Preparing For 2018

After the huge purchase of the hall stand last week, I have stayed away from op-shops - on purpose. They aren't a bad thing for me... it's just that it's a big thing to buy and I need to save a little bit of money right now.

And besides, it was my whale - so to say - to have in my life (yep, a Moby Dick reference there). 

So, I'm in preparation mode this week.

I've been out at Variety1 to pick up a box or two so I can sort out my craft gear in the top of my wardrobe - as it's a mess. It'll be all sorted, placed in certain boxes and those boxes will be labelled and replaced back into the wardrobe so I can see what's inside them and I can pick them out as I need them. 

This means I can also put away the pillows and blankets which are now occupying the floor of my bedroom. 

And next year, I'm also hoping to work on my home office a lot more... yes, this year, I didn't get as far as I hoped in it. I got somewhere with it, but not as far as I wanted to - which was to get it completely organised and tidy. 

Pity. I was hoping it would be better than it is now. 

But there's always next year, right?

15th Donation!

Yay! I've done it!

Today, I chalked up my 15th Donation Run - and before Christmas too! I'm so darned proud of myself, and the house is looking so much better for it too!

Man, so much has left my house; and yet so much had come into it as well... but that's what decluttering and reorganising is all about!

Now, how many donations have you done this year? If it's your first year, don't be put off on how little you've donated... even I didn't donate that much in my first year of decluttering, but as the years passed by swiftly, my donation days became more and more - and I reorganised my house to be something I could live with better.

Now, with that in mind, I'm going to take the next week off so you all can have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your time with your families - and so can I.

I'll see you in the New Year of 2018!

Christmas Shopping Finished!

Okay! It's days away from the big day - less than a week - and I have finished all of my Christmas shopping!

And you know something? I only bought 3 brand new things... yeah, not bad is it? The rest of the stuff is all preloved, recycled and upcycled - which I think everyone is going to love! 

For the past month, I've been shopping around all the different op-shops I normally go to and looking carefully at things for my family - to see if I can either fix them up or upcycle them - and it's been fun!

Then, I went to the bank to see how much money I've got left one day about 2 weeks ago, and the lady there told me I had a Christmas account I had started at the beginning of the year! So, I cleaned that out, except around $10 and kept the transfer in place for next year! 

Now, I looked at Christmas in a whole different way!

I could afford things - a lot of things! - for my family; and I was going to op-shop the lot!

Well, yesterday, around 5 things pulled together all at once, and I felt wonderful about it all!

The vinyl for my brother found a frame.
The frame I needed for Marnie Linger's artwork was bought at a cheap store.
And all the rest of the presents were painted, glued, taped and wrapped up!

Yep, everything is under the tree...

...well, except my folks' painting.

Yeah, it's not finished yet. So, I'm going to install that in their home while they're on holidays and it'll be there when they arrive home - it'll be their surprise when they open the door and find it hanging on the wall. 

Now, that's something for them to look forward to.

Otherwise, I did spot this hall stand at Vinnies yesterday and begged, borrowed and... well, didn't steal... the money to obtain it. You see, dear readers, I've been searching high and low for a decent hall stand; and to come across one like this in my area is a rarity! It will just fit next to my door, block out the light coming in through the side door windows - while letting in a little with the fogged glass - and replace 3 pieces of furniture; which I will donate to Vinnies in the process!

So, that's a great find in itself, right? 

And seeing it's Christmas this weekend, how about we don't do a challenge? It's just too stressful and I don't want to push you too hard.

But if you want to, by all means do this one:

Go to your bookcase and choose 5 books you no longer have an interest in, know you won't ever read and know have no value at all. Put them into your Donation Box and drop them off at your chosen charity store the next time you go. 

Yep, this one is an easy one... but you don't have to do it simply because it's Christmas; and I don't want to push you. 

Christmas Shopping Made Fun

You know, I enjoy this time of year. 

I get in and do my Christmas shopping and make sure I get things for my family which are special and endearing to them - things they'll use for years and remember I bought them or made them for them.

This year, I am op-shopping and hand-making things for them - and this has made things a lot different for me.

I'm not only going to charity stores for my Christmas shopping but also I'm going there to donate more bags and boxes of goodies for other people to buy from those stores at this time of year... which makes me feel better about my house and life as well.

Today, I donated a bag of clothes which have been sitting by the side door to my car port for weeks and found it was a good day to window shop.

Yeah... sure... window shop... me?

Anyway, I found myself a nice ladder for the bathroom, a tea set from the 1960's and a set of rosary beads (why I got the latter things I'm not sure; but they've always fascinated me to no end). Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the things I bought there.

I'm going to fix up the ladder and make it look good. Otherwise, it's going to be another day out for me to look for Christmas presents.

So, how are you doing with your end-of-year cleanout? Seeing I'm working from my local library, and not at home, I'll be doing a lot of cleaning out of my house in the next few days... not a bad trade from my computer monitor dying on me. I'll get the house cleaner for Christmas. 

Christmas Shopping Time

I know, I know it's going to be a tough one for us this year - us people who find it hard to declutter with weeks to Christmas and yet will be accepting presents towards the end of the month.

Now, don't worry, you'll be fine.

You'll be better than fine.

Like in my last post, this is the best time of year to get in and work on your decluttering and make room for yourself and your new things you're going to be getting from your friends and relatives.

This is also the best time of year to get in and look around your local op-shops and thrift stores for presents for your loved ones.

Yep, you heard me. 

Why spent up big at the huge retail shops when you can spend only a quarter of the money at a charity and help the less fortunate at the same time?

I've got a box of goodies to take to my local Vinnies and will be going there in the next week or so to search out the last few presents for my family with a friend from the USA... who is also in love with op-shopping too.

