Day 31: Clear It All OUT!

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 30: Your Choice. My Choice? The Basement. Finally! or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

Do you feel good?

You should. Whether you decluttered for three days or thirty, getting crap out of your house is an accomplishment in this "buy more, get more-more-more" consumer-driven culture we live in.

I was standing in line waiting to purchase a mirror for my mom's dressing room today when I overheard a woman behind me tell the woman she was with that she had a thing for bowls. Sets of bowls, to be precise. She had all sorts of them--and she couldn't get rid of them, not even one, not even when all the others in the set were broken. She shrugged as if to say, "I have no power, here."

And that's why I am so passionate about decluttering. It really isn't about the stuff, or how much stuff--it's all about choosing--it's all about intention. You get to choose what comes into your life. You have a say about how many bowls you have in your house. You do have the power. You are not a victim of your stuff.

And I exerted my power over a lot of stuff today!

Missing: big black printer--it's already in the trunk.

Value Village: 2 black garbage bags and a box
Eco Centre: (where we take hazardous waste, appliances, electronics,etc) the contents of the green box and my big black printer (not shown)
H&M: (to donate to their fibre recycling program) One large shopping bag and the H&M bag.
Re-Use Centre: (Hard to describe, basically a place for items difficult for Value Village to sell (like cut fabric) but still reusable). One grocery bag.
Animal Shelter: One box plus an old pillow.
Lowe's: An on-line shopping return. Shouldn't really count it--but that box was huge!

I have read that trying to find the perfect place for your clutter can be a trap--it's 1) a symptom of your perfectionism, 2) an excuse to hang on to something (because you have to find the perfect home for it), and 3) a really good example of the power stuff has over you.

If you are new to decluttering--don't worry about where the stuff is going. Let that go, too. Back in the early days when I started decluttering, (2002, I scrapbooked it) I could not spare a single thought as to where anything should go. I picked one place--Value Village--and that was that. One decision, one destination, one drive. Done and done.

The Donation Station all cleared out and ready for more stuff!

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I hope you enjoyed this month. It's been quite the challenge! Thank you all so much for commenting and encouraging me as we went along.

Going forward, I am going to commit to at least two 15 minute sessions of decluttering per week down in that dratted basement--even though it is going to get very cold down there very fast. I will post about my progress on Fridays.

Is there a place in your home that could use more decluttering?

(Oh and let me know--would an e-book based on this 31 day series of decluttering be at all useful?)

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Day 30: Your Choice. My Choice? The Basement. Finally!

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 29: Decluttering the Car: Not! or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

When I first thought of doing this challenge, I had thought I would just focus on my basement for the entire thirty-one days. Believe me, it could use a thorough clean out. It is where everything goes to die.

So, you can imagine how happy I was to get down there. I worked for about 45 minutes. The very first thing I had to do, though, was replace some lightbulbs, so I could get a picture!

same stuff, different angle:

sorry for the blur. 

Most of this is fallout from the great dining room makeover which I haven't fully revealed yet.

At first, there wasn't any sort of path at all. Then, I just started sorting things into piles of "like with like."

We have three full sized kitchen tables: one is to go to my sister. I have to clean it up, first, but then I'll be happy to see it go. I should let this white one in the foreground above, go, too, but I am rather attached to it. I "stole" it from my mother one year while I was in University and never looked back. 

The bags hold recyclables (the blue one, front, barely visible) and bottles and cans for the bottle depot (the big clear one). I simply moved the table out of the way to have room to work. It's not gone.

Likewise, I removed a rocking chair which had been here. I am finally ready to let it go, too. (It's not gone yet, just tucked out of the way.) I am looking forward to re-doing that painting there in the background. Those stacks of liquor boxes? Books to sell, then donate. That'll be a job and a half.

Tomorrow, we get rid of all the detritus that has collected over the past month. I am really looking forward to that!

Read the next entry in this series, Day 31: Clear It All Out! 

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Day 29: Decluttering the Car: Not!

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 28: Excavating the Purse or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

Decluttering the car is not going to happen.

