It goes against all my principles, but I am considering putting clothes, that no longer fit me, into storage. I know! Shock, horror, gasp! It is all because of an argument going on in my head. There is one side of my brain which is yelling at me saying "What the heck? Did we not go through this last year? Did you not pull down from the ceiling storage, boxes and boxes of clothes in assorted sizes and assorted eras, and proceeded to get rid of them all? Did you not participate in Project 333 and swore never to go back? Did you not encourage other 365'ers facing a similar situation to let go of … [Read more...]
Redundancy or Destruction
After reading the title of today's post you are probably eagerly awaiting an explanation. I am going to attempt to keep it brief because I have a somewhat related topic I would like your opinion on before I sign off today. What Redundancy or Destruction relates to is this:- The less we own ~ be that reducing what we already have or minimising what comes in ~ the more likely it is that we will wear things out (Destruction) rather than them becoming useless to us (Redundant). This is especially so for items of clothing, both for adults and for children. Recently Lena commented that she has so … [Read more...]
Saturday Extra ~ A Guest post by Andréia
The 10 year old outfit I never thought I would write a text about an outfit. Especially not the one in this photograph, because the only relevance it has in my life is that it was never worn. I bought this outfit in 2003, it was Autumn. It is a winter outfit. The skirt and blouse are of a hot fabric (sweating is not an option or it would stick and get smelly, even in winter) and it was very stiff, not allowing much movements. But I am making excuses for myself. I knew all of this when I tried the outfit at the store. I remember very clearly the day I bought this outfit, because it was the … [Read more...]
How Do You Know You Need to Declutter?
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom While we have plenty of old pros here at 365 Less Things, we have plenty of drop-by readers and lurkers, some of whom are probably in denial about their need to declutter. So here's my checklist, roughly arranged from the most obvious to the most subtle clues that you should use if you think that maybe you don't really need to declutter. You rent a storage unit. Your garage, basement, or attic looks like a storage unit. You have a whole room devoted to storage. You have a door in your home that you cannot open. You have a door in your home that you cannot … [Read more...]
Clothing???
On Saturday Jane requested for me to write a post based on "Clothing. Buying (and only keeping) clothing for the person /lifestyle I aspire to be verses the person/lifestyle I really am/have. I am intrigued with this suggestion, especially since she used the word aspire in it. I would always advise clothes shopping to stay within the guidelines of a style the person is comfortable with unless they are ready for a change. And even then I think I would ease myself into that change an outfit at a time. I would think it is a risk to step outside of ones comfort zone too hastily or you could end … [Read more...]
Your relationship with clothes
I received a comment form Amy last week that just begged asking the question ~ Why is that we buy clothes and then decide later that we don't like them any more. Here is Amy's comment: Your post reminded me of a time when I was clearing out dresses that I no longer wore. Either they didn’t fit quite right anymore or they were, as you say, “second favoritesâ€. I got everything together for hubby to take to the local charity here and he started going through them saying things like “Why are you getting rid of these, they are perfectly good dresses?†(Hubby is a “saverâ€) So I said, … [Read more...]
No Brainer Decluttering
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom According to my mother, a successful and busy real estate agent for 28 years who has looked in thousands of closets, my husband and I are an anomaly: he has far, far more clothes than I do. He’s not a clothes horse; he’s gentle with his clothes (unlike me, I’m sorry to say), so they last and last. He wears a standard American working guy wardrobe: khakis, Dockers, button down shirts, polos, and t-shirts on Friday and the weekends. He gets a couple new dress shirts a year and a ridiculous number of new t-shirts (his work, conferences, and other people’s … [Read more...]
Day 356 Decluttering Resentment
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Audra is eight years old and a fashionista. The lucky girl gets hand-me-downs from her sister and her sister’s friend, plus she occasionally gets new clothes of her own, typically from the thrift store. Audra changes clothes many times a day (thank goodness she wears a uniform to school!) and makes some really wonderful outfits. I have been of several different minds about Audra and her clothes. Initially I would tell everyone, “Don’t buy her clothes. She doesn’t need any clothes,†etc. Then, as I started decluttering and reflecting on our choices, I realized … [Read more...]
Day 347 Staying ahead of the game
There are three key elements to decluttering Purging your home of items that are unused Being selective with future purchases so you do not end up recluttering you home. Staying ahead of the clutter by removing items as they become redundant. Today I want to talk about #3 on the list above. The key to staying decluttered is to make sure you remove any redundant item from your home as quickly as possible after it outgrows its usefulness. Redundancy can include... Physically growing out of an item Children are especially prone to this, some more so than others. I was … [Read more...]
Day 259 Not living up to expectation
Don't you just hate products that don't live up to your expectation. Products that you bought for a specific purpose that didn't perform as suggested on the label, as advertised or live up to first appearance. These items often end up cluttering up your home because you just wasted good money on them and you hope that through some miracle they will actually come in useful at some point and you will finally get value for money. There are some products that come very quickly to mind for me... Cleaning products that just aren't as effective or simple to use as the advertising suggests. I … [Read more...]