I received a comment form Shirls a while back which started out like this…

Aah Colleen, will I ever get as far along the declutter road as you?

The short answer is ~ If you believe it, it will be so. It may not happen overnight but it will happen.

The long answer is ~ I thought I would be finished decluttering and have moved on to the maintenance decluttering phase before my first 365 days were up. And perhaps that would have been the case if I hadn’t continually moved my goal posts along the way. When I first started out I would never have thought I would get rid of some of the stuff that is now long gone. At times I do wonder when enough will be enough but I am not the least bit concerned when that will be.

As the title of this post states Rome wasn’t built in a day, if it had been it would be a very small collection of buildings. As I am sure it was for the builders of Rome I began with a plan in mind but really didn’t have a fixed idea of what the end result would be. Then as time worn on my plans expanded to new areas I hadn’t considered delving into and they continue to evolve as time goes by.

Where you end up on this journey is entirely up to you. What is far enough for you might be too far for me and vis versa. Never mistake someone else’s goals for your own or even strive to keep up their pace. So long as you keep moving forward at your own speed until you reach your finish line you are doing just fine. You can also speed up and slow down to suit you own time frame.

So keep at it and don’t give up and I am sure that all in good time you will realise the fruits of your labour and realise you have arrived at the end of your journey.

Today’s Declutter Item

What use is a gorgeous vintage necklace if I never wear it? Best to sell it on ebay and give someone else the pleasure of using it. Sold for $10

Gorgeous Vintage Necklace

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Rocky Road ice cream ~ Now who wouldn’t be grateful for that. The one I am eating has chocolate coated peanuts in it. M Mmmmmm!

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Household Tiny Stuff

I received the following comment from Coonie on Tuesday and since this is the theme for this week’s mini missions I thought I should slip in a post about it before the week is up.

Coonie’s Comment

Hello! “Tiny stuff de-cluttering” is just what I needed. I am very organized and reduce clutter all the time, but “tiny” things elude me! All my tiny things are labeled and in containers (lol) I would love it if you could focus on this a while…name all the tiny things and what do you ask/tell yourself to reduce “the stash.” Help me know how many is too many and why not keep and store them if I have the space? I think my view definitely comes from raised in scarcity—but things aren’t scarce now. Thanks for your blog.

Firstly Coonie, well done containerising and labelling your tiny things. Working in the thrift store we often receive donations of kids games many of which have all parts missing. These toys are next to useless to us in this condition. My kids toys never had parts missing because all the small pieces were kept in ziplock bags or plastic containers and the kids were taught to take care of them.

As for “why not keep and store them if I have the space?” I would suggest that if your tiny stuff is of no consequence to you clutter wise then leave it well enough alone. Personally though I find every inch of ground gamed from something that isn’t being used or is overstocked in my home is a small victory in the war on clutter. Back on May 21st last year I wrote a Simple Saturday post about my stationery drawer declutter which just goes to prove how little things can add up to a lot of wasted space. When writing that post I was attempting to reduce yet again the amount of stuff cluttering up my craft space. And now after several more sessions of removing tiny items, small items and some bigger stuff from that area I have managed to declutter two sets of plastic drawers which took up about five square feet of space.

Tiny stuff tends to come in four categories. 1. Stuff that your actually use but is a little overstocked and can be used up in a reasonable amount of time if you put your mind to it. For example travel size shampoo, motel soaps etc. 2. Stuff that is rarely used but so numerous that it would take years to use up. Like the hundred or more paperclips, thumb tacks and rubber bands I decluttered last year. 3. Items that grown in number due to replacing them because you couldn’t find them when you needed them, such as Allen keys, and nail clippers. And 4. Items that you just keep buying more of because you want to. Like little trinkets, jewellery, fashion accessories etc

My guide when it comes to tiny stuff is if you aren’t using it it’s clutter. For example if you have a box of 100 paperclips and you use about six in a year then keep about a dozen (and that is probably too many) and get rid of the rest. The same goes for most of the little things you will find on the list below. Observe for a while how often you use these things and adjust how many you have in proportion to how many you will use over perhaps one year. As for the small items that accumulate due to being misplaced the best method to keep track of them is to always put them back in the same place. I know that rule sounds fundamental but it isn’t a rule always observed. Once you have this down pat you can safely declutter the excess. As for the “I just want them” things, declutter the ones you no long want or are useless due to damage on a regular basis. If you still want them they aren’t clutter.

