House Plans

I've been going well with my cleaning out this year - however, there's still nowhere to put anything I've cleaned out; which is a pity.

I've got so many things planned, and I can't put them into action as yet. And also, I have the ability to save a lot of money too... which is fantastic. I'm putting money away in accounts and enjoying the fact that I don't have to go out if I don't really need to. 

Well, last night, while I had the commentary of an episode of 'Supernatural' on dvd going, I decided to clean the tops of the cupboards. Man, they were gundgy! I couldn't believe how disgusting they were! Once they were clean, I put down newspaper on top of them and grabbed my servers from the credensa and then put towels and the old table cloth which covered the bigger two on them - to keep the grease from going on them. 

This has cleared the credensa so I can put plants on it - for now. 

You see, I'm still wanting to get rid of that credensa, the two china cabinets, two cd towers, and the large entertainment unit (the last one of which my late Uncle Allan gave me a year before he passed away) - all of this furniture is just too chunky. I've been looking on the Fantastic Furniture site and eyeing off a storage unit there which is really nice. I've also been saving some money up for that piece. 

But, first thing's first: the car has to get a service and its new speakers put in next week. I think by my birthday, I'll be able to get myself these things for my living room... yes, it'll be okay to get a charity to pick up my old furnishings then and install the wall unit for my living room - which will look great, and give me more room in the living room.

And along that wall in the front? Well, I'll be getting myself a nice 2-seater lounge. I do need more seating in the living room. 

So, what are your plans for the rest of year for you place? I've still got my donation items in boxes and bags around the place just waiting for the charity stores to reopen - but I do have the feeling that won't be for some time yet. 

Unwell Today

I'm not well today. Yep, I've come down with laryngitis for the third time in the past year; and it's all to do with stress - I'm not happy about it, but I think I'll have to work on how I deal with my stress levels. At least it's not coming out in seizures (which I have had to live with for a good part of my life). 

Anyway, today, it's raining, and this means I'll be vacuuming the house. Rainy days make good days to vacuum because the dust levels keep lower to the floor. 

I hope to get as much done as possible before I fall asleep in the mid-afternoon - as I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. 

Well, I'm hoping to get in and do a few other things before the day is out - and that's to keep myself a little busy. I'm spraying around Glen-20 (it's a spray which disinfects the air and items around the house) and I'll work on putting a few things in the car too for Monday, just to clear the house out. 

So, what are you up to this week? 

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning...

Yep, I'm doing all of that and more!

It's cleaning up time in my house and I'm being brutal when it comes to throwing things in the bin and in the Donation Box. Why, just last night, I grabbed rubbish bag and filled it with junk from all over the living room and readied it for the bin outside today. 

Then, this morning, I cleaned out the fridge a little more and tied up the bin liner in the kitchen and took both of those bags out to the bin where it's sitting to be collected. It felt great to be rid of those things I no longer need in the house. 

Yesterday, I also put away a lot of things in the entertainment unit which were sitting around the living room, but I'll be needing this year - and I'll be getting fixed. Sure, they were in the way, but no I'm not getting rid of them. 
So, there's the thing: you can have stuff sitting around which you want, but you just don't have the time or money right now to fix. I put them into a spot where I know I'll get to them. 

Otherwise, I've been doing very well with the house overall. Also this morning, I cleaned up the door jamb of my car port door - it was filthy! I have to do the front door yet... as it's just as bad. My folks have been complaining of those two things for years - and to me those tiny things are, well, tiny. They don't mean anything to me. But they mean a lot to my folks. So, this week, it's clean what they will notice.

On Sunday, I cleaned up the back yard. I racked up the leaves under the iron table, and put them in the compost dome, and mowed the yard. It looks so much more tidy. And this morning, I watered the lawn and garden - and within the hour, we received a huge lot of rain! Oh well, I guess I should have believed forecast when it said rain. But our gardens are looking good again now. I just hope it's helping out our fire fighters where's really needed.

So, how are you doing this week with your decluttering? I've yet to vacuum, dust and clean the upstairs bathroom. But that'll be something to keep for the weekend I think. 

