So today I was out and about with Wendy F and we had a wonderful time shopping and checking out the stuff on the sidewalks ready for bulk waste pickup. And yes I know what you are thinking ~ “What is someone, who writes about decluttering and being environmentally friendly, doing shopping and picking up junk off the sidewalks?”

First of all let me tell you that I bought nothing new and of course the stuff on the sidewalk wasn’t new either. So that is the environmentally friendly side taken care of. The items I purchased at the thrift shop were two reels of thread for a friend, some wooden clothes pegs for me to make some product for the art space, some small elastic bands I will use for merchandising at the thrift shop I volunteer at and a photo album to experiment with for a possible storage solution for my cutting dies. I also bought a shop display stand and some baskets for the art space I work at (secondhand from a shop that is closing down). And the items I picked up from the sidewalk were also intended as merchandise displays for the art space.

So as you can see I salvaged lots of stuff for all sorts of reasons other than bringing them home to clutter up my space. If it turns out they aren’t useful for my art space I will donate them to the other art spaces or the thrift shop so someone else can find a use for them. Better that than they get trashed. If there is one thing I enjoy as much as being creative it is repurposing other’s unwanted stuff.

I suppose it could be said that I put myself in a position to make use of things that otherwise might end up unused. And I can tell you that it is uncanny how “the universe provides”, which leads me to another point of this blog post and that is this…

Don’t ever worry about getting rid of things that you think you might need some day. Because, if you are like me, these things will just appear when you need them and for free or for very little cost. Maybe I am just lucky, or maybe I fortunate to have time to seek these things out, but one thing is for sure, they just seem to appear when I have a need for them. Or perhaps I should say a want. So when I feel that something is cluttering up my space, because I have no immediate use for it, it isn’t a hard decision to let it go.

So, as you can tell from my enthusiasm in this post, I had a fun filled day with Wendy F, finding all sorts of treasures that aren’t going to clutter up my home, that will help rather than cause harm to the environment and fill a need I might otherwise have had to spent a lot of money on, or go without. So never fear the old “I might need it some day monster” and let go of all that stuff that is no use to you now or in the near future.

Today’s Mini Mission

See if you can think of an item to declutter that you rarely if ever use, that you keep only because it is a society norm to have one in your home. I don’t have a coffee table, a barbecue, a handbag to match every outfit, eyeshadow or plastic wrap.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Eco Tip for the Day

Seek out secondhand items before resorting to buying new. If you have a little patience the thing you need will appear soon enough and much less expensive than buying new.

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

I had a reader back in the early days of my blog who seemed to have trouble letting go of her clutter. It wasn’t that she wanted to keep the stuff, or found it difficult to make the choices as to what to let go however she balked at getting on with the task. To me it was obvious that her problem was that she didn’t like seeing anything go to waste.

You see she was very eco friendly, to the point where it was a mission to throw nothing in the trash. And I think this noble goal interfered with her goal to rid her home of clutter. As you all know I am not a lover of waste myself and do what I can to refuse, reuse, reduce and recycle.  In a way I am pleased to say that 99.9% of what I have decluttered has been rehoused, reused, recycled or repurposed. Pleased, because I didn’t just have a house full of trash but sorry that I had so much useful-to-someone-else stuff sitting around unused for long periods of time.

And just because some things don’t work as they should doesn’t mean they aren’t useful to someone. Below are my suggestions on how to deal with such items.

The best way I found to pass on items that have faults is to list them on freecycle or local buy-swap-&-sell or similar web sites, utilise the curb side giveaway method or word of mouth. Explain the fault/s clearly and allow people to decide for themselves if they care or even possibly have the ability to repair them. Through the avenues mentioned above I decluttered all of the following items.

1. All the parts to my malfunctioning Kenwood mixer, then gave the mixer to the last guy who came along who was keen to dabble with it to see if he could get it working or use the parts.
2. The hutch section of a buffet and hutch to a guy who did cabinet making as a hobby. He had a use for the parts and wood while I had a use for the buffet. Everyone was happy. He even asked to let me know if I ever wanted to part with the matching coffee table. I eventually did and he paid me $40 for it.
3. I advertised a lamp, which was unwired, on freecycle and a lady took it with the hope that her electrician son would rewire it for her.
4. I put a trampoline on the street with a FREE sign on it. It needed some restitching but everything else about it was great. It disappeared quickly.
5. I gave an old vacuum cleaner, whose insulation was degrading and blowing out through the air vent, to a lady who was sure she could either clean it up or use the parts.
6. I sole an iRobot vacuum cleaner for parts on ebay.