In the meantime, I'm making other presents from scratch... for example, I'm doing a painting for my folks, making Limoncello for my Aunty and knitting a t-towel for my Sister-in-Law... all hand-made stuff and it'll all be ready for Christmas by the time the big day comes around. 

And I can't wait!

Not only will I have not bought so many new things this year, but I'm also trying to clean out as much of my place as possible. 

Weekend Challenge: it's time to put up the tree and decorations - December 1st - and so, what needs to be done is to put away things that you're going to store for the next few weeks. 
What's a good idea is to buy a few plastic boxes for your Christmas decorations. Not only will they be protected throughout the year, but when you move house, nothing will get broken.  Also, you can sort out what decorations you want to keep and which ones you want to give away to charity. 

That Christmas Time Of Year

I enjoy Christmas, truly I do! And it's this time of year when I put away my usual things I've been doing around the house, and pull down the tree and decorations for Christmas.

It's also the time of year I seriously get into closets and declutter on a major scale! I clean up the living room, put bag upon bag of old clothes, shoes and other items I no longer want or need into the boot/trunk of the car and take them off to the op-shop and make sure I have enough space for the incoming lot of new presents from family next month.

This is also the time of year where I send off Christmas cards and shop for presents.

However, this year is going to be so much more different from other years from the past. I'm going to hand-make or op-shop my Christmas presents for my family and see how I go with them. Not only am I not all that stressed out about this endeavour, but I know I'm going to save myself a heap of money in the next month!

For example, I've got Christmas Parties coming up - where I normally spend a lot of money at them. But this year, seeing I'm op-shopping for my family, that won't be the case. I'll be saving myself the cash and only looking and window-shopping at markets and art galleries - there's not going to be the guilt purchases I have made from years ago.

This is going to be a different style of shopping for me; and I think I'm going to enjoy it. 

So, what do you think? How about you give it a try? Instead of jumping online and burning a hole in your credit card or battling the mobs at the huge shopping centres, how about you go into your local big thrift store and find presents for your loved ones? Not only will you be buying something preloved, and lovely, but you'll be giving money to a worthy cause.

And this week's Weekend Challenge is the same as mine:  go through your closets, cupboard and around the house and pull out the things you've been holding onto to use for the past few years. 

Start small and go for just 10 minutes one day and put them into a bag or a box and take it straight to the car. Then the next day, do another lot of 10 minutes to look around again in another room. 

Don't rush and really think about the last time you used that item. Then, when you've got about 3 bags - or boxes - in the boot of your car, take them to your charity store and donate. It'll be the best thing you'll do all season. 

Clothes

This week, I've been looking through my clothes. Now, I didn't plan to do this; I was looking for a jumper to put on - as it became really cold one day - and pulled out three jackets which didn't fit me, and tossed them onto the floor to donate.

You see, I did buy them to wear - but I just simply didn't wear them at all. 

With one of them, I can get into it, but I can't get out of it - and that's not a good thing when you need your clothes to be nice, and yet easy to wear.

So, I looked through my clothes and found there was a fair bit of clothing I just simply didn't wear or fit into anymore. I've put it off to one side and have popped it all into a bag to donate at my local Vinnies or op-shop. 

You have to remember that with your clothes, you are wearing it, not somebody else. What you wear has to make you feel good about yourself; so when you go out op-shopping and you want to find a particular look for yourself, it's best to go on what makes you feel great - and not what other people say about you. If you feel great in something, but somebody says: 'Oh, yuck, don't like that.' that's their taste, not yours. It could also mean that they're trying to get that piece of clothing from you for themselves as well - I've seen that happen.

Okay, this weekend's challenge is your music collection - if you have cds, vinyls/records. Now, it's great to have this kind of collection in our houses, but it's also good to have under control as well. Sort out what you want to keep and what you don't; what you've been playing for the past few years and what you're not playing anymore. Now, remember that music is very much like fashion - it flips and flops in and out of the public eye so quickly that unless you're a diehard fan of a band, it's best to make sure you're doing the right thing. Don't go toss out all your vinyls of Pink Floyd because you think it's best to get it all on cd; then regret it later on. I've seen this happen to a guy who traded in his vinyls of John Lee Hooker and when I bought all 4 of his double-vinyls, he came back 2 days later and wanted them back; and couldn't get them back. I heard he burst into tears in the record store in front of the owner. Now, being into your music and a collector of music are two different things... be careful what you do with your music. Now, the next thing you do, is go out to your local newsagency and buy an index book - a large one - and index your music collection so you know what you've got. This will be a great thing for you to keep track of not only for when you move, but also for insurance purposes.

Re-Organising

A lot of decluttering is reorganising the house. Once you've pulled everything down, given it a good dust and polish, then you have a really good look at what you've got, and realise maybe you don't need some of what you want to put back.

This is the good part of decluttering.

Knowing what you don't need. 

Right now, out on the clothes line are some clothes I've washed and are going to donated to a charity. Yes, I wash the clothes before I donate them, so when the time comes, I tell them that they've been washed only days before; it tells them that I care enough to do that for them.

But they go and send them off to be rewashed anyway.

But I've found that I have a very organised kitchen now. This is because I've spent over three years on decluttering and reorganising it to the point that there's only things in it that I need and will use from day to day - week to week - and it all has a place to be at the end of the day.

My next place in the house is the bedroom. I know that sounds like I'm taking a step back - but you have to remember, I did say I'd go over another place if needs be again; and so I am.

The bedroom does seem to be ignored after it's cleaned out, though - so do other rooms - and so coming back to it keeps it from recluttering into its former cluttered self again.