Searching and Donating

Well, the office renovation is under way! 

I have tossed out 2 bags of rubbish from the office - which totals up to a big bag of rubbish into the wheelie bin outside. And I have also donated my old kettle to the local charity as my new kettle arrived from Fly Buys - how cool is that?

There's 2 more bags I've taken downstairs to clean out this afternoon, and that'll clear more space from the home office.

Meanwhile, in the past few days, I've been going out and looking around for a desk and bookcase at op-shops and discount furniture stores. It's slow-going - as it always is at the beginning - but I'm positive I'll find what I'm looking for over the next three months. 

You see, I've given myself three months to clean out the home office completely and fix it up with the two newish pieces so I'm not rushing through it all. You have to be realistic about this kind of thing with cleaning out your place fully. 

First it started in my kitchen. I cleaned that out completely and it took me almost a year to get that area of my house working properly. Then, it was my bedroom and bathroom - together - and between those two rooms, I got them working well over another year. 

The living room is a work in progress; seeing I use it all the time and it's a high-traffic area. 

My garden has been completely gutted and cleared up to the point that it only needs to be maintained every Winter; something I'm really happy with. 

Now, the Home Office is the one room which is always in danger of turning into a Junk Room - and this is something I really don't want. So, cleaning it out over the next three months is going to do me good.
The air-conditioner was one of the big things which just had to be cleared out - an then after that, well, it's begun to snowball in the cleaning out process in a slow way, but still, it's been working out for me. 

Plus, the Home Office is the last room I've decided to tackle because it's the hardest room on the list. 

So, which room is your hardest room you've been putting off? Are you dealing with it right now? Or have you been putting it off like I have? 

Donation Day!

Yesterday was Donation Day. I didn't get to give away much, but it was good to get my items out the door - even if they didn't fill up a whole bag.

But while I was out and about with my good friend, Elisabeth, I bought 3 balls of yarn. That's all I bought because I'm saving up for a new vacuum cleaner. My old one had bitten the dust in a such a way that I can't buy new parts for it - the company doesn't make bits for it or even vacuum cleaners anymore, and that's not a good thing. And for a 20 year old vacuum cleaner, well, I think it's not a good thing; they really should last longer. Such a pity they don't.

Well, we went off to the Variety1 store at Arndale next and I found a large plastic bucket there for just $15 and it's perfect to use as my donation box now. And I've thrown out my cardboard one. I've been able to fit in other things into the bigger one. The best thing is that I don't run into it as much as it's soft. I've already put in some prints I no longer use and other things as well. I'm looking forward to filling it up. 

What have you been up to this week to keep your place tidy? I haven't put in any Weekend Challenges lately because I think Easter and ANZAC Day can be busy times for everyone. So, next week, I'll bring them back. 

Things Going On

Over the past few weeks, I've had a lot going on in my life; but the one big thing was a new window screen going into the office window and a dead air-conditioner being removed.

Yes, it's all be done and dusted and now there's better air flow throughout the house!

It's so nice to feel a nice breeze at night and during the day too.

Tomorrow, I'm getting into this office and sorting through more of the things which need to be looked into; so I can clean up the place more and be ready to move out of this townhouse once the time comes up. 

Today, I gave away a bag of books and a briefcase of my Dad's (and yes, he knew it was going, I asked if he wanted it anymore, and he said no). So, I cleaned it out and cleaned it up and took it to the Vinnies in my area and told them the code to it. Man, they were relieved to know what that was! I said that Dad couldn't be bothered putting a code in, so he left it as the basic numbers it came with. The lady there told me that they had a suitcase with a coded lock they were stuck with for about a week figuring out the code on it; not a lot of fun when nobody knows the code on those things.

Anyway, I'm glad I'm getting in and slowly cleaning out what I no longer need. It's now becoming a slower process of giving away things; and more of a putting things in archive boxes thing. 

So, how is your clean-out going? All good I hope. Keep up updated in what you've been up to.