Not today--and not tomorrow in that wee window of time I have between breakfast and  trip to Ikea with my mother. Wait, I won't even have the car, tomorrow.

I didn't have it today.

By the time I had access to it, today, I was hungry, tired and it was blustery and damp cold out there. 

My husband and I swapped vehicles today so I could haul plywood. 

We're maintaining the swap for the Ikea trip. I will not declutter my husband's Jeep. That would be rude. 

About decluttering other people's stuff--as in permanently getting rid of stuff?

Nu uh. Never a good idea. Unless the person in question is four. Then, go for it. But it really is never too early to have decluttering and letting go conversations. 

I remember taking my kids through a store when they were little-little. (Must sit in the seat part of the cart, little) and they would whine and beg for some stuffed animal or toy while I shopped. I'd let them have it, but I'd tell them it was only for visiting. When it was time to pay for things, we were going to leave the toy in the store. It was not coming home with us. 

It worked. 

It's important to be able to go into a store, admire all the pretty things--and leave empty handed. 

But that's not going to happen tomorrow at Ikea, that's for sure.

Curious: is anyone else out there going to tidy up the car, today?

Read the next entry in this series Day 30: Your Choice. My Choice? The Basement. Finally! 

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Day 28: Excavating the Purse

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 27: Declutter and Clean up the Laundry Room or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.


 I used to carry an off the shoulder, saddle bag purse.

Times have changed. I deliberately switched to a larger capacity purse a couple of years ago when I started riding public transit to work. I am once again a member of the polluting gas guzzling car commuting club, but I still carry a ridiculous amount in my purse.

Witness:

Working from the top, right to left: book I am currently reading, bullet journal, Shoe inserts, below the inserts, the last book I was reading (an e-book on kobo), some sort of promo thing, black and orange case holding womanly things,
2nd row: baggie of receipts related to the Closet project at my Mom's, cheese sandwich from the day before yesterday (most likely), insurance for the car in a folder, a cheque stub, CIL promo notepad, glasses case (I keep wipes and bottled lens cleaner in it),
3rd row: (staring in the middle of the stuff, underneath the insurance card holder), a baggie of throat lozenges, tape measure, two kinds of chocolate. (Almond nut bar--my fave! and some 2 Bite Brownies).
4th row: paint stick, magazine, I Tunes card, wallet,
5th row: spoons, 3 pencils, 1 pen, a cabinet knob I need to return, a piece of mail I need to mail (need to buy a stamp, first), lipstick in a case, tic-tacs and Ibuprofen.

Still too much, but better:

Yeah, so in what universe is three pencils too many, but two is just right? The one in my purse, apparently. All Hail J!

This is the cavernous culprit. I don't mind it, really, but the straps don't work for me--and it is rather narrow for its depth. It works better as a book bag. I love the colours.

What's in your purse?

Read the next entry in this series Day 29: Decluttering The Car: Not!

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Day 27: Declutter and Clean up the Laundry Room

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 26: Magazines/Books/Bookshelves or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

Let's see.

I tossed an old rug. I moved things and swept and found my dryer balls (yay!) and the phone (double yay!). I got rid of a pair of pants, a sweater and countless stained and/or otherwise unwearable items. (H&M recycles clothing in any condition, so the crate and barrel bag is for them.)

Oh, and I did loads and loads of laundry.

see all that stuff under the table? That'll all be cleared out on or by Saturday.

Can I say I am looking forward to the end of this month? I will be glad to be done.

Read the next entry in this series Day 28: Excavting the Purse.

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Day 26: Declutter Magazines/Books/Bookshelves

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 25: Finish Up and Unfinished Project or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

Magazines are something I like to keep on top of--I have a bad habit of hanging on to them just a little too long.

Usually, I take a before and after shot for you, but the magazines were all over: some in the dining room, most in the bedroom--some on shelves and some in baskets. So, I took a shot of the ones I've decided can leave the house.

That was quick and easy.

As for the books and bookshelves: I can't even.

On top of this box are the books I decluttered from the white bookcase yesterday. Inside the box are books I decluttered from the library landing some time ago.