And these were just the items I could remember in a hurry.

There is usually someone out there who can find a use for things, working or not. Should it not work out for them you will be non the wiser and be happy that you did your best to find a new home for the item. And the stuff that no one wants may just have to end up in the bin. Just remember it is just stuff after all and possibly not wise purchases in the first place. Let it go and learn from the experience. You will hopefully just be a bit more discerning about what to purchase in the future.  Some, on the other hand, are well used items that might just have come to the end of their usefulness and there is certainly no shame in throwing them away.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter your handbag so it is easy to find what you need in there when you need it.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

I received this story from Claire at the bottom of a long list of comments to Wednesday’s post. It is a cautionary tale of a near catastrophe all in the attempt to save some meaningless stuff. She learned more than one lesson through this experience. One is don’t risk your neck to save something far less important, and the other, sometimes you must make a choice of what is more important in your life. In her case the choice was pets or stuff likely to be damaged by said pets. Here is what Claire wrote.

“Colleen, I have a decluttering story I don’t know where to post but knew someone here would appreciate!  It goes along with a recent comment where we were discussing how many vases we all have in a different post.  I remarked that we have five vases that I could think of and could probably get rid of one or two of those.  

Well, last night at 11 pm my cats decided to chase each other onto the dining room table which they have done several times since I have been letting them play together (one is 2 years old and one is 6 months).  I have two matching vases on the dining room table – I used to have three but the 2 year old knocked one off when he was 6 months old…..and then there were two.

Well, as you can guess the cats knocked over both vases last night and I spun around from the kitchen sink to see this and ran into the dining room, about a distance of only 10 ft.  The vases were rolling across the dining table – when I bit the dust and slipped on our polished concrete floors.  I landed on my leg, rear and bad arm.  Thankfully my husband was running in from the other room and caught both vases before they hit the concrete.  I sat on the floor another 5 minutes laughing and crying.  It was pretty comical – if it hadn’t hurt so much!  I’m lucky to be just a bit sore today but I cringe at how close I came to hitting my head on the stone countertop or corner of the glass dining table.  

Here’s the decluttering part – I KNEW this would happen!  I knew someday the cats would knock over one or more of those vases again and just assumed that at most I would lose another vase and would have to clean up 1,000 pieces of pottery from the concrete floor. That would have been bad enough.  But I didn’t calculate that one or two of us would be risking our neck to run to catch them.  Something told me when the first one broke that the others were an accident waiting to happen, I should have gotten rid of them then.  So last night, when I finally got up off the floor, I put both of those vases in a box in the give away pile!  Bummer is, I still think they are pretty and really like them!  They are just too unstable for a house with cats.  Lesson is, I guess, what you think might happen probably will, and might even come with a consequence or two that you didn’t imagine!  Stuff isn’t worth a broken bone or worse……”

Have you ever encountered a clash between lifestyle choices and your home setup ~ pets and breakables on display, kids and pale carpet, allergies and furnishings, furniture and floorspace, kitchen gadgets and cupboard space, fashion and closet size, husband and decor choices (ha ha), laziness and tidiness, convenience and order… .  No matter what the situation there are choices to be made. We need to decide what is more important to us and then take the necessary steps to act of those choices. For Claire it was the cats, the vases or be prepared to clean up the mess rather than risk life and limb the next time the cats are up to mischief. I sure, she loves the cats, and it is hard not to act on impulse in the face of calamity so the safest thing to do was to declutter the vases. Yes she could store them in a cupboard somewhere, but for what? To bring them out when there are flowers to display and add extra potential mess to the inevitable. I don’t think so.

So be realistic about what is most important to you. There are always compromised to be made. Consider all those compromises when choosing what to keep in your home. I know I would choose piece of mind over stuff any day.

Today’s Mini Mission

If you have stuff stored under beds in your home take a look and see if you can find something there to declutter.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

I talk a lot about freeing up space in cupboards, closets, shelves and floors. No one ever seems to have questioned me as to what all this space is being freed up for. What is the point in having empty spaces on shelves or floor space that could hold furniture to store or organise all your stuff.