A Little At A Time

I've been suffering from a bit of depression; and so I haven't been cleaning out as much as I thought I would be.

But today, while I waited for my internet to collect itself together and get back online, I pulled out a couple of books I know I will never read and put them by the office door. They're going to be put into the Donation Box to be taken away next week.

I'm also working on using up all my yarn to be made into beanies... I know that sounds strange, but I have a lot of knitting yarn; and why not make them into something cute? 

The air-conditioner died a few weeks back, so I'm getting in and cleaning up the home office to make sure we can get the old one out and put in a good screen to get air through the office again - it's been a long time since this office has had a good gust of wind through here. 

I'm also hoping to get myself a nice desk to replace my corner one - one which will be ordinary, have drawers and I can put my computer tower on it next to my screen. I have to get rid of the filing cabinet too - as it's just full of things I don't need anymore. There's a lot of sorting out that needs to be done there. 

This will take time, and some op-shopping later this year. I do hope it works out though. I'm hoping to put aside some money to save up for the next desk though. 

There is still some smaller things I need to get into to either put away, sort through or throw out. And that's the little things which normally get in the way isn't it? Anyway, how is your place going? 

Wardrobe Clean-Out

You know, yesterday was a big one for me.

After cleaning out under the two sinks, I opened my wardrobe and pulled out everything in it and put it all onto my bed.

And believe me, you really don't know how many clothes you truly have until you do that! I had watched an episode of Marie Kondi and found myself saying, 'Holy Crap, that's a lot of clothing right there!' Believe me it was!

And the first thing I did was start going through it all... piece by piece, I tried on all the winter jackets, found which ones I hadn't worn in over a year, which ones I hadn't see in a year (and the reason why was because they'd been hung in with the dresses and I hadn't been able to find them!). 

Then, I looked at the shirts and tops and figured out what I hadn't worn, which ones I didn't like, which ones I loved and either hung them all up or tossed them in the 'donation pile' - or the wash pile. 

Oh boy, then came my dresses! I still have my 21st dress - and I'm not letting that go! It's hand-made, gorgeously hand-sewn and dyed from New Zealand and weighs a ton! It also costed me a fortune to buy! So, no, it's not going anywhere. Then, I tried on a couple of other dresses which looked like they'd fit, but once I got them on, I couldn't get the bastards off!!! After much struggling, I finally did get those dresses off and into the 'Donation' Pile. Yep, somebody out there is going to look great in those.

After another hour or so, I had a wash pile, a donation pile and the rest of it all hung on coat hangers and folded and put away. My wardrobe looks really good! I found I have about 20 coat hangers which don't have a home.

Then, I went downstairs and went through the kitchen drawers where my towels lived for the kitchen and sorted through them and figured out which towels were going to staying here and which ones will be donated and which ones will be used in my painting gear. Only two were sent away... the rest? Stayed here - yep, they're still in good condition.

So, there was my afternoon of cleaning done and dusted. A lot was done and I'm proud to say that I have one bag of clothes to give away... and that bag will be added to soon. How are you doing with your house? Are you being as good with the cleaning out as I am? 

Apologies And Donation Day

I haven't been traveling all that well lately; and my need to declutter has pulled me up to a halt. I'm sorry to have turned away from the blog for a while, but you see, earlier in the year, I lost a wonderful friend of mine very suddenly and it's taken me since May to get through the denial stage of my grief.

In the past few weeks, I've just fallen apart mentally, and I don't know how long it's going to take to get back on track. 

But on the bright side, I have donated a box of goodies to Vinnies at Slacks Creek yesterday, and I'm glad to have gotten the things out of my house. 

Then, while I was out with a fellow op-shopper, I found a lovely outfit to wear to a Christmas Party coming up and next year's Halloween Costume. Then, I spotted two canvases, which were both still in their wrappings for $6.00 for both of them... such a great thing! 
We then moved onto the Life Line at Springwood and I found 2 things there - one was a Christmas present for my Sister In Law and the other was lovely stationery I'd use. 

I'm looking forward to decluttering more of my place soon. 

