Succeeding at living with less isn’t always just about getting rid of things. Sometimes it is about sharing, borrowing and repurposing. I shall give you an example from recent events in my life.

I found out six days prior that my parents would be arriving for a short visit this Saturday just gone. As you know my children have both recently left home so space certainly wasn’t an issue. The issue was that both children had taken the duvets (doonas) and pillows from their beds when, or shortly after, they left. I didn’t mind because they are young and not so financially established as their parents and if they weren’t returned I am better able to afford to replace them. Which I hadn’t done for various reasons which I will explain.

We intend to give our daughter her queen size bed, as her spare, and my son is undecided as to whether or not he and his partner wish to swap his newish double bed, with scrumptiously comfortable mattress at our house, for the queen one she owned prior to his moving in. This means that some bedding doesn’t need replacing while at the same time I don’t know what size bedding I will need for the spare bed we end up with. So back to the story…

My parents were coming for a week and along with them and old family friend would also be staying for the night and I didn’t have enough warm blankets, pillows and bed covers to accommodate them. But never fear, being the frugal and environmentally friendly person I am, I decided not to rush out and buy stuff in a big panic, possibly ending up with items that might later become excess to my needs or not what I really need. Instead I improvised.

First off I took a look in my camphor wood chest to see what bedding items I had left after all my ruthless decluttering. I had a single bed duvet and several spare throw rugs. As there was only one person sleeping in the double bed this was enough to make up that bed and have some throw rugs spare for sitting about chatting or watching TV.

Then I asked my daughter, now that she is fully unpacked and settled into her new home, if she had enough blankets etc. that I could briefly borrow back the ones she took from me. She had a duvet and a blanket spare to loan me.  This was enough to kit out the second bed minus a couple of pillows.

Since pillows need replacing on a reasonably regular basis my first instinct was, since the kids had taken the pick of the bunch, that I would by two new ones. Then possibly donate the oldest ones to an animal shelter when the guests had gone. However, in my travels throughout the house preparing the beds I spied something that had somehow, so far, escaped my decluttering efforts. I am not sure how, because this thing was taking up an enormous amount of space in one of the spare room closets. It was a body pillow. Same width as a regular pillow but twice as long. In an instant a clever idea popped into my head. I would cut this pillow in half and make two regular pillows and solve the pillow shortage crisis. Which I did. Bedding problem solved.

So not only did I manage to save my children from wasting money initially by sharing my stuff, I then was able to borrow stuff back from one to save me buying new. While at the same time I used a little ingenuity to repurpose something, effectively decluttering it buy changing it into something more useful to me.

When I know what my long term needs on the bedding front are, I will then address that problem but for now my extended family and I can work as a team.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you have too many spares of.

Eco Tip for the Day

Challenge yourself to put every piece of recyclable material in the recycling bin no matter how small.. It is easy to be blasé about small pieces of paper or plastic but so long as they can be recycled they are best kept out of landfill.

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.

You may have to put your thinking caps on for this weeks missions. However I am sure you will come up with something. Good luck and happy decluttering.

Monday – Declutter something you have had stored away for that someday that never seems to come.

Tuesday – Declutter something that you have too many spares of.

Wednesday – Declutter something in an area that is overcrowded to the point of causing disfunction.

Thursday – Declutter something you have been procrastinating about getting rid of for a while.

Friday – Declutter an item that you are sorry you ever bought but have held on to in the hope that it might finally realise its cost.

Saturday – Declutter bargain or something you get free that really you never had much of a use for.

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

Donate or sell under utilised items in your home in the hope that it will prevent someone else, who might have a use for them, from having to buy new.

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

When you have been a clutterer for a long time, decluttering never seems to end. Reading posts and articles I found that there is always room for improvement. Last year I was very much upset with my bedroom, but I had no idea where to start. Frustrated I asked Colleen for help and she told me to make a plan. My bedroom didn’t just need a declutter, it needed a new life. I always felt a mess in my bedroom. Not a nice feeling to have at all in one’s sleeping place! So I started to point out to myself what were the trouble areas: the furniture in a whole, the excess stuff I put off dealing with and crammed into my bedroom and my excess clothing, my husband’s excess clothing, my load of shoes and this and that and lots of bits and pieces. One of the first things I did to help me declutter was to establish my “Untouchable box”. So, treasures secure, time to tackle whatever else was in the bedroom.

The first item to go was the rack you see in these pictures.