I want to try and sell my books before I donate them. It's a huge endeavour--and I've been putting it off for along time.


Read the next entry in this series Day 27: Declutter and Clean up the Laundry Room. (Oh dear).

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Day 25: Finish up an Unfinished Project

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 24: Craft Supplies or Tools, Your Choice or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.


I remember the first time I realised that unfinished projects counted as clutter. All of a sudden, it felt like I had permission to do them. They no longer had to wait for that mythical day when everything was done and I just had all this time on my hands. Almost immediately, I embarked on an extravaganza I called the anti-procrastination project. In 2013, every day for the month of May, I did one thing I'd been putting off. I felt pretty good by the end of the month.

Sort of how I felt when I finished this project.

from 2010 to 2015

This is the upstairs hallway. This bit of wall and the linen closet sit between the two bedrooms. (If you're interested in the evolution of this space and my other hallways, check out A Retrospective 2: Passageways: Entry ways, Hallways and The Stairs.) I took down our family pictures this summer so we could paint.

While that project dragged on and on, Jenny Komenda posted something about picture ledges and vintage Martha Stewart.

Hey, I have picture ledges, I thought. At least, I hoped I did. Who knows, I may have decluttered them by now: I'd last used them in 2007 in the dining room.

But, I found them and dumped them in my bedroom.

Those are the pictures sitting on the chair just inside our bedroom.

Then, someone else mentioned that picture ledges were the "new" gallery walls--and I was sold. Plus, it's a great way to handle pictures especially for old walls like ours.

It took me about a half hour--most of the time was spent trying to find the right sized drill bit. It took an extra set of hands to help me, though. My husband helped me with the first shelf and my son with the second.

Ta da!

I pulled out about a dozen books or so I knew we didn't want anymore. I can't help it.

I know the whole thing isn't centered on that wall--but that's OK: put that bookshelf any closer to the right doorway and I start to feel constricted getting out that door.

I'm not sure how I feel about the mix of black ledges up top and white bookcase below. What do you think?

Read the next entry in this series Day 27: The Laundry Room. (Oh dear). Oops, that should have been Day 26: Declutter Magazines/Books/Bookshelves

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Day 24: Craft Supplies or Tools, Your Choice.

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 23: Your Choice. My Choice: The Top of my Desk or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.


I have been wanting to organize my painting tools for ages.

During the great basement clean out of 2013 we moved the painting cabinet over to the laundry room area--but kept the tools over in the workshop.

As we've been doing projects and using our paint supplies, I have been piling them up in the laundry room, near the paint cabinet which is the big white thing in the picture below.

Here is the same area from another angle:

This morning, before I left to go painting at my Mom's, I just went in with two goals. 1) remove everything not related to storing paint and paint supplies and 2) group like with like.

So, in the Ikea unit, I removed the soil that was in one tub and put in the spray paint. In another area, I moved out the dead plant, put the Santa hats away, replaced a useless table with a newly emptied storage unit, that sort of thing.

It was remarkable how clear it was. This was the area for paint supplies--and nothing else. Easy peasy.

We have a leak from the bathroom upstairs, so the bucket of water needs to stay there for a bit.

There is more to be done, but it's good enough for now.

Read the next entry in this series Day 25: Finish up an Unfinished Project.

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Day 23: Your Choice. My Choice? The Top of my Desk

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 22: Saying Good-bye to a Piece of Childhood or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.


No pictures, today.

There's a reason for that.

I had planned to spend the whole day working at my Mom's. I had planned to sand my last coat of mud on the drywall, wash the walls and ceiling, and prime. I was not going to come home until I had finished all of it.

But it didn't work out that way.

My husband and I had a leisurely morning. I even slept in until 10am. We were just packing up to go to my Mom's when my daughter called and wanted to come home from school. I'd just finished mentioning that we'd have to fetch her before we left when the phone rang again, and this time it was work, asking me to come in for the evening. I agreed. I probably shouldn't have.

