When I began decluttering it was all about downsizing to fit into a smaller home. However it didn't take long to realise that decluttering resulted in simplicity. Here are some ways in which my life has become simpler due to my decluttering. Decluttering displayed items means less dusting making housework simpler. Decluttering items inside cupboards and drawers makes it simpler to keep them organised and tidy. Less stuff in general makes it simpler to keep an entire home tidy. And when the house is tidier it is also simpler to clean the surfaces because there is less stuff to move … [Read more...]
Know yourself, know your clutter.
Way back at the start of my declutter journey it was obvious that my craft collection of tools and materials was way out of hand. Especially since I hardly bothered to find the time to use them. So I set about deciding which tools I used and which ones I didn't and which materials I didn't like so much. Separating the wheat from the chaff so to speak. As you can see there is a vast difference between the before and after shots above. But this didn't happen overnight. It happened gradually through several sorting sessions to decide what I use, what I don't and what I thought I never … [Read more...]
This goes with this goes with this goes with that…
Have you ever noticed how when you buy something it requires you to buy something else to go with it. You buy a new dress and then decide you need shoes to match. You buy a new cookbook and realise you need some extra utensils and ingredients to make the recipes. You buy a piece of sporting equipment and you need to by a storage bag, another piece of equipment, maintenance equipment and supplies. You buy a leather garment and you need leather conditioner. You buy a bike and need a pump, an oil can, a helmet and a basket... I could go on and on about this for hours. And the same goes to … [Read more...]
The Great Unveiling
Today I want to share with you photos of my new home. It is a work in progress but I am sure you will agree that we have slotted in fairly well so far. However my photography leaves a little to be desired. We are constantly decluttering and reshuffling and it is coming together nicely. This Friday we take possession of a secondhand 70s sideboard which will replace my craft cubes that have been serving as our TV cabinet since we moved in. Two of the cubes will go into my kitchen cupboards while two others in the spare room wardrobe will be decluttered to make room for the paper file drawer … [Read more...]
No Regrets
On our daily walks by the beach my husband and I pass by a little rock pool area. As we walked by the other day I wondered something of Steve that not one minute later he put into words ~ "Do you sometimes regret decluttering the snorkelling gear?" After laughing and telling him I had just wondering if he though that, my unreserved response was no. You see we had had that snorkelling gear for at least twenty years when I finally decluttered it. It hadn't been used for about nineteen of those twenty years. The fact is that if I hadn't began this declutter mission, and let go of all the things … [Read more...]
Efficiency v Plastics
There was a lot of chatter generated yesterday about an overabundance of plastic containers. It seems most of us still have an excess of these. In a bid to reduce food items in both the fridge and pantry due to my long vacation and impending move late last year, I have become very efficient at catering, shopping and using up leftovers to the point where my need for plastic containers has become greatly reduce. I mostly shop for fresh produce, meat and dairy these days from which there is very little waste. Any leftovers are soon devoured. I have also eliminated several baking items in my … [Read more...]
Owning your life skill ~ By Doodle
One of our long time regular readers Doodle has kindly agreed to help out here at 365 by writing a blog post for me every other Wednesday. Today is her first regular post although not the first she has contributed. She has become quite the expert on the subject of decluttering over the years and I am sure you will all be able to learn a lot from her. Welcome Doodle and thank you for your contributions, past, present and future. Owning your life skill The biggest reason I owned too much stuff, was I just never realised I didn’t have to. It was as simple as that: getting rid of stuff as a … [Read more...]
Cindy’s weekly Wisdom ~ A Study of Clutter
I read this great little post the other day - 46 ways to increase your happiness. Of course, I wasn't surprised at all to find that reducing clutter was on the list (number 31). I followed the link to the summary of a University of California Los Angeles study about "crushing"number of possessions in the households of 32 Los Angeles families. I highly recommend you read the whole article and examine the photos. I'm going to highlight some of the portions that struck me as particularly important. First of all, only we know what goes on it our home; only we can tell (or hide) the truth about … [Read more...]
An Update On ~ Five Items I Won’t Declutter
Way way back on Day 258 of my decluttering journey I wrote this post on five items I won't declutter. Today I am writing an update on that post. Pictured below are the five items in question. So which of these items do I still own that I would never part with. The Flour Sifter ~ As I have mentioned previously was decluttered. It left on the 19th Oct, 2012. As I mentioned in this post I decided I no longer needed it, either for practical or sentimental reasons. The Can Opener ~  This I still have. It serves me well and I have no need to replace it with some new fancy modern equivalent. … [Read more...]
Guest Post from Andréia ~ One benefit of being decluttered
"I have appreciated my decluttering efforts when having a party, as I wrote before, but never thought I would be finding myself appreciating them in illness. Recently I had health problems that forced me to do some bed rest. I have two young children, so it was only a “kind of†bed rest. However I did not have much energy and the little energy I had was devoted to the children, in the time I had to care for them alone, and not the house. As you may all imagine, the house was left “to its own devicesâ€. After one week of me doing nothing (my husband washed the dishes everyday) I decided … [Read more...]