Wardrobe Toss-Out

As much as I love to op-shop for my clothes, there's always a point where I have to go through my wardrobe and make a choice of which clothes to keep, and which ones to donate or throw out.

And yesterday was that day.

I invited a wonderful friend over to help me out with this very thing - as she's one of those people who does this all the time - and we were brutal with my wardrobe.

The first thing we did was pulled out all the blouses I wore last Winter and laid them on the bed.... then looked at what was left and had a good look at them. I asked myself the hard question: did I wear these - will I ever wear these? And the answer was: no. So we pulled them off the hangers, folded them up and put them into a pile. 

We did the same thing to the Summer clothes and my rare t-shirts - some of which have great stories to them - and Tutasi was great with it all. She's amazed at how many t-shirts I had which needed to be hung up because the transfers would crack and break if I folded them. I amazed myself at how much history was in t-shirts and how much I really liked my 'Doors' t-shirt too. 

The thing with your historical shirts and great things you love and have stories that go with them, you have to know that they do mean something to you; and this is why you don't get rid of them. This is the reason why I don't get rid of mine.

The only things I added to the donation box were the items which didn't fit me anymore - which didn't button up, cut under my arms or I just didn't wear in the past 12 months. These are the things you have to seriously look at and know you're no longer wanting - it's not the concert t-shirts, your first 'Door's or 'Van Halen' t-shirt, nope, it's the clothes you've physically outgrown and know you won't wear anymore. 

And believe it or not, this is one of the hardest things to come to terms with in decluttering - knowing you're getting older and parts of your body aren't the same size as they were when you were younger. For me it's my arms, legs and upper torso... and yes, it does bother me, but I've come to find that if I care for myself, I'll wear clothes I really like and flatter me. This is something you have to remember when you declutter your wardrobe - all the new things you can replace your old clothes with.

But a lot of the times, I don't replace, not unless I really need to. 

Now, I have a nice pile of clothes for the donation box and another nice pile of clothes goodies for my niece (if she wants them - if not, well, she's welcome to give them away to a charity of her choice). Anyway, how do you clean out your wardrobe? Does it always work out for you? 

Tools And Things

It's not just the linen press which needs a good clean out or the kitchen and pantry; you men of the family have clutter too - yes, I'm looking at you guys staring at the television pretending to not notice me.

You guys have your own style and type of clutter in the way of tools and handy-man gear; and trust me, it does pile up over time.

My Dad has been known to gather 3 lawnmowers over his life and just as many drills. His answer to why he has so many was: 'It's just in case one breaks.' I know that feeling, but really, I've found that it works out to have just one of each item, then when it breaks you can go out and buy it again and it'll be so much better and more up-to-date.

A lot of men don't like change, though, and that's normal. So, you have to kinda ease them into decluttering their mess of a tool shed - unless they've gone and been the best man on planet Earth and kept their Man Cave nice and organised all on their own! And believe me, that's a rare animal right there! 

This Sunday just gone, I got an SOS from a friend who was feeling very inundated by her husband's house hold tools. So, I zoomed over to her house and found he had stored them in the linen press as well as the tool shed... this guy had tools everywhere and had lost track of where his tools were, leading in multiple amounts of them. 
This can be a problem for many husbands and with a little bit of organising, those tools aren't only sorted out, but the hubby in question found we had stored his most-used tools in a big plastic box where he could lay his hands on them immediately. He was impressed at how I worked through the tiny screws, bolts and rivets he had laying around and sorted them into a useable lot of items in a container so he wasn't going out buying new lots every time. 

His wife was the one who arranged the whole thing and I was just following orders when it came to this; as it wasn't my home. But once her husband got the idea of figuring out this was to make life easier for him, he sat with us and just said yes and no at what we asked. I didn't have to ask him much - seeing I'd grown up in a house where my Dad often showed me how to work with tools and showed me how to store tools as well. 

I seriously thought this was going to backfire; but it didn't. You see, I don't have that many tools here at my place. And they all fit into a tool chest in my house. The gardening tools fit into my shed outside, and are kept under lock and key. But really, if it doesn't work in my place, it gets tossed out.

However, I've found men just keep broken and worn out things in case they can get it fixed. But really, it's not like that. If it breaks, throw it out; and make the room for what's more important in your life. 

Well, my friend and I not only got her husband's tools all worked out, but she gained a linen press, organised his home office and figured out where to put some lovely, religious prints that meant something to him around the house.  This was great for them both. Have you helped one of your friends lately? Do share how your help worked out in your friend's life.

Low Level Decluttering

Right now, there's a huge heatwave happening here in Australia, and so there's a low chance of getting any decluttering done, right? Wrong! 

