This really was a simple little declutter mini mission. The box of odds and ends involved had not even been opened in some time and most of what was in it was well and truly redundant. Some bits found their way to the bin, some in the donation box and just a few things were rehoused elsewhere. Before After As you can see there wasn't much left after the unnecessary stuff was removed and I soon found new homes for that. Now I have put the box aside for the time being until I decide if I have another use for it or if it should be decluttered too. I always find it Continue reading
Simple Saturday
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This week I have another example of how a ten minute tidy up can make a big difference to how an area of a home can improve in appearance. My craft room is a perfect example of how working with reckless abandon can cause things to get a little messy not to mention the fact that it is the most cluttered area of my house. A couple of weeks ago I photo documented this tidy up of my collection of craft ribbon and unlike last weeks "Spot the difference" you don't need to look closely to see the improvement here. Quite the jumbled mess don't you think but ten minutes later it looked Continue reading
Too Much Clutter, Too Little Time?
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Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom Today’s column is an answer to an email I received from my friend Jennifer: As I look around and see stuff just overwhelming me, I am working on paring down what I own. My question is that much of the stuff becomes clutter because I am interrupted and do not get to complete a project (or I under estimate how long it will take me to complete said project). How are you managing not to continue to have things out of place? I have gone through and organized things only to find 6 months or a year later that they are disorganized again. Although Jennifer has posed this Continue reading
Day 289 On Laziness
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My father always says there is sheer laziness and there is smart laziness. The first one is not an attractive trait while the other one is about finding the most efficient and effective way to cut down on your work load without neglecting anything. I am all for smart laziness and like Dad, I am pretty good at it. Utilising this ability makes staying organised a much simpler task. Sometimes the most efficient method is obvious to us while other times we need to be taught, and the best way to learn is to have an open mind. I tend to be the kind of person who having no desire to spend more time Continue reading
Day 173 Simple
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Today's Word of the Day is... SIMPLE Do SIMPLE things to improve your way of life. Keep your spending SIMPLE buy what you need not things that just clutter up your space. Eat a more SIMPLE diet choose fresh ingredients that aren't enveloped in wasteful packaging. Choose recipes that are SIMPLE to create using ingredients that can be used in subsequent meals so nothing goes to waste. Enjoy SIMPLE pleasures like a walk in the park, a coffee with a friend or a wander through a museum instead of spending all your free time shopping. Keep your decluttering efforts SIMPLE by Continue reading
Day 142 One inspired reader
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Here is a section of an inspiring email I received from one of my readers last week. Deborah Hayden writes.... Your blog inspired me to start what I call a Rathole a Day. Every day I take one area - a drawer, a shelf, a box, the refrigerator—whatever pops up and I declutter it. The rule is I take everything out, clean the space and put everything back. In the process, I throw away (recycle, donate) what is obvious but I don't make myself crazy deciding about everything. This is a blitz first pass. When I have done everything once, I'll go into Phase 2 and make more refined decisions, but in Continue reading
Day 119 Manuals and Warranties
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Here is another area in your home that needs to be gone through on a regular basis to avoid the clutter of unnecessary paperwork that has become irrelevant over time. Firstly all warranties and manuals should be stored together in a safe place where they can be easily located should a situation arise where it becomes necessary to refer to them. We keep ours in a hanging file box in the bottom of our linen closet with other documents such as lease/phone contracts, vehicle registration info etc. Over time these documents become redundant, warranty periods expire and you no longer own Continue reading
Day 113 Too much pressure
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I read forums and posts on other blogs and I can't help but think that people put themselves under too much pressure when it comes to decluttering. Below are a few suggestions I have to help release that pressure... The clutter didn't appear overnight so don't expect it to disappear overnight. Don't look at the big picture it's too scary sometimes. Pace yourself, there is no hurry. Don't set a deadline. Save the hard to decide items until last. I find the further I get into this the more ruthless I become. Be rational, way up the pros and cons when it comes to what stays and what Continue reading
Day 101 Finding time to find things
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Here are some of the ways I go about looking for areas in my home that need some de-cluttering attention I set aside one day a week, usually Tuesday, to do my general housecleaning. On that day I keep a watchful eye out while working and write down the trouble stops in my trusty notebook so I will remember to come back to them later on. While puting away the clean laundry is a good time to have a glance around in the closets for any clothing items etc that haven't seen the light of day for a while. Even if you pluck out just one thing every now and again it all makes a Continue reading
