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?