A guest post by my hubby Steve In 1998, UK artist Tracey Emin unveiled My Bed, literally her unmade bed and the crap that lay on and around it. By presenting her bed as art she became famous, some may say infamous, as one of Britain's great contemporary artists. Well, you do not have to be infamous to use the excess stuff in your home to create an artistic expression that can either become a focal point in your home or sold. Here are two examples: Steam punk ray gun I have an old hand wood drill that sat unused in my tool chest for nearly 30 years, sentimental clutter because it belonged … [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 256 Basement dwellers link
I see so many comments and forums out there from people who are struggling to clean out their basements. I thank my lucky stars I don't have a basement because from what I read they are just clutter collection areas. One of the common basement curses are rolls of carpet. They often get put in the basement in good condition but after years down there waiting for their new lease on life they end up rotten from the damp. I found a link with some great uses for old carpet that I felt compelled to share with you just in case you are suffering from this very problem. My Zero waste is a fantastic … [Read more...]
Day 245 Garbage & recycling
Even though my blog is primarily about decluttering there is a very strong element of doing the right thing by the environment. I have a lot to learn in this area but I would like to think I am making a pretty good effort. I do try to be conservative with the amount of heating and cooling we use in our home. This is made easier because we live in a relatively small home by choice. I try to be conservative with the amount of driving I do but there is plenty of room for improvement in this area also. I am not getting much assistance with the miserable weather we have been having here lately … [Read more...]
Day 224 Stationery declutter
Stationery is another one of those items I am leaving up to natural progression decluttering. It is a very slow process though. This evening I made a very small dent in our supplies and fulfilled a request from my daughter at the same time. Last week, she asked me to print her a copy of the family cookbook that I had painstakingly digitised about 10 years ago. I have added new recipes as I have tested and deemed them good enough to add to the regular rotation. In printing the recipe book for my little girl I managed to use up... 68 pieces of coloured paper 34 plastic sleeves 13 … [Read more...]
Day 221 In response to Day 214
Last Monday, Day 214, my post was about supply and demand. I promised to keep track of my efforts to avoid being wasteful all week and let you know how I went. The idea is to lower the demand for items therefore lessen the necessity to supply them. Well here is the result... I avoided using throw away utensils and containers when eating out. Luckily at most cafes here in Australia coffee comes in china cups unless you order it to go and they have metal utensils so this wasn't difficult to achieve. As usual I didn't bag up my fruit and vegetable when at the supermarket so no plastic … [Read more...]
Day 213 A little helpful hint
I happened upon a conversation at my work this week where one of the ladies was talking about getting money from petty cash to buy a new kettle for the lunch room. The old kettle still works quite well but due to who knows what in the water the inside of the kettle goes quite black over time. This new kettle buying has gone on in the past in fact I rescued the last kettle from it's certain demise with the simple hint that I am about to share with you. Clearly word had not got around that I knew the secret of cleaning the kettle. I find this very odd because as you might have guessed by now, I … [Read more...]
Day 203 Phone Books
I am giving you a reprieve today and keeping my post short. I opened my front door the other day to find a pile of recycling sitting on my door step. One would think that in the 21st century that the company that publishes and distributes phone books would find a way of determining whether you wish to take possession of them before they drop them uninvited on your front porch. I know that there are still plenty of people out their who aren't computer literate and still have a need for these massive tomes. I however am not one of them, I can easily look up what I want on-line should I find … [Read more...]
Day 200 Sharing publications
I happened to see 5 minutes of an old Bewitched rerun this morning on television before I went to work. It struck me as amusing that this episode started out with a magazine subscription seller coming to Samantha's door. Bewitched was filmed between 1964 and 1972 and even back then subscription sellers were harassing people to buy their wears. I lived in Seattle between 2000 and 2007 and I remember how sad it was that these companies ripped these poor people away from their families to locations thousands of miles away in the vain hope that if they sell enough they will climb to the next rung … [Read more...]
Day 191 One area of doom half sorted
I think I mentioned some time back that one of the areas of doom when it comes to decluttering my house is my daughters bedroom. It is mostly awkward because for now she is living elsewhere while going to university so that adds a degree of difficulty I didn't really want to deal with. It is not for me to decide what she wants to keep and I cannot be bothered sending long convoluted emails or wasting precious phone minutes to have her decide long distance. Luckily for me she came to visit the week before last and I warned her ahead of time that she was going to have to help me do some … [Read more...]