I’ve been racking my brain today, trying to come up with an idea for a blog post, without success. I thought of a few experiences I have encountered during the week in reference to clutter. However these thoughts didn’t amount to enough content for writing a whole blog post. So I decided I would just put these thoughts to you and see what comments ensue. The conversation in the comments section is often as stimulating and inspiring as a post anyway due to my clever and engaged readers. So here goes.

1. I was thinking of how I hold on to some things longer than I ought to, because I just hate waste. Last week I finally put an old t-shirt in a bag to become rag at the thrift shop. The problem was that, from a distance, the t-shirt looked perfectly good, but get up close and tiny holes were visible in the lower front. I hate this about t-shirts, the way those wholes wear through. The general theory is that it is from being sandwiched between your pants button and hard bench tops. Which for me is very possible because I craft so much at my kitchen bench. But I digress, I felt inclined to continue to wear the t-shirt because it was mostly good, but I had to admit that, up close, I probably looked like a bit of a slob. Who else has trouble parting with things that are mostly good but in reality “mostly” isn’t good enough in public?
2. Another area in which I hate to see waste is when crafting. I like to use up materials until what is left is of no use to anyone. At the same time I find it hard to turn down the offer of free or near to free materials that I know I could use. As a result I have snippets of ribbon, card stock, patterned papers etc just waiting for that little element of a project that will see them used up. Meanwhile more stuff comes in the door. As a result I sometimes feel like I am taking two steps forward one step back. So lately I have been tailoring my projects with the goal to use up lots of little bits and pieces. For example I might make a batch of six cards. While the design is the same, each card will be slightly different than the other due to the fact that I am making the elements for the card from scraps. I have also been expanding my product range, at my retail art space, by creating small items that are perfect for using up scraps. At the same time I refuse to purchase any new materials, it is make do or go without. Now I finally feel I am making inroads into reducing my craft supplies. Do my crafty readers also have issues with lots of little bits and pieces of scrap materials and what do you do to declutter them from your stash.
3. Do what you can to find ways to responsibly declutter items that you think are of no use to anyone. There is always a charity or company out there who has a use for your stuff, by either rejuvenating it or recycling it. Let Google find such places for you or use good old word of mouth. You might be surprised what you can learn from conversations with others. Sometimes it is possible to just stumble on to such information when you least expect it. Today I arrived home to my apartment building to find a folder sitting on the ground near the entrance. It belonged to a bedding recycling/reconditioning company. I looked around and, sure enough, saw two guys loading a mattress into a truck. I thought “Good for you!” and also “Kudos to the people who had the decency and initiative to find a way not to let that mattress go to waste.” Has any of my wonderful readers found great ways to send their unwanted stuff to be repurposed or recycled? If so tell us about it.

So that is what I have been pondering when it comes to decluttering this week. So now I am interested to hear your ideas on the subjects.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you wear.

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

Sometimes, when it comes to the stuff around our homes, we continue to own things just because we always have. To have them has literally become a habit. Fortunately any habit that has been created can also be broken.

There are two ways that you can experiment with breaking the ownership habit. The first, which we have spoken of in the past, is to have a trial separation from a selection of your stuff. Choose things that you are on the fence about decluttering, then put them away somewhere out of sight for a selected period of time. If you haven’t had the need for these objects during the trial period, or perhaps learned to improvise in order not to need them, then you are safe to send them permanently on their way, if you so choose.

The other way is more suited to less permanent objects, items that come, are used up and then usually replaced. Products like toiletries, cleaners, paper products, cooking ingredients, wrapping materials etc. You’d be surprised how many of these items inhabit your home, and how much you really don’t need many of them.

The experiment to declutter such items is to use up your current supply and choose a trial period of time during which you do not replace it. If, at the end of that period, you have happily survived without said product you just don’t ever replace it. If living without it was unpleasant then you have lost nothing and can go back to purchasing it again.

There are many of the second example above that I have decluttered over my years of slowing purging my home of unneeded stuff. Plastic wrap, cleaners, makeup items, stationery items, craft supplies, cooking ingredients, toiletries… Some I have gone without altogether while others I just keep less variety of. Either way I am wasting a lot less space storing them. And I dare say I am also having less impact on the environment.

I am still slowly eliminating more and more of these products as time goes on, and I feel better for it. I am continually discovering that there are so many things, that are of little value to me, that I can happily live without.

What items in your home have you experimented with doing without? Please share your stories with us. They are all successes whether you decided you could or couldn’t live without them, because at least you were brave enough to give it a go.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something from outside.

Eco Tip for the Day

Eliminate as many chemicals as you can from your home. There are many natural products that can perform the same tasks with a lot less impact on the environment.

