The Big Wardrobe Cleanout!

I'm so proud of myself!

Yesterday, I started putting away my clean laundry and it turned into a big clean out of my wardrobe - mainly because a lot of what I had washed and dried outside couldn't fit into the wardrobe.

So, I pulled out any t-shirts and decided to fold them, and had a lot of coat hangers which had taken up space. Then, I moved long-sleeved blouses next to the dressing gowns, I put the coats in their own colour codes (I know, I know, weird right? But it makes some kinda sense to me). Then, I put all my new op-shopped dressed in one section and my jeans and shorts in the next section. I tried on a few thing to see if they'd fit - and some did and others didn't. 

And then, I found them: the clothes I was given and haven't worn, and don't like. I pulled them all out and put them into a donation pile. I also pulled out all the 3/4 pants/jeans which I no longer wear and put them into a pile as well... and well! I emptied out so much of the wardrobe, I was amazed with myself.

And this was before I had even gotten any clean laundry put away - sure it was folded and hung up on hangers, but none of it was put away... so I put it away and it all fitted so well! 

Then, I pulled some things from underneath my clothes and found I had bags I had bought and other things which I simply didn't need. Some of these things went in the bin, while other items went into the donation pile. This donation pile was getting pretty big now... and this is good!

Today, I folded and put everything in the pile into a bag... such a pity I can't take it to a charity store yet. Well, give it time: in the next few months, we'll get ourselves to the charity stores and they'll have a huge influx of donations from everyone's houses. Won't that be great? 

In Isolation

The last time I went out was really early Tuesday morning - and that was to get supplies. But I've been home and haven't talked to anyone or near anyone... and this is good.

This has given me a good chance to organise my house and my garden. 

Today, I reorganised my greenhouse in the back yard for the third time - as I'm planting cherry tomato seeds and in a few days, I'll be potting up truss tomato seeds in there as well... I can't wait to see what happens. I'm hoping it all works out.
Well, if it does, I'll have some lovely tomatoes to eat in the coming months - and I'll share them as well with my neighbours.

I then organised my laundry liquids in the hallway to my kitchen where the shelving is... and managed to put everything in a nice spot there. 

Two plastic boxes in my home office are now filled with books I'm keeping from crowding up my bookcases too much. But there's a box by my front door which has to go out to the car for donation. Unfortunately, all my donations are going out into the back seat of my car until further notice, as no charity stores are taking anything for now - and they're closed anyway. 

Tomorrow, which is Friday, I'll be going through my wardrobe and sorting through all of my clothes to see what I'm keeping and what I'm donating. This is a good time to do this. And then, I'll organise my drawers again and vacuum the house, dusting everything as I go.

Yes, it'll be a busy day tomorrow - as busy as it was yesterday and today. So, how is your place going in this time of isolation? Are you cleaning out as much as I am? Or are you catching up on reading and other activities? 

Archiving and Cleaning Out

Yesterday afternoon, once I got off the computer and the internet, I jumped into the cleaning up of the home office - which turned into something totally different. Sometimes cleaning up one space does this.

I assembled the two archive boxes and sorted through some of the paperwork and the filing cabinet next to my desk. There were things inside the cabinet which needed to be archived - like 'The Flame' magazine from Epilepsy Queensland from 2006. I know that's a long time ago, but there's articles in those issues which are important to me.

Then, I tried to find some letters from a doctor which were addressed to my Mum and I from two years ago just in case my neurologist retired. However, I have yet to find them. I went through one box I had sorted out, and the letters weren't in that one. So, it may be in one I've already put into the wardrobe. 

But then, I sorted through my hand-written notebooks. These are notes from books I've written, like 'Ravenstine Kingdom', 'Angie', Fry Nelson' and other book and story ideas as well. I have archived those into another box so I have them put away for the time I need them at some point in the future. 

Now, what I did after that was reorganise that shelf of notebooks, looking through them and making sure they were in order. There are still books there which I need to use which are for current projects. Then, I looked up on the wall and realised I needed to hang a description of some art. So, I worked on that for about half an hour; which worked out well, as I needed a break from sorting. 

By this time, it was around 2pm and it was stinking hot! So, I cleaned up the office as much as I could and put things away. A lot of had been done in the way of organising the archive boxes. I didn't think I'd have so much archiving in my life by my 40's, but interestingly enough, I do. I did one last thing. I put up the 'Home' hook set Mum gave me in the wardrobe in my room and hung up my Japanese house coat and a brunch coat on it; along with some umbrellas as well. This helped clean up some of the mess in my room.

Then, last night, after I watched a bit of television, I did more cleaning up - this time in my bedroom. I made up the bed (as I had washed the sheets yesterday) and then folded and put away the quilt and the big, blue blanket (in their respective places). The bathroom towels which had been folded earlier that day were put into the bathroom, and so I organised the rest of the towels and folded the rest of them - taking them into the bathroom too.
Then, the wash basket was picked up off the floor and put on to the glory box/hope chest, and I took the paintings I've done and no longer want into the hallway. I'm going to offer them to my family first before giving them away. 

Before I knew it, it was past 10pm and I was really tired. A lot had been done yesterday; more than I had done in any given weekend in the past two months. So, how was your weekend? Did you get much done? You can see I got a lot of organising and sorting done in my weekend.

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? 

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? 

Bedroom Wardrobes

Okay! I'm back into the decluttering again this year! And seeing it's been so hot lately, I'm taking it easy too - just like last year.