A Couple of Weeks

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post; and I must apologise for this. I have been cleaning out and looking at what needs to be done to fix up my place to make it better over this time.

However, I've also been working hard on my garden - and it's really coming along well. But I don't wish to bore you with the details of that until the time is right.... yeah it does get boring when one thing is talked about.

I have been working on the art area again, as I have been given two sets of plastic drawers from Oma's house and they're really coming in handy to store all the little things which need to be put away. In turn, that frees up the space on the bookcase in the hallway to the kitchen.

But I'm looking at replacing that with a larger one which will store everything which is leaning against the walls and blocking the way in a big way. This bigger one will be my birthday present to myself. Sure it will take up more wall space, but it'll also be a good thing for me too. I'll be able to get rid of that thin bookcase and spread out my books on art, shift any blank canvas' I will be using soon and store anything needed on top easily. Not a bad purchase really. 

I've got a few things to do in the next day or so in the way of donations. I have to get in and donate at my local Vinnies and then drop by to a Life Line Super Store and look around to see if they have any second-hand shelves (big metal ones are what I'm looking for). And if they don't, I'll drop off to Bunnings and see how much they are there... and see how much I have to save to get a set there. 

Yes, this will be a matter of me not spending up big on anything for a while; but it'll be worth it to save up on space. 

So, over the past couple of weeks, I've been cleaning up, cleaning out and planning. I know planning doesn't seem much; but it means I'm looking into working more on the house and how I store things. So, do tell, how is your decluttering journey going? Mine has slowed a little, but planning does that to the journey. 

Today - Friday Afternoon

Okay, I started my Weekend Challenge a tad early; and thought to post in my progress to you all.

It started out as a 'clean out the mug cupboard to make room' thing; but turned into something totally different! I opened the cupboards under the main counter and pulled out everything to do with some glass dishes instead (yeah, like I said 'totally different')... well, after I did that, I ended up climbing halfway to Narnia through my cupboards!

Only kidding! 

I have very deep cupboards and I pulled out everything from them and realised 'Holy crap, that's a lot of shit! And some of it I really don't need!' So, I put the bowls off to one side, found a metal serving platter I'd been looking for and three cake tins and put my food processor where it all of that was after cleaning up the shelves.

Everything looked pretty good and organised after around half an hour. My Corningware and bowls and mixing bowls were right where I needed them and right where I could lay my hands on them. 

Then, I turned around and found the metal serving platter didn't have a home... so there I was looking through the cupboards wondering where to put it! I pulled out my 3-step ladder and climbed to the top of my fridge and became side-tracked with scraping the greasy crap off that! OMG! It was disgusting! But the platter couldn't fit on there; not unless I wanted to forget its existence altogether! So, it ended up in the pantry with my cutting boards. 

At around 3:30pm, I had just had some afternoon tea and finally opened the mugs cupboard and thought to put sorting out the mugs for another day - and said 'Nope, not doing that again!' I pulled down some of the mugs off the top shelf, wrapped them up and put them into storage. And then, wrapped another 4 I hadn't used in over a year and put them in my Donation Box! I moved all the mugs from the bottom shelf and put as many as I could to the top shelf - putting my favourites towards the front - and pulled out my cups and saucer sets from around the house and setting them up in the cupboard to use. 

Yes! I got this part of the decluttering done and dusted! A broken pasta maker (it's missing 2 bolts to hold it to my counter-top so it won't work really) and a set of mugs with matching spoons is in the Donation Box... I'm very pleased with myself! There's more to do. And I'm hoping to get into the backyard a bit tomorrow. How's your challenge going?

Working Out Well!

After being bad last week, I've done the good thing - to balance out the bad - and donated big at my local Vinnies charity store. Yes, I feel better, and yes the place is looking better too.. and yes I did purchase a few things to add to the house - but nothing expensive.

I have to go into hospital this week, and so I'm working on making the house work better than it has done, tidier than it has been and look and feel better for me when I get home. You see, it's only day surgery and I'm not worried about what's going to happen when I get home - so long I can lay down on my bed and snooze if I need to.

