3 pairs of jeans!!  When I hear stories like that I know that I do not really have a lot of clothes.

Just Because It’s Free…………

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…………does not mean you have to accept.

When you are given the option of free stuff, whatever the reason, try to fast forward to how you will feel about the item in 6 or 12 months time.

  • Will you love it?
  • Do you really need it?
  • Will it be back in the donation box for the op shop or garage sale?

Today at work someone was handing out giant-sized mugs with corporate branding on them.  After having refused pens that were being offered last week, I was approached with a half-hearted comment about me not wanting their gifts.  I simply assured them that it was nothing personal but that I really did not need a mug.  Suddenly there was a chorus from the rest of the office about how they loved freebies.

If I see a particular use for a freebie I will accept it – otherwise I do not.

Also today, it was interesting to see that one of my colleagues had a new knitting pattern and next thing I knew it had been photocopied numerous times and copies were being handed around to everyone.  While I could appreciate the pattern I have no intention of knitting it so I turned down the offer of a copy.  It is a waste of paper and will clutter up my home and I could even end up feeling guilty that I had not used the pattern.  Much simpler to just say , “No thanks”.

The other freebie was a little more insidious.  A cake recipe sent via email.  This came from another work colleague.  There had been no discussion or request for the recipe – it was just there in my inbox.  It had probably been discussed by 1 or 2 people and when it was sent to them everyone in the department was included – I expect so that nobody felt left out or forgotten.  A nice gesture, I suppose but the recipe is now in the deleted box because I do not need it.

After spending time and effort decluttering, I owe it to myself to remain vigilant and stop all sorts of stuff before it gains a foothold.

What have you refused lately?

Stopped in the Tracks

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It is one thing to declutter stuff from your home but even better is to stop it before it gets in the door and gains a foothold in the house.  I was reminded of this theory with respect to junk mail when I read the most recent post from The Recovering Dabbler.

Delona’s post is specific to the US but we have our own problems with junk mail here in Australia.  For many years we have had a ‘No Junk Mail’ sticker on our letterbox which generally stops the hand-delivered supermarket catalogues and the like.  Posted mail is a little more difficult.

Some years ago I grew weary of receiving an endless stream of pre-approved credit card and other offers with Reply Paid envelopes.  I used to just throw them in the recycling but one day decided to return to the sender in the Reply Paid envelope.  This meant that the company had to pay the postage and also use somebody’s time to open and read the returned mail.  I did not return the application form but simply a couple of random pieces of paper such as pizza vouchers or something else equally unrelated but most importantly I included a slip of paper with the following statement typed on it:

“Give consideration to my precious time which is being wasted on opening your unsolicited mail, by refraining from sending it in the future.”

Although my name was not on any of the returned information the company were able to decipher my information from the embedded barcode on the Reply Paid envelope.  The offers ceased quite quickly.  Within 3-4 months of initiating this strategy my unsolicited mail went from an average of 2 pieces per week to nothing and has remained that way for a number of years.

No unsolicited mail saves me time, mental energy and frustration.  The trees and paper that are not used are also significant over time.

Project 333 – The Ripple Effect

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I have been contemplating what to write tonight when it occurred to me that reducing the clothes that I wear for the next 3 months to just 33 items is really the tip of the iceberg.

The concept of living with less stuff can be applied to many other areas of your life.

I find myself thinking critically about all of my stuff and wondering what we really need and how much is enough.  The concept of enough is an interesting one and it is very personal.  Each individual’s circumstances and experiences can lead to very different ideas of enough.  It is important to find what is right for you.  Books, backpacks, pens, CDs, glassware are all on my radar.  I may not actually get rid of anything but I am certainly giving thought to our needs.

In the meantime, back to Project 333.  Here are some other blog posts about the project.  If you find any others that interest you, please add them in the comments.

Crosswalk

Zero Waste Home

Chi Garden

Project 333

The Gardener’s Cottage

Plus 1=33

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It is not even Day 1 and I have decided what my 33rd item will be – a short sleeve red and white striped t-shirt.  We are going to our daughter’s place to help settle into her new home.  Moving day was today.

Here is what I will be wearing.

2012-03-31 01The forecast is 28C in the city where she lives so I am thankful that the travel pants are lightweight and can be zipped off to make shorts.

She and I are hoping to do some serious decluttering.  I think it will be easier to make decisions when it is not my own stuff.  It will just be a matter of convincing her of what needs to go.

What Shoes to Choose?

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As part of Project 333 I need to include footwear in my 33 items.  This is my real challenge as I have 19 pairs of footwear in my cupboard.  That does not include my slippers, gumboots, old sneakers for gardening and old Birkenstocks for around the yard.

There were 2 pairs of dressy black heels which were given to me – virtually brand-new.  After more than 12 months I have worn one pair once and never worn the other pair.  They were not even in my wardrobe but in the cupboard in the guest room.