Given that you don’t need to declutter anything if you don’t want to then I could understand why this would come into question. However you wouldn’t even be entertaining the thought of decluttering if being cluttered was working for you.

One thing for sure, that I have mentioned before, is that everything we own requires some sort of maintenance. So the more we own the more effort we have to put in to caring for our stuff. If we aren’t doing that our homes would be a pigsty and some of our stuff will perish prematurely from lack of care. This explains why less stuff is less bother, but it still doesn’t answer the question ~ Why free up space when it is there to be used?.

I have two answers to that question.

Firstly. Even the spaces where we keep our stuff needs maintenance. The dust, grime and wear and tear of everyday life needs to be kept in check in order to retain a clean and functional environment to live in. So the less stuff cluttering up these spaces the easier it is to remove it in order to clean and repair the hardworking surfaces underneath. And also, the less punishment those surfaces endure due to a lighter load the less overall maintenance they will need. The end result being ~ less labour and or less expense.

And my second, but no less important, reason for freeing up space is that the less stuff crammed into a space the easier it is to find and retrieve what you need from it. Once again this saves time and energy. It is so much easier to organise, and maintain organisation, in a space that isn’t jam packed with stuff. The minute you start piling things high and deep, that aren’t exactly the same, time is added to the retrieval process. And likewise, the difficulty returning items will add to the likelihood of messiness taking hold.

It makes me wonder sometime why cupboards, particularly in the kitchen, are build so deep. Pantries are often poorly designed for their function. Designed for maximum storage yes but functionality no.

Could I cram more stuff into the cupboards in my house? Sure I could. Do I want to do that and make life difficult for myself? No, absolutely not. And I especially don’t want to do it with a whole pile of stuff that would get used very seldom. The funny twist to this story is that a lot of what was cluttering up my home in the past was stuff designed to make my work load lighter. But in actual fact it was adding to the problem not solving it.

Life is much simpler for me now and it can be for you too.

Today’s Mini Mission

Tuesday – Declutter small clothing items that you kept just in case when you last purchased new ones. Underwear, socks, Tshirts etc.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Eco Tip for the Day

Use fewer and less chemicals in your home. I cleaned my whole apartment today. I used a commercially made toilet cleaner and my homemade surface cleaner (made from lemon, vinegar, water and a couple of squirts of biodegradable dishwashing liquid. I could probably even make a toilet cleaner if I put my mind to it, but I use so little of it that I don’t concern myself too much over it. For the floors I only use a microfibre mop and water. Not only is is effective but it is also cheap. Being eco friendly can actually save money when it comes to cleaning. Look around you at airports and shopping centres and you might just notice that the cleaning services are starting to adopt these practices. Not just for the sake of the environment I bet.

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

First of all, HELLO my faithful readers, I have missed you all and am glad to be back at the keyboard. We have had a wonderful vacation and are back in the land down under, although I am not exactly home. But that is another story. I look forward to interacting with my readers again and actually write some new posts. I have had a few experiences during my travels that have given me fodder for articles.

Oh my! One thing that was very apparent during my travels was how much people clutter up their mobility. To me being freely mobile is key to efficient and carefree travel and it just blows my mind how complicated people make it for themselves. This is achieved by bringing too much and acquiring too much on their journey. Often complete strangers, even check-in personnel, ask “Is that all your luggage?” or “Do you have any bags to check?”. Our yes or no is usually received with astonishment and the response of “I wish I could travel like that.” to which we tend to respond with “You could.”

My husband and I always pack our luggage to make it possible to carry-on, therefore there is no chance our belongings will be lost, we always have access to it and we never have to wait around for it. This is the case no matter how long our vacation. To us travel is merely a series of five day periods. We take enough supplies to cover about seven days and make a point of washing every five days when possible. This can be achieved even when traveling through varying weather, if you pack the right layers. With modern materials warm clothes can be as light weight as summer clothes so variety without bulk or weight is very achievable.

When we set off on our journeys we pack as few liquid toiletries as possible and then buy what we need at the other end. This helps keep our backpacks as light as possible and streamlines the airport security process. We share deodorant, toothpaste, a razor, shampoo, hair brush… and I bring the bare minimum of makeup and a tiny vial of perfume. To me, travel isn’t a beauty contest, although I must say my hair is often worse for wear by the time I get home. Not everyone can bring themselves to pack and live this way but we are all entitled to add whatever complications we chose to impose on ourselves for the sake of vanity and “convenience”. Best to choose wisely though which is what this post is all about.