We hit another snag at my Mom's and after sanding, had to mud again, ever so slightly. Holes in the walls needed to be filled--deep holes which wouldn't be dry for hours. I started washing the walls and realised I had totally underestimated how long it would take.

And what with traffic and all--we had to leave well before I'd completed my list.

I had planned to work on my basement this evening. I have been looking forward to getting down there and sorting things out. But with work--that would be impossible.

So, I thought about the smallest thing I could possibly do to keep myself moving forward, to keep up the decluttering momentum--and I decided to do the dead obvious: clean off the desktop. And then I thought of the easiest way to handle the whole writing of the post thing, etc.

And so, no pictures.

I hope you don't mind.
Sometimes you really just need to declutter complification from your life.


Read the next entry in this series Day 24: Craft Supplies or Tools, Your Choice.

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Day 22: Saying Good-bye to a Piece of Childhood

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 21: Collect All the Digital Pictures or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.


Sorry this is late. I've stretched myself a bit thin doing both this project and working on my Mother's dressing room for the One Room Challenge at the same time. Today is the day we're to declutter cds, dvds, and other media.  I think I interpreted "other media" a bit too broadly given we have "magazines/books/bookshelves" scheduled for Day 26.

The long and short of it is: I took all my Nancy Drews--from Book 1 to Book 50, all but one or two published in the 70's, to a donation centre this evening.

Here's the story.

I believe I bought them all with my own money I earned babysitting in the mid-70s. (I charged $0.75/hour, and after a year, I upped my rates to $1.00/hour.) At 11 and 12, I was absurdly young to be in charge of other people's kids. But I was reliable and available. I kept records. I remember I earned $300.00 in one year.

Anyway. I never intended to keep the Nancy Drews. They travelled from Yellowknife to Edmonton because my Mom packed them up and brought them. Later, when I left home, they went to an outbuilding at my stepfather's farm. When I moved back to the city where my Mother lives--and where I am now--she offered up these slim yellow volumes like they were bars of bullion. I took them and stored them in the basement until I gave them to my dughter when she was ten.

They stayed on the shelves in her room for several years until she asked me to remove them about a year ago. She hadn't read them but she still thought she might. So we moved them to the shelves on the library landing.

Yes, those two shelves of yellow. Those books in the boxes are a few I decluttered. 

But she didn't read them.

A couple of months ago, I boxed them up as part of my project to repaint the stairwell and landing. But rather than put them back, I offered them to my daughter's friend who had expressed interest in reading them. I separated them from the others, boxed them up and put them in the hallway for her.

But, she said, no, she didn't have room for 50 slim gold volumes about the girl with titian hair and a girl friend named George. To clear the decks for Thanksgiving, I had my son take them to the basement.

Are you beginning to get the feeling these are the books that will never leave?

I was.

So, tonight, I had my husband help me carry them out to the car.

And off they went.

They really are gone.

I'm fine with it. Though I really did like that graphic band of yellow (with navy!)  they made there on the shelves.


Read the next entry in this series Day 23: Your Choice. My Choice? The Top of my Desk.

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Day 21: Collect All The Digital Pictures

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 20: Unpacking the Paper Pile or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

There is so much to say about organizing our digital lives that I barely know where to begin, except--I am grateful I don't have a phone. Sometimes I wish I had one--but most of the time I appreciate how much simpler my life is without one.

No, really.

This is one of those times. I take pictures with cameras which have SD cards. Pulling off my pictures is a simple matter of inserting an SD card into the computer, hooking up my external hard drive  and moving the files to their appropriate digital folders on the external hard drive directly. I never, ever want to have another hard drive failure like I did in early 2012. (I lost almost everything from 2011 because I'd been too lazy to transfer my pictures to my external hard drive.)

I had a bunch in this little keeper.

Then, I found a few more in a different drawer.

The worst one, of course, was the SD card actually in the camera. I had pictures going back to 2014 on it.

It took a while.

I organize my photos by year, then month. Within each month, I break things down into categories based on projects or the reason I took the photos. (Trees and sky, for example, or Emma's birthday, or closet.)

