In quick response to last Monday's Mini Missions I received this comment from Annabelle explaining how she had mastered the weeks challenge in one day. Her quick decision to donate the seven things that she had chosen to charity then and there reminded me of something that happened on the Sunday before. A friend of mine has been decluttering her house for a while and I have offered to show her how to go about using ebay and giving her suggestion on how she can get rid of some things. Her husband and mine work together and they have both used the online notice board at their work place to sell … [Read more...]
Choosing the right home for your stuff
The intention for this post is to help you choose the best way to dispose of the objects you are decluttering. Some objects will be just trash but for others you will be endeavouring to find new homes either by donating to a charity, giving them to someone else or selling them. There are often emotions involved when it comes to clutter. Finding the right home for your things can make the decision to let go a lot easier. For example it feels easier to let go if you... Know that the procedes of donating your items to charity will help someone in need. Get a little money back by selling … [Read more...]
Finding your target audience
I received this comment from Janetta on June 3rd: I have a question: I am a quilter and when I left South Africa in 2004 (to travel for two years and then settle in New Zealand) the little group I met up with every week gave me a lovely gift of a miniature quilt (A4 size) from each of them and a group one wishing me all the best. The work is lovely and very reminiscent of them and I have stored them in plastic sleeves in a folder. I practically never look at them and although I am very pleased to have been given them, I don’t really want them any more. I could take pics of them, but what … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday – Under Cindy’s Bathroom Sink
These photos are the result of a 10 minute clean up under my bathroom sink. It took me longer to actually get all the items to their new homes, but the decluttering itself was a breeze and look at the difference. I removed and found new homes for: 12 bottles of nail polish (neighbor) a foot scrub brush (this was broken apart - some recycled, some trashed) 2 Aveda Be Curly hair products (neighbor) Color Me Beautiful color guide (Anyone else remember Color Me Beautiful? trash) a large box of latex gloves (moved to the paint supplies, which is where they're more useful) 4 … [Read more...]
Reduce Reuse Recycle
One of my golden rules for decluttering is... Don't waste it just because you don't want it. There is no doubt that during the course of decluttering your home you are going to have to deal with what to do with all the items you are getting rid of. We have spoken quite a lot over the last thirteen months on how to go about rehousing items but it never hurts to refresh our minds of these details. On my page Give away-Throw away - Sell - Use up, I list what became of all the 365 items I decluttered from my home during 2010. I will use the info from that page here to explain what was … [Read more...]
Day 322 The garage – Before and after
I am satisfied with the fact that our garage is a work in progress. Certainly the step by step strategy is being employed in this area of our house more so than anywhere else. Sometimes it may be one step forward, two steps back because it is the holding area for many things... Items awaiting their trip to the thrift store. Ebay auctions items that we haven't dealt with yet. Things that belong to the children that will move on when they do. Things that we are not real sure we want to get rid of or not. And I dare say there are more than a few things that we just haven't … [Read more...]
Day 310 Decluttering with the Three Rs
A guest post by Cindy Bogard The three Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle. In decluttering, sometimes it’s easy to overlook the three Rs, especially if you’re going quickly. There are a lot of reasons to like a-thing-a-day decluttering and proper consideration of the three Rs is one of them. Notice that the first R is reduce. It’s the most important one of all, starting with only buying what you really need and using it completely. Or buy it used; then you’re not creating demand for another of the same. Consider the packaging of your purchases. Don’t buy single-serving items and buy in … [Read more...]
Day 284 The joys of decluttering
With fear that lately I have started to sound like some of the nuns I remember from my school days, preaching hell and damnation day in day out, I thought I might write something a little more upbeat today. I'd like to point out the joy that can be found in decluttering your home. This joy can be appreciated from day one, not just at the end of the journey. See if you can identify with the joy of..... A Fresh Start - It is never too late to begin a new phase in your life. Cut yourself some slack and don't dwell on the past. Acknowledge the things you got right and learn the lesson of … [Read more...]
Day 280 Why do we torture ourselves?
There has been one item in our home that has been there tormenting us for three years. This otherwise harmless item is pictured below for you amusement... Like I said it looks harmless enough and yet it has been a constant source of clutter torture for far too long. The lamp has been assembled then dismantled then all the wiring pulled out of it then assembled then dismantled then assembled again. Our intention, when we brought it home to Australia from the USA, was to rewire it and continue to use it in our new home. USA runs 120 volts while Australia runs 240 volts if you were … [Read more...]
Day 257 Decluttering Kids Birthdays Part 2
Decluttering Kid Birthday Parties A guest post by Cindy Bogard Last week on Day 252 I covered family birthday parties without clutter, but what about the crazy excess that comes from a big bash with a bunch of kids? There are so many gifts and so much waste generated by the average party. Most seem to end with a big Santa sack of gifts and an equally big one of trash. The quickest way to cut down on waste is by restricting the number of kids. In my experience, though, the kids want to invite everyone in their class until second or third grade. (My parents restricted me to one guest per … [Read more...]