As a result of our light packing we never have to deal with the crazed luggage carousel battle. I call it that because all polite society rules seem to go out the door in this area of an airport. Would it not make sense if all weary travellers would stay behind some imaginary line until their bag actually appears in sight? Yes, but is that what happens? No! As a result those whose bags are there to be retrieved have to navigate, sometimes futilely, through people, doing nothing but waiting, meanwhile their bags may have traveled right on by leaving them to wait for another rotation.

At about the five week mark of our six week vacation., even though acquiring some new clothing, two pairs of shoes and a small assortment of hobby/craft items along the way, my husband and I were still in the position of being able to carry on our luggage. However at this point our small family was about to converged for our son’s wedding in Las Vegas. We had promised to take the bride and groom’s extra (wedding) luggage home with us so they didn’t have to carry it for the honeymoon portion of their journey. Hence we had to endure the luggage carousel debacle at the end of our journey in Sydney Airport. Through the fog annoyance of this task I find myself constantly amused by the struggles of travellers trying to arranging their teetering piles of bags on airport trollies. I know it was wrong to be even slightly amused when one lady dropped her bag holding two bottles of duty-free alcohol but I just couldn’t help myself.

The drawback of our style of travel packing is that one can get somewhat weary of the same clothes over and over again during the journey. The trick is to pack to mix and match, so that even though the items are the same the combination is different. Just a little trick to make you feel like you have some style variety. And on that note, chose your most liked and yet comfortable pieces.

I am actually sitting in yet another airport as I write this. I am heading off to visit my parents as my father has been very ill while I was away. As I look around me I see many more examples of heavy packing, even with people carry-on. I am constantly surprised as to why more people aren’t stopped at the gate because their carry-on items exceed the limit in number and size. I don’t suppose the situation will change anytime soon but at least I do know the I at least am following the rules of carriage and etiquette and making it easy on myself in the process.

One thing I also observed was that keeping your gear together and organised is much easier the fewer items you pack. Overpacking and disorganisation often results in a mad scrambling to find important documents and items during sometimes already stressful times. It can also result in the loss of items.

Just to finish off this post I would like to add a list of travel rules of etiquette that I notice are constantly violated everywhere I go. If everyone would observe these rules when traveling the experience would be far more pleasant for all. I f you have any of your own suggestions to add to this list please feel free to send them though in the comments.

1. When walking busy streets keep to the same side you would drive on in that location. This rule is rarely adhered to and causes a lot of angst. In fact the thought to do this doesn’t even occur to most people, hence the messy confusion and frustration. If we all observed this rule everywhere, including our own town or neighbourhoods life would be that little bit simpler.

2. When walking busy streets in groups keep to no more than double file.  Even as a couple my husband and I often form a simple file behind each other on busy streets. Not only are there people walking towards you but there can also be people, that you a completely oblivious to, approaching from behind in a hurry to go places. You may be on vacation but they may have important business to attend to.

3. Keep your carry on luggage volume within the restrictions. There is only so much allotted space in the overhead luggage compartments for each person. Greedy space grabbing can cause great inconvenience for someone else. And also remember only your larger bag goes into the overhead bin while any other personal items you are carrying should go in or under the seat in front on you.

4. Only join the boarding line when your row number has been called. This rule rarely seems to be adhered to making the board process less efficient which adversely effects everyones comfort and possibly travel time. It isn’t adhered to mostly because of the grab for that overhead storage space mentioned above.

Keep it simple and happy travels.

Today’s Mini Mission

Most people’s linen closets are chock full of “I might need it linens”. Be realistic about what is necessary and what is just variety. Declutter some of the variety that is just wasting space.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

A few years ago I began the task of digitising our family photos. I used a service to digitise our negatives and was making great inroads arranging our photos in year and month folders, when I ran into two problems.

One, my external hard drive was knocked off the desk by the cat and all was lost. Fortunately my brother-in-law had copied about 3/4 onto his computer while preparing a digital photo frame for the grandparents but I have the tedious task of working out just what is missing.

The second problem is that around that time my decluttering unearthed two shoe boxes worth of photos that could be duplicates, copies given by friends, ones removed from the original photo albums and even envelopes of photos obviously unopened after being developed.

