As the title suggests I have been taking my own advice and finding ten minutes daily this week to declutter some stuff around my house. And although the difference is small I feel a whole lot better for having done it. The first area I decluttered was a drawer in my side-table next to my spot on the sofa. It wasn't cluttered as such, as there was plenty of vacant space in it. However it still had things that had arrived there over time that either didn't belong there, was rubbish or useless to me. I decluttered a small flashlight to the donate pile, a plastic bag to the bin and I little plate Continue reading
Large area declutter ~ Minimal disruption
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This post is all about breaking down, into steps, the task of decluttering a large cluttered area of your home without causing undue disruption. I am going to use the kitchen as my example area, however these steps can be easily adapted to any space. I chose the kitchen simply because, in Western Society, this space usually has lots of divisions of space with lots of individual items in them. So without further adieu let us begin. Step One ~ Setting up If you don't already have a space set up to store the decluttered items prior to complete removal from your home ~ I call this the Continue reading
Fix It Or Declutter It.
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I received an email from Jane a couple of weeks ago requesting me to write a post about getting ones act together and fixing things rather than have them sitting around as useless clutter. Both Cindy and I have written posts about similar topics not all that long ago. Cindy's post was about addressing old but easy tasks on your to-do list . Mine about fixing something that had annoyed me for much longer than it took to fix ~ much much longer. I also wrote a post way back called Learn To Sew which also is worth a read. However Jane's email gave a very good example of this so have quoted it Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Clutter Hiding in Plain Sight
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Embarrassing but true stories: I have clutter hiding in plain sight in my house. Everyone else sees it, but I didn't, at least not until I knew that I had company coming for dinner. Than I realized that my bar, which we often use for serving when we have guests, was currently being used by the following do-no-belong items: 5 CDs and cases a German Christmas tree pyramid (currently listed for sale on Craigslist, but that doesn't mean it needs to be taking up a place of pride on the counter) a St. Francis medallion that fell off one of the animals' Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ The Two Boxes
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom There are two boxes that I need to keep me organized and decluttered. Just two boxes. It's a simple system, and it might help keep you on the right path too. Box #1, which lives in the bottom of our least-used closet, is not actually one box, but an ever changing parade of boxes and paper bags, and is the Thrift Store Bag. Anything not needed, not wanted, etc. goes into this bag. I never make a sweep of the house looking for things to take to the thrift store; they just accumulate day after day, week after week. When the bag / box is full, I take it to my van. The Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Old To Dos
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Recently I did something that made me so happy - I took care of two really, really old things that were on my to-do list. These things were so small that it's almost embarrassing to tell you what they were, but doing them made me so happy that I will. The first thing was taking the dogs' beds to the laundromat and washing them. I wash the covers at home regularly, but I can't put the whole bed into my washer, and they needed it. The other thing was taking two scented candles (same scent) that had burned down so far that neither would light any more, melting the wax, and pouring them together Continue reading
Simple Saturday – Decluttering Without Even Trying
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It's time for the change over of seasonal clothes and an opportunity for the simplest decluttering of all: Decluttering without even trying. When you get your clothes out of storage (or, in my case, when I stop using the lower hanging bar [hot weather] and start using the upper hanging bar [cool weather]), turn all the hangers backwards. At the end of the season, anything that is still turned around the wrong way is something you no long wear. Congratulations! You just decluttered your closet without even trying. The Weekends Mini Missions Saturday - Declutter something from your basement, Continue reading
Get set for success
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I have had a couple of conversations lately with people who are struggling to gain momentum with their decluttering. They are making fitful starts here and there but get frustrated. I have discovered through these conversations that the main underlining theme behind their difficulty is that, once chosen, they don't have a plan in place as to how to get rid of the clutter. As a result all they end up doing is moving it around the house. Most of my regular readers have this situation well and truly in hand. So much so, that they can also easily investigate and discover an outlet even for those Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Why You Need a List
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Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I love lists. I used to love them more. And you know what? I used to be a lot more organized and a lot more efficient. Coincidence? I think not. I cannot stress enough that you need a list - probably several of them. I don't care if you keep them on paper or electronically. I do both, but for me nothing beats the satisfaction of crossing off a to-do item with paper and pen. (Great repurposing of half-used spiral notebooks that come home at the end of the school year every August.) Especially is you tend to dilly-dally and procrastinate, you need a list. If you tend Continue reading
Simple Saturday – Declutter Your Pet’s Tags
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Does your pet wear a collar and tag? If you have a pet, I hope the answer is, "Of course!" Today is a great day for inspecting your pet's tags. Are they still legible? Are they still accurate? If you have a tag from Home Away or another finding service, dial the number and make sure the information they have is correct. Does your pet only have current tags? I once found an animals whose owners kept putting on new rabies tags like they were charms on a charm bracelet. Remove the extras. Heaven forbid your pet should get lost, but we all know it's possible. Even the shyest cat or Continue reading
