I often check the discussions taking place on Unclutter Forums and sometimes even start a new topic myself. Recently I began a topic called The Neil Armstrong Approach to Uncluttering. This topic has attracted a reasonable amount of interest mostly due to the curiosity about the title but one comment really struck a cord with me. Pol wrote - I've been decluttering regularly and it simply gets easier and easier the more I do it! "Sentimental" clutter has always been the worst with me...   Each small step has opened my eyes to the damage I was causing myself, the stuff owned … [Read more...]
Day 120 Don’t assume
ITEM 120 OF 365 LESS THINGS This grooming set is a prime example of where communication is important when it comes to not cluttering up your home. I assumed that this was a gift to my husband from perhaps his grandmother and therefore had sentimental value as well as being functional. This week on a whim I took them out of the laundry cupboard and asked my husband if he still wanted them. His response was "No I don't, I thought you used them". So they have been sitting in cupboards moving from one house to another for heaven knows who many years and nobody has used them in all that … [Read more...]
Day 106 Giving back
Today's item is a great example of giving back. My mother-in-law gave me this bead spinner because she knows I do a lot of beading and she thought I would find it useful. I think she may have purchased it at a garage sale or the like especially for me. It seemed like a great little gadget and I was most appreciative of her kind gesture. Unfortunately after experimenting with it a number of time I found it did not live up to the expectations I had of it to make threading beads quicker and easier. This item could then have easily been relegated to the "well I can't get rid of it because my … [Read more...]
Day 103 Justifying
There are a lot of ways we go about trying to justify why we should keep the clutter that we have around out homes. Here are a selection:- I may use it some day. I am sure it will come back into fashion. So and so gave this to me. If I keep it long enough it may increase in value. I might loose weight and it will fit me again. It has sentimental value. Everyone has one of these. I paid a lot of money for it so I am not getting rid of it until I get my money's worth out if it. Maybe the kids will want it when they grow up. Maybe the kids will want to give it to their kids … [Read more...]
Day 65 Nike Skate Shoes
Today, three pair of holey Nike Skate shoes that languished in the shoe cupboard for nearly three years head to the garbage bin. We can sometimes make personal attachments to the strangest things. I suppose this is so because they remind us of a happier time in a place we would much rather still be, a common mistake we fall into that causes a lot of clutter in our lives. Purging ourselves of these useless items will not make us forget the good times, the places we've been or the people we've met along the way so don't be afraid to let go. It is just "stuff" after all, the memories remain. The … [Read more...]