Don’t buy tiny items in bulk just because it appears to make economic sense unless you share the cost and the quantity with a friend or family member. Such as make-up sponges, Post-it note pads, boxes of staples, pens etc. If the shared quantity is still too many give the rest away to other loved ones. It is so tempting to buy 1000 of something when it only cost one and a half times as much as 100 but then you are stuck with them for what seems like an eternity and they take up four times as much space as the smaller quantity would have. Keep in mind some items perish and become useless if left unused for an extended period of time.

Tiny Things

• Jewellery ~ Necklaces, earrings, brooches, pins, tie pins, cufflinks, bracelets, bangles, watches…
• Stationery ~ pens, pencils, markers, paperclips, rubber bands, post-it notes pads, bookmarks…
• Toileties ~ Samples, travel size, make-up items, nail clippers, nail files, cotton balls, make-up sponges…
• Hardware ~ Nails, screws, nuts, bolts, rivets, washers, picture hooks, Allen keys…
• Kitchenware ~ corn holders, skewers, muffin/cupcake papers, cutlery, twist ties…
• Sewing equipment ~ Pins, needles, buttons, clips, cotton reals, machine bobbins, safety pins…
• Household items other ~ Keys, key rings, zip ties, …
• Craft ~ Beads, findings, embellishments, stamps, buttons, tacks, picture clippings, off cuts of wood and paper…

Ways to dispose of

• Jewellery ~ Give to friends or loved ones, donate or sell, Freecycle.
• Stationary ~ Donate to a local school, thrift shop or take into your work place to be used up.
• Toiletries ~ Most of these can be used up and not repurchased. Make-up should be thrown away if out of date. I would not advise giving it to someone else. Excess clippers, files and applicators could be shared among friends, preferably unused.
• Hardware ~ Donate, offer to a neighbour, friend or family member, give to your handman the next time he calls to repair something, Freecycle in batches.
• Kitchenware ~ Donate, offer to friends or family, freecycle, sell on ebay if worth the effort.
• Sewing equipment ~ Put together in a kit and donate to the thrift store or to your local highschool or a local craft group.
• Household items ~ In the case of old keys they can probably be recycled. Another useful stuff could be donated or Freecycled.
• Craft Items ~ Schools, craft groups, thrift store, local craft shop who runs classes, sell on ebay.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is an example of decluttering little things. It may not look like much but just because it isn’t being used by us doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be useful to someone else. For every little thing hiding away in your home unused someone else is having to buy new. Send them out there where they can be useful. And all the little things add up to a much bigger waste of space in your home than you would think.

Decluttering Little Things

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Getting rid of a batch if things to the thrift store and the craft store up the street. It is one thing to decide and divide but the clutter disappearing act is the best part. “Hey Presto!”

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

The departure point, the staging area, the sorting space… whatever you want to call it, having one certainly makes decluttering more organised. This is the space where your chosen ones, that is the items you want to get rid of are moved to prior to their final departure from your home. This makes the initial decision making precess easier without the complication of dealing with an immediate removal. The system works like this…

1. Chose an item you no longer which to have cluttering up your home.
2. Remove it from the space where it usually lingers.
3. Place it in the departure point until you are ready to do whatever it takes to rid it from your home.
4. At the appropriate time you move these items on to their next destination. Which might be a car boot sale, a thrift shop, to the post office for mailing to its ebay highest bidder, to a friends house etc etc.

