Yes, it is indeed the end of the decluttering photos! I know - do try to contain yourselves.
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| oops - I think I photographed the thread spools twice! There are 20 pairs of mittens and a small photo album |
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| 2 power bars, 2 wire brushes and a package of furniture sliders |
Although I've posted the photos as if the decluttering happened on a daily basis throughout the month, in actual fact it only took about a week to go through our entire home. Now, before you fall over in a dead faint over THAT tidbit of information, do keep in mind that we live in a small 2 bedroom apartment and not a full-sized house! We got rid of a lot of stuff (a few things are still waiting to be delivered to their ultimate destination) and quite honestly our place still looks the same. How can that be?
All in all the downsizing exercise was a success and led to some hard decisions being made over things we had held onto for far too long. The underlying thing in my mind was remembering the mantra - "Will my kids want to deal with this when I'm gone" and /or "What would my kids DO with ........ when I'm gone'. Remembering that made a lot of the decisions, particularly over sentimental items, that much easier to make. Overall the house doesn't really look as though we got rid of much but the difference shows in the fact that drawers now open and close easily and some things that were residing on the floor are now tucked away into drawers that were either emptied altogether or downsized to the degree that their contents could be housed together with something else. Like is with like - something that will make life a whole lot easier going forward. Would I do this again? Most definitely!
Today's quote..."Not to brag, but I just went into another room and actually remembered why I went in there. It was the bathroom, but still....."
All in all the downsizing exercise was a success and led to some hard decisions being made over things we had held onto for far too long. The underlying thing in my mind was remembering the mantra - "Will my kids want to deal with this when I'm gone" and /or "What would my kids DO with ........ when I'm gone'. Remembering that made a lot of the decisions, particularly over sentimental items, that much easier to make. Overall the house doesn't really look as though we got rid of much but the difference shows in the fact that drawers now open and close easily and some things that were residing on the floor are now tucked away into drawers that were either emptied altogether or downsized to the degree that their contents could be housed together with something else. Like is with like - something that will make life a whole lot easier going forward. Would I do this again? Most definitely!
Switching gears completely, I've started on
a new crazy quilted project...
Watch this space to see what this becomes!
Today's quote..."Not to brag, but I just went into another room and actually remembered why I went in there. It was the bathroom, but still....."
It helps to have downsized a lot when you moved, and to have no basement, attic or garage to fill. Do you have a storage area?
ReplyDeleteThe feeling of not being overwhelmed by stuff is great, no?
Yes, we do have a storage room which luckily is right inside our apartment (many of them are down in the basement). We use ours mostly as a pantry space because our kitchen is so small. And you are so right - it is nice not to feel so overwhelmed with stuff!
DeleteI've read of your down-sizing escapades with great interest... I've been a purger of things since I was 9 years old. My mom told me to clean my room and I took every single thing out of my dresser and closet, heaped it on the floor of my bedroom and went through it one by one (move over Marie Kondo!). It made my mom crazy but to this day that is how I do it when I want to clean a closet, cupboard, room etc. It's a big job but thorough. I've learned (the hard way) that I have to be in the right mood for it though or I tend to walk away before I'm finished - not a good thing. Anyway, I feel the urge coming on again, especially with my sewing room - seems every year I get better at editing what I will or won't do/use.
ReplyDeleteI know from my own experiences that you may not see a lot of difference in the general appearance of things but you feel it.
have a great weekend,
Jillayne
I guess I tackle the clearing out in much the same way Jillayne, although I usually go drawer by drawer, container by container. That process is mainly because if I were to dump large amounts out at one time we wouldn't be able to move and I know myself well enough that I'd just walk away because I was overwhelmed....or I would just tend to turf the entire lot because I didn't want to go through it. I am happy to say though that throughout this latest process we have put our eyes/hands on every single thing we own and made a lot of hard decisions. What's left is going to require even more decision-making so I'm going to leave a second go-through for a later date.
DeleteOh love the base colors of your new CQ project--I still have 6 left of my "ladies to work on...I usually do them in the summertime (for some reason??) I am doing a clean up of all our cupboard shelves and throwing away old stuff that
ReplyDeletehas a "gone by" date...2 shelves per day...as I don't want to re-injure the shoulder..
Decluttering and de-stashing sure involves hard decisions...i still have a lot to go...this is the year to do it for me...you've really done so well in that matter;))) hugs, Julierose
Purple (and blue) are my favourite colours so this one is pretty fun to work on. Good for you for working on downsizing your 'stuff' - it's very freeing!
DeleteI still have a ways to go with getting rid of stuff! I do have a bag of older cushions and magazines to donate next week. So that's a start.
ReplyDeleteEvery little bit helps Judy. I could easily go through our household again and I'm sure I would find even more that I should have downsized during the first go-round.
Deleteah but when you say 'what will the kids do when we're gone'....if your place is anything like mine half the stuff belongs to the kids!! When we moved house last year we got rid of so much stuff. We are however slowly but surely accumulating more.....oops...
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on reaching the end of your decluttering project! Yes, it's good to be thoughtful about possessions.
ReplyDeleteYour new crazy project looks beautiful, purples are so rich and lovely.
I'm sure I could go through our house again and come up with even more to get rid of but I won't do that for awhile. I'm going to let the dust settle a bit first!
DeleteWell, I am cleaning out a drawer a day in prep for the move. All the little kind of things that are like what you have been showing are going into a 5 gallon bucket. I may have a garage sale in the spring..or maybe not depending on how much stuff we are NOT taking when we move. I will say this. Destashing is pretty hard. But when you destash to prep for a move it's much easier to put things in the "Out You Go" pile, lol.
ReplyDeletexx, Carol
I agree that a pending move certainly does give you added incentive to downsize 'stuff'. Just the thought of having to pay for movers is a great motivator too. I wish you luck and look forward to seeing some of the results!
DeleteWOW! Well Done on your decluttering! Like you say...less wasted time looking for things when like is with like. I haven’t done much in my Vault project however I am working my monthly projects...well at least January was successful. I love your purples for your new CQ project. <3
ReplyDeleteLike with like only works when you have a like to put a like with (if that makes a lick of sense!!).
DeleteI felt like you after my 30-day challenge, but recently when taking a sweep through the house to remove more things, it was evident to me that that challenge had made a difference. There just weren't as many ready things to get rid of that second time. Love the crocheted trivet. Gotta try that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw that trivet I thought of you Becki - glad you liked it! Pondering further on the 'sweep' thought - perhaps it would be a good thing to do a quick one of those on a regular basis.
DeleteCongratulations on your total declutter! It always feels better even if visually the difference is small! Love your new crazy quilt project and look forward to seeing more as stitching is added. Christine xx
ReplyDeleteYes, it does feel better to get rid of so much excess and bless someone else with it. Lots of someone's actually!
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