So, I cleaned up my jewellery section, found all my money boxes and collected them all into one spot where they could all be placed - under the wash table where there's a little piece of timber - and now, there's space around the house where they've been spread out where I can clean up and tidy. I have more space on my duchess (where 3 money boxes had been sitting) and now the jewellery boxes can be seen better. 

To say I'm pleased is an understatement.

The money boxes are in a safe place, I can get in and fill them all up with change and then take that change to the banks in my own time. And now, the bedroom is looking a bit better - but I still have a long way to go with it. 

Now, it's Wednesday, and I missed out on last week's challenge. So, I'll set you all two challenges this time:  Go to your bathroom and look inside your linen closet (if it's not in your bathroom, that's okay... mine is, so that's why I've said this). What you do is go through all your towels and find the ones which aren't matching and good-looking and separate them from the nice, fluffy ones which you're using all time. Grab a large bag and put the old ones inside them and take them to your nearest animal shelter for them to use. This can go for your old sheets too! Any old sheets which are worn through and you no longer us - send them away to the animal shelter near you.

Challenge #2: Everyone who have children... this one is for you and your kids. As children grow, they grow out of toys they no longer wish to play with. Now, go and find a large box and get your kids to put into the box what they no longer want or need. Get your children to help you wash up the toys and take them to the charity of your choice, so they know you're not just throwing them out. Or... if you wish, take the toys to a children's hospital and donate them there. 

Serious Down-sizing

I've been downsizing a lot since my last post. And I've also been out in the garden repotting plants and moving them around too.

I've got markets coming up, and there's something I'm really good at - packing everything I need into small spaces. And this week is no acception.

Yesterday, I was off to Vinnies at Underwood to donate 2 bags of goodies - a double bed sheet and some cds, and in the other bag books I don't read - and I took a wander around the store. There had been a deceased estate and it was filled with some great things.

From a $25 6ft Christmas Tree (without a box - why there was no box, I'll never know) to a badly-cared for carved leather handbag, to a 6-cup Corningware coffee pot (which I did nab) for just $10, that place was filled with all kinds of goodies for me to look at... but of course I'm always looking for the bargains, not just something - anything to buy - for the house.

Yesterday, I came home with 3 things: the Corningware coffee pot (in mint condition - never been used), a brand new tapestry frame and a Monte Mart table easel for displaying work; all of which came to the grand total of $13! How very cool is that? 

And yet, I was only there to look... it's always good to buy something you need and something you collect as well. 

When I arrived home, I found that the large donation box I had by the door was looking tired and was getting in the way. So, I've emptied out and taken it up to the big recycling bin; and I have replaced it with a smaller Donation Box instead. Everything can fit in it - and it fits in the car nicely - and all I do is load it up with bags of things, carry it out to the car and then bring it home. I don't take that box into the store with me, though, it stays in the car.

It's my 14th donation to charity this year... and I'm darned proud of breaking my record from last year of 9 donations. pretty good, eh? And I'm not finished... I'll be whittling things down until I have only what I need in the house - and things that will be going to my next place with me. 

Well, time for the Weekend Challenge! 

It's time to sort out your goo collection in your bathroom... yep, your shampoos, conditioners, shower gels and soaps you don't use; or you're 'saving for a visitor'. Get a rubbish bag, take a really good look at what you're not using (yes this includes bubble baths and bath bombs too) and then, toss them into the bag, and out into the bin outside! Go back into the bathroom, give it a good wipe-over and look in the place where that goo collection was... don't you feel so much better? Yep, so did I when I cleaned out that goo collection! This will only take around 10 minutes to do... so, off you go! 

Rain

I find that when the weather turns against us, it's the best time to get in and do some serious cleaning. 

It's raining here in Queensland - and I mean it's really raining big! We're getting a few months' rain in 2 weeks; this mean big numbers on the rain gauges. But of course living in the sub-tropics, this isn't anything really. 

Over the past 7 years, I've seen some serious rain, and I've bought some great things to use when it does arrive - after all, I was brought up here in Brisbane, and we have had all kinds of weather, from huge heatwaves to sleet and almost snow to inch-thick ice on our windscreens. Yep, we've seen it all.

So, when Brisbane flooded way back in 2010-11, I went out and bought myself one of the most expensive clothes horses on the market from Howards Storage World. Believe me, I was happy I did that then and not now as the price of the thing has gone up! And what a great piece it is! I love it! I bought it for $125 (delivery included - so it was $109) and it's served me very well since then. 

However it's not just that which has helped me around the house during those dreadfully wet days. I've found that I do my best cleaning, vacuuming and decluttering when the weather is unfavourable outside. 

I know! That just sounds nutty, doesn't it? 

But it's true!

In the past few weeks, I've finally gotten my vinyl and cd collection indexed and sorted out the music I don't want in my collection too. I've also been able to just look at something and easily say: 'Nope, don't want that anymore.' Years ago, I used to hesitate in the worst possible way. Now, I've easily gone through a bag or two in half an hour and it's done! 

The rain also helps us vacuum the house better - yep, statistics are right on the button there! It's the lack of the dry weather outside which keeps the dust in our houses to a minimum... which is great if you're wanting to vacuum the house! So, the next time it's raining outside and you have the time to clean the house, get out the vacuum and run it over the carpets! Your nose will thank you later. 

Otherwise, here's your first Weekend Challenge:  Get a box and pull out everything from the drawer in your kitchen which has the toys/things you use in your cooking. Put them all in that box. Clean that drawer completely and properly, and then over the next month, only put back what you really use. Whatever's in that box by mid-November, you don't really need. Or if they are things you rarely use, put them into zip-lock bags and put them away so you can lay your hands on them at the right times. 