Here they are.

2012-03-26 01And the other pair.

2012-03-26 02

They are both destined to go to someone who can wear them and benefit from them today rather than sitting in my cupboard with me worrying about them going mouldy in the humid weather.  These are the first ‘casualties’ of Project 333 – Autumn 2012.

The rest of the shoes do get worn, albeit some not particularly often as they are specialty items.  These include high-heeled knee-high boots, hiking boots and hiking sandals.

If I am not going to blow my 33 items on footwear I am going to have to choose carefully.  At the moment I think these will be the ones that make the cut.

2012-03-26 03Black heels which I wear with my skirts.

2012-03-26 04Ankle boots to wear with trousers in cooler weather.

2012-03-26 05Everyone needs a pair of red shoes, don’t they?  These are the most comfortable shoes in the world and I wear them with my jeans/travel pants.

2012-03-26 06Sandals which I wear with summer skirts, dresses, shorts and 3/4 pants.  I need these as the weather is still quite warm and could be for another month.

I still have a few more days before I have finalise the list so there will be plenty more soul-searching yet.

If you are joining the challenge please post a link to your own blog or feel free to post a list of your items in the comments section.

Decluttering Mindset

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It seems that once you actively engage in decluttering a part of your life, regardless of whether it is physical or mental clutter, there is always more that you can find to do.

My home is far from totally decluttered but I have increasingly found myself applying the same principles to my space in the office.  I work in an open-plan office in a 5 star ‘green’ building.  Many people are resistant to the ‘rules’ attached to this standard, however, I am pleased that we have initiatives such as separate waste and recycling bins in the kitchen areas.  Compared to some others, my work-station is positively spartan.

2012-03-15 01Nevertheless, there are always bits of paper and other junk gathering so each day I check to see what else I can clear away.  It is much easier to work when everything has a home and you have only ‘enough’ of things like stationery supplies.

2012-03-15 02Neither of these desks are mine but I definitely am closer to the tidy than untidy one, thank goodness.  One day I will take a photo so you can see what it is really like.

On another note, Joanna asked what is in my make-up module.  Here is a list.

Liquid foundation
Blush + brush
Mascara
Lipsticks x 3
Eyebrow pencil
Lip pencil
Pencil sharpener
Compact mirror
Tweezers x 2

Apart from that I have a bottle of organic foaming face wash which lives on the shelf in the shower. There is a jar of moisturiser and rose hip oil which I use around my eyes in a different container in the drawer.  I do not use an fancy make-up remover – just the face-wash and water.  So, it is not only the physical stuff that is streamlined.  My beauty and make routine is about as simple as you can get.

What routines have you streamlined to make your life simpler?

Thank You & Snippets

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I cannot reply to all of your individual comments but please be assured I read them all and am touched by your support and kind wishes.  Thank you for taking the time to comment and I am looking forward to a fabulous second year of blogging at Organised Castle.

Things are pretty quiet here on the home front as I have been busy working.  However, by having the house reasonably decluttered and keeping things simple it is ticking along well.  We had a simple but delicious meal tonight – grilled salmon with lime and sea salt on potato mash with peas, carrots and broccoli.

We have also started some preliminary holiday planning for later in the year but more on that another day.

The decluttering continues – every day I usually manage to move at least one thing into the op shop bag.  I have 2 bags full to drop off tomorrow when I go into town to pick up some supplies.

Til next time.

Renovation Preparation = Decluttering

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In preparation for the bathroom renovation I emptied the vanity unit tonight.  I did not think it was too bad as I had gone through the contents fairly recently, however I proved the rule that you do really need to empty a drawer/cupboard/room completely when you a decluttering.  Otherwise it is easy to just ‘tidy it up’ and not really get serious about the worth of the contents.

Here are some ‘before’ photos.

Before - vanity cupboard

The drawers

Drawer 1

Drawer 2

Drawer 2

Drawer 3

Drawer 3

I systematically went through everything and ended up with 4 piles – rubbish, recycling, rehoming and keeping.

Here is the rubbish pile – even I could not seriously keep 3 tubes of sunscreen that expired at least 5 years ago!

Rubbish

The recycling – although it is not a lot, I did salvage what I could to be recycled.

Recycling

The rehoming pile is pretty small – extra deodorant which should be in the stockpile box, exercise band which is going with the other exercise equipment and a medicine glass (I do not need 3) which Belle may want.

Rehoming pile

The rest is packed in a crate which will probably live in the office for the duration of the renovation.

Packed up

When the new vanity is installed I will look critically at the storage of some items and revamp it.  Some of the small white baskets are cracked so I will look for alternatives.  I will wait until I see the exact dimensions of the drawers.

It does not need to be as radical as renovating a bathroom but when you are decluttering it is definitely worth removing everything from its location so that you can look at it all with fresh eyes rather than just seeing each item. where it is normally stored.