You see, my Mum will be coming here to my place and I've been cleaning the house to make sure she doesn't really need to do anything around the place, just hang out and relax. 

The good thing is that there's just a lot of putting away of things and that's about it really. Seeing I've tossed out and given away a lot of things over the past 6 months, I think I've done very well thanks to my wonderful friend Tutasi (who's gone back to the USA unfortunately - but we're still great friends). 

And I think after this week, I'll still be giving away and tossing out more and more things from the house as the year goes on. 

Yes, this big declutter over the past 4 - 5 years has been very good for me... I can't wait to keep it going. How about you? How's your decluttering going?

Habits

Over the last year, I've learned new habits in my decluttering. What I need, and what I don't - what will be donated and what will be thrown out in the bin.

However I've also brought into my life habits which I've stuck by. Now, scientists say that it takes 3 weeks to create a new habit and make it stick - so it took time for me to get into this to prove it'll work out. 

And it works! The washing up get done every night and counters are wiped over. I put away my toothpastes in exactly the same spot they were the night before and clean my hair brushes every few days. The bins are emptied every day and the big rubbish bin is put out for collection on the morning of bin day. But these are only the usual habits I've added into my life.

I've still got to get in and make my bed every day and put away the laundry every time I do it. I'm still finding it hard to throw out or donate items - even though I've been doing this decluttering journey for some years now. And now it's an on-going challenge for me to keep the house in some kind of order, I'm hoping to work at saving up some money; instead of going out to op-shops to buy something. 

Yeah, I've been spurging a little too much - and I know it - instead of donating my unwanted gear. But I'm getting there.

So far in the past few weeks, I've posted off three 5kg bags across Australia and have had happy people enjoy the books I no longer want. But I still have books I no longer need; so I'll be looking at donating them to an old folks' home or somewhere else soon.

I have to fix up the back yard and repot my plants this Winter and so I have to get in and stock up on bags of potting mix and then save up big for a few larger pots and then reuse other pots around the place - yeah, it'll be another reuse of old items if I can find them around places or garage sales. 

Getting into the habits of giving and donating as well as bringing things into the home is a delicate balance. You have to remember how much space you have, what you need and what you don't and if you really want to keep all your things in one place. And to make those decisions at the op-shop is good thing; however, when you make the decision and bring it home and realise that item doesn't fit anywhere? Well, it's time to really look at what have; and do you really need it? 

So, what habits have you worked on for yourself to bring your decluttering and organising around to a better place? Leave a comment for us below and we can all help each other.

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? 

Art Area Clean-Up - Part 1

Being an artist isn't a clean and tidy hobby - and being one in a townhouse, is even messier than you'd think. 

However, in 2015, my Dad and I built a workbench for me - one that I designed - and fitted it into my townhouse and it's serving me so well that once in a while I had to clean it up and make sure it stays functional.

And yesterday was the day I got in and started the first phase of the clean-up - yes part 1 of the mess I called my art area.

It took me around 3 hours - between 2pm and 5pm and I'm darned proud of how far I got with it. 

First off, I cleaned off the top shelf hanging over the bench itself and had a good look at what things I had stored in the two plastic containers - to see what needed throwing out.
Then, I put everything from the art area which could be moved easily into the living room or the kitchen. Then, I looked inside all the buckets and containers which were on the top shelf and found better homes for the items inside each one. 
Any ceramic plates, bits of plastic and other things I didn't recognise were thrown away - seeing the plates were chipped and unusable. Then, looking over the back of the three-set of drawers, I found there was a ton of space there, and I pushed them back against the wall and have found more space for me in front of it. 

Great!

Getting the ladder out, I cleaned off the empty shelf so I had a nice new surface to put away things and sort out what I needed to keep that shelf uncluttered with items and yet still be able to reach for what I needed when I needed it. 

I found I had over 200 sprung pegs to paint (yep, I overbought supply) and a huge amount of dolly pegs as well. And I also have a nice little collection of canvas boards of all sizes. I also have no need for new brushes - as I seem to have overbought on them as well; as a good artist does. 