Vinyls & CD's Sorted

I've been working on my house for years... but the detailed stuff has been staring me in the face.

You know the detailed stuff - the collections of things that you walk past every day, the things you love to collect, to add to but you've never gone and put them into any particular kind of order? Well, for me, it was time to look into my vinyl and cd collection. So, the first thing I did was go out and buy large index book. You can buy these at a newsagents for around $10 - they're nothing fancy; so long they've got the index and are in hardcover, you're good.

Now, a few weeks ago, I organised which vinyls/records I play the most, to the ones I play the least - and this has worked to my advantage. This made writing it all out all the more easier. I started with the most-played vinyls, then worked back from there... writing down the artist and then the vinyl (and if I have multiple copies, I put down how many and if one is opened and the other still in wrappings - it makes all the difference in value). 

Well, after 3 days and a couple of nights, I finally worked out my whole collection of music. I pulled out the vinyls I no longer want and put them into a box for my brother... then I pulled out all my cds and wiped them over with a cloth and got all the dust and grease off them from not being played. 

I really didn't know just how much music I really did have... and how many cds have been stolen by my so-called 'friends' over the years. There were around 5 cds I can't account for - and yet I know I bought them... and they were in the collection only about a year or two ago; and yet I haven't loaned them to anyone. So, yes, they were stolen by somebody who has been near my cds. But seeing I don't know who took them, I can't point fingers... I can only replace them.

Anyway, I'm pleased I got all that done. I've separated some cds I really don't want anymore, as well as put away some of them which I just can't part with just yet (but will in the near future as they're from a dear friend who moved away and he hasn't been gone a year yet... I don't know what to do with the cds he gave me). 

But the music is all sorted now. This is good.

Now, onto my book collection! Oh my dear lord! Just how am I going to do that??? There's so many! 

Now, if you have a suggestion to sort books and keep an index of them, please do drop a line in the comments - I'd love to learn about it. Otherwise, how is your decluttering going?  

Getting My S**t Together

Okay, okay, I was downright lazy last week - nothing got done.

This past few days, I jumped in feet first and got things done. 

The vinyl collection is halfway through being indexed.
The laundry is almost finished put away - and I mean all of it!
I've organised and reorganised myself for the markets this weekend (yes, this includes my float too!).
I've made sure I washed up every night before going to bed.

The house is beginning to look like a house again; after I've been sitting around and just knitting dishcloths for the market for so long. 

Now, it's becoming hotter here too... so I have to be careful about how much work I get done during the day; as the days are really heating up very quickly - quicker than they normally do at this time year - and so I'm up nice and early getting as much done as I can before I end up doing other organising things around the house.

This is best thing about getting the smaller things done during the day - like the vinyl collection; as it's just sitting and writing down the titles of the vinyls in the cool of my living room. But once that's done, I've got other things to do as well - I've got a Donation Box to fill, the shopping bags to organise (which ones to keep; and which ones to throw away) and the floors to wash as well as the normal chores (cleaning the bathroom and toilets and vacuuming. If the day cools off - as they've promised - I'll get the vacuuming done... if not, it'll have to wait for another day. 

So, how have you been doing in your decluttering? All good? In a week or two, I'll be uploading a few challenges to get us going in decluttering; and we'll see how far we get with them, okay? 

Good Planning

Along with good planning is the follow-through. 

I'm great at planning to do things, but sometimes, the following through takes time. It's not that I'm lazy, it's because I have other things going on in my life at the same time.

This is okay - it's how things turn out for most of us.

However, I've planned a lot of things lately, and they've become plain and ordinary things which have sat on the sidelines until I've had to get in and really do them at the last minute. This isn't okay for me. I don't like leaving things like that.

Well, this weekend, I'm hoping to get in and do more around the place which will help me work out next week. And like in one of my other posts, I did say that the devils' in the details, didn't I? It's the small things which turn into bigger things that keep us from getting on with our lives.

So, this is where all of this start to really stop us from doing what we want to do. 

I've got laundry to put away, a painting to wrap in cellophane, a vinyl collection to put into an index book (this is because it's ever-growing and I'll find it easier for insurance and legal purposes to have it all written down). Also, I have to get in and make the bed, vacuum and bedroom, clean the bathroom and toilets (yes, I have two) and then wash the floors of my house as well. 

Like I said, I've left things until the last second; which isn't a good thing. Oh well, it happens to everyone. I have got some planning organised - which is playing well for me. The dishcloths for the market are ready, and I've got the painting all organised, as well as my business cards - these are good things. 

So, how's your place doing? Is it going well? Or have you let it go a little like I have? This does happen to people from time to time. 

Office Clean-Out - 2 1/2 Hours

Yesterday afternoon, it was a very hot time of day. So, I plugged in the air-conditioner, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and settled in for a good few hours of cleaning out of this here home office again.

Yep, I started on it last weekend or so, and it was left alone for a while - then the mess in here began to really bug the crap out of me.

So, yesterday, I jumped in feet first and really got into one of the bags and tossed out a full bag of receipts that needed shredding; and a bag full of rubbish - that's 2 bags of crap that's been sitting around the place in 'Green Bags'. I then opened up the purple boxes and started adding to them. These purple boxes (just a reminder) are about my life, school, and about me - they're personal things that go into them. Like the fishing competition certificate I scored when I was 7-years-old at Brunswick Heads... my fish wasn't big enough to get into the finals, but it was big enough for me to land on my own (around the 40cm mark if I remember right) and for a little kid like me that a huge!