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 came across a hyperlink to an article last year about hiding clutter in the home in “secret” spots. Intrigued and curious (why would the writer ask readers to hide their clutter, instead of getting rid of it, I wondered?), I went on to read the article. It turned out to be about hidden storage for items at home (think: platform beds with storage drawers and hidden cabinetry), rather than squirrelling away or stashing your clutter out of sight, which was my first impression upon reading the title.

This led me to wonder whether anyone would have followed the tips given if the write-up had actually been about ways to hide your clutter, which in turn led me to question whether people follow decluttering advice to the letter or if they tweak it to suit their needs or even ignore certain aspects of it, depending on which stage of the decluttering journey they are at.

When I first came across Colleen’s blog, I was taken by the simplicity and ease of her one-item-a-day decluttering method. It was something that I could do immediately – there was no complicated manual to decipher, nothing to purchase and no preparation was required in order to get started. I decluttered my first item that same day and told my husband about it and he was soon on board. I have read a plethora of decluttering and organizing tips in online articles, as well as in magazines and books and have found many helpful and interesting bits of advice. Some of the information was irrelevant to me – not because it was bad, per se – it was just unsuitable for me and the circumstances at that time.

An example that comes to mind is some sporting equipment that had not been used for ages (for far longer than the usual one-year period that is often cited, for allowing something to take up precious space in your home and in your life), and that remained where it was, in good condition, but with absolutely no indication whether it would ever be used again. And one evening, a spontaneous decision was made, to take up that particular sport again; and a couple of days later, the items were being used. It has been about nine months now and they are still being used on a weekly basis.

You know how you always read that you should declutter first before buying storage solutions? Well, we were still in the throes of decluttering when I felt that the existing limited storage was not only not working for us, but was making our home look gloomy. Although we had gotten rid of a great deal of stuff, we were by no means done. I felt disheartened as I couldn’t give the belongings that were “keepers” a proper home and I felt that having a place for them would also enable me to see the actual progress that had been made. So, we took measurements and went out and purchased the absolute minimum amount of storage that we were willing to have. It was a tremendous boost for me as I could actually see everything being neatly put away for easy retrieval and I could see space opening up across our home. It was thus worthwhile to cherry-pick and create a “customized decluttering package” for ourselves.

So, I’m interested to know whether there were any decluttering principles that you tried, which did not work for you. Was there any advice that you read which you ignored or deliberately went against? Or did you adapt or modify anything? What did you do and why?

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some paperwork that you keep because you think you should, when in fact a digital copy would suffice. Scan the items and save them to your hard drive or a cloud. Papers such as manuals, old school papers, bills more then two payments old…

“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 leave lights on when you aren’t in a room. It takes no longer than the blink of an eye to switch lights on and off, so make the effort to save every precious second of electricity.

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 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 thinking that he was decluttering something that may be hers.

I am not sure what the item was but he insisted it was just some old toy of his that he no longer wanted, but she was not convinced. As my son left the room with the bag her bottom lip dropped and I thought this was the perfect time to have a little conversation with her about why it wasn’t important as to what was in the bag.

I said, “Did you recognise the thing in the bag as one of your loved toys?”, and she said no. As I know her pretty well by now I then asked, “Don’t you think that whatever that toy was, if you loved it so much, wouldn’t you recognise it even from the little you could see?” And she said yes. I explained to her how she can sometimes get a little too attached to some of her things but if that was something that she loved her Mum and Liam wouldn’t dream of decluttering it. And she seemed satisfied with that.

I then went on to explain what happened to the old toys and clothes that she had grown out of and were decluttered. I explain how some of them where bought at the thrift shop for little kids who’s parents couldn’t afford new toys, and if it wasn’t for her kind donations those kids would have no toys. I also explained how, no matter who bought the items, that the money went to a charity who used the money for a good cause. Sometimes to help people in need. Sometimes to help starving people overseas. Sometimes to fund research to find cures for things that made people sick. And even other to help save endangered animals like the pandas she loved so much.

By now she was no longer upset and said wait here and she ran off into her bedroom. I thought for one incredible moment that she was going to her room to find something else of hers to give me to take to the thrift shop. Alas she went to get her iPad mini to play games with me. My husband later said she probably got it to distract me so she didn’t have to listen to my raving on anymore. But I prefer to think that I succeeded in making her realise that giving was living and she was now ready to move on to something fun we could do together.

But seriously, it is never too early to include your children in the act of decluttering. I don’t know what that toy was in the bag, but I do hope if it was some old thing of Liam’s or something of hers that  she had chosen to give away a while back. As you know I don’t think it is a good idea to declutter anyones stuff without their agreement. And having a discussion with your kids about how what they donate can help others is a great way to encourage them to let go of things they don’t really use. Like adults they can tend to cling on to stuff otherwise, just in case.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something that is brown.

