Friday again and another weeks almost gone by and also another month. It seems like just yesterday that we moved into our apartment, but in fact that was nearly nine months ago. And with every day that passes by we love living here even more. One thing I have noticed about our new uncluttered, downsized life is that stuff tends to flow through our home now rather than come to rest, or stuff come to rest while something else flows out. I am pleased to say that much of that has been preloved, so there has been no buyers guilt attached. I wouldn't say that the apartment is fine tuned to the … [Read more...]
Use your imagination for offloading your stuff
I am sure I have talked about this topic numerous times but it is worth repeating over and over again. Two situations in recent times have brought both sides of this subject to the fore again for me. Situation 1 ~ Many times over the last few years I have given advice to my friend, who I just helped declutter, to slowly start getting rid of her stuff. She even reads my blog sometimes. One of the pieces of advice dished out was to have a plan for where to offload her unwanted stuff. However aside from giving me craft items and her friend, who is a teacher, craft and stationery items and she … [Read more...]
Avoiding a cluttered wardrobe
I'll be the first to admit that I am no fashion expert. So I am not going to give you any advice on what clothes to shop for. However, what I am going to share with you today are tips that I think will help you to avoid a wardrobe cluttered with clothes that you don't wear. So without further adieu I will give you my opinions on ways to avoid adding clothing clutter. Don't insist on keeping up with the trends. Trends are all about changing whats "in fashion" in a  ploy to keep you buying whether you need new clothes or not. So don't be a sucker to consumerism and only buy clothes when … [Read more...]
The hurricane method of decluttering Part III
Well folks I have spent the last two days hectically decluttering and organising for my friend and I have to say it was hard yakka (Australian for hard work). Call me strange but I really enjoyed it and was a little sorry to have to drag myself away so soon when there were still things to be done. I am very happy to be home with my husband though. And extremely grateful for my wonderful apartment that, considering I haven't done my weekly clean for the last two Mondays', was there to welcome me home looking tidy and cleaner than I expected. It will be Monday before I bother to do much in the … [Read more...]
The hurricane method of decluttering Part II
Find Part I here if you haven't already read it. I forgot to mention that at the end of Saturday's effort we were sitting together in the craft room talking a little about the progress of the day, and my friend was lamenting that she wished things had been different and this task could have been a lot easier. I don't recall exactly what I said but I assured her that I was proud of the progress she had made and how well she was doing with the decluttering process. It is always best to look forward and not dwell on past mistakes, just make things better in the future. Sunday dawned and I had … [Read more...]
The hurricane method of decluttering. Part 1
The hurricane method of decluttering, as Moni dubbed it, is when one rips through the house decluttering a vast amount of stuff all at once. A person's hand is often forced into this action due to a sudden change in circumstances which makes a big declutter necessary. A hurricane declutter was exactly what I was helping a friend with on the weekend. She had been thinking of moving but found a new place quicker than expected, and just when her best friend was leaving for an overseas vacation. She phoned me in a panic on Wednesday last week begging for my help. I quickly agreed and took a three … [Read more...]
Sanna’s final 20 thing a day challenge update
Hi there! Friday was the last day of July and so my 20 things a day challenge ended. While the first three weeks could be labeled "random decluttering of random clutter", after about 500 items or so, my assorted little junk items were almost all gone and it was time to change the method a bit. Inspired by a window shopping tour (of all things!) that led us to a interior store, my boyfriend let me know that he would like to get rid of a lot more of what we owned and would actually like a fresh start without the old stuff and, while buying new furniture big style is out of the question … [Read more...]
Have faith that you won’t need it one day
As the saying goes ~ "Believe and the Universe will provide." Whether you are religious, spiritual or neither there is a good chance that this saying is true for you. It sure has been true for me, and that is why I never worry about letting go of the things that I don't use. I hold on to very little in the way of things that I only think I might need some day because I have no doubt that... ...I probably won't and never did "need" it in the first place and... ...and anything I do need want can be easily replaced at a later date. One of the reasons I believe these this is that I … [Read more...]
Some challenges for you
Sanna's success with her 20 thing a day challenge got me thinking about how short term challenges can be very inspiring for letting go of things. So today I have come up with some short term simple challenges that anyone can do. Hopefully they will inspire some of you to do a little extra decluttering. If any of the following challenges appeal to you give them your best shot and let us know how well you did when your challenge is complete. Each day for one week choose a drawer or shelf to declutter. You might be surprised how much easier it is to find what you need in small areas once … [Read more...]
Staying ahead of the clutter.
Of late I have been getting the felling that maybe there is more stuff coming into my home than there is going out or being used up. Typically craft supplies is my biggest area of concern. Stuff regularly goes out in this area but some stuff does come in, through generous friends and because I am continually experimenting with new ideas, and then there are the supplies that have to be restocked (adhesives, white card stock etc). But there are also other areas of the house where items have also come in, perfume from a good friend, new glass spice container to replace the plastic ones (which … [Read more...]