My Decluttering Cleansing Challenge

Last month I have been challenging myself and others with a 30 Day Decluttering Cleansing month.  I must admit I put the challenge out there for totally selfish reasons. I find that if I put it out there to others it makes me more accountable. Hence when I'm accountable to others I usually am successful with my challenges. But that wasn't always the case. Years ago I had a bit of a hoarding problem but with lots of work and soul searching I was able to get over it. Here's  how I made myself realise that I just didn't need all the stuff I had.

I think my issues started when I went through a divorce and was left with lots of stuff from my past. For a number of years my two kids and I lived with the clutter until after a bit of a revelation I realised that all the stuff that I was keeping from my past was stopping me from moving forward into my new life. At first I didn't know what to do and I found it very difficult to part with anything.
So to start off I set up some boxes in my lounge room and I labeled them throw away, donate, keep, pass onto owners, and don't know. At the end of each week I emptied the boxes to where they belonged. I only tackled one area at a time eg. one draw at a time, one tiny area at a time. After a lot of soul searching and positive self talk to myself  I had mostly everything under control but there were still a few issues.
After quite a number of years the time came for us to head off for twelve months in our camper "Myrtle". I had to put a lot of stuff into storage and my incentive was "Do I want to pay for this to be in storage?"  So once again I got the boxes set up and promised myself to be a lot more ruthless.
My clutter issues are pretty much under control now although I must admit I do still have some issues with my craft room. With that in mind this month I am going to challenge myself with all the craft supplies, half finished objects, instructions and incidental things my craft room holds.

If you would like to join me in this challenge please let me know. I'd love to have you along for the ride.

My de-cluttering, clearing week

My de-cluttering / clearing week has progressed pretty slowly due to my arm still not being fully functional. So I have just had to make the most of what I could do and also make some lists of what I can do when I get my arm working properly again.

But the one area I did tackle and thankfully completed was the clearing out and cleaning of my craft room. Since arriving home my craft room has pretty much been used as a bit of a dumping room. So if I ever want to start getting back working on my jewellery I just had to get it cleared out. There's nothing worse than trying to find your creativity in a bomb site. So I decided to start at one corner and just work my way through the room. I made the deal with myself that everything I picked up had to find a home where it belonged. Be it, in its home, in the donation box or in the bin. This is by farther hardest room for me to tackle. I think my craft supplies are my nemesis. I start and get totally overwhelmed of just where everything should go. I find lots of half made things that I know I should finish and lots of new things I want to start. 



Mmmmm I think this dumping ground needs to be cleared!!

Finally, after two days I had the room I want to work in. My desk is lovely and clear and everything is in it's home. Now once my arm starts behaving itself I can get into some designing. 

Yeah it's done

How did your week of de-cluttering and clearing go? 

I'd love to hear about your progress no matter how small or large. 

Why do we need so much stuff??

After travelling around Australia for 12 months in Myrtle I have now returned home and have realised I don't need all the STUFF I have. So with that in mind I am on a de-cluttering, clearing mission. Also while being away and also turning 61, it got me thinking about all those precious things like my best dinner set, Mums favourite wine glasses and lots of other things I store in the cupboards and only use on rare occasions. Even though I have decided to live to 91, we just never know whats around the corner, so why not enjoy the THINGS in our life now instead of leaving them to someone who may not cherish them as much as I do.  So my mission is to go through my STUFF and if I haven't used it in years or it doesn't make my heart sing, I will dispose of it or donate it to someone who will use it and/or love it. So I thought each Sunday I would share just what I have de-cluttered and cleared in the past week and if you would like to join me with your own Declutter, Clear and Use Mission, I would love to have you along for the ride. I'd love to hear about your progress and maybe see some pictures. Why not enjoy what we have in our lives instead of have them sitting in a dark and lonely cupboard.

I tackled to Linen Closet! Do I really need all those pillow cases that have no sheets to match? Do I really need so many sets of single bed sheets when the single bed is only used occasionally? Why am I keeping the sheet set that has a hole worn in one of the sheets?
These are some of the questions I asked myself and now my Linen Closet
is no longer bursting out into the hallway.

Magazines - I buy them, read them and then for some reason keep them just incase I may want to read them again. Crazy hey!! What was I thinking I am never going to read them again. Normally just before I throw them out I cut out recipes, crafts or anything else I think I might need someday. Yes, you guessed it I never get around to making the stuff I cut out. So this time there was no cutting out! Out they went!! This is such a liberating feeling!