After a rather hard day I wasn't feeling very inspired to write a post today but that would just not be good enough. So I decided to annoy my son again with his clothing clutter and I quickly got the short shift there. So then I had to move to plan B. There wasn't actually a plan B in place but I have a method that doesn't usually fail me. I just picked a room and opened a cupboard and a couple of drawers and sure enough I found something I had passed over before. As it turned out it was a couple of pieces of sentimental clutter hidden away in a drawer in my daughters bedroom. Funnily enough … [Read more...]
Day 208 Time to tackle the tricky stuff
For the last 207 days finding things to declutter has been a reasonably simple task due to the sheer volume of stuff that needed to go. Now it is time to tackle the tricky stuff. The stuff that so far I have avoided simply because I didn't want to make the hard decisions. Things like... Those craft items that I keep telling myself I will eventually use one day but after years that day has never arrived. Some of the sentimental items that deep down I know are just clutter that no one but me would ever want. Items that I know I don't want but have been struggling whether I should give … [Read more...]
Day 204 Diaries and Journals
Today I received a comment from Hannah asking for help with a decision on what to do with old diaries/journals. Here is what Hannah wrote... I have just found a box full of the journals/diaries I have kept over the years! What to do! I don't think I’ll ever read them again, and I don't know if I want anyone else reading them either, although if I’m dead, who cares?! I think I actually know the answer for me as much as I don"t want to face it, but would be interested in your thoughts, and those of your readers. Well Hannah, there are a couple of things you might want to take into … [Read more...]
Day 182 Gifts with strings attached
Following on from Tuesday's post, Sentimental Clutter I wanted to bring forward some interesting points brought up in the comments and emails about gifts with strings attached. Cindy had suggested about a week ago in an email to me that I should write a post on this very subject. Then MmmYarn made a comment about how she gives gifts in a very thoughtful way that I felt we could all learn from. So here goes.. There seems to be two kinds of gifts with strings attached... Items gifted down through the family which you feel obliged to accept (whether you want them or not) and keep until … [Read more...]
Day 180 Sentimental clutter
The item that is being donated today is a sentimental item that is kind of sad to see go. As you know our mission at the moment is to declutter any items in our home that are not being used and are unlikely to be used in the future. The fact that this item has been unused and hidden away in my camphor wood chest for several years deems it clutter. It is the last hand crocheted item left in our home that was made by my husbands grandma. Our linen closet used to overflow with all the crocheted hand towels and face clothes that she made for us throughout our married life. She has been gone … [Read more...]
Day 170 Leaving it behind
I really only touched on this subject with my post Decluttering Pessimism but it seems to have evoked some interesting responses from people who have been subjected to the unfortunate position of dealing with a lost loved one's clutter. And nobody wants to be forced into the very awkward position of having to broach the subject with an elderly relative that they need to consider paring down their possessions in order to avoid this very situation. I remember when I was a child rummaging through drawers, cupboards and sheds at my grandmothers house and being intrigued with the interesting … [Read more...]
Day 168 What is the strangest item among your clutter
I sit here with my hands poised above the keyboard drawing a complete blank today. I have been a little side-tracked as my son had all four of his wisdom teeth extracted this morning. So due to my lack of sleep last night, sitting in hospital waiting rooms for half a day, swapping ice packs, warming soup and serving ice-cream to him I have been a little distracted. So I am going to keep it light today and just admit to you the strangest item of clutter lurking in my home. Being as we have discussed this week about childhood clutter and in keeping with the above paragraph I think this is an … [Read more...]
Day 167 Take your time, learn as you go.
If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know that my take on decluttering is " slow and steady wins the race". One of the advantages to this approach is that you can start with the easy stuff and as time goes on you become more ruthless and eager to reduce your clutter more and more. The job gets easier as you go because what seemed like hard decisions at first become simpler and comfortable for you. Betty Jo from Joy With Less has discovered this and she recently wrote about it in her post The Little Things. Here is an excerpt of what Betty Jo wrote.. ...I have one room and … [Read more...]
Day 166 Childhood Keepsakes
I received a comment from Loretta yesterday and here is what she wrote... I’ve got a question for you: since your children are now grown, what advice do you have for those of us with younger kids with regard to keepsakes and clutter? Is there anything you regret not keeping for your kids, or did you (and they) keep ‘too much’ childhood stuff? I recently went through a big box full of cards my mother kept for me from the time I was born: birthday, Christmas, invitations. I had 40 years worth! Tossed most of them, but realised I was doing the same thing for my kids. It is quite … [Read more...]
Day 158 Deb’s photo archive
I received an email recently from Deb telling me about how she is doing a similar thing to me but documenting it from very different angle. Here is what Deb wrote... I am doing a reverse gestalt on your project as I continue my Rathole a Day Project (reviewing Stuff on one shelf, drawer, box, closet a day): I am identifying those objects that are Beautiful and/or Useful and that I want to keep. So everyday I photograph one object that makes me happy to own. Leo of zenhabits.com suggests owning 200 objects. Along that line, I'm identifying my 365 favorite objects (some of them very … [Read more...]