It’s the day after Christmas. It will soon be the 2014. What are some things you can declutter before the New Year begins? It’s a busy time of year. Holidays mean company, cooking, presents, and so many other extra things. Do you even have time to think about this let alone do anything? Take some time with your spouse, family, &/or significant other, if you can, to think ahead. Here are a few examples: 1. Before putting away all the Christmas decorations, declutter those you did not use this year. 2. Did you get some gifts that you really do not want? Declutter them. 3. How can you … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2013
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
 Hi readers, firstly I would like to wish, all those who celebrate it, a very merry Christmas. And to all others I simply wish you a happy holiday season however you celebrate it. I would also like to wish one and all a very happy New Year. I hope it brings you all your heart desires. In an environmentally friendly way of course. I would also like to thank you all for keeping me company for yet another year of 365 Less Things. Whether you are new to the blog, have been with me for years, comment or not, you are all welcome and appreciated here. I have decided, at the last moment, to … [Read more...]
How much is enough crockery and linen for your household?
A Guest post by Doodle Some of things we tend to hang on to for long after they are no longer needed is an excess of crockery and towels and bed linen. An older member of my extended family still has enough pots, pans and crockery to feed an army, yet hasn’t fed anyone other than her husband and herself at home for years. The excess means she can’t keep the things she uses regularly in the most easy to reach place for her with her increasing lack of agility and will make moving should they need to for health reasons a lot more work and bring a lot more decision making at a difficult … [Read more...]
To be perfect ~ By Andréia
We all are taught that perfection does not exist. What we fail to do is to believe that. I don’t really know about the rest of the world, but I am tired of seeing in all places the evidence of how imperfect I am. It is hard to avoid. You would have to live in an isolated island not to feel how your lack of perfectionism is ruining your life. They say it about the way you keep your house, care for your kids, live your marriage (?) (saw this one in a magazine)…Oh how life would be great…But not. Let’s talk for example about decorating and de-cluttering: How can I have a perfectly … [Read more...]
Share the joy while you declutter
About a month back Michaela, in response to the post Memeories Are Not Stuff, Â left this comment... "This week I sold one of my American Girl dolls. My grandmother had bought her for me, I had gotten different outfits with extra cash back in the day. I took good care of her, and then she stayed in my closet for years. The other day at work I overheard a lady I know talking about getting one for her granddaughter for Christmas, but she was sad how expensive they were. I immediately offered to sell her my doll. Yesterday when I took her in all the ladies fawned over what great condition she … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ Fewer
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. There are many one off things that sit idle in our homes and then there are also collection of things that are just too numerous. We tend to view these collection as a whole that we don't wish to part with. However if we view the items individually we might realise that we could stand to part … [Read more...]
Clutter = Reusable gift wrap
I received an email for Anke last week with a great eco friendly Christmas gift wrap idea. Here is what she had to say... "Last year I decluttered a lot of clothes. Some of them had nice prints or fabric so I sewed little bags out of them which I now use to wrap presents. Good thing is that I can use them over and over again and I think they just look different next to the other presents." Here is the photo Anke sent me of her wonderful gift bags...  How clever is Anke. She has managed to turn clutter into an eco friendly gift wrap alternative. Today's Mini Mission Question: Am I in … [Read more...]
My latest decision making
You might be wondering what could Colleen possibly have left to declutter after three and a half years of downsizing. Well let me tell you, the decision making becomes a lot easier when limited space is immanent. With only two bedrooms it becomes easy to decide to let go of a few more towels and a couple of pillows. Visitor space is limited therefore catering for them requires less stuff. With only a single car space and a small lock up cage what used to be stored in our spacious two car garage also needs to be limited. Couple that with no yard to care for and I was able to declutter most of … [Read more...]
Handbag Clutter
This week we have been talking about making decisions about what is clutter and what isn't. Recently I received an email from a reader named Lesley who shared with me a story of why she decided to declutter and downsized her handbag. Here is what Lesley wrote~ "Hi Coleen, I have recently come across your website and I am enjoying it very much and finding it very inspirational. I was reading some older posts from your archive and came across one regarding handbags, and I wanted to share my experience with you. Three years ago my large, very cluttered, handbag was stolen. It contained too much … [Read more...]
Helping you decide
Given that the topic of this weeks mini missions is Think Twice, I thought today would be as good a day as any to remind you of my handy Decision Making Guide. The guide below is always available to you simply by clicking the Guides tab to the right of the Blog title. There are other helpful guides as will as this one that you might find helpful with your decluttering. Have a read through it today. Perhaps you will find just the right question to ask yourself that will help you make a choice on an item you have been procrastination about for a while. Good luck and happy … [Read more...]