Choosing your departure point

I try to limit my departure point to one particular area, which for me is a shelf in the garage. I have a spacious two car garage but not everyone is that fortunate. If you live in an apartment or small home you may want to use a shelf in a cupboard, a box by the front door, a space in your laundry or even the trunk of your car. Due to space restraints or convenience it may be wiser for you to have one place for donations and a different place for items you wish to sell and another for items you are handing on the a friend or relative. Perhaps you’ll even want a place to store items you have separated from the herd, so to speak, in order to decide whether you are really ready to part with them. It is entirely up to you but I really think it is helpful to choose your space or spaces and stick to it/them for the sake of good organisation.

The area your departure point takes up will vary depending on..

• How much space you have to begin with.
• How large or numerous your declutter items usually are.
• How many categories you wish to separate them into. This might be sell, donate, return or give to family or friend, for consideration.
• Whether you share your space with other people that may or may not be family members.
• How often you can get to your donation point.
• If you bother to sell items or just give them away.

My garage shelf has two boxes and some extra space for larger items that don’t fit in the boxes. One box is for donations, one is for items I plan to sell. Naturally things that are past being useful bypass the departure point and go straight into their respective bins, either garbage or recycling.

The items I am considering decluttering but haven’t fully committed to yet get put in either the sell or donate box depending on what I am likely to do with them if I decide to declutter them permanently.

My designated clutter departure point

To be honest though, due to me performing a little reshuffle in my craft room while around the same time my husband and son both did a some decluttering of their own my departure points have spread all over the place at the moment. My situation is complicated by the fact that I photograph everything for my blog. This a an example of why slow decluttering is much less messy.

Decluttering gone wild

In a nut shell. Decide on an area to store your clutter prior to its ultimate departure. This keeps your rejected items neatly rounded up and away from your keepers until you donate, sell or rehouse them. Then when the time is convenient send them on to their final destination out of your house. Then revel in the joy of living with less while you continue to divide and conquer.

Today’s Declutter Item

Once you learn to digitise most of your paperwork you find you don’t need all the stationary that goes with it. So this three hole punch is off to the thrift shop.

Three Hole Punch

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Being as this is the first week of the new year I have decided to put together a basic everyday decluttering post for those who have stumbled onto my blog looking for help with their New Year’s resolution to minimise their possessions. So without further adieu I present you with the basics of decluttering your home with the slow and steady approach.

Keep it simple ~ Everyday decluttering is about decluttering slowly and deliberately one item at a time. There is no need to disrupt your household by pulling everything out of a large area causing a huge mess, making rash decisions on what to get rid of and taking hours to regain control of the area.

Pledge to remove, on average, at least one item a day ~ Simply walk into a room spy something that you not longer need, use or care about and remove it to your departure point. If it is not convenient to do this immediately, make a note of the potential clutter items for later removal.

The departure point ~ Designate an out of the way area to place your decluttered items until you are ready to take the next step. The next step might be to through it in the bin, recycle it, sell it or donate it.

Start with the easy stuff ~ A surefire way to deter yourself and give up early in this mission is the make it too hard on yourself to begin with. So start by getting rid of the stuff that you care the least about and is easy to part with. As you get more excited about your progress you will become more ruthless.

Don’t reclutter while you declutter or ever again for that matter. Learning to let go is one thing learning not to acquire potential clutter is a whole other kettle of fish. It may take a little more willpower to achieve this status quo. I would suggest banning yourself from all other shopping except the essentials for at least three weeks. Read my Alternatives to Shopping post for ideas on how to keep yourself out of the shops. Hopefully after three weeks you will have strengthened your resistance enough to at least reduce recreational shopping if not eradication it as a pastime altogether. If you find yourself weakening and considering buying things you don’t need use the advice in this post by Cindy to make yourself think twice about a potential purchase.

There is no speed limit ~ If one thing a day is too slow for you declutter as many things as you like just be sure to keep within your comfort limit. Don’t set a pace too difficult to maintain or it will all get too hard. Speed up and slow down whenever it suits you but be constant in regularity. Try to do something everyday to maintain your momentum.