Then, there were a few paid bills, a couple of bank statements and other things which were added to the yellow bag filled with bank statements and paid bills to be sorted out. I'm going to pull together all of these first then sort them out... it'll be easier for me to file in the end.

Otherwise, I grabbed the three boxes I have under my big block poster of 'What Dreams May Come' and sorted out my bookmarks, postcards and cards. I found that putting the cards - for people - into the black box was best, as I'm always buying blank cards and forgetting to use them; especially at Christmas-time. Then, there's cards from people I get; and love to keep (and I've got ideas for a lovely collage in the future too). Then, there's the bookmarks I can't fit in to the box on top of my desk... yep, there's a box filled with bookmarks and yet, I didn't buy a single one of them. I received those from a project I was doing in 2008, and got more than I expected from everyone on Bookcrossing. 
Well, I had to store them somewhere - and that somewhere was a in a box. So, I have another 40 or 50 bookmarks in that box I've yet to use. I don't think I need to buy or grab another free bookmark for the rest of my days on this planet - honestly, I don't.

By the end of the two and half hours, I had one bag of rubbish, one bag for shredding, had sorted out some of my high school things into a folder marked accordingly, found more bank statement and paid bills, and cleared my Reading Chair and its table next to it! Woah, that's a lot in that short amount of time! 

The Home Office is the last room in my townhouse which really does need a lot of TLC; and this is why it's taking me so long to work on it. This place also has all my personal gear here too... I know that sounds bad, but really, I should have done this years ago, but I didn't. So, learn by my mistakes and don't let your archiving and compiling of personal gear go too late. Do it now and early, so you can just add to it when you want to and need to. 

Catching Up

I know my last post seemed kind of menial; but I grew up around a Dad who taught me how to do those things; and my girlfriends who I went to school with had no clue how to change the oil in their cars (they didn't know there was oil in cars). 

So, that's why I wrote it.

I wasn't dissing females or people who don't do maintenance of their places, I was making sure people understood that taking care of their places means to do the hard work sometimes - even if you don't know how to do it.

This post is about catching up with things. 

I've been so darned busy lately that I've let my housework slide. Well, not my laundry - that always gets done - so does the putting out of the rubbish, but the other stuff. I have to vacuum, finish up archiving the files in my office and cleaning it out of the other bags. Then filing the books which are still sitting around the place too.

Yes, there's still so much to do, and I feel as though I'm running out of time - I'm not sure why - but I feel as though there's so much I need to do before something big happens in my life, but I don't know what it is yet.

Now, how strange is that? Have you ever gotten that urgent feeling you just need to get something done, and yet you're not sure why? Yeah, I have that nagging feeling bothering me. Oh well, I'll figure it out soon enough.

But I have been busily working out things lately. I've sent off a book to be read by one of my First Readers, I'm waiting for my new business cards to show up in the mail from Vistaprint and I've got half the Donation Box full of things I don't want anymore; all ready for the next trip to the charity store. There's still things around the home office to be cleared up, sorted out and put away; and the archive boxes sitting around - half-full - aren't doing me any favours.

So, what do you need to do over the next week? What kind of catching up is on your list? I'm hoping to add a few new habits to my life - but I find that when I do, things get really stressful and I have to drop them. Please do leave a comment and let us know how you're doing with your decluttering.

Hammering A Nail

Today is going to be a hot day, so I was up nice and early to get in and do some laundry and cleaning up around the house before the heat of the day started up.

I was up at 7am and pulled the sheets off the bed, stuffed them into the overloaded laundry basket and took it downstairs and put on the first load of laundry... then was back upstairs to open up the house, pull back the curtains and brush my hair. 

Then, I unlocked the doors out to the garden, watered the Frangipani cuttings in the yard and looked at my side gate - it really needed to be worked on, as it's got a broken piece on one of the palings. So, I searched through the long garden stakes I have sitting around and found a spare paling from the old fence the tradies didn't take with them, sized it up and knew it would fit! It wouldn't be a permanent fix, but it would do for now.

I hung out the sheets and put on the next load of laundry, organised myself to fix the gate and ate my first part of breakfast - porridge and pushed down my toast. Then I was outside hammering the paling onto the first paling already there. 

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, for those who haven't done this kind of thing before, it's not as easy as you may think. I have seen so many people stuff it up - and when I first did this, I realised that my Dad had had years of practice before I did this.

You see, I own galvanised fencing nails... bought them at Bunnings, as it's always good to have them on hand just in case you need them at some point in time. This is something I've learned over the time I've lived on my own and in my decluttering here. You're always learning how to do something - even if you stuff it up the first few times.

With the paling, this isn't my first rodeo in replacing a paling... so I know how to get it right the first time. I didn't have to take off the old paling, as it was just the bottom of the paling which was broken, I only had to have a paling long enough to cover it over. 

This is a temporary fix until I get a new gate.

So, seeing it had nails already through it - short ones - I hammered the ends back into the wood, turned it over and grabbed about 5 nails, stuck my foot under the bottom (which gives around 1cm space under the gate and enough room for it swing open and shut without grating the ground), then I put then nail about 1cm above the old nail and started hammering it through until it was attached to the old paling.

After this, I didn't need to have my foot under it anymore, and just had to hold both old and new palings in place with my hand with the other nail. This is noisy work. But once you get used to using a hammer - and knowing how far to swing back and how hard to hit a nail, you'll be okay. 

Tapping a nail 500 times gently bends it and you'll be there all day. Hitting hard - with your hand around halfway down the handle of the hammer and your swinging back to just behind your shoulder - will do the trick. Keep your eye on the nail, not your hand, and you'll be good, hard and concise. But if it does bend, tap it up or down depending where you need it go and keep hammering as before. DON'T TRY TO REMOVE IT!

