When you have been a clutterer for a long time, decluttering never seems to end. Reading posts and articles I found that there is always room for improvement. Last year I was very much upset with my bedroom, but I had no idea where to start. Frustrated I asked Colleen for help and she told me to make a plan. My bedroom didn’t just need a declutter, it needed a new life. I always felt a mess in my bedroom. Not a nice feeling to have at all in one’s sleeping place! So I started to point out to myself what were the trouble areas: the furniture in a whole, the excess stuff I put off dealing … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Mourning My Dancing Shoes
My daughter, who is 13, is starting to take ballroom dance lessons. I'm happy for her, but this new passion has caused my first case of declutter regret. Yes, after 3 years of decluttering (June 1 was my anniversary), I finally caught the bug. It took someone else to cure me. You see, my husband and I used to ballroom dance, as well. We took lessons for 4 hours a week for 2 years and went to many dances up until my new dancer was born. I held onto my dance shoes - a pair of black practice shoes and a pair of gold performance shoes - for years. Dance shoes are pampered and get very little … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Moving
Last month, I helped my friends, The E family, move. In the last month, I also helped my daughters' school pack for a move. The Es have lived in their house 13 years; the school has been in this location 10 years. Let me tell you, I have seen a lot of junk, stuff, things, good stuff that's no longer needed, beautiful useful items, heirlooms, and lost & found in the past month. A lot. Moving really forces you to focus in on what's essential. This is especially true for the school, which is being torn down and rebuilt. For the first half of the next school year, The Girls' School of Austin … [Read more...]
Reading Clutter
Never fear all you book lovers out there, I am not going to once again nag you into relinquishing books today. This post is about the accumulation of reading materials other than books. Reading materials are another form of clutter that tends to accumulate around the house, in racks and on benches, tables and floors. Magazines, newspapers, sales catalogues... There is no reason why most of these can't immediately go in the recycling bin once read. Particularly the newspapers and sales catalogues. Quite frankly though in the age of modern technology there is no need to even acquire these … [Read more...]
Don’t be fooled by the little things
Little things add up to a lot. Overlooking them when decluttering, because they are insignificant, won't allow you to declutter to the fullest extent. You would be surprised how much space in your home is taken up with lots and lots of small objects. During my declutter mission it has always been exciting to declutter the big things like furniture or storage systems. However, I have also taken joy from decluttering the smallest things because without that the big things would not been emptied and able to go. Likewise, bringing small items into your home, because their diminutive size makes … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Clothes You’re Saving for “Some Day”
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Let's see a show of hands: Who has a box (or more) of clothes saved for the day when you lose 10, 20, or 50 pounds? Or, perhaps worse, who is clogging their closet with these reminders of days gone by? Let's get serious here, people. Do you have a plan that you are implementing to lose weight? When was the last time you wore this size (these sizes)? Do you know what's in this box (these boxes)? Can you actually name even 3 or 4 of the items? Here's my challenge for you. First of all, what are you doing to lose weight? If the answer is nothing, or … [Read more...]
Out of sight out of mind
Have you ever noticed that there is certain clutter in your home that you not only never use but you don't even lay eyes on it for long periods of time. During that time you don't think of it. It is like it doesn't even exist. But the minute you unearth it memories come flooding back and suddenly it seems so precious. I am not just referring to keepsakes here I am including all manner of clutter. That old tupperware way back in the furthermost reaches of your kitchen cabinet. The sporting equipment buried under more useful stuff in the back shed. Photographs in which you can't even identify … [Read more...]
The case for helping a friend ~ By Deb J
On September 26th I began helping my friend, S, declutter her home. Her first goal was to get everything out of the room she wanted to turn into her craft room. When we started the room was so full of bags and boxes and drawers of STUFF that you couldn’t get into the room and she had no idea what it contained. The first picture below shows the room after half of the mess had been cleaned out. The second picture is of the bed before it was uncovered. I didn’t even know there was a bed in there until we began to unload. As we began to carry out the bags and boxes we uncovered 6000 … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Don’t Over Buy
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom At the end of every school year, I volunteer to take home all the lost and found from my daughters' school. I look through it, sort it, wash it, fold it, and give it to charity. The amount of lost and found (or as the Head of School calls it, "Lost and Sometimes Found")Â is absolutely amazing. Â At the end of this school year, I had 20 expensive metal water bottles (one still had a clear $25 price tag on it), a dozen lunch bags in good condition, probably 50 items of clothing worthy of the thrift store, and 5 or 6 coats, including one very nice Columbia brand … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Souvenirs
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom The girls and I are still on vacation, having traveled 1500 miles (2414 kilometers) thus far from Austin, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and then to St. Louis, Missouri, by way of Memphis, Tennessee.  (Thank you Mom, for lending us your Prius.) Until today, besides postcards, which we purchased but also mailed, we had spent less than $10 on souvenirs. I bought a box of beignet mix at Cafe du Monde, and Clara purchased a pair of earrings, which she's already worn several times. Today we went to one of our favorite places in the world, City Museum in St. Louis … [Read more...]