At the time the project was interrupted and I decided to focus my attention on my decluttering over the household rather than a storage bin filled with photo boxes, negatives, CD’s, albums etc.

Over the last two years this storage bin has been relocated around the house a number of times, awaiting a time when I could re-visit this project uninterrupted. I’m not entirely sure that time is now, but I do know that the storage bin is now sitting in my garage beside my computer desk.

I’m confident that when I re-begin this project I will be thorough and eventually we will have all the photos sorted and a digital set for safe keeping but in the meantime it really is a disorganised muddle.

What I am not so sure about is what happens to the originals – I don’t think I want them destroyed. But on the other hand I don’t want a library of albums either and I am not keen on scrap booking or decoupage. I’m confident my teenagers won’t want their baby and childhood photos displayed around the house. I am also a bit cautious of relying solely on technology.

Now that the negatives have been digitised onto CD’s, can the negatives be hiffed?

Our photos include a few copies of great grandparents and the odd great great grand parent, I am thinking of having those made into a photo book so information can be saved for future generations. However the bulk of our photos are of our children up until the advent of the digital camera.

I am interested in knowing if any 365ers have tackled a similar project and what gems of wisdom they could share with me or any clever advancements in technology that could help.

Today’s Mini Mission

Grab a file of paper that needs sorting and take care of that while watching television. You could also use this time to sort printed photos.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Friday again and another weeks almost gone by and also another month. It seems like just yesterday that we moved into our apartment, but in fact that was nearly nine months ago. And with every day that passes by we love living here even more.

One thing I have noticed about our new uncluttered, downsized life is that stuff tends to flow through our home now rather than come to rest, or stuff come to rest while something else flows out. I am pleased to say that much of that has been preloved, so there has been no buyers guilt attached.

I wouldn’t say that the apartment is fine tuned to the point that we can sit back and simply enjoy it. However that would probably be boring anyway. Life has a tendency to cause things to crop up that force you to make changes.

Anyway back to the point of this post, and that is the flow through. The something in something out strategy is working well for us. And I am still constantly on the lookout for items that are sitting idle that count for something out nothing in. Then there are the things that get used up and not replaced or at the very least only replaced when used up. Some items have been found not to work so well in our new space and have been changed out or eliminated. And my husband has semi retired so reduced the number of work uniforms he keeps. And although I sometimes acquire a new craft tool or materials there are more things going out in this area than coming in.

So as you see, because of this flow through of stuff,  it is unlikely that my home would become cluttered again.

Are you having the same success of stopping clutter from building up, or are you fighting a continuous battle.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that you just haven’t used in a long time. Perhaps some sort of craft item that you imagined you could create something wonderful with but haven’t. Or perhaps a kitchen item that never was overly useful.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

Life is, at the very least, punctuated with stressful periods. For some there are no end of stressors almost 24/7 365 days of the year. Mostly this is caused by the complications of life. Past history, current hassles, work obligations, financial issues, family, illness… Boy, this is making me feel depressed just writing about it and my life is quite sweet for the most part.

The one thing I have learned from my decluttering experience is that simplification is the key. The more you own the more you have to take care of. The more work the is required from you. And all that acquiring means less savings in the bank when needed. Add that to all the other stressors and things can get really ugly.

What could be worse than a sudden health issue just when your rent has gone up and you have to take unpaid time off work. I’ll tell you what could be worse, and that is being surrounded by a messy, cluttered home when you are in the thick of it. During times of stress it is a wonderful thing to have a welcoming haven to return to at the end of the day. A welcoming place to cocoon yourself in to recuperate.

Sometimes when life is going well for you it can go to hell for someone close to you and you need to step in to help. Once again it is nice to feel free to be able to do that because things are simplified in your life.

Either way it is best to live by the Boy Scout motto of be prepared. I have found myself in both situations in recent years on several occasions and I have been able to step up to the plate at the drop of a hat. When my son had his accident, when I was having health issues, when my father went into hospital, when my daughter came home at short notice, in the last couple of weeks when I dashed off to help my friend with her move.

So don’t leave it until life happens to realise that you should get your own nest into shape. Get started now so that when things hit the fan you at least can be sure of is a place or peace and serenity to recharge in.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item that brings you unnecessary feelings of sadness whenever you lay eyes on it.

“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown

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.