This took me all of 10 minutes and just the two nails, to get done. But the first time I did this it took me around 25 minutes and 5 nails, because I had no idea what I was doing. With practice, it gets easier... but no less noisier. 

After this, I picked up any spare nails, put away my hammer and other nails into my tool chest and had other things that needed doing around the house. I had the mattress to clean (which has another 45 minutes to go with the bi-carb soda before I vacuum it all off) and then, I've washed 2 mason jars for a project I'm going to start this week too for Christmas. Well, that's all for now. What projects and things have you gotten into this week? 

Two Hours

Yesterday afternoon, I took two hours out of the day - the hottest part of the day - to sort through as much stuff as I could in my home office to find the bills and bank statements to put into the green archive box.

First though, I grabbed the ones from the filing cabinet that were already in date order. Now, this cabinet isn't all that big, so I was getting rid of excess weight from there. This is a good thing; as I may also be getting in and using this filing cabinet for just my writing in the end - yay!

Anyway, I've decided to make the files of all the bills and bank statements work on a 5-year cycle. So, it doesn't matter which order those are in, so long they fit in those years in those files. It's easier for me - and thus will be easier for anyone who needs to look after my records in the future.

Well! I ended up going through 3 synthetic bags and finding a huge amount of bank statements and bills and putting them into another bag - to sort through properly later.

Then, I tied up 3 rubbish bags and threw them into the bin outside.

I have another bag filled to the brim with receipts from a number years ago; which need shredding. Any receipt that I've accumulated over the years, goes into a bag and I'll be taking it to my folks' house and shred it (until I buy myself a shredder at some point in time to do this myself). 

There's one bag left where there's things left over that I need to sort through - just notebooks, bookmarks and other things I don't know what to do with yet. So, that's about a quarter full and I'm keeping that off to one side until I'm finished with the other 3 synthetic bags; just to see exactly how much junk I really do have left over... then, I'll sort through that all in one hit.

Otherwise, yesterday, I got through a lot of things in just 2 hours - between 2pm and 4pm - and I'm proud to say that I'll do it again today or tomorrow just to get it all down to what I need it to be. 

But I also got in and worked on my usual habits around the house too. I made the bed, I pulled in the three loads of laundry I had put out, put away the clothes horse and sorted out dinner for myself (which was roast vegetables and fish). 

I do have some clothes to put away, other clothes to sort through and some other decluttering to do in the living room to get it all sorted out before next month... then there's business cards to order for my markets in October.  Yep, my life has become very busy indeed. I hope your life and your decluttering is going well. Please do keep us updated with how you're doing... even if you feel as though you're not going all that great, somebody may be able to help you out. 

Home Office Declutter

I know! I know! I've done this one before; and I've said it to you as well, I'd come back and hit one of these places once in a while just in case the decluttering gets kinda... well... you know: recluttered again. 

Now, that's a word for ya: recluttered. 

Yeah, my home office was tidy at one point in time - I don't remember when - and now, it's back to being an absolute pig stye again! 

Well, yesterday, I went off to Office Works and looked around for storage solutions and found myself looking at archive boxes.

Pretty boring, right? Wrong! When you think of archive boxes, you think of those beige, dingy boxes which hold files in an office... they're not pulled out except around tax time, or when you're really looking for a certain something. Well, Office Works have them in that horrible colour - or in all the colours of the rainbow! 

I picked a lovely royal purple colour and then went in search of file folders and manilla folders to work with. And what I found in the way of that was astounding! I found manilla folders, as well as other types of folders - in every colour imaginable! I was there for around fifteen minutes having fun picking out a collection of colours for this box... and yet I hadn't even put it together yet!

I ended up at my parents' house and Mum helped me put the box together (yeah, I'm not great at following instructions - but Mum's good at that part of the archive box thing.). Once we got it all put together, and I put the folders inside it, it was looking very smashing indeed!
But it wasn't until I got it home and started filling it up with my things that it really started to take shape - and I realised I did need a second archive box; and a couple of other colours too!

Yes, all my banking and bills are going to go into a different coloured box or two! But I'm going to have to wait until another day to purchase those boxes. Until then, I'll be working on which bills are which, which bank statements are which and getting it all into date order. Sounds like it'll take a while, but it won't. 

By the time I get it all into the archive boxes, the home office will be tidier and there'll be less of a mess on the floor and I won't be using the synthetic bags for the storage of those things anymore. This is just the beginning of my home office clean out... in more ways than one! 

And this time, it'll be permanent too!

More New Habits

In February, I wrote a post 'Developing New Habits' and said I'd come back to you and tell you about how I'm doing with these new habits.

Well, I'm going well. 

But it starts with baby steps. 

My new habits start before I even go to bed. I wash up everything from the day and put it on the drainer, wipe down the counters, the sink, and the kitchen table and then put away all the remote controls, turn off the television at the wall, throw out the tea from the teapot. Then, I put out the rubbish in the outside bin, put in a new bin liner, lock the doors, check that my alarm is on on my phone. 
I put away anything I have been using that night too. If I used a footstool and a rug, I put the footstool away and fold the rug and put it on top of it. Then, I straighten up the rest of the living room and the kitchen table. Anything on the kitchen table from dinner (salt'n'pepper, sauces, a spare fork or knife?), I put them away or wash them up (nope, I haven't emptied the sink yet). Once it's all done, I get in and make sure the cloth is spread out on the sink so it dries and the kitchen towel is over the items in the drainer.

