East, west, home's best ....

'Home is the sailor, home from the sea' (Robert Lewis Stevenson) and home is my little family, from ... Vegas. I know I said here that we were off to Japan, but due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami, our trip was cancelled. We didn't have much time to choose a new destination, so we plumped for Vegas, and we had a good time.

I feel like the worst blogger of all time, as my blog is so sadly neglected, but now we are back I hope to rectify that.

I've been interested in decluttering and home organisation for a very long time - back when I was about 12 I first read Shirley Conran's Down with Superwoman  and knew I'd 'met' a kindred spirit! Since then, I've read a great many books on decluttering and organising, so here's a little list. Most of these are available in my local library, so if you're interested in reading them, you may not even have to buy them and clutter your house with another book!

• Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern. I like Julie's book because she makes you think about what will work for you and your life.
• The Life Laundry : How to De-Junk your Life by Dawna Walters. This book is linked to the BBC series which was on way back. The book has a helpful 'life laundry survey' which will highlight areas that might need some attention.
• Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. Of course, you might think feng shui is a load of hogwash, but this little book made me realise that holding on to stuff can literally make you feel 'weighed down'. Worth a look.
• Clutter's Last Stand : It's Time to De-junk your Life by Don Aslett. An amusing, no-nonsense book.

I hope they help somebody!

Happy decluttering! xx

Why do we have so much clutter?

I thought I'd have a little look into why we all seem to accumulate so much clutter in our homes. From my experience with friends, family and of course myself, there are a number of reasons why we have piles of stuff.

1. A sort of greed - I don't mean that to sound nasty, but a lot of us buy stuff just 'because' - because it's there, because we are constantly looking for new things. And we aren't operating a 'one in, one out' policy, so are just adding to our overstuffed wardrobes, cupboards, attics and garages. I aim for an elegant sufficiency in all things - I am not a collector though, but if you are, you may have lots of one particular thing (I saw a beautiful collection of hatpins on TV the other day). In general I aim to have enough for my needs, but not too much.

2. I might need it some day. Really? Your university papers from two decades ago? A pair of ratty old curtains? I think it's time to be a little bit brave, and believe that there will enough for you in the future, so it's ok to get rid of old and sometimes pretty unusable stuff. Just think, you might need that space it's occupying one day, too.

3. Presents. When I give someone something, I really hope they like it/want it/use it. That's the point of a present, after all! I wouldn't mind at all if someone exchanged/donated/regifted something I gave them that didn't quite hit the mark. However, I know that not all gift givers feel this way. It's hard to know how to deal with this - maybe keep it for a set period, and then discreetly donate it to charity?

4.  It's broken, but I'm going to fix it. If you haven't fixed it for a year, you probably won't! If you think you might, set a deadline by which you have to have it up and running, and if you fail - out it goes. There is a little sub-category here - useless things. Like video tapes when you don't have a video player anymore. Maternity clothes when your youngest is taking their A levels.  Odd socks. You get the picture.

5. It's new, and I've never used/worn it. I wonder why? If you have had it a year or so, you probably aren't going to use it. Unless it was buried under other clutter, and you've only just been  reunited with it. In which case, rejoice, and start using/wearing it.

6. Sentiment. This is a tricky one. I stand by my favourite quote - 'You can't have everything - where would you put it?'. It's going to get harder and harder as the years go by to keep every greetings card your family have ever been sent if you live in a modestly sized home. Keep the very, very special stuff (have a memory box for each person in your household) and pass on the rest. If you can't bear to get rid of it completely, take a photo of it, and keep that, instead. This applies to holiday souvenirs too - I don't buy them, I have photos of my holidays, and my memories, and I find that's enough for me.

7. It's worth something - or might be. Research this. It's possible that your complete video taped series of Fawlty Towers isn't as valuable as you thought. If you love the item, think it's beautiful and it makes your heart sing everytime you see it, whether it's worth nothing or £500, then keep it. But don't keep things you don't like just because they might be worth something.

8. I'm holding on to it for family/friends. They might not want your clutter. I was given bags and bags of 10 year old, stained, poorly stored (musty) baby clothes by 'someone' when I had my elder son. Whilst I did appreciate the thought, none of it was usable, or even to my taste (or current fashion). Your house and all it's storage space is primarily for your family who live in it right now - don't clutter it up with stuff for other people.

Happy decluttering! xx

Planning - a bit boring, but necessary

Image : winnond / freedigitalphotos.net

Like lots of other people, I am really tight for time in the mornings. And although I am a 'morning person', I like to be organised and get everything done efficiently, without too much effort (because I'm a bit lazy, too!).

Before I go to bed every night, I work out (in my head, although sometimes I will get everything out) what I am going to wear, sort the laundry so I have a load to put on as soon as I'm downstairs, and make sure everything the boys need for school is ready, or at least 'locatable' (as my boys are older, this normally just means asking them if they have their swimming stuff etc). I don't like last minute panics. If I'm going to town that day, I will make sure I have all the things I need - list of what to buy/do, any banking stuff, items to be returned etc - in a bag, ready to go.

My husband thinks this is mad, but he's the one who's stressed and scrambling around trying to find everything when he's late for work .... who's the mad one?!!

Happy organising! xx

Ten Minute Tidy

We all have them. Little piles of stuff that just accumulate. Once one thing is plonked by the phone, more papers, letters and 'things' are put on top - and hey presto, you have a pile. Obviously, the best thing is to put everything away, but I'm sure I'm not the only one with a family who just put things any-old-where when they can't think, or be bothered to work out, what to do with them.

So, I had a spare ten minutes the other day, and that's the ideal amount of time to deal with these little clutter piles (so long as you haven't let it build up, of course!).