Exceptions are projects which span several months, like the "back hallway and stairs." I have sub-folders within, but I didn't fuss with those tonight. Tonight, I just got things roughly where they are supposed to go.

Good enough.

I've discovered some organizing guy named Andrew Mellon and watched a few videos. He was quite inspiring and helped me get some of my mojo back!  He reminded me that "like goes with like." So, I took all the SD cards I'm keeping and put them into this little storage thingy and put it in my drawer. (One was damaged, so I tossed it, another belonged to my son, so I gave it to him.)

And there.

Done.

Not quite the same thrill as decluttering something physical--but at least I know that all the cards are empty and the photos are transferred.

How about you?
Is this a daunting task--or is it easy for you to do?
Do tell!


Read the next entry in this series Day 22: Declutter Dvds, Cds, and other Media: Saying Goodbye to a Piece of Childhood.

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Day 20: Unpacking the Paper Pile.

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 19: Declutter the Desk Drawers or Surface or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

This has been building for a long while.
Too long.

I collect my paper. First, it was here.

And then, sadly, also here:

It's a good system. I know where any given piece of paper is at any time.

(It works best, though, if there's only one collection spot. Case in point: my husband is taking the dog for grooming tomorrow and needs a record of his most recent vaccinations. Because I have two spots--I wasn't immediately sure where to look. Because he was vaccinated in April--he was near the bottom of the pile, too, so it took a while to find.)

I started with the older paper first. I tossed probably 70%. The rest I sorted on the desk.

Then, I dealt with it.

Some, I put away. Receipts. Tax info. Warranties and manuals. Paint schemes for the Exterior. Schedules, Insurance documents. Recipes--including one we had thought lost forever (Chocolate Oat Chippers). Etc.

I copied random notes I had made on scraps and bits of paper into my bullet journal. I recorded all my passwords and user ids for various sites so I could toss an agenda from 2013.

I took action on one piece immediately (a donation I've been wanting to make for ages).

This decluttering for 31 days has been good for me. I've had days where I really, really did not want to do it. I've had days where it was really hard to do it. Dealing with my paper is never, ever fun. It's tedious and boring--but it requires me to think, so it's not like I can watch TV or listen to a podcast. (I don't multitask well mentally.) So, I'm grateful for this series tonight--otherwise I would have always wondered if the Chocolate Oat Chipper recipe we'd found on-line was exactly like the one we had had.

Important stuff.

Here's what was at the bottom of the box.

How are things going for you? Are you happy with the progress you're making?
Remember, it all counts.


Read the next entry in this series Day 21: Collect All the Digital Pictures. 

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Day 19: Declutter the Desk Drawers or Surface

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 18: Letting Go of the Linens or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.

This decluttering project was a precursor to an organizing project. Actually, that's how my decluttering usually goes: I do it in the course of make a space more functional for us. In fact, until I became acquainted with minimalism, I rarely decluttered just to get rid of stuff. (By the by, I don't think of myself as a minimalist. I like to call my self an intentionalist. Do you think that'll catch on?)

I wanted to move the scrap paper which my husband brings home from work and which we use for 90% of our printing over from the right hand side of my "desk" to the left. That way people can just get paper for the printer without having to go through me, as it were.

But first, I wanted to look into each drawer and see what was in there. Ever since I got the ALEX drawer units to replace my old hand made desk drawers, I have had an abundance of drawer space--and I lose track of what I have.

This is the drawer with the paper (and other things).

For this assignment, I opened each drawer and decided whether it needed decluttering--and which one I could use for the scrap paper.

I settled on this one. The cards can go. I've had them for several years and even on the occasions when I could have used one, I haven't. So, out they go (finally). I brought home this big roll of label paper they were throwing out at work--and I've used maybe all of two inches of it in the last year. It can go, too.

Ta Da!

Yes, I found my secret stash of girl guide cookies. So secret, I'd forgotten I had them.

A real quick little decluttering and organizing to keep us humming along.

Nice.


Read the next entry in this series Day 20: Unpacking the Paper Pile .This is going to be a doozy.

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