Once I got it all pulled back together, put my easel back, the right things tossed into the Donation Box and ready to be sent off to the charity of my choice, it was almost 5pm and the vinyl I had been playing finished. 

What an afternoon! I had gone through 2 bottles of ice cold water and there was 1 large rubbish bag by the garage door to throw out. Yes, this was a great success for a first go at my art area - but will be another afternoon of me attacking it soon. 

Oh! Photos! How could I forget the photos! Here they are! 

Regular Housework

Today is Friday and I don't normally do much on this day. But today, I got in and washed some bathmats and two blankets which normally stay in the boot/trunk of my car. They're out on the clothesline right now drying in the hot sun.

But besides that I've cleaned the kitchen sink, swept the kitchen floor (so I can get in and wash it soon) and then folded and put away my shopping bags (I use re-usable ones - instead of the single-use ones from the store).
Then, I bumped out the major doormats from the front, back and side doors and put out the rubbish into the big bin after opening up the house completely.

Yes, today is the regular housework day. 

But I'm also going to be looking at doing out my drinking mug collection... there's so many I just no longer use! So, today, I'm going to be climbing up on a ladder and pulling down the ones I don't use anymore, wrapping them up and putting them into the Donation Box. 
Now, I do collect drinking mugs, but the collection has become a little too big and so it's time cull them back to the ones I love more than others; and this is a good thing for me. So, which thing have you collected to the biggest degree and have had to cull back lately? Doesn't it make you feel good that you've done that? Or is it something you regret doing later on? 

Well, onto the Weekend Challenge: 

Go through your shoes. Pull out all the pairs you have in your wardrobe and figure out which ones you wear all the time; which ones are your occasionals and which ones you don't wear at all - or only once or twice a year - and sort out the shoes you haven't worn in over 6 months. Then find the broken ones (you'll have some there, believe me!).
Put the unworn ones into the Donation Box - once you've cleaned them up - and bin the broken ones. Tidy up the rest of the shoes and make sure you can see all of them so you can wear them more; especially the ones you don't wear often enough, as you'll enjoy them more! 

The Right Way

I'm a member of a few op-shop Facebook pages and there's a running theme which goes through these pages... and it never ends.

It's the donation of goods at the large bins outside the op-shop/thrift stores for the public to leave their goods.

Now that the Christmas Holidays are over, every man and his dog are out there decluttering their homes for the new Christmas gifts they've received. Now, this is a good thing to do - but delivering those unwanted goods is another thing all together.

I have never dropped off my goods for donation at the bins of an op-shop - ever! The simple reason is because while it's next to that bin, anything can happen to it. It could rain, and the bags could leak; thus ruining the clothes I've lovingly washed, folded and put into that bag. And who knows how long they'll be sitting there until a volunteer comes along to pick them up?
Or if it's furniture, somebody of the public could come along and throw it onto the road or sleep on it, urinate on it (thinking it's funny - and yes this happens)... or Mother Nature could play a part again in being herself again and wreck the furniture.

Now, I've been seeing photos of the bags and boxes of items left overnight and all of those boxes and bags have been ripped opened by people who just won't leave things be. It's not theirs to open, and take what they want - and yes, it's called stealing and for those who want to be religious about it, it is a sin - and after you've gotten what you want (or not found what you were hoping to find in that box), it's often something you can't close up again. 

So, the right way to donate your unwanted items is to take it into the charity store of your choice in a box or a bag. 

Wrap the fragile items properly. 

Wash all the clothes and fold them up. 

Mend what needs mending. 

Wipe down all the books you no longer need and take out the bookmarks, photos and money from within the pages (yes I've found money inside books I've bought). 

And most of all, make sure you deliver your preloved items with as much care as you did when you first bought them. 

It doesn't take much to be a good person when it comes to donating your goods. Just be thoughtful about how you go about it, and you'll find that your charity store will pay you back three-fold when you go in there looking for items you need in your house later on. 

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. 

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.