I received an email from a new minimalist blogger on the weekend. His name is Marco Laberge and his blog is Toward Minimalism. He asked me to check out his blog and give him some feedback. I am a busy lady these days with my blog, my craft making and selling, my other volunteer work, friends and family, so reading is just one things I don’t have a lot of time for. Most of the posts, from blogs I subscribe to, that appear in my in-box are deleted without receiving any of my attention due to these other commitments. However I was intrigued enough to take the time out to read some of Marco’s posts.

I have to say I was suitably impressed. Marco, like myself, focuses on the mind rather than the clutter itself. As I have said many a time, clutter is all about mind set and not the items. The items are just the material manifestation of a skewed attachment and want for stuff. His post ~ Are you too attached to your possessions ~ sums up one aspect of this thinking beautifully. I urge you to read it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a sentimental item that habit says keep but your mind says is just wasting space.

Eco Tip for the Day

Use a microfibre mop to clean your floors. All you need is a little water, no harmful chemicals. Even green cleaners have to be manufactured so why use them if you don’t need to.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

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.

We all have those items that we have procrastinated about for some time but are still lingering in our homes. At the moment the items lingering in my home are items we intend to sell on ebay but just haven’t got around to it. I also have some silver jewellery that I haven’t decided how to deal with yet. Anyway enough about me. Do you have any such items either awaiting sale or not dealt with for some other reason. This week is the time to deal with them.

Monday – Do something about selling a clutter items you have been meaning to sell for a while.

Tuesday – Declutter a sentimental item that habit says keep but your mind says is just wasting space.

Wednesday – Declutter an item you have known you no longer want but guilt has had you hanging on to.

Thursday – Declutter a something you have kept out of obligation but really wanted out of your house for some time. Perhaps an unwanted gift or a family heirloom you wish to hand on the responsibility to someone else in the family.

Friday – Declutter clothes of the wrong size that have been stored so long that they are out of fashion.

Saturday – Have a conversation with someone else in the house who is holding on to something that you know they don’t really want to keep but for some reason feels obliged to.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Doodle

I found myself making the most of my day alone today by turning the living room upside down into a state of complete chaos and back again with 5 minutes to spare so my husband came home to calm and order.  😀

There was a purpose to it of course. It started by my finally admitting my gorgeous red chenille chair seems to be now causing me back problems. So I have swopped it  position with the small very upright sofa for a few days to see if that solves the back issue and proves I’m right (oh, how I want to be wrong!)

The sofa takes up more space, so there is no room for my set of drawers I use as a side table and I needed to find something else within the home that could do the job instead.

Somehow, this led to emptying 7 feet of bookshelves, completely emptying my craft storage cupboard and putting together a flat pack storage cupboard all at the same time/not finishing one job before starting another. Basically, every time I thought – “that could go there and that could go there”, I had to create the space before I could move anything. So within an hour, the floor was covered with books and craft pieces and various shelves and cabinets were in a state of undress.

This is a great example of how not to de-clutter/re organise if you are likely to feel overwhelmed! How I handled that was to give myself regular breaks and bring my focus back to completing one area at a time. Most importantly, I was in the mood to tackle a bigger job and to get rid of stuff and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I’ll talk about the results of the craft cupboard and bookshelves in my next post.

The flat pack storage cupboard, I bought 8 months ago. I realised instantly it was a mistake and have never been able to face putting together in order to sell it on at a loss. Well this afternoon I finally did it, and it confirmed itself as a bad purchase as not only is it too big for where I though it might go originally it doesn’t work as a replacement side table. I also can’t find room for it anywhere else in our small house. I’ve tried every possible place as I rather like it.

Finally I asked myself a key question: “would I buy it now?” Always a good question to ask yourself if trying to decide whether to keep something or not.

The answer, ‘no’ is a good clue to the fact it needs to go.

So the cupboard is now online to sell. For much less than I paid for it of course, but 8 months has softened the blow. And hanging on to it unused and in the way will not bring my money back either.

Do you have anything you keep trying to find a use for that you wouldn’t buy now? Is this a sign it needs to go?

Today’s Mini Mission

Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

 

Doodle may not have had a photo of her upheaval but here is an old one of mine during some manic craft room decluttering and reorganising.

We all have at lease one if not several “Why oh why!” items we have parted with or should part with. Michaela shared one such story with us last week. Here is her story to set the scene for today’s post.

Michaela ~ Kind of on subject here, but today I decluttered a (never worn) bra. I bought it probably 10 years ago, and when I purchased it I was on a visit (three hours away). It fit wonderfully in the store, but upon returning home I realized the sales clerk grabbed the wrong one and it didn’t fit me (and it was expensive = grrrr). So for whatever reason I held onto it, taking up space in my drawer, all this time – thinking maybe, someday, I could *possibly* squeeze my assets into it. Today I finally tried it on and lo and behold – ill fitting as can be. It was comical. So into the Goodwill bag it went. It feels great to look in my drawer and NOT see it. WHY, oh why did I hold onto it all this time? The world did not end . . .

I will admit I had some sexy lingerie that I hung on to for ages with the thought that I would use it at some point. But in reality sexy lingerie is usually uncomfortable, unflattering and impractical (even for the purpose intended). I held on to it for at least the first two years of my decluttering mission, like Michaela, mostly because I had paid a lot of money for it. Lets face it whose husband/partner ever needs any extra encouragement to participate in this kind of activity.

I am sure I could also summon up a few other examples if I put my mind to it.

The fact is that mistakes in purchasing, whether yours or someone else’s aren’t a reason to hold on to clutter. In fact these items are some of the worse clutter to hold on to because they make you feel bad every time you lay your eyes on them. Bad because you don’t want the items, bad because you are reminded of the money you wasted and bad because they are wasting space in your home.

So if you have any such item in your home right now, then let it go. Resell it to recoup some cash if you can be bothered but, one way or another, get it our of there. You don’t need the item or the angst that comes with it.

And one more piece of advise is, never buy items out of town at shops that don’t have a store in you home town unless you are certain the purchase is sound and transacted correctly. Returning items become near on impossible and, at the lease, very inconvenient under these circumstances.

Today’s Mini Mission

Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

Eco Tip for the Day

Carpool with friends when attending social events. Consider the possibility that you could compromise on when you need to arrive and/or depart. Sometimes we are a little too spoiled when it come to having things completely our way.

For a full list of my eco tips so far click here

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

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.

Hi my lovely 365ers, and what kind of decluttering are you up to this week. Well here I am again to help you along on that task. This week we are going to unclutter and declutter at the same time. That is each day we are going to seek out something in our homes that need putting away ~ that’s the unclutter part ~ then where we put it away we are going to see if we can find something to declutter completely. So every day the instructions will be the same but the state of your home will determine where and what will be unclutter and declutters. So here goes.

Monday – Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

Tuesday - Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

Wednesday - Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

Thursday - Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

Friday - Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

Saturday - Put away an item out of place in your home then declutter an item in the place that you just rehoused the other item.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Eco Tip for the Day

If you see an item in someone’s junk pile that isn’t junk, salvage it and take it to your local thrift store for resale. You will be rescuing an item from landfill and helping Charity at the same time.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow