I sat in tears at a friend's home. Finally confessing to the state of my apartment. I said 'Have you seen that TV show 'Hoarders' well that's me!' I don't think they really believed me. On the outside I was always so well-groomed and professionally dressed, but inside I was an emotional mess. My friends offered to come around and help me ' tidy up'. But they had no idea as to the extent of the problem. I was so ashamed. Too ashamed to let them see how bad things were. My lovely two-bedroom apartment had become a one-bedroom disaster zone, where I needed to navigate every step just to get … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2012
How Do You Know You Need to Declutter?
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom While we have plenty of old pros here at 365 Less Things, we have plenty of drop-by readers and lurkers, some of whom are probably in denial about their need to declutter. So here's my checklist, roughly arranged from the most obvious to the most subtle clues that you should use if you think that maybe you don't really need to declutter. You rent a storage unit. Your garage, basement, or attic looks like a storage unit. You have a whole room devoted to storage. You have a door in your home that you cannot open. You have a door in your home that you cannot … [Read more...]
We are spoiled and conned
In this modern age we are spoiled for choice and with modern conveniences. We have also been conned by clever marketing to believe we need these things. Hence why our homes are crammed with clutter,  credit cards are often  maxed to the limit and our homes are bigger than they need be. As a child growing up I lived in a four bedroom home that had a kitchen/meals room, one living area, a small front reception area and one bathroom. I know people who think that is cramped living conditions for a two adult two child family. Well let me tell you I grew up in a two adult five child family and … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ What readers are decluttering
Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and "fun" for you to achieve some quick decluttering. This weeks mini missions are made up of items or areas of the home that my readers tell me they have been decluttering lately. See if you have any of these items or areas that need attention. As usual follow my suggestions below if you can and if not make up your own mission for the day. Monday … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday ~ Washing Machine User Review
The title of today's post may have you thinking that I am going to give you some user reviews on washing machines but in fact it is your opinions that I am seeking. I would really appreciate your assistance in this matter to help my mother chose between a front or a top loading washing machine. What she is really trying to decide, at her age of 73 years young, is which machine would be easier for her to load and unload. We understand that one can acquire a platform to mount a front loader on bringing it high off the ground. The one opinion we have on this is not encouraging though due to it … [Read more...]
Friday’s Favourites ~ 13July2012
On Fridays at 365 Less Things I share with you my favourite comments from my wonderful readers and my favourite web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did. Due to the fact that we missed last weeks favourites I have included a few extras this week. Favourite Comments. Enjoy! I had a good laugh reading this comment from Jean & Wendy. What fun ladies they would be to spend two years on Norfolk Island with. I loved this comment from Sanna, where she has come to the realisation that once a home is decluttered properly there need never be any more Spring … [Read more...]
Under The Bed ~ Another guest post by Moni Gilbert
As a child I was quietly confident that if there was actually a bogey man, he definitely couldn’t live under my bed or in my wardrobe. My mum liked a tidy house, but any storage space that could be kept from eyesight was fair game. So my wardrobe had boxes stacked from the floor up until the hems of my clothes hit them, and up each side of the wardrobe and in the storage area above the hanging rack. Under my bed was tightly packed with yet more boxes containing goodness knew what but it wasn’t anything that belonged to me personally. I even have memories of boxes being jammed so tightly … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Going to the Flea Market
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Last month the family and I went to a monthly event, The City-Wide Garage Sale. Ever since one of my staff members bought a really cool old stove at the sale, I'd been curious. (And since that was literally more than 15 years ago, it seemed like it was about time.) Wow! Was that eye opening! The garage sale is really an indoor flea market, and you could buy just about anything there - the smaller it was, the more likely they were to have it. The sellers are pickers and traders who endlessly loop throughout the country attending these events. Nothing's terribly … [Read more...]
Pick your battles and plan your campaign
I often get emails and comment from readers who are having issues getting other members of their households to conform with their newfound decluttering ideals. I can certainly understand their frustrations because they are trying so hard to bring order to their home while others are just not cooperating. So what can you do about this I am sure you are wondering. And the answer is continue to set a good example, gently communicate your wishes and be patient. And that sounds a lot easier that it is in practice. Set a good example This is the easy part because you are already doing this by … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ “Just in case” Clutter
Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and "fun" for you to achieve some quick decluttering. This week for our mini missions lets concentrate on "Just in case" clutter. There are several different clutter scenarios where "Just in case" comes in to play. I have come up with seven for this weeks missions. Let's see if you can come up with seven matching items to declutter. Monday - … [Read more...]