Be mindful about your decision making ~ Don’t declutter items just for the sake of getting rid of things. Give each item careful consideration you. You don’t want to find you are replacing items a month or two down the track because you got over zealous. Similarly don’t keep items for the wrong reason’s either. I have a declutter decision making guide to help you with this process so use it if you feel the need. You want this decluttering effort to be a lifestyle change not a mad dash to the finish line only to find yourself back at the starting point in another six months.

Be responsible about disposal ~ Please dispose of your decluttered items responsibly. Sell, donate or give away everything that is still usable, recycle the things you can and only put in the trash items that are no good for anything. Yes this can complicate the process but consider that your penance for accumulating stuff environmentally irresponsibly in the first place.

So that is it in a nut shell. In summary everyday decluttering is about reducing your belongings slowly but surely without the mess and back breaking drudgery. As little as one item a day will make a huge difference in the long run and is a lot less stressful than disrupting your entire household with one of those week long possession purging marathons that are a one off event rather than a lifestyle change.

(We will return to the normal routine of Mini Mission Monday next week.)

Today’s Declutter Item

This treasure chest has been around my house since Christmas 2000 it has escaped decluttering up until this point due to sentimental reasons. Yes I can still be a little sentimental about things at times. My husband purchased this box in which he secreted away my Christmas gifts during our first exciting winter Christmas in Seattle. He would go shopping on the weekends leading up to the big day, tell me to close my eyes of I was nearby when he returned with the latest addition and place it in the box. He even had the cheek to padlock it. Up until recently it contained keepsake clutter but now I have reduced that to a more reasonable level and this box is no longer justified. It has been sitting in my clutter collection point awaiting the final verdict to actually declutter it. I am ready to let it go. Now I wonder what took me so long, it is just a box after all and I still have my husband and my memories.

Treasure Chest / Sentimental Clutter

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

When I first took on the challenge to declutter an item a day for an entire year I had my doubts whether we would even have enough items to last a year of decluttering. Two years later I am still at it.

Now don’t think for one minute that I am frustated with the idea that I am still decluttering after such a long time, far from it. Back at the start of 2010 there were many items I would not have even considered decluttering that are now long gone form my home. Items that someone in the home was not ready to part with for one reason or another whether that be sentimental or otherwise. The longer we keep at this the more ruthless we become, the more we are willing to part with and the less we own. The desire to own less has far overtaken the desire to acquire stuff.

Some items that seemed so useful at one point have proved to be more space wasters than anything else. Things that we thought were time savers by design turned out not to save enough time to warrant the space they take up. Other items worth selling were sitting idle so they were sold on ebay. Some items especially furniture items were no longer necessary once all the clutter that they contained was gone. Many items, once believed to be personal treasures, never saw the light of day. We soon realised the items weren’t necessary in order for the memories to stay in tact so out they went.

And here we are two years down the track and approximately 630 items less and I still keep finding things to declutter. So if you look at something today and think “I’ll never declutter that” don’t forget to take another look at it in a couple of months because your attitude may have changed towards it as you hone your minimalist tendencies. Pay close attention to everything in your home so you can make informed choices as to whether the things you think you use and can’t live without really are as essential as you first thought. Chances are the less you have the less you find you “need” or want.

Today’s Declutter Item

This coffee table was one of those items that wasn’t even in within the scope of our declutter radar when we first started decluttering. But it became redundant as the number of items requiring storage in our living room diminished. I wasn’t going to list it here because we had actually replaced it with a storage ottoman more in keeping with our needs and the size of the room. Unfortunately the ottoman arrived damaged and or not well made so it was returned for a refund. It really annoys me when I have taken the time to make a well considered purchase and I end up with a product that has added to the supply chain but turns out not being of the same quality as the display item in the store. For now I have no plans to replace the faulty piece of furniture we will just use the small ottoman we already own.

Coffee Table

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I have been slacking over the holiday season and although my home has been tidy its cleanliness has left a lot to be desired. Today I gave a good once over and it feels good to know it is spick-n-span again. 