When I go upstairs, I find that my bed was made during the day. Before the end of the day - before the sun goes down - I have to make my bed. I don't mean just pull the covers up and throw everything on there and pray it looks okay. I mean, pull the sheets back, the pillows off and make the bed complete. Then, when I go to bed, it feels fresh and lovely and I can go to sleep happy. It makes you feel great when you shuffle into your bedroom and you find a lovely, nicely-made bed greeting you; instead of something that resembles a teenager's bedroom - all messed up and turned over.

I've gotten into planning my meals as well. It doesn't take much; and it's saving me around $30 a week on my budget. I've been writing down only what I need to get on my shopping list and sticking to it. If I don't need to go anywhere, I just don't drive the car - the amount of petrol I've been saving is amazing when I've been walking places which are local too. Like the post office and to get the paper. 

More recently, I've had a Radio Silence Day. This was on 31st August and it was because this is the day Lady Diana passed. I was over in the UK when it happened and it really struck a nerve with me - and still does. So, what I've been doing over the past 10 years is having a Radio Silence Day on the day... but still it wouldn't hurt to have more of them throughout the year on particular dates. You see, on this day, I got so much decluttering done!
I did all my laundry, decluttered my vinyl collection, washed the kitchen floor, mowed the lawn, put away all the wiping up (which caused me to clean the entire sink with Gumption - and it's now nice and sparkling clean) and then I sorted out the price tags for a Pop-up Store I'm taking part in at a local gallery. Then, I ended the day with a great set of vinyls being played while I did some needlepoint and had a nice cool drink... now, that was a great and useful day. 

Yep, a Radio Silence Day is a good idea. I will need another one soon to clean out the office and my wardrobe, as we come into Summer here in Australia. Well, what have you achieved over this time? Have you developed any new habits, which have turned into good habits over time? Do share with us all what they are and how they've helped you in your place and in your life of decluttering.

Making Housework Easier

When I first started decluttering my house, I thought I wasn't going to get anywhere! It was one step forwards, two steps back... and I felt as though I was always waiting for my Mum to drop by to help me get rid of things - because I didn't have a car at the time.

But once I had the use of a car, I was letting go of things left and right! The house started to go from feeling as though things were on top of me, to me finding more and more room where I needed it.

Then, in the past six months, I've brought the house right back to exactly what I want and need here and it's all just the necessities... all the beneficial things that are used every day... all the things that have place to live, have somewhere to be. And this is great!

All this decluttering has made cleaning my house so much easier. From getting rid of the lounge to cleaning out my wardrobe to cleaning out the laundry and making it easier to clean my bathroom, I've made huge steps in getting my house working like a well-oiled machine in every way possible.

This week, I tripped over my clothes hamper - breaking it beyond repair - and I hurt myself as I fell. But, yesterday morning, I tossed out the old hamper and went out and bought myself a new hamper. There was no hesitation. There was no 'maybe if I hang onto it and see if I can fix it'... I knew it wasn't going to be fixed by anyone; and there was no point in fixing it. So, out in the recycling bin it went. I don't feel bad about this; and really I shouldn't. 

This is what decluttering is all about.

You clean out your place. 

You don't feel bad about donating - or throwing out - your things, and your house looks cleaner, is easier to tidy up, and feels more like a place you love to come home to. And when you move house, you don't take crap with you... you take what you want with you and that's it. 

This is why I'm decluttering; so when I do move out of my townhouse, into a bigger house where I can spread out a little more, I don't need to clutter it up again. All the things are there to make my house into a home; and that's it. There's no junk, no bags of things for me to go through. What I have is what is coming into the home... I may have to tweak it from time to time, but there'll be nothing else to do. 

A House Into A Home

I've mainly talked about cleaning out and cleaning up a house in the best possible ways. And I know this has been on how to be brutal with yourself; how to be harsh and how to send off your unwanted goodies/stuff to your chosen charities.

But I haven't talked about how to turn your house into a home - not yet.

It's okay to look around the charity store. It's okay to buy something you really want there. The only thing you have to remember is this: do you have the space for what you're going to buy? Also, what kind of feel do you want for your house? 

For mine, I'm going for a 1970's kind of home, and it's getting there. Yes, it's got knick-knacks from that era everywhere, and I'm taking away anything that's 1980's and 1990's and sending them to the charity store. While I'm there in the store, I'm looking for 1970's gear to take my place right back into that era.

But my 70's era home isn't yours. 

Remember exactly what you're looking for in your mind for your place, your home and how you want to feel when you come home from the outside world. Your home is your retreat from out there... it's your place of escape and when you open your front door and walk inside, you should feel relaxed by your surroundings, not feel as though you want to run away to another place. 

When I arrived home, after being at volunteering for the afternoon, or art class in the mornings, I love to open the door and know that where I am is a good place. It's where I can relax, I can kick off my shoes and enjoy the space I've created through op-shopping. It's what I've done for myself through decluttering for over 4 years... yes it's taken time (a lot of time), but it's been worth it! 

And it's still going on - the decluttering - and I'm making sure that when I do finally move into a house, I take only what I need with me and not any junk I've been hoarding just in case. 

So, how are you going with your decluttering and changing of your home? I'm pleased with how far I've come with mine over the last 5 years... share with us how you're going; even if you feel as though it's getting nowhere. 

Donation Day

Today is donation day. 

I've scored a good box from the fruit and veggie market and I've filled it with things I no longer want... an old fruit bowl, candles I'll never use, a bag I scored but just found I never used either and other things as well as pictures from around the house I used in the bathroom (you know the ones which just look pretty and make the room look nice - just to fill in the spaces). 

Yep, I'm filling up this box to put in the boot of the car and take to my charity today. The box will stay in the car and I'll take in the pieces; I'll ask them to please return the box to me so I can reuse it because it's a nice solid box. 