What I do when this happens is what I like to call 'Low Level Decluttering'... as the title entails. This is where I tackle the tiny piles of crap around my house and work on the smaller detailed things.

For example:

Today, I'm going to pack up a 5kg bag of books to send off to Victoria for a Bookcrossing friend. This isn't a difficult thing to do, but the good thing for me is that I'll be doing this in the air-conditioned comfort of my home office... yay! 

Then, I'll quickly go into my bedroom and make the bed in the very warm part of the house. Unfortunately, that's all I'll be able to do in my master bedroom. I'll get my butt downstairs and collect together anything that belongs upstairs and make only 3 trips upstairs and put those things away. In this heat, I'm getting too exhausted.

For the rest of the afternoon, I'm going to make a roster of exactly what I have in my pantry. This is so I don't go out and buy too much of everything next shopping day. All I need to do is check what's on the roster and see what's crossed off and what's on there and I'll know how much to buy of what, and - bingo-bango - my shopping list goes down by around $40. This is a good thing! 

So, there's my jobs for the day. Nothing big or nasty, and I can get them done. So, what Low Level Decluttering are you going to get done in this horrible heat? 

And if you're from a part of the world where you're snowed in? Well, that's just as bad as having the head bug us too and make you as lazy. Try to do a similar thing as I am and tackle the small things around the place you've been putting off and get back to me with your results. 

Repairs After Storms

On Sunday evening, we had a huge storm hit Logan City and the electricity was knocked out for over 24 hours. We got it back on in the early hours of Monday morning, but it's Tuesday now, and we're expecting another storm tonight.

So, it might be as big and bad as the last one... we don't know yet.

I've had to do some small repairs to a fence and tie up my Frangipani in my yard as the side fence I worked on isn't as stable as it seems.

However, today, it's impossibly hot; and so the decluttering I was hoping to get done may have to wait until it cools off. I'll see how I go with the house when the storm arrives, but this afternoon, I might get in and do a bit of tidying up first, so I'm not tripping over things.

But that's the thing with decluttering around a house, or a townhouse, you have to remember that when you have a place, you're not just cleaning it up, you're caring for it. 
I've been caring for this place for 15 years and in the last decade, I've learned a lot about how to get in and care for it in much the same way as my Dad cares of his own home. It's very important to not only look after where you live - no matter whether you rent or own - as its appearance is a reflection of how you feel about your home. And the more you care for it over time, the less you have to spend on it in the long run when the time does come to sell it. 

So, what have you been doing to upkeep your home on the outside to keep it looking great? Seeing mine is in a townhouse complex, it's a simple matter of making sure it looks its best in the Winter months (as they're the best months to work on my place) and so when the Summer months come around, which is our storm season, the place is sound. 

The Main Key Things

I've found that when I start a clean-out, it's important to jump in on days when I'm ready and revved up to declutter to my heart's content.

However, there's also some small - yet important - things to get straight before decluttering or organising within reach first; and I thought to write a post about it so everyone remembers this one well.

Donation Box is the most important thing to have nearby. It's gotta be big enough to hold the bagged-up clothes and small enough to not get in the way of your everyday life. And remember to label it so it doesn't get tossed out with your regular rubbish on bin day.

Rubbish Bags are the next thing you really need to be able to lay your hands on. Now, they don't have to be expensive, just useful. I use medium-sized purple rubbish liners from Coles which only cost me $2.50 for 100. So, that's a good thing. And the best thing is that I line the bins upstairs with them as well - because they're small enough for those liners. 

Plastic Boxes are great for when you want to store things away. I have quite a few of them around my house and have been quietly storing away things for when I move. So, when I do this, I also have a Sharpie to write on the box what is inside it; so when the day does come to move, we can see on the lid and on the side what's inside the box instead of opening it up.

Anti-Bacterial Wipes are great to have on hand for a few reasons. When you're decluttering, you're bound to come across areas where it's dusty and dirty; and giving those areas a quick wipe over with one of these is a fast way to clean up and keep the dust to a minimum - as well as your sneezing - until you get the vacuum to it as well. The second use for these is to clean your hands after a good hour or so of decluttering a dusty and dirty area of your house... these will clean your hands off until you get to wash them properly. And the best thing about these wipes is that they're not expensive - yep, you can buy the cheaper version of them anywhere and pay only half the price. 

Water And Food is another main key ingredient to keeping yourself focused on your few hours or whole day of decluttering. Make sure you are going to eat some great nutritious food - not fast food which will make you feel sluggish and thirsty. I find a nice home made meal always hits the spot and making sure you drink plenty of water will keep you from becoming dehydrated no matter what the weather; and it will help you take a breath and look around at what else you need to do as well. 

So, these are the main key things I find make that decluttering time around my place better and easier for me. How about you? Have you got any ideas which keep you focused?