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.
Before
Before
Quite the jumbled mess don’t you think but ten minutes later it looked like the this…
After
After
There was no decluttering involved just a few carefully placed pin and a lot of rewinding. Quite an improvement don’t you think.
To all you Aussie Declutterers out there check out this little gem on an idea. Click on the heading (link) blow to view the web site after watching the video.
~ The Garage Sale Trail ~
I mean to encourage you to have a garage sale and get rid of some stuff not follow the Garage Sale Trail and buy more stuff. 😉
LOL on the garage sale comment!!
And your craft ribbons look spiffy 🙂
Hi Jo,
take another look at todays post I have been doing some updating you may have missed the link/video last time.
Those craft ribbons are nice but I need to use more up.
This is a really neat idea. The advertising is all taken care of, a big plus in my book! I don’t like to pay for a newspaper ad because it costs so much. I usually try to put up handmade signs at main intersections but it takes quite a few signs because we live on an out-of-the-way street. I’d go for this sale if I lived in Australia! (Selling, only, I promise)
Hi Jo,
it is a great idea and I will be checking out the response in my neighbourhood and encouraging one of my friends to join in. I will see her on Tuesday and if I offer to help her bet ready I hope she will take part.
Isn’t it amazing how a tiny bit of work can make such a visual difference!
Hi Liina,
yes and if we can apply that to lots of little areas in our homes it can make a much bigger difference.
Micro-organizing /decluttering is great for when you have just a little time (or have already tackled or the biggies in the house ;D)
Hi Cat’s Meow,
I really must go to your blog now as I was half way through reading it and it disappeared on me the other day. Your home looks so minimalist but homely and decorated with much loved things at the same time.
And yes micro-organising is quick and easy. If we break down any task into smaller element they can all be relatively easy.
I agree, sometimes something little can make a HUGE difference.
Especially when you live in one small space like you do Nurchamiel. And like I said to Cat’s Meow if you break down a seemingly large task into it’s smallest elements even that can become easier that you thought possible.
I know! I love the empty space, I love it so much that I want to declutter even more, lol.
I should have taken before and after pictures of my bedroom…simplifying indeed! The little things definitely matter.
Hi Lynn,
just remember they are all little things if you approach them bit by bit. Never look at the big picture I say! It can be far too scary.
Re the garage sale trail, I just realised I wouldn’t have enough un-needed stuff left in the house to make having a garage sale worthwhile – what a great feeling!
hi Calico Ginger,
my neighbour said I should organise a garage sale for our townhouse complex the other day and my reply was that I don’t need to have a garage sale. Maybe I should approach the other neighbours and see if they would like that though and I could organise it to help them out. I have putting on a morning-tea for them next week and I will ask them all what they thing. I have a friend around the corner who could certainly benefit from having one.
No more garage sales! We should have a pledge to take promising not to accumulate any more clutter from garage sales or thrift stores! We could call it the 365 Pledge!
Hi Willow I like this idea. I will have to see if I can come up with something appropriate.
ten-minute tidy ups are a great idea…your straightening is nicely done!
Hi Dmarie and thank you for joining us her at 365lessthings.com. I believe this is the first time you have comment and I would like to welcome you here.
It is amazing what you can get done in ten minutes. I consider tidy time as exercise time and often if I am doing something that has me sitting for a hours I will get up every hour and do a ten minute tidy or declutter, hang out a load of washing, bake something, sweep the patio… Anything to get me moving.
I’ve still been enjoying the posts and comments this week but been a bit too tired to comment. But I have still been quietly decluttering and here are the results of this last weeks mini missions:
monday: outgrown – a file full of notes from a course I did 8 yrs ago.
tuesday: guilt – green suede bag I don’t use any more and is stained by ink so had to go in landfill.
wednesday: sentimental – I have advertised on freecycle a set of full length blackout curtains a friend so thoughtfully made me for my previous lodgings when I couldn’t sleep well due to lampost outside the window. Left there 9 yrs ago but kept the curtains.
Thursday: unwanted gift – passed a bookmark to charity shop: a gift from a friend who wrote to me every week for 7 yrs when I was very poorly in the 90’s and always send little gifts at xmas. She died last year and I will never forget that wonderful loving commitment to me, but I don’t now need an extra bookmark and i really love it.
Friday: purchase regret – mmm, ok, this is something I got for ‘the bedroom’ that we didn’t enjoy so I have got rid of it straight away rather than keep it for several years because I had only just bought it.
Saturday: lifestyle change – I was given a beautiful pair of orange suede clogs several yrs ago but i have never worn them becasue shortly after I developed sundden onset arthritis everywhere and I need shoes with backs, not heel-less. So have finally decided to take them to a shop that sells quality seconds (shop has agreed they want them, but not for a few more weeks).
Sunday: obligation – it’s not Sunday here yet, so I’ll let you know tomorrow what I come up with,LOL.
Thanks for the challenge Colleen:O)
Hi Katharine,
I am sorry that you have been so tired lately it is so hard to get motivated when you aren’t feeling 100%. Nevertheless you seem to have made a great job of working your way through the mini missions for the week. Well done! The beauty of the mini missions is that because they are mini you can do them with minimal effort and in some cases you can just sit quietly and work out what you have to declutter in your head and then spend just a few minutes actually geting it our and putting it in your donation pile. I hope you have a better week this week.