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

We all want to succeed. We all want  a clutter-free, clean, and peaceful home. Yet sometimes we struggle. What are some of the stumbling blocks to success?

Making Excuses Instead Starting

“I’d like to start.” “I’ll get around to it soon.” “When things settle down, I’ll declutter.” Those are excuses, and if you’re using them, they’re getting in the way of your success. One of the beauties of one-thing-a-day decluttering is that it hardly takes any time, especially in the beginning. In the beginning (which is when excuses are their strongest) nearly anything you touch or see is a candidate for decluttering. Even people who have been steadily decluttering as long as Colleen and me rarely need more than 5 minutes to find something else that needs a new home – outside of our home. Stop making excuses and just start.

An Attack of Negative Thinking

“One thing a day? I’ll be decluttering for the rest of my life?” “What’s the use? There’s too much stuff.” “It probably won’t help anyway.” Stop! No more negative thinking! If you never get started, it won’t ever change, and even one thing less is better than one thing more. We all know that every journey begins with a single step and that a giant tree began as a tiny seedling. Your decluttering journey is no different. Stop thinking and start acting.

Stuck in Your Comfort Zone

You say you want a decluttered home, but really, you like being surrounded by all that extra stuff. Besides, what if you need it some day? Being comfortable is comfortable and wanting to change can be hard and scary. I used to work with a psychiatrist who said, “People don’t change until they’re sick and tired of being sick and tired.” How true. But if you’re here, searching the Internet for inspiration in your decluttering journey, I’m going to believe that you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired and that today is the day you’re going to make your first change. You’ll be leaving your comfort zone one step at a time, one day at a time. Don’t be afraid to take the first, small step. You may be amazed at how many steps come next.

A Second Attack of Negative Thinking

“I’m not getting anywhere.” “This isn’t working.” “It’s too slow, maybe I should just quit.” We’re not running a sprint in our decluttering, not even a marathon. This is a long, sometimes meandering journey on foot, and you won’t get from point A to point B in a single day. That’s okay. Your house didn’t get cluttered in a single day, and it’s not going to get uncluttered in a single day. Write down everything you do get rid of. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the numbers add up.

Input and Output

And if you truly, sincerely feel that you’re getting no where, start writing down the number of non-disposable items (not food, toiletries, etc.) that you purchase. If your incoming goods almost match your outgoing goods, that’s going to slow you down significantly. Purchasing excess to your needs and not purging is how we all got cluttered in the  first place (or inheriting a boatload of stuff from someone who purchased in excess to their needs and never purged). You’ve got to stem the inflow, too. As a bonus, your bank account will thank you.

Get a Goal

Maybe “to have a decluttered house” is too vague for you. How about setting a specific goal? “To have company over at any time without feeling embarassed.” “To sell my excess and use the money for XX (mortgage, vacation, private school, credit card debt).”To reduce my china until all of it fits in the china cabinet.” All these are specific, quantifiable goals that may make it easier to get on track and stay on track.

A Final Attack of Negative Thinking

“Stinkin’ thinkin’ ” is what I called this when I was a therapist. This is any thinking about yourself as a person that holds you back. “I’m not worthy” or “I made my bed, now I have to lie in it.” This type of negative thinking is hardest to detect and most insideous, because rarely do we say right out loud to ourselves, “I am not worthy.” Of course you’re worthy! We’re all worthy. Maybe you did make this bed, but you darn sure don’t have to keeping lying in it. Get up! You’re never too far off course that you can’t start to make a change, and it can start today. Say it with me “I am worthy. I can correct any mistakes I have made. I can change what does not work for me and make it better. All of these things are fully within my power. I AM worthy and I CAN do this.”

Today’s Declutter Item

Rather than waste time and effort trying to sell these last few records on ebay it is time to set them free the quick, easy way and more generous way, off to the thrift store they go.