It does look lovely empty, but it never had such luck being in this house. It was my husband’s “throw” place. I will explain: “I will use it later: throw over the rack; It is a tiny little piece of something I am fixing one day: throw over somewhere in the rack; It is a piece of iron/plastic/wood/whatever I might need one day in my life in a future I can’t envision: throw it in the rack!” However, my husband bought the rack and it was a piece of furniture from his single days (the only one left). I thought I would first gradually declutter the things in the rack, then I would donate it, but I found out that, in this case, Moni’s hurricane method was all for the best: I emptied the thing and called someone to take it out of my house immediately. The things I wanted to keep soon found their rightful home (some CDs that I had a nice place to put, for they were not so many) and some toiletry that should not have be there. Most things, stored there “just because”, are now gone. I still have some things I have to deal with that are sitting on my closet floor, but in no way resemble the mess that rack contained…

I had this lovely bed. However the mattress had seen better days. As I have a bad back I can’t stand a bad mattress for too long. So when a night’s sleep started ending with back pain, I knew it was time to have a new mattress. As I was contemplating a new mattress I had the idea for a trunk bed. It would store all of my heavy bed covers (blankets, comforters, extra pillows, bedspreads) and leave my wardrobes free to hold only clothing. First of all, before going out to buy the new trunk bed and mattress I found a buyer for the old bed. I had a double bed and wanted an upsize to a Queen. It would be more comfortable for me and my husband. I sold the bed and gave away the mattress for free.

However there is a catch to this changing beds – the bed linen. I always thought I did not have enough bed linen but boy, was I wrong! As I was moving things to put in my trunk bed I started to unearth (I was digging things out from a wardrobe!!!!) lots and lots of bed linen. I gave to a relative six complete sets of sheets for a double bed. These were in excellent condition. Then I donated four complete sets that weren’t so good. And I still donated incomplete sets that added up to 7 or 8 extra sheets. I could have opened a motel!!! I had no idea I had this many sets of sheets. There were also old pillows and lots of other stuff as you can see in the pictures.

Maybe you will ask me: why didn’t you look? Didn’t you change the beds? Well I am ashamed to say I did not want to look. I knew it was a lot, but I could not bring myself to part with any of it. Some I bought on impulse, some were gifts from my grandmother and most of the good ones were not even used a lot because they had to be saved for better days…Whatever that means because I saved a set of sheets for ten years and used it once before donating it because it did not fit my bed anymore.

I have decluttered, this time 65 items, including in this count the bed and the rack. Back in January I declutterd almost 80 items including clothes and some small stuff like earrings (small stuff does take up space as Colleen said here) all featured in the pictures.

Well, this was the first part of bedroom declutter. I am, by no means finished. I still have two massive wardrobes to take care of, but hey, soon enough news will come on that front.

Today’s Mini Mission

Dust around the frames of all of the wall art or photo frames you have hanging on the walls in your home. I do this at least every two weeks. A slightly damp microfibre cloth is the best tool I have found to do this job, as it will not only hold any dust it encounters but will also give the glass a nice polish. Glass on the walls can tend to get grimy over time if not wiped regularly.

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

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.

Favourite Comments. Enjoy!

In this comment Melissa tells us about how just the right gift from her mother helped her declutter lots of related clutter.

And this comment also from Melissa proves that happy decluttering requires good communication.

I loved this declutter story from Megan S. Sometimes leaving things lying around can actually reduced clutter rather than add to it. Read about it here.

In this comment from Christine, she tells us about how a couple of homes away from home confirmed for her what she wants for the place she actually does call home.

CJ tells us about one small clutter vice he has and has committed to find a better way for the sake of his partner. Good luck CJ.

Ideealistin’s wise thoughts on declutter regrets.

I especially like the last sentence in this comment from Andréia.

Mel has recently discovered 365 Less Things and in this comment tells us about two methods she uses to help her reduce her belongings and why.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

YouTube Video sent by Wendy F ~  www.youtube.com ~ The Good Consumer

I always love a good blog post about cleaning without chemicals, so here is one from onegoodthingbyjillee.com ~ The-countless-uses-for-baking-soda-besides-baking.

I think we have featured this article before but given Thursday’s blog topic it is worth a second look. Thank you Wendy F for reminding me of it.

Today’s Mini Mission

Empty, sort and clean out your cutlery drawer. In the last two houses I have lived in, the cutlery drawer has been right below the bread board. As a result crumbs get into the drawer. My children also had a tendency to go to this drawer for a pair of scissors to snip off the end of food packaging and then, as kids do, leave the snipped off piece in the drawer. Also twist ties and rubber bands tend to accumulate here. Being as we no longer eat much bread and the kids have left home I no longer have most of these problems. However this drawer still needs a good clean out every now and again.

