Tag Archives: decluttering

Decluttering for Dollars

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Last weekend I sorted through the non-fiction books on the bookshelves and put aside about 25 assorted books which were no longer loved or relevant.

I listed the books on Freecycle and had one response from a lady who wanted 2 particular titles.  So, today I took the books into Maleny with the vague idea that I would take them to the op shop or maybe the secondhand bookshop.  I tried the bookshop first and was delighted to receive $30 for about 7 of the books.  The rest then went to the op shop.

This has been a win-win exercise on all fronts.  I have more shelf space and $30.  People have the opportunity to buy a book in excellent condition.  The op shop will make some money and the secondhand shop has some more stock.

What do you do with items that you declutter?

Philosophy of Space

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Last week I mentioned that I was reading “The Joy of Less” by Francine Jay.  In amongst the decluttering guide are some real gems.  One stuck in my mind and I find myself thinking about it as I look around the clear spaces in my home.

I quote from the book:

“Music is the space between the notes.”  My interpretation of composer Claude Debussy’s words:  beauty requires a certain amount of emptiness to be appreciated – otherwise, you have only chaos and cacophony.

For our purposes, we’ll put a minimal twist on this idea and say, “Life is the space between our things.”

This can also be applied to our lives in general.  I am trying hard to have some space to just ‘be’ and it feels good.  It is something we should all try.

Enjoy the space. 🙂

Read and Re-focus

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I am currently reading “The Joy of Less” by Francine Jay aka Miss Minimalist.  I enjoy her blog posts but this book is just brilliant.

Francine’s writing style is gentle and inspirational.  Unlike some decluttering and minimalism writing it is neither prescriptive nor extreme.

I am inspired and also reassured.  Inspired to continue on my quest to have only what I actually need and love as well as reassured that I am on the right track even though I am quite some way from what I would describe as a minimalist.

The best thing is that this ‘book’ is on my Kindle e-reader.  It is bought and permanently owned by me for future reference but is taking up no physical space.  How good is that?

Digital Decluttering – Part 2

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I am having a break from sorting photographs but my focus over the past 48 hours has been the emails.

A few things had conspired to ensure that my emails were out of control.  Not the least of these was the change in format of Gmail.  I kept putting off finding out how to effectively use the new format and although I had deleted many emails as soon as they hit the inbox I am ashamed to confess that the total emails was in excess of 1500!

The first thing I did was to unsubscribe from several sites which sent frequent emails that we really do not need.  My mantra is, “If I want something, I will go and find it.  I don’t need to be constantly bombarded by offers.”

Then it was a matter of deleting the old, unwanted and irrelevant stuff and finally creating folders for the ones I wanted to keep.

I have promised myself that I will keep my digital mail filed and tidy just as I would ‘snail mail’.  This is particularly important as we try to receive as much correspondence as possible via email to reduce the environmental impact of posted mail.  There are often emails with critical information that we cannot afford to lose amongst a pile of ‘junk mail’.

As with all of the organising projects I have undertaken, I hope to have made the email filing simple and effective so that I can maintain it with the minimum of effort while moving on to tackle other projects.

My project for tomorrow is to finish a linen blouse that I started making during the week.  I will post a photo of it when I finish it.

Keep it Simple

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While I will never live a truly minimalist lifestyle, I try to simplify my life as much as possible

Most of us in developed countries use much more than our share of the resources on this planet.  We accumulate ‘stuff’, need bigger houses to store our ‘stuff’ and are so reluctant to part with what we have accumulated that self-storage facilities are a growth industry.

I am on a decluttering journey, but not one that entails hiring a skip and tossing garbags full of stuff into it with no thought as to their destination.  No, I acquired these items and I feel that it is my responsibility to use or rehome things I no longer need or want in an ethical manner.  My aim is to send as little as possible to landfill.

This is my laundry.  It is clear and uncluttered which is good for a utility area.  I took this photo after I had used the bench to fold the clean clothes.

2011-09-28 01The cupboards are well-used but not full to overflowing.

