I often get comments from people contradicting my suggestions regarding what to declutter and pleading their case on why they keep certain items or collections of things. Avid readers love their books, baking enthusiasts love a good range of pans and utensils, crafters, like myself, will cater to their craft, perhaps even over cater. There are also shoe lovers out there, fashionistas, modellers, family history caretakers, plant enthusiasts, collectors of all sorts of things... The purpose of my blog is not to insist that we all live a completely minimalist lifestyle. I don't, so it would be Continue reading
What is right for you?
posted by Colleen Madsen
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: accumulate, clutter, comfort zone, don't use, hoarding, minimalism, personal attachment, reduce, unclutter
Transient Stuff
posted by Colleen Madsen
Much of what comes into my home these days is transient. Aside from groceries much of what does come in is free, secondhand, or both. And I have to say it makes it a whole lot easier to pass things on when large sums of money aren't exchanged to acquire it.  This week I have decluttered... 2 books - one free, one 10c, both secondhand and both not used in a reasonable length of time so both were taken to the thrift shop. 3 strips of fabric samples - all free from a friend, but after careful consideration I decided I didn't have a use for them. One went to the thrift shop to sell as Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: accumulate, clutter, dematerialise, don't use, personal attachment, Sensible buying, unclutter
Coming full circle ~ By Nicole V
posted by Colleen Madsen
He awoke with a start, his heart pounding from the strange dreams that he’d had. He had no idea how long he’d slept. The inky darkness stretched all around him … and the silence, the silence was deafening. His pulse still racing and joints aching, he felt all alone. He tried to shake off the stupor of sleep still clinging to him. Something felt different, somehow, and he felt a frisson of fear, quickly followed by a sensation of vague familiarity. Unable to put his finger on it, he shrugged it off as the sluggishness of his disturbed sleep. A blanket of inertia (or was it ennui? … he Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: clutter, don't use, personal attachment, Strategies, unclutter
Never too young to learn to declutter
posted by Colleen Madsen
I was at my son's house on Sunday to pick up some packaging he wanted us to put in our recycling and trash as he had bought a new sofa and his bins were full. He also had several items to give me to take to the thrift shop. As I was sitting enjoying a little time chatting with my step-granddaughter my husband and son were packing up the car. She suddenly noticed what looked like some sort of plush toy jutting a little from one of the bags destined for the car. She asked if she could see what was in it and my son said no that we needed to get the stuff to the car. She began to get upset Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: clutter, donate, personal attachment, reduce, unclutter
What do I do with my childhood paper keepsakes? By Deb J
posted by Colleen Madsen
I was reading through the posts from my friends on Facebook and came across one where the poster said, “I think I can truthfully say that I kept every award, essay, art project, homemade book, concert/performance program, birthday/graduation card, sheet music, script, report card, club photo, and every other piece of information regarding my K-12 experience. So...I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.â€Â She also commented that it all only took up one big storage tub. My first thought was, “Why is she keeping all of that stuff?â€Â Why would she even want to? There seems to Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: accumulate, clutter, personal attachment, reduce, Sentimental, Strategies, unclutter
Clutter Calamity! by Claire
posted by Colleen Madsen
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 Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: clutter, less things, lifestyle change, personal attachment, simplify, unclutter
Decluttering & discovering your true self ~ by Andréia
posted by Colleen Madsen
Not so long ago, Colleen wrote an excellent post about discovering who we really are when decluttering. The post was “Who are youâ€. I thought that post was great. It encouraged me to think about whom I had been before decluttering and who I am now. It made me think about what I want out of life, work and my home environment. Throughout my decluttering journey many times I have struggled with stuff related to who I was a long time ago as opposed to whom I am now. One example of that were my cassette tapes which I got rid of. While they were all important to my teenage self and listened Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: clutter, don't use, lifestyle change, Old Habits, personal attachment, unclutter
Stuff x Emotions ~ A guest post by Andréia
posted by Colleen Madsen
It seems funny to talk about emotions and feelings when talking about inanimate objects that can be replaced, but we place emotion and feelings on stuff all the time. It can be good or it can be really bad. If you have a loving memory attached to a few chosen mementos in a little cardboard box or on a shelf, well cared for and displayed in your home it is all good and fun, because those things take you to a good place and make you feel good every time you look at them. On the other hand, we, as human beings, tend to hold on to suffering and pain as well. Not only in thought but in objects Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: clutter, comfort zone, personal attachment, unclutter, Unwanted Gifts
The hurricane method of decluttering Part II
posted by Colleen Madsen
Find Part I here if you haven't already read it. I forgot to mention that at the end of Saturday's effort we were sitting together in the craft room talking a little about the progress of the day, and my friend was lamenting that she wished things had been different and this task could have been a lot easier. I don't recall exactly what I said but I assured her that I was proud of the progress she had made and how well she was doing with the decluttering process. It is always best to look forward and not dwell on past mistakes, just make things better in the future. Sunday dawned and I had Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: clutter, don't use, donate, personal attachment, simplify, unclutter
Put away the emotions
posted by Colleen Madsen
I received a comment from Michelle yesterday in response to the day's mini mission ~ Declutter a sentimental item that doesn’t bring much in the way of happy memories. Michelle took on this challenge and then some. the conclusion she came to during this task was very insightful. So much so that I wanted to share it with you all. Here is what she had to say... Michelle ~ "I guess this would go for both Monday and Saturday. I have mentioned before that I collect (maybe USED to collect??) vintage brooches. I have somewhere along the lines of 75-90 regular ones and then about 45 Christmas Continue reading
Filed Under: 365 Less Things Tagged With: comfort zone, don't use, personal attachment, priorities, unclutter