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

Of late I have been getting the felling that maybe there is more stuff coming into my home than there is going out or being used up. Typically craft supplies is my biggest area of concern. Stuff regularly goes out in this area but some stuff does come in, through generous friends and because I am continually experimenting with new ideas, and then there are the supplies that have to be restocked (adhesives, white card stock etc). But there are also other areas of the house where items have also come in, perfume from a good friend, new glass spice container to replace the plastic ones (which are now at auction on eBay), medications, paperwork (not too much of this), some free baskets from the side walk to deck out my laundry… and so on.

For the most part items being replaced are soon parted with when I attend my weekly trip to the thrift shop. Other items, such at the perfume I already had are close to being used up while some things, like paperwork, are dealt with periodically. However I am a busy lady. Mostly doing stuff I love but busy nonetheless, and it is very easy to begin to lose track of whether or not my belongings are keeping under control.

So today, inspired by Sanna’s challenge I decided to start going through each, drawer cupboard, closet, side table and basket in the house to make sure no clutter is building up. A stocktake so to speak. Later in the week I will be posting a photo pictorial of the items I have decluttered, but I am glad to say that so far I haven’t really unearthed much. But I am acquiring the peace of mind that my suspicions of clutter build-up were, for the most part, unfounded. Mind you I haven’t got into the closet where those craft supplies are yet. But any outstanding project I find there will be getting a deadline for completion or will be sent to the thrift shop.

This is what I call maintenance decluttering. Staying ahead of the clutter so that it doesn’t build up again. Mind you I have noticed some small spaces opening up around in drawers and closets lately, despite my suspicions, which also leads me to think I am concerning myself about nothing. But you know me, if there isn’t some maintenance needed there is always a little bit of lifestyle change clutter that rises to the surface that I am only too happy to expel from the premises.

Have you got to the maintenance stage yet? If so be vigilant so your home remains decluttered. Doing a regular sweep through, which shouldn’t be hard given the work you have already done, is well advised.

Today’s Mini Mission

 Declutter any outdoor pet related items that are ready for the trash.

Eco Tip for the Day

Know where to send spent batteries and printer cartridges for recycling. My Library takes the batteries and the local office supply the cartridges. Do you know where to send yours?

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

Hello everyone!

How are your challenges going?

My original 3-week’s challenge has ended, but I will keep going for another week as it has only now begun to get a little harder and I’d like to find some more hidden clutter to get rid of. The pace is getting a little challenging meanwhile, but I will do it for the rest of July!

For me, it has been a success so far. I kept decluttering my 20 things a day and even got rid of some more (all together another week’s worth). Mostly sewing supplies, photos, paper and office supplies had to go, but I also got rid of the odd item of clothing, dishware and a couple of books.

Meanwhile, the difference is visible. I could fit some more stuff (wool stack, photos,…) into our cabinet in the living room and alongside with the other decluttering opened up quite some space in our storage/laundry room that way.

Most things I got rid of weren’t valuable at all and I made excessive use of a cardboard box with a “for free” sign on the sidewalk. Pens, pencils, jewel cases, file binders and other doodads found a new home that way. Most of my sewing supplies went to a friend who will make good use of them and a couple of other items went to the charity shop. A couple of broken things went straight to the bin. Despite my frequent decluttering, all the stuff was not only drawn from their hiding places but actually also sent on its way to a new home.

I feel really great about having done this challenge (although I’m not quite done as I mentioned! 😉 ). My home is not perfect now, especially as I have to sort through my paper work and also give my computer a good declutter. But – and it’s a big “but” – the clutter spreading in the apartment has really slowed down. Things don’t spill as easily from drawers or cupboards, I got rid of almost all underused items that have been here as a back up of my favourites and only cought dust (e.g. my second hair brush) and I’m down to much more reasonable numbers of “use it up” supplies.

I think, it’s astonishing quite how many items I could so easily let go. After all, I have been decluttering for years and most of the items I got rid of in the last weeks have been there from the very start. More than 500 completely unnecessary items went and to see how relatively small the impact was nonetheless made me realize just how many items must be around still. So, no matter that we are just living in an apartment and probably own less than many other people, there was still a whole lot of stuff I can’t even remember the minute I got rid of it. So, I will continue in this pace for July and after that continue decluttering on a daily basis, though one item will be fine as well. The new state of the apartment feels so much better than before and I think strapping another 500 or so items will do only good!

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter a few pieces of jewellery that you no longer find the desire to adorn yourself with.

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