Anyway, I'll still look around the shop and see what's there, then come home - hopefully empty-handed -and that'll be something good; to leave the store without anything; unless I do need it. 

Like those plate organisers... they were great! I can't believe I found them for $3.00 each. Then, there were the smaller set for just $2.00, which my sauce pan lids fitted perfectly!  How cool is that? Well, that was my score for this week... and well earned I must say. I wasn't going to buy anything in Vinnies, but I'm glad I did. These things have made my life so much easier! Well, I hope your work on your house has been going well. In the past week or two, I've had some clarity occur - I don't know how but it's been happening, and life has been so much easier of late; it's been easier to get rid of things, to clean away things, to put away what's not needed... it's hard to explain, but it's all working out for me right now. How about you?  

10 Days

It's been 10 days since my last post.

Yep, I planned it this way just to see how I went with the house.

I've been cleaning up the living room which was filled with old VCR tapes from my life in the 1990's... and okay, they play, but I can't see what's being played. Damn! So, onto dvds those things go.  Until I find the time to get to do that, those tapes are put away into storage.

Then, I vacuumed the floor, and pulled out the donation box, sub-woofer and one of the cd towers to vacuum the carpet there. So much dirt came out of the carpet! But then, I only put back what was needed.

The tool box was put away until I needed it.

All of my laundry has been done, dried, folded and put away. I also got in and did my folks' laundry too - yep, we've had a few hot days here in Brisbane; so why not?

Then, I've created a couple of new habits:

Making the bed in the morning.
Taking out the rubbish to the wheelie bin every day.
Washing up before going to bed at night.
Cleaning up the living room before heading off to bed at night.

Yep, four new habits which have been difficult to keep up, but I'm working on them. It's been working out well too! It's nice to get out to the living room and kitchen and find there's nothing there from the night before waiting for me to clean up. 

The kitchen table has even been tidied up - and I've worked on making sure it stays that way! It feels so much better to sit down to a tidy table than a messy one. 

In just 10 days, I've worked on the house. In just 10 days, I've formed 4 new habits, which aren't big, but are useful. In just 10 days, I've changed the way the house runs completely... and it feels great! 

Seeing I've worked on cleaning out the house over the past 4 -5 years, I'm glad to say the new habits have worked out so well. And like Peter Walsh has been saying to everyone: it just takes 10 minutes. 

And it does. 

Sorting Donations

Sorting out donations is never easy. But once you have it all done, you have to make time to pack the car and take them to your chosen charity.

This week is going to be one of those weeks where I'll be doing just that - sorting out donations. Then, next week, I'll be taking them to my chosen charity. I haven't sent anything away for about a month, but I'm looking forward to doing it again.

I do have the Donation Box full of stuff; and a bag of clothes I'm not going to miss. However, I really do need to go through my wardrobe to see which things I honestly do wear and what I don't, so I can sort out my wardrobe for the next 2 years.

The home office isn't looking much better - even though I keep making promises to myself that I'm going to get my butt in and sort out this horrible mess here. I just keep on procrastinating (and admitting I'm one is a good thing; at least I know I am one - saying that I'm not is living in denial). 

But last night, I did have a good step forward in the ways of cleaning up my kitchen. I heard a noise in there - in the dark - and started searching for the critter that might have been hiding around my kitchen. I sprayed insecticide in all the corners, under the stove and under the fridge... but nothing came out. I search on top of all the cabinets I could reach, but still I found nothing. So, I spent the night wondering how the noises came about, but I also took down a few things off the cabinet where my mugs are stored and cleaned off the grease from those items and thought to reuse them in the office as artwork for the walls. 

Over the next few weeks, I'll be looking through my kitchen again and working out exactly what I need, what I don't and seeing which cookbooks I want to have in my collection (which will most probably be all of them!). So, once I do made a delivery to Vinnies, the living room will look better, and so will my home. 

And seeing I'm not op-shopping for a few months, I'm saving myself money too. I just want to save up for some things over Christmas for my family. Well, until my next post, tell us all what you've been up to. How is your decluttering going? Are you being the procrastinator - like me - or is it going smoother for you? 

Little Things

At this time of year, I find that life slackens off. There's no big celebrations - like Christmas or Easter - to worry about yet. And New Years Eve is a little way off. 

So, what I do is organise myself to look through the little things I've been putting off for a while. 

Quite often it's the little things that make the bigger things easier to deal with, don't you think? I've been looking at my craft gear, and wondering what to do with it. So, over the past month, I've gathered together all the yarn I've collected over the years and decided to make a throw for the bed. It's useful, and I'm not throwing out anything. 

The art gallery has asked me to take part in an art demonstration over November and so I pulled together a few photos and proposal to display some of my works around Christmas time and to show off some of my works there too. Not only will I be able to sell off some of my stock during that time, I will also be making room for new stock as well.  This is another way of decluttering through another means - and the only thing it'll cost me is the usual 20% commission... but I've made pricing easy for them by putting everything into small, medium and large price ranges and rounding the prices up or down. 

I'm also looking at books. Yesterday, I visited a family member who is in a retirement home and she receives ARC books (these are books which are sent out to people to read before publication to see what needs removing, adding to or if it needs more proofreading). I love reading these books; as it show a sneak peek behind the scenes of book before it's really shown to anyone... well, I also collect them. And so our family member gave me a pile of them from her collection; as once she reads them, the doesn't want them anymore. But with me, I'd reread them for pleasure. 

The little things for me right now, is to do out my wardrobe, figure out what needs to go in my office (yep, still haven't worked out that place yet) and keep on working on tweaking the rest of the place. But things will still arise no matter how long I work at this. So, how is your place going?