Last week, I bought myself a 55 litre plastic box - with wheels - from Variety1 at Arndale for just $8.00. And the other day, I sorted all my craft gear into it! I pulled down all of the small boxes, bags and other items I had craft gear crammed into and found that it all fitted into this plastic box! 

How cool is this?

That's not the best news - nope.

When I pushed the new box of goodies up the top, I found it only took up half the space all of that gear used to! 

This left me with a huge amount of space where I could put my spare pillows up there which normally went on the bed during the day! This is a good thing!

So, I've started on working on this room again - my bedroom - in a more permanent way. 

These plastic boxes will make moving house in the future that much more easier; and less messy. I won't be using as many cardboard boxes and when I get into a 3-bedroom house, these boxes will store away into an art room as easily as they do now. 

So, how have the storage boxes helped you sort through your cluttered gear? Or have you found different ways to use them? If you have, share with us all in the comments below.

Bedroom Closet

I'm at it again. Yep, I've just jumped right in and decluttered something on a whim and have enjoyed the results. 

This time, it's my scarves - and believe me when I say that I didn't know I had so many of the darned things! I still have a few from when I was working at the RACQ! I had others which really aren't my style and then I thought to move the two boxes which house the Summer scarves and the Winter scarves down a shelf so I can see what's in them. This wasn't a bad idea when you really think about it... seeing I'm not a tall person, and the boxes are lovely, have a handle and hold everything I need in them, it really does neaten up the whole cupboard.

But this did mean moving everything on the bottom shelf to the top shelf... and I didn't mind that either, I found a few things I had been looking for and I could put them away into other places around the room as well. This was great!

The best thing was that I finally got to use the scarf-holder I scored for Christmas years ago and it holds so many scarves! And I have that hanging on the inside of the door - as you can see - and I'm hoping to put one of my belt-holders next to it soon... so I don't have to go rummaging through the wardrobe for belts anymore. 

But that, my friends, is another item for another day! So, how is your decluttering going? All good I hope. Do drop a line below in the comments and let us know how you're going with your place. 

A Quiet Week

These kinds of weeks are normally when I get the most done. I didn't end up selling the set of drawers on Gumtree, mainly because the buyer didn't show up. Now, I put up a rant on Facebook about this and had many people agree with me about how damned rude it is to kick up a fuss about how pretty wonderful something is, make an appointment, then to pike on the seller.

Now, I'm no saint, I've done that to exactly one person and apologised profusely to him for leaving him hanging. But if you're going to buy something from somebody, please go and get to the appointment; or if you can't get there, make the effort to let the buyer know you're not showing.

Anyway, this week, I'm getting in and cleaning up the living room. I've been so busy lately with things outside the townhouse, that I've just been falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Now, today, I've found myself burnt out and a little bit of cleaning out wouldn't hurt me. 

The 50 books - with matching magazines - have made their journey to the 'Really Good Book Shop' at Browns Plains. And not far from there, I went to the Life Line Supa Store to score my self a brilliant little 1970's phone-seat... how cool is that? I love it! 
Now, It's just a matter of cleaning up the living room so I can get rid of the lounge. 

But if it doesn't sell by the end of next week, I'll be contacting the Life Line to come and pick it up. I did just phone the QEII hospital palliative ward to see if they'd like it and the coffee table, but they've had been offered a brand new lounge room suite from a family who lost a family member there. They thanked me very much for my kind offer. 
I'm really looking forward to having more space in my living room next week. I'll get the guys to come and collect it. It'll be going to a decent home.  

Well, I hope to have my home in a better shape next week, than it is this week. So, how has your decluttering been going? I'm slowly getting mine together. I'm going to go through my wardrobe and donate some of the dresses that no longer fit me; and then I'll be out looking at jeans that look good on me; as well as dresses. 

March Madness

I've taken some time off to get in and work on a piece of artwork for an exhibition and a tapestry.

But I'm back into the decluttering throws again, and I'm looking forward to being able to move around the house better soon.

So far, I've got around 5 empty 'Green Bags'. These are synthetic bags that are reusable and have a hardy bottom inset inside them. I'll be taking them to my local community centre because I don't have a use for them anymore. The less I have them around, the less I'll fill them with crap - that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. 

Last week, I took two bags of unwanted things from a clean-out of my bathroom to the Logan East Community Centre at Springwood and some books and left them out on the table for anyone to have a look at. I made sure they were cleaned up and usable. Anything which wasn't hygienic, I tossed in the bin. 
This coming Monday, I'll be taking a Bamillo Pillow with me to give to anyone who wants it - as I'm allergic to it - and some other things I'm hoping to get rid of. It's going to a good place and I know I've taken care of these things.

My next place to clean out completely is the wardrobe. I've been getting stuck on this a few times; but if I don't do something about my clothes, it's going to turn into something I hate. I have clothes that are too big for me, and clothes which are too small in amongst clothes which fit. So, one day next week, I'll be working through all of them and seeing which ones do fit, which ones don't and going out to a second-hand store and finding some clothes that do fit me; mainly jeans, because Winter is coming and I'd like a few pairs to wear around Brisbane. 

So, what are your plans for the next month? You know mine are to give away as much as possible with my decluttering. I'm also going to save up to buy a shredder from OfficeWorks and shred what I don't need in the filing cabinet from banks and other official paperwork. Just leave a comment below and let us all know about your plans on decluttering you home little by little this month. Until next time!