Eco Tip For The Day

Don’t accept free promotional products that you have no use for. Accepting these just encourages the continuation of this practice while the environment would be healthier without the manufacture of cheap throwaway or needless items like these usually are.

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

Do you ever think about how your clutter affects the other members of your household? Do you think they don’t mind because they don’t complain about it? Have you ever considered that they don’t complain because they have simply weighed up the risk of upsetting you over it and decided you are more important? How unfair and ultimately heartbreaking is that.

Would you do the same for them? Would you grant them the same loyalty if they said, it’s your clutter or me, make a choice? Would you let them go easier than your clutter?

Or do the other members of your household complain about the clutter and yet you still don’t do anything about it? Do you care about them enough to make the effort to change your habits? In small increments these changes are not so hard to accomplish for those that you care about.

Is your clutter problem affecting those around you in other ways aside from the inconvenience or discomfort of it? Are your habits rubbing off on your children? Are you teaching them that possessions are more important than they ought to be? Are you teaching them that being happy depends on continuously acquiring stuff?

Is your habit of acquiring stuff affecting your family financially? Are you going into debt to support this habit or could your family enjoy more wonderful life experiences together, if the money wasn’t being wasted on stuff? Do your and/or your partner work harder and longer hours then need be to pay for the things you don’t really need, while the children hardly get to spend any waking moments with you? Could your children’s college funds be healthier if less money was wasted on unnecessary stuff?

Even if you think these questions are a bit melodramatic for your situation, consider taking a look at the areas of your home that you think are the most cluttered. Now think of the other members of the family that use these areas. Ask them if the clutter in these areas are inconveniencing or disturbing them in any way and see what response you get. Make sure you give them a free pass to give an honest answer.

Today’s Mini Mission

Empty and dust the most cluttered shelf in your home. This might be in a bookcase, a display cabinet, a shelf in your kitchen or even in your linen closet. Either way, doing this job will bring your attention to just how many items are on there, and may just inspire you to get rid of a few.

Eco Tip for the Day

Consider doing some things by hand rather than using an electrical appliance. Mix that cake by hand, tighten that screw with an old fashioned screw driver rather than and electric drill, sweep the floor rather than vacuum, rake up the leaves rather than using a leaf blower, let your hair dry naturally, wash the dishes by hand…

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

Cindy

My daughter, who is 13, is starting to take ballroom dance lessons. I’m happy for her, but this new passion has caused my first case of declutter regret. Yes, after 3 years of decluttering (June 1 was my anniversary), I finally caught the bug. It took someone else to cure me.

You see, my husband and I used to ballroom dance, as well. We took lessons for 4 hours a week for 2 years and went to many dances up until my new dancer was born. I held onto my dance shoes – a pair of black practice shoes and a pair of gold performance shoes – for years. Dance shoes are pampered and get very little actual wear, so they can last for quite a long time, and the basic styles haven’t changed in the past decade. I kept mine and kept mine, even though giving birth to two children changed my foot size, and I could no longer wear them. Finally, during decluttering, I gave them to a charity that holds a large garage sale every year and hoped that a dancer would find them among all the regular shoes.

Now my daughter, although only 13, is almost fully grown, and she could probably wear those shoes. I’ve told three or four people, “Oh if I’d only kept my dance shoes.” I’ve thought to myself “They didn’t take up much room. I could have kept them.”

Yesterday, my friend whom I helped move, said, “Cindy, you just can’t think like that. If you hung onto everything you might ever use, you’d be buried.”  A lightbulb came on! I was indulging in “what if I need it one day” thinking. How could I possibly have know that one day my daughter would ballroom dance? It’s not a part of mine and Dan’s lives anymore (except at the occasional wedding), so how could I anticipate that she would need them? Plus you might have noticed I said they “might” have fit her. I don’t know what size they were! She wears about the size now that I did before she was born. Yes, they might have fit her. But they might not. What if I’d kept everything she might want some day? I’d be surrounded by Barbies and Breyer horses, books, art pads, and on and on.

Better to let all that go, then to surround myself “just in case.”

Today’s Mini Mission

Clean the outside of, and behind your fridge. If you have stuff on your fridge this will all have to come off first in order to do the job properly. If you have an old fashioned fridge with the element visible you should also gently vacuum this element. Once again this task ought to be executed about every three months and the less there is to move each time the easier the job will be.