The last of out record collection

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I think I have finally found just the right sandals. Being a conscientious consumer is hard work sometimes. I needed sandals but I wasn’t going to settle for second best, I needed them to be comfortable, versatile and cute and after trying on just about every sandal in town I think I have found a winner. Now all they have to do is pass the husband test.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

I took a hiatus of a couple weeks from my decluttering. When I started back up, I found this comment on my Facebook page, “How can you have MORE to declutter?” Three other friends “liked” this comment, which means that probably even more people than those four are wondering why I’m not sitting around on the floor with no clothes on by now, like this fellow. (I’ll wait while you check it out.)

How can I have more to declutter? Easy. According to the TED video featuring Graham Hill that Colleen posted on Saturday, the average American house is now three times larger than it was 50 years ago, yet in that time, off-site storage units have become a multi-billion dollar industry. A New York Times article  from 2009 states that “…by the early ’90s, American families had, on average, twice as many possessions as they did 25 years earlier.” Twice as many possessions? Oh my, I have to declutter something right now just thinking about that!

I think the key is to recognize that there’s no “done.” There may be “done” with the big bulk of the decluttering, but like other types of housework, it needs attending to. Interests change. Hobbies come and go. Children grow up, graduate, leave, and maybe come back. There can be the addition of grandchildren or aging relatives. Plus, we apparently have twice as many belongings as our parents did 25 years ago!

In my case, Dan’s office is largely untouched. I have some boxes up in the closet in Audra’s bedroom that have never been investigated. The garage is virgin territory. The girls are always maturing and changing, so the belongings in their room need continual attention. The attic is in pretty good shape but surely can stand another culling. Maybe someday I’ll be able to get rid of my Christmas china.

In addition, it’s important to be realistic about what’s entering your house. If new things are purchased and nothing is purged, the amount of stuff grows and grows. I had a lighter decluttering month than ususal in October and predict that I will only declutter about 38 things by the end of the month. I have tracked every purchase, and 25 new things have entered my life. Eight of them are brand new, and the rest are second hand goods, so I can feel virtuous from a fiscal and environmental point of view, but it’s still only a net loss of only a dozen items for the whole month. That’s two steps forward and one step back!

I’ve written on this topic before and compared the process of decluttering with editing, a past profession of mine. You have to clear off the first layer before you can see the second layer to deal with it. Once you delve into the second layer, there will be a third, and maybe a fourth or fifth. Hard decisions that you put off the first time around need to be addressed again later. The process is a lifestyle change, not a one-time burst of cleaning.

That, my dear friends, is how I can have more to declutter.

Today’s Declutter Item

If you get an accessory with something but you don’t use it there is no point in keeping it. Dah! So these camera straps when off the the thrift shop. Goodness knows how long they have been lingering unused in the bottom of the camera bag.

Camera Straps

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am grateful for the extended warranty on my car. The airconditioner compressor has failed which would have cost me $1400 to replace. Luckily for me it is covered under this warranty. 

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Cindy

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Except for the garage, my home is mostly decluttered. Well, except for the garage and those few scary areas too intimidating to attack. One of these areas consists of several boxes of photographs and memorabilia. Another is the picnic basket I brought back from my Grandparents’ house after my Grandfather’s death. It is filled with photos and mementos that I had to have but have conveniently stored on the floor of my closet for the past seven years. Last, I have a deep drawer full of art, most of it framed, and some of it quite expensive. It was taken off the wall for the remodel and never rehung.

What happens when I try to approach these areas? In the case of the photos and the basket from my Grandparents, I just swerve around that area like it’s not even there and keep going on my merry way. In the case of the art work, I have twice taken it all out, stacked it all around the room so I could see it all at once, got the feeling of jelly legs, stacked it all back up, and returned it to the drawer. Two other times I have opened the drawer with the sincere desire to tackle it once and for all, squeaked in panic, and slammed it back shut.

Clearly, I am intimidated.

Since it’s been well over 100 degrees (35 C) for more than 70 days, there is no way I am going to work on the garage. I’m going to have to tackle these intimidating areas if I’m going to continue making decluttering progress.