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

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

We have all seen the magazine articles, books and TV programs on organizing.  They tell us that if  we buy these particular products or use these particular items we will go from a cluttered mess to everything organized in a snap.  The problem is that out of sight doesn’t mean it’s out of mind or make clutter any less clutter.  Making it pretty doesn’t make it go away.

Over and over many of us have bought and used multiple storage solutions trying to make things look like those magazine pictures.  Unfortunately, these solutions are only as good as how good everyone is at putting things back where they belong.  They are only good as long as you can find/remember what you have and where you put it.  I know that for myself.  I have spent hundreds of dollars over the years trying to keep a handle on all the stuff.  I even bought into the idea of a “craft room” with hundreds of “organised” craft supplies is ok so I’d have exactly what I needed when I needed it. But what I ended up having was a lot of stuff I didn’t need and never used.

There is nothing wrong with storage solutions as long as we really need them. When they hold only what we need and aren’t so numerous that we can remember what we have and where it all is.  Storage is not always a solution.  In many cases, it is a mask, a way to not have to deal with the work of making choices and counting the cost of what we have.

I came one day to the point where I realized I needed to stop using storage as that mask for my clutter.  I needed to not only declutter the storage solutions but I needed to declutter the things going in them.  When it came to my creativity why did I need all those excess stickers, stamps, embellishments, tools, etc?  What made me think I needed all of that paper?  Scrapbooking is an industry, with blogs, magazines, and other forms of media to keep crafter informed about all of the products out there and all of the ways “scrapbook artists” can store these supplies.  I came to the realisation that if I do not scrapbook as a career, I do not need to have so many supplies. Supplies that in my case would last for years.  I don’t need to have hundreds of dollars sunk into supplies for my hobby.   

There are numerous reasons we buy storage solutions for our homes. Yours may be quite different to mine. But do you need storage or less stuff. As Colleen always says “Get rid of the clutter and the organising will take care of itself.”  Which means, when the excess is gone what is left will have a logical, easy to access position in your home. Simply because what is left ought to be constantly useful to you so close at hand. No stored away in sealed boxes in hard to reach places. I hope this will help you to count the cost before your next purchase or stuff or storage to keep it in. 

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter old school papers of either the adults or children in the house.

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

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.”  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?”  Why would she even want to?  There seems to be three types of people, those who are sentimental about everything, those who want to keep some items but not all and those who see no need to hold onto things like this.  After some thought I commented back that I thought she should go through it all and figure out exactly what was really important to her. Once that was done, she should take pictures of those things and, since she is a scrapbooker, create some layouts for those pictures. 

All of this started me thinking about people with children and what they need to do with all of the “keepsakes” that come into the home on a daily basis.  Say you have a toddler who frequently draws/colors a masterpiece.  What do you do?  Maybe you have a school age child who comes home often with essays, returned test/quiz papers, award certificates, and numerous other paper based “keepsakes.”  What do you do? 

I decided to see if I could discover some solutions that would preserve these without taking up space somewhere in the home.  Here are some of the solutions I came up with.

Create a website with a page devoted to each child’s life.  You could make this a private website that only a select few could see.  On it you could post pictures of their artwork, etc.  Not only is it a permanent record of your child’s life but it can be shared with anyone you choose. 

After displaying a child’s work in a prominent place for a week or so take pictures of the best of the work and at the end of the year create a few pages of their life that year for a scrapbook about them. 

Set up an account on a site like Flickr where you can display pictures.  Again, you can secure this so only those you select can see what has been placed in your folders. 

Declutter all but the most significant awards, etc.  What is left place in page protectors and then into a binder. 

While many years ago I let go of my numerous childhood keepsakes, I found that I still have some things that I really have no need to keep.  It is interesting how easy it is to let things like this build up because I have the room for it.  I plan to scan some things before decluttering it all.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter, by recycling old plastic plant pots. I recycled a few of these last week.

More than one person commented last week that they can’t believe they are still finding things to declutter after years at the task. And what I say to that is ~ rejoice and be glad. Usually after most people do the usual kind of quick declutter they find they are back at square one a couple of years later. With a slow and deliberate declutter one gives a lot of thought to their habits of acquiring and holding on to stuff. Being aware of these habits makes it much easier not to make the same mistakes in the future.

The reason why years later they are still finding things to declutter is because they grow more and more willing to part with more and more stuff. It isn’t  because they have recluttered their homes, instead their homes are getting less and less cluttered all the time. Usually less cluttered than they ever thought they would. And having well entrenched systems to offload the clutter makes the task simple.

For example ~One reader (Peggy) last week commented on how she decluttered some extra hand lotion by putting it in the bathroom at her favourite coffee shop. On later inspection she found that it was indeed getting well used. That is just one example of some clever thinking on how to dispose of stuff. But I digress.