Eco Tip For The Day

Discover your local food shops. Check out their sustainability ethics. If their standards are good use them, and since you could get there by foot you can also save on transport.

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

I have only read 27 pages of Karen Kingston’s book ~ Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui and so far it is obvious to me that what I said last week is true.   Although I have only ever read the occasional article here and there on Feng Shui, and even less on the relationship of Feng Shui to clutter, there are a lot of parallels between these teachings and what I have been conveying here at 365 Less Things since I began blogging about decluttering. The words “negative energy” or “stagnant energy” really have much the same meaning as the “unhealthy relationship”, that I have talked about, between people and their clutter. That tug of war, if you will, that exists between the sentimental or other attachment to our stuff while at the same time, whether knowingly or unknowingly, we feel oppressed by it. We want it to be gone but we can’t bring ourselves to break the ties it has on us.

In chapter 4 ~ What is Clutter Exactly, Karen names her four categories of clutter. Below in bold I have stated those categories and beside each I have given the version I have described over and over again here at 365 Less Things.

• Things you do not use or love = Things you keep only out of obligation, habit or fear.

• Things that are untidy or disorganised = Where you have so much stuff that you just can’t find the energy or how-to to get or stay organised.
• Too many things in too small a space = The parallel is obvious here.
• Anything unfinished = Aspiration clutter .

I do have to draw the line at believing that the history in the walls of a home can affect the new occupants, even without them being aware of that history. That is a little too hocus pocus for me. However I can already see, after reading so few pages, that this ancient practice and believe system does make it simple to describe the negatives feelings and connections to clutter, that I have at times struggled to convey in my writings. This paragraph from the book is a perfect example of that…

Having Clutter Can Keep You in the Past

When all your available space is filled with clutter, there is no room for anything new to come into your life. Your thoughts tend to dwell in the past, and you feel bogged down with problems which have dogged you for some time. You tend to look back rather than forward in your life, blaming the past for your current situation rather than taking responsibility for creating a better tomorrow. Clearing your clutter allows  you to begin to deal with your problems and move forward. You have to release the past to create a better tomorrow.

Although I tend to agree with this statement, I personally couldn’t so confidently confirm that decluttering your home will solve all your issues from your past, but it sure is a good place to start.

No doubt this book will continue to influence my blogging while I am reading through it and at the end I will do a full review of my thoughts on the book. For now though, I can plainly see the parallels of these ancient teachings and what I believe about clutter and I am eager to read more.

Today’s Mini Mission

Clean behind a piece of furniture that is against a wall. This job will, at the least, include making enough space in the room to be able to pull the item away from the wall so you can clean behind it. At worse, if the item contains breakable items or it has items resting on it you may have to remove them first. For the sake of this exercise, as clutter is the special subject here at 365, choose an item that does require emptying. It will make you think twice about whether you need or want to have to go to this much trouble every time you clean behind it. Keep in mind that in order to keep your home properly clean this task should happen at least quarter yearly.

Eco Tip for the Day

Making a nice big one pot meal takes no more time or energy than a smaller one, but it does save on effort and energy by creating leftovers meals.

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.

I have begun reading Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui – by Karen Kingston. I borrowed it from the library, of course. One thing she suggests you do to clear the stale energy from your home is clear away physical grime. It is only too easy to be oblivious to this grime even being there because, for the most part, our home look clean but it does lurk unnoticed nevertheless. Or worse still, we know it is there but ignore it. Therefore this weeks mini missions will revolve around cleaning some of those hidden, sometimes in plain view, places while noticing how clutter can contribute to that grime.

Monday – Dust your skirting boards either throughout the whole house or just in the most cluttered room. One thing I have noticed, while cleaning skirting boards, is the number of obstructions that get in the way of the task. Furniture would be the biggest culprit, but many other little bits and pieces can also get in the way. For example, in my walk-in wardrobe there are some things stored on the floor which obstruct my efforts in this area of cleaning. If you encounter a lot of these obstructions during this mission, consider whether you have way too many of them and if you can or are willing to do something about it.

Tuesday – Clean behind a piece of furniture that is against a wall. This job will, at the least, include making enough space in the room to be able to pull the item away from the wall so you can clean behind it. At worse, if the item contains breakable items or it has items resting on it you may have to remove them first. For the sake of this exercise, as clutter is the special subject here at 365, choose an item that does require emptying. It will make you think twice about whether you need or want to have to go to this much trouble every time you clean behind it. Keep in mind that in order to keep your home properly clean this task should happen at least quarter yearly.

