De-cluttering... An update!

January 23, 2018

De-cluttering... An update!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my attempts at having a little de-clutter and how it wasn't going too smoothly. You can read about it here (Minimalist mind, hoarder at heart) if you like.

It seems I wasn't alone in my cluttered quandary and many of you have similar battle between the clean and streamlined and maintaining the homely feel, whilst finding a way to deal with just too much stuff. It seems the balance isn't always easy to find. I was relieved to hear some of you could also identify with having a child who hates to throw anything away. (So glad not to be alone on that!)

You also were able to give me some good tips, so thank you very much for that! A few of you have enough space to box up and store things that fall into that 'not sure I can chuck' pile. I like this idea and will do this, if I can free up some space in the loft. (Currently full of Little Miss cast-offs).

Jennifer mentioned a 'bite-sized' approach, just tackling a little at a time and doing it in stages, rather than taking the whole project on at once. I so agree with this. I find I have to be in the right frame of mind for a successful de-clutter too. I do actually have to feel quite strong, upbeat and determined to make a change, otherwise I end up shuffling and moving instead of shifting and clearing.

Some of you also said that I should be more lenient, especially with the craft room things. After all, these are things that I use and give me pleasure. I also really liked the idea of using the need for more space up here in my crafty little house as an incentive to use what I have!

I keep saying I want to do that, and I have been working on it, but I want to do more and so I love the reminder that actually not only will it feel good but it'll also free up more space.... duh! A simple thing and yet it's a reminder I do seem to need.

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So I took your words and I tried again, feeling more positive and it really helped.

I've had a bit of a light pruning in the wardrobe, nothing too drastic as I'm not my 'usual' size at the moment, but enough to give my clothes a bit of breathing room. I've also just generally kept on top of the tidying around the house, constantly demanding that things be returned to whence they came and not left lying around, which has done much to make the place feel a little sleeker to be honest.

Little Miss and I even tackled the clothes in her room. We did good work there between us. It wasn't always easy for her, tears were shed (bless her) but we stuck at it, we negotiated, we compromised, and overall the girl done good. Almost two bin liners of clothes to pass on to smaller relatives or for charity. It was desperately needed and she did it, I'm quite proud of her actually.

But I've also eased the strain in my crafty house, even if it did mean using a quite different tack... If you've got to much stuff to store, you either need to get rid of some stuff... or find some more storage!

Yup, I kind of went with option two, at least up here in my crafty place. I could feel guilt about that I suppose but really it's quite a nifty little solution. It didn't cost much, it didn't take much time or effort and best of all, it hardly needed any extra space. It solves the problem I was having as well as making it easier for me to see and get at what I have got. Surely that'll make it easier to use what I have... that's the plan anyway!

BEFORE

The change is almost unnoticeable really. See the before shot above and now the after shot below...

AFTER

Doesn't look like much does it? But it's made a huge difference!

So what did I do? Well, you see the shelves with all the fabric sitting on in the before shot? That's a set of shelves which are like a book case. They are only 20cm (8") deep, enough for a novel, but not a reference book. Super duper for displaying books (obviously), or in my case, fabric.

But, you can also get a matching set of shelves that are a little deeper, 40cm (16"), that's what the adjacent shelves are and they are deep enough for all sorts of boxes, books and just perfect for indy dyed yarn hanks! I just swapped the 20cm deep fabric shelves for another set of 40cm deep shelves. That's it.

So I only had to loose a very little of my floor space, and I got a nice new chuck of storage in exchange. The fabric now sits in those white plastic containers at the moment, nice and easy to pull out and see them all. I made some more space for my books which is just as well as I got some new ones for Christmas...and of course, some more space for yarn, yippee! Well, not space for more yarn, just more space for the yarn I already have. (So I can get at it and it's not all packed in together like a tin of sardines.)

I have to say I'm very pleased with the results. Having somewhere to put everything feels like a breath of fresh air in here. Such a relief!

Now I just have the dreaded outside shed and the loft to do. Argh! But that's enough for now and luckily those two jobs really need to wait til spring!

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I'll leave you with a few 'during' and 'after' shots...