I am glad to be still finding things to let go of in my home. I am also happy to be vigilant about decluttering something in place of any new thing coming in. I don’t waste my energy worrying about the clutter I simply stay ahead of it by loosely following that one in-one out rule we talked of last week. When I say loosely, I don’t rigidly remove something immediately that something else comes in, but I am intuitively aware of any small build up and rectify the situation fairly speedily.

So don’t be concerned if you are still finding clutter after a long time. Also don’t have any expectation of an end date to your decluttering journey. This isn’t really a finite task anyway it is a change of lifestyle. And positive change in something worth sticking with.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something hiding, and rarely if ever used, in the back of a kitchen cupboard.

Eco Tip for the Day

It takes but a second to flip off a switch, so don’t leave lights on when you leave the room.

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 have experienced examples lately on how clutter can lead to disorganisation which in turn causes more clutter. Actually, in the cases I am thinking of, the clutter is useful and used stuff but in such abundance that it ends up scattered making items hard to find. This can then lead to acquiring more of the same because of the mistaken idea that things have run out.

Of course this isn’t something new to me, I have written about it more than once already. However it is worth a repeat mention on a regular basis. My own craft supplies can get like this at times. Usually due to the fact that I like to use up every square inch of paper or cardstock that I have, so I punch shapes from the little leftovers which build up if I don’t make a concerted effort to incorporate them into a card design. Also sharing supplies between friends can lead to the organisation of lots of little bits of this and that getting out of control. I am making that concerted effort to use up or consolidate such items at them moment.

But enough about my own example as I have encountered far worse in my travels. When it comes to supplies of any kind I have found it best to allocate a space for such things and be determined to confine my supplies to always fit within that space. As soon as there is an overflow, storage of like items become scattered. When required the first place to look is the usual location, and then it gets tricky, because you then have to remember where else you stashed the stuff. Inevitably the conclusion is arrived at that you are indeed out of a supply and a replacement is acquired. Then as sure as snow is white, the others shows up when searching for something else soon after.

In the case of large pantries things get lost behind other stuff. I find this is especially so if you are inclined to stock up on sale items of frequently used food stuffs. Inevitably these items end up at the forefront while less used items get shuffled back. Then on the rare occasion when the less used stuff is required it is so hard to find that a replacement is acquired. Thus cluttering up the pantry even more with things going out of date before ever getting used up. This is especially so if more than just grocery items are stored in a large pantry. Add paper towel, food wraps, medications, appliances, utensils, shopping bags etc and things can get really out of control. Being disorganised has its own cost on your time and sanity, so weigh up the pros and cons of whether cost savings are really worth it.

Then there is wardrobe overflow. Too many clothes equals not enough space in your closet, then items get stored in whatever spare space is available. When there is an abundance of clothing one can also get rather blasé about the necessity of regular laundering. Then when an item is needed, especially a work related item, it isn’t unusual for it not to be in immediate wearable condition. This is bad enough when the item needs ironing when you need to be out the door in ten minutes, but imagine the panic that sets in when an item is soiled beyond use in this situation. My experience is that a limited, organised assortment of clothing forces more attention on to the care of them, which generally results in keeping better control of their rotation through your wardrobe.

So think twice about overstocking. It really can add complication to your life that you may not even notice until you feel the relief when it is gone. If you don’t believe me try reducing in a small area ~perhaps your stationery supplies or your bathroom cabinet ~ and just see how much easier it is to keep the area tidy, find what you need and not waste time choosing when less variety is available.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter an item from a bedroom of your home.

“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

Save on waste by not allow perishable supplies to go out of date in your home. The best way to achieve this is by not stocking an overabundance.

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

Just for the fun of it today I am just going to write a long list of some of the things that you could probably find to declutter. Things that I am sure you no longer want and, in some cases, never even wanted or needed in the first place. So without further adieu here it is ~ use it or lose it.

Anything you received free that you never needed ~ pens, coffee mugs, samples, badges, shopping bags, toys… , unwanted gifts, clothes that don’t fit, gadgets that aren’t useful, excess of anything, old make-up, books you’ll never read again, dust collectors, poor quality photos, old magazines (any topic in these can be easily sourced on the internet, old ~ and way out of date ~ university/collage papers, unwanted heirlooms, ugly houseplants, smelly plastic containers, old unfinished projects, outdated computer equipment, stuff the kids left behind when they moved out, shoes that hurt your feet, anything in your bedroom that isn’t conducive to a good night sleep, clothes that make you feel frumpy, sporting equipment you no longer use, bargains you wasted your hard earned cash on, project supplies that haven’t been used in a long time, unwanted hand-me-downs, I might need it some day items, uncomfortable anything.

Well that ought to be enough to get you thinking.

Y’all ave a nice weekend.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter kitschy Christmas items like hand towels, oven mitts, socks etc. This mission is simply for my own amusement. I used to have all of these things and haven’t missed any of them.

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