Wednesday – Clean the outside of, and behind your fridge. If you have stuff on your fridge this will all have to come off first in order to do the job properly. If you have an old fashioned fridge with the element visible you should also gently vacuum this element. Once again this task ought to be executed about every three months and the less there is to move each time the easier the job will be.

Thursday – Empty and dust the most cluttered shelf in your home. This might be in a bookcase, a display cabinet, a shelf in your kitchen or even in your linen closet. Either way, doing this job will bring your attention to just how many items are on there, and may just inspire you to get rid of a few.

Friday – Empty, sort and clean out your cutlery drawer. In the last two houses I have lived in, the cutlery drawer has been right below the bread board. As a result crumbs get into the drawer. My children also had a tendency to go to this drawer for a pair of scissors to snip off the end of food packaging and then, as kids do, leave the snipped off piece in the drawer. Also twist ties and rubber bands tend to accumulate here. Being as we no longer eat much bread and the kids have left home I no longer have most of these problems. However this drawer still needs a good clean out every now and again.

Saturday – Dust around the frames of all of the wall art or photo frames you have hanging on the walls in your home. I do this at least every two weeks. A slightly damp microfibre cloth is the best tool I have found to do this job, as it will not only hold any dust it encounters but will also give the glass a nice polish. Glass on the walls can tend to get grimy over time if not wiped regularly.

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

Don’t throw perfectly good items in the trash just because it’s easier than taking it to the thrift store. Collect them up over time and do one big drop off or list them on Freecycle.org if you want to save yourself the bother of delivering them.

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

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.

Favourite Comments. Enjoy!

Here are one wise and one amusing comments left by dizzy this week.

And the Change post this week resulted in some great comments from… Melissa ~ Lucinda & Loretta

This comment is from a readers who had not commented before. Shelley welcome to 365 Less Things and thank you for sharing your story.

Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!

Here is a post for LucindaSans that tells about some decluttering inspire by Andréia, one of your fellow 365ers.

Here are two good links from Tony at We Do THis Only Once. Read them here and here

This post from The Change Blog ~ Facing Your Biggest Fears may be based on a situation much different to letting go of stuff but the principles can apply to both and many other scary situations.

Moni sent through this link to a great online resource for those readers in the USA looking for a place to donate your gently used unwanted stuff.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter excess plastic kitchen storage items. I have discovered that there is often just as many of these items waiting to be used as there are ones in use. This means to me that, for the most part, I have more than I really need or else the majority of them would be in service most of the time. I think it is time I gave a few more to my daughter.

Eco Tip For The Day

Plan ahead and get all the ingredients you need, for a recipe you are following, from the fridge at once, rather than opening and shutting it several times letting the cold air escape.

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

In Cindy’s post yesterday she talked a little about staging a home for selling purposes. This got me thinking two things ~ 1.) Why wait until you are about to sell before making your home look good. 2.) A home can look good without being impersonal such as they suggest in this staging process.

How nice would it be were your home in a state where it looks good enough to show people through at the drop of a hat while still having those personal touches that make it feel like home? Keeping in mind that people viewing a home, with the intent to buy, will look in your storage areas to see how they are configured.

Why wait to make your home look good for complete strangers while you live day to day in the inferior version of what your home could be? Don’t you deserve that much from yourself?

I have viewed a lot of homes in the last year with the intension that if we found one that was just right we would consider taking the plunge into actually buying a home to live in. Some of these homes have had occupants  whether owners or renters, who clearly weren’t too house proud, and I can tell you that among these I have seen some pretty scary examples of how not to present a home to the public eye.* There have also been some examples of homes that don’t appear to have been professionally staged but are uncluttered with enough personal possessions on display to give the property a peaceful homely feel. And we have also viewed homes that have been newly renovated and not lived in but have clearly been professionally staged for the viewing public.

What I have notice about these three examples is that one has to look past the mess to see the potential in the unkempt homes, while with the professionally staged homes it is very easy to see any shoddy workmanship in such a sterile environment. The homely, uncluttered, lived in, homes give you such an feeling of warmth that it is easy to miss the little imperfections because you could so see yourself living there. Which says to me that a uncluttered home with a reasonable amount of personal items is the ideal atmosphere for any family.

Does this kind of home sound like something you can aspire to? If so why not make that your ultimate declutter goal.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter small hardware items that have accumulated. Excess screws, nails, drywall plugs, used sandpaper, multiple allen keys, washers… .

Eco Tip for the Day

Get familiar with your local bus timetable because it is cheaper and better for the environment to take a bus rather than a taxi when necessary.

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