2011-09-28 02I do have some ornaments and decorative items as these next photos show.  Nevertheless, I do not want to feel overwhelmed by lots of things so I have a small number of things that are precious to me.  I think this strikes the right balance.

2011-09-28 03Another view.

2011-09-28 04Behind all of this is my motto – “Live simply, so that others may simply live”.  It is not original but sums up my ideals.

Are you decluttering?  What is your goal and how do you go about achieving it?  I would love to hear your stories and experiences.

Till next time.

For Sale – Clothes

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In my constant quest to declutter some of my stuff I give a lot of things away via Freecycle or the various op shops.  I do not use Ebay and have used Gumtree a couple of times.

So, dear reader, I have decided to put these 4 items I wish to sell here on my blog.  If you are interested or need more information please leave a comment and I will contact you or email me directly.

1.  Size 10 Crossroads fully lined, fitted sleeveless dress in very dark navy
100% polyester fabric – handwash.

2.  Size 10 tailored jacket, full lined with pockets and single button.
Handwash.
3.  Size 10 pure silk, fully lined Table Eight sleeveless dress in turquoise
colour – dryclean only.


4.  Size 10 jacket, paisley patterned polyester fabric in turquoise,black and
silver with single button and loop fastening. Handwash.
Photo of silk dress with jacket
These items are all in perfect condition and have only been worn a handful of
times. I am re-homing them as they no longer fit. I am asking $10 per item
plus the cost of posting them if required.

I am happy to separate the items, although the silk dress and paisley jacket are
designed to be worn as a set.

I live in Maleny, Qld and can arrange pick-up/delivery in south-east Qld. I
will also be travelling to Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Adelaide CBD, Ballarat and
Bendigo in the next 2 months if you wish to arrange pick-up.

I really hope I can find new homes for these garments as they are quality items.
Please let me know if you are interested or need any further information.

Fully Indexed

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Although it is some way off yet, one of my goals is to create a household index which will list every item in the house and its location. Before I achieve this exalted state I need to declutter, sort and re-arrange all of the cupboards and storage spaces. As you can imagine it is a huge project so I don’t think too much about it but just concentrate on little steps.

My end goal was brought sharply into focus last weekend when The Duke was looking in the wardrobe in the sewing room and I discovered he wanted a gift bag. This was for the bottle of wine we had bought for a 60th birthday gift. I quickly re-directed our search to the shelf above the filing cabinet in the study but soon realised that I had moved all of the Christmas/gift stuff to the wardrobe in the guest bedroom. – OOPS!! Its is great to re-organise things but you do have to remember where things are. This is where the list would be very useful.

I have planned how the list will work, now I just need to get it started. I actually intend to have 2 lists – one listing items alphabetically and then their location and the other listing every item located in a particular space eg: “Sewing room cupboard – 3rd shelf” and then a list of everything which is stored there. This will mean that we can find something when we know what it is or if something happened to a particular cupboard; such as water damage, we could know what was in there that might need replacing.

I am interested to know if anyone has done a similar thing. How detailed was your list? Did you remember to update the list as required?

Meanwhile , I will keep dreaming about the list, continue decluttering and sorting and try my best to remember where I have put things.

Letting Go

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Today I spent the morning with Belle and Missy at Belle’s place.  She is doing a big purge of 28 years worth of ‘stuff’.  Most was achieved yesterday but we did help with a few things today.  She has come to the realisation that she cannot hang onto every single ornament, photo etc that she has so the time has come to be a bit ruthless.

Belle is finding that she now has not only has her own things accumulating but also the girls’ stuff.  One item which prompted some discussion today was the childrens’ artwork from daycare.  What do you keep and what do you toss?  Do you let the artist see the disposal?  Challenging questions and I would love some feedback on this conundrum.

I understand the struggle to offload ‘things’ only too well and am still waging a battle with various piles of stuff in my spare room.

I think that the most important thing is that once you have decluttered not to simply refill the space with other stuff.

I will never truly live a minimalist lifestyle but I do aspire to have an uncluttered, orderly house that contains only things that I actually use.  Aahhh, one day!!

My motto is, “Live simply so that others may simply live”.