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 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 93 Your views on decluttering
Today I just wanted to point out that just below the photo for each days Post there is a tiny word "comments", if you click on that you have the opportunity to leave feedback, share your stories or even mention an area of decluttering you might like help with. I would love to hear from you and appreciate your tips and views. Yesterday I had a comment from Janetta who has been inspired to start decluttering again. She is even reducing by a bag of things some days because they are only small items. As I have said before "Every Little Thing Counts" whether alone or by the … [Read more...]
Day 86 Recycle & Reshuffle
While looking in the linen closet to determine whether there were any old towels I could throw away my attention was drawn to some rolls of gift wrap and a box of gift bags. Which got me thinking about the chest full of other gift wrap paraphernalia in the closet down stairs Now you may think what I am about to suggest is strange but I will explain my thinking as we go along. I rarely buy gifts (This is strange to most people). I live a long way from most of my family, postage costs are ridiculous and they all can pretty much afford to buy anything they would want anyway, as can I. Not to … [Read more...]
Day 78 The gift that just keeps giving???
Rule number one of de-cluttering... Just because you have something that was given to you as a gift doesn't mean you can't get rid of it. A quick story to emphasise this point. When moving house once when I was a teenager we were packing up a clock that had hung on the kitchen wall for as long as I could remember and for just as long it had been 10 minutes fast. One of us said to Mum "Isn't is time we got rid of that stupid clock it has never kept time properly" and my Mum's response was "I can't get rid of it, it was a wedding present". While carrying the box the clock was sitting in … [Read more...]