I know how to handle the photos and memorabilia. It’s really the same way I handle everything else: one thing at a time, one decision at a time. I think it can be too hard to make every decision the first time through. On my first pass, I’ll get rid of duplicates (triplicates) of the same event, the same child doing the same thing, people I can’t even remember. If that hasn’t winnowed down the photos enough, then I’ll make a second pass and reevaluate. After that I’ll have to decide how I’m going to store them. Everything doesn’t have to be in a coffee-table worthy scrapbook. Sometimes a well labeled envelope in a box is good enough.

For the artwork, I have decided to get the girls to help me. My plan is to pull out one piece of art per day and with their help, decide 1) if we’re going to keep it and 2) where we’re going to hang it. Having their help and the weight of their often-strong opinions should help bring the fear factor down to a manageable level.

What’s intimidating you, and how do you plan to tackle it?

Today’s Declutter Item

Some more fabric gone to the thrift shop. It is good to be honest with yourself that you aren’t likely to use something and just send it on it’s way. One less thing cluttering up  the place and your mind for that matter.

More Fabric (Aspiration Clutter)

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Some days it is just good to have a day that is just ordinary. Nothing spectacular happening just calm and simple. Yesterday was one of those days and I am grateful for that. It was also a good day for blog comments, that kept me busy most of the day. Lucky Cindy does today’s post or it may not have happened. 😉

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

It is so easy to throw your hands in the air and give up before you even begin decluttering due to the thought that you can’t possibly get the job done to your perfectionist standards. You might be interested to know that quite often hoarders are perfectionists that gave up trying.

If you get an image in your head about how you want things to be and then see the disparity of where you are now and your ultimate goal, the journey in between may appear insurmountable. Therefore you give up before you even begin.

Just yesterday I was lamenting the boxes of my daughters clutter that are still in my house that I really would like to see the back of. She isn’t settled in a way that really allows her to take her clutter away but it still drives me crazy storing it. After pulling down a few boxes and then changing my mind about reorganising it I really felt rather disinterested in tackling any other tasks that were awaiting me.

That feeling of defeat can soon permeate your whole being if you allow it. Instead of letting it affect my day I resisted the temptation to throw my hands in the air and give up. Instead decided to put on a load of washing and then declutter my sock drawer instead. In complete defiance of the give up attitude I followed up with doing the ironing, two more loads of washing, cleaned out the fridge and freezer and wrote this post.

I admit it, I am a perfectionist and I like to do a great job of whatever I decide to tackle but I also know when I have to settle for good enough. I know that I felt better about my day yesterday than I would have if I had sulked around for the entire day achieving nothing. I guess you could say that, for me, doing nothing is a far worse option than having to settle for less than perfect. So ignore your perfectionist side and just do something, anything that is progress.  If that idea is abhorrant to you, focus your perfectionism on one small attainable section of the overall task then move to another while wasting no time thinking about how far you have to go.

Today’s Declutter Item

One thing Bridget did allow me to declutter from her vast collection of things left behind was Blue Bear. It’s not much but every little thing counts.

Blue Bear

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Knowing that I can ignore the perfectionist side of me in preference for just making progress. A job worth doing is worth doing well but most of all it is just worth doing.

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

It’s the big reveal, not of a completely decluttered craft room but more of the extent to the amount of craft supplies I actually had in the first place. Also as the heading today implies I really only am in mid-declutter of this area. I intend to continue in my usual gradual manner until I am content that I have the situation under control. The process of taking the photos opened my mind even further to how much area this takes up in ratio to how little time I spend actually being creative in it. If you are even in doubt about what needs clearing out in an area I suggest you take a look at it through a camera lens. That will really focus you view!

I would just like to point out at this point that the brown sewing cabinet in the photo is now empty and I will be putting it up for sale when I return from vacation so that will really make a difference to the appearance of the space. As I said this area is a work in progress and I will update you again sometime in the near future.