First, my two little piles -

Lovely - a pile of  'stuff'' in the living room

This one started with my younger son plonking a CD-ROM containing some downloaded software on top of a dish. More stuff seemed to come from nowhere to sit on top.










A quick declutter, throwing away a couple of pieces of paper and rehoming the CD-ROM and voila -

That's better!

The other 'pile' wasn't technically speaking a pile, since it was vertical - in the letter rack I keep in the kitchen for current and ongoing papers (it's next to the phone, so it's logical to me!).

Before

There are too many papers in here, and some of them aren't even anything to do with me, or even necessary to keep. It's those pesky other people that live here that are responsible. A quick minute sorting it all out, and it now only contains the things I need.

After

If you have a spare ten minutes, I'm sure there is a little decluttering job you can fit in.

Happy decluttering! x

Wardrobe clear out - a slight diversion

winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Excitement is rising in the Lemons household, as we are off on holiday in April. So whilst I have been clearing out my wardrobe, I have also been pondering on what to pack. So this post is not strictly speaking decluttering, but it is organising, and links in nicely with my new wardrobe policy and also the idea of a capsule wardrobe.

Many years ago, I met a woman who had travelled extensively for work and pleasure, who only took black and white clothes on holiday with her. She maintained everything mixed and matched beautifully, and she added what I believe fashiony types call 'interest' with lots of jewellery. I tend to look like a waitress if I wear black and white, but the concept seemed sound to me.

So, I have diverted slightly from decluttering to organising my 'capsule' ready to pack, in the hopes that I will hit Japan looked groomed and put together (as I have never managed this on any previous holiday, I am travelling in hope!). I was happy to find something on this very subject by Sally over at Already Pretty,  with pictures, and despite being the most unfashiony person ever (me, that is, not Sally) I was thrilled to discover she went with the the colour scheme idea as well, and not only that, but that I had kind of done this too, in my preliminary thoughts! My scheme, such as it is, will be grey, black, white and purple, as after my decluttering the jeans and trousers left fitted with this scheme. As I have bought a few new things to fit with this, I have also been trying outfits on, also as Sally recommends. If you are a 'fling everything in' packer, who always has to pay for excess baggage, Sally's blog is worth reading. It's worth reading even if you aren't, because she is funny with a strong style of her own, and her blog is full of practical information too.

Don't worry, I won't be branching into a fashion blog any time soon - I am still organising and decluttering my house and will be sharing more in the near future.

Happy decluttering ... and happy packing if you're going away! x

Half term hiatus

It's half term here, and even though my sons are big, they still manage to take up a lot of time when they are around all day! So I've been a little quiet, but will be back with gusto next week.

In the meantime, I've found some information about a lovely charity called Give and Make up - it's a non-profit organisation which aims to give women and children living in womens' refuges essential toiletries and make up. You can read more about it, and how to donate (they will take 'gently used' toiletries and cosmetics) on their blog here.  If you are decluttering your make up bags and boxes, please think of this charity. And thank you to the ladies on the Money Saving Expert forums for telling me about it.

Happy decluttering! x

Wardrobe clear out Part 1

 

 

 

Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a feeling this series of posts will go on and on and on ....

I am not good at clothes. When the fashionistas were in the queue for effortless style, I was obviously somewhere else. The library, perhaps. That said, I have lots of clothes, but it's recently come to my notice that I wear about 30% of them. So I need to get rid of things I don't wear, because really, they're just taking up space, and someone else could be wearing and enjoying them.

I've said earlier that in order to clear out cupboards and wardrobes, you need to get everything out . Everything. Then sort through the stuff and only put back what you want/need/love. I've tried this with my wardrobe, and it's the exception that proves the rule. I end up putting everything back! I've come to the realisation that I'm scared of not having 'enough' clothes. But of course, I only use what I wear, the remaining stuff is clutter!

My new method is slow. Very, very slow. And less scary because it's slow. Everyday, when I go to get dressed, I try and be aware of things I pass over becase .... it's got scratchy seams, it rides up, it falls down, the colour makes me look ill, it's too short, it's too long, the pockets stick out, the neckline is too low, I've got nothing that goes with it. And then I take the offending item and put it in the charity bag straight away. If it's something that I like but I don't have anything to go with it, I write down a note to look for something to go with it (and hopefully to go with other things in my wardrobe).

So here is one (just one *blush*) of my wardrobes, before.

Wardrobe - before

It doesn't help that I use my wardrobe to store things that are not clothes, but that I use in the bedroom. For example, my hand weights are stored in the bottom left of the wardrobe. But you can't actually see them because of all the other stuff.

So after a couple of weeks of discarding things as I was getting dressed, I have gathered a little pile of things. In this pile are shoes which don't stay on, a handbag that's too small for me to fit my life in, some jeans that are too small and some trousers that have faded in a very odd way.

Small pile of unwanted items

Ta da!! Ok, not that different ...

And my wardrobe 'after' picture is hardly inspiring, but does look a little tidier. I got rid of the various random items from the bottom of the wardrobe - some empty plastic bags (why??) and other bits and bobs. Now, I still don't wear everything in there, but slowly, slowly catchy monkey! Bit by bit, those unworn things will be leaving the house. Of course, that does mean I might have to go shopping, as there will be a lot of space and my sad lack of clothes will be obvious. And I am going to try really hard to only buy things that I will wear.

I had a little search to see if I could find any helpful information on building wardrobe, and I did find details of a capsule collection on My Capsule Wardrobe. The clothes in that collection work really hard, and actually get worn. My plan is to achieve a similar capsule, but that's very much a work in progress.




I have another double wardrobe and a single shelved cupboard which will be featuring when I've made more progress.

Happy decluttering!