Category Archives: Clutter

Joyful Decluttering

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Personal, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , , ,

Ever since I was a preteen who watched the afternoon movie on television most weekdays after school, I’ve been a fan of old movies. My husband shares this interest. As a result, we collected dozens of old movies on videocassette over the years.

When our VCR died a while back, we sadly realized that our collection had just become obsolete, because it’s very hard to find a new VCR. We began collecting old movies on DVD, but kept the videos for sentimental reasons, I suppose.

Then I read that the county nursing home is looking for donations for their “canteen,” where residents can select items for personal use, like sample bottles of shampoo, or nail polish, and also entertainment items like videotapes and DVDs. This was the incentive we needed to let go of all those tapes.

So I made a list of all of them, so we’ll know what to buy in DVD format, packed up the tapes (three bags’ worth) and dropped them off for the nursing home residents. Most of the movies we donated are of similar vintage to the residents (1930s-1950s). I also included several more recent DVDs of which we had doubles; we bought the first season of a series, then later bought the whole series, so we didn’t need to keep that first season.

It felt good to give those movies to people who will hopefully get some enjoyment out of them, and now we have more room on the shelves. Win, win!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Black Friday Lessons

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Personal, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , ,

I never got into the Black Friday excitement when it first cropped up years ago, probably because I don’t like crowds. But once it moved online, I learned that it could be quite a temptation for me.

Case in point: this Thanksgiving, it was just us at home for dinner because illness was running rampant through our extended family. So once the turkey was in the oven, I was free to sit and shop the Black Friday fabric sales in the comfort of my recliner.

I actually spent two hours looking at fabric, picking out my favorites and then, later, talking myself out of them. There was a needed purchase that I planned on making, and I did so at 20% off due to the Black Friday sale, but that was all I bought.

It was quite a struggle, I can tell you. Each fabric that appealed to me came with its own idea: this would make a cute top, that would make such a nice dress, and on and on. Who knows how many tabs I had open?

But I had to be strict with myself, because I know me. I’ve written about “I Was Gonna,” and how that gets us creative types into trouble. Well, every one of those potential purchases might have eventually ended up on the “I Was Gonna” list. I know this because of my track record, and because I already have several large pieces of fabric waiting their turn to become clothing. I really don’t need more.

The fabric I did buy is needed to finish a project; that’s OK. But starting new projects? Not until those fabrics currently in line become actually finished clothing. Otherwise I end up with a sewing room full of clutter, which is exactly what I don’t want.

Oh, Marie….

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living Tagged , ,

Decluttering guru Marie Kondo became so famous for promoting decluttering that she ended up posing on the red carpet at this year’s Oscars. But the woman known for her decluttering books and Netflix show just made a huge mistake: she opened up an online shop so she can sell high-priced clutter.

Of course, capitalizing on your fame by coming up with a related product line is an American tradition. Just think of how much money people like Martha Stewart, Ree Drummond and Paula Deen have made by turning their fame into additional fortune.

But here’s the thing: they weren’t decluttering gurus. They became popular for other talents, and parlayed those talents into stuff they can sell to their fans for a big payback. But when your whole shtick is getting rid of stuff, how do you justify selling stuff back to your fans, and high-priced stuff at that?

You can’t. There is no justification. Ms. Kondo is going against everything she has promoted in her books and Netflix show. I suspect she will regret this move.

Let’s Pretend We’re Moving

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living Tagged ,

As you might have read in the top right corner of this blog, we moved three times in four years. That was eight years ago, but the memories are still fresh….ugh! It makes me tired just thinking about it.

But there was something good to come out of it. When you move, you’re forced to go through all of your things and get rid of anything you don’t use anymore in order to reduce the number of things you’re going to have to pack, move and unpack. So you end up in new decluttered digs, and it feels good!

That said, the converse is also true. When you don’t move for a long time, it’s very easy to let the number of your belongings increase, slowly and quietly, until you start tripping on things, or you run out of room in closets, or you just start to feel kind of cramped in your home. That’s how you know it’s time to move again.

Of course, you probably like where you live and don’t want to move. No worries! What I’m talking about is pretending that you have to move. What would you take with? What would you get rid of?

Once you really get into this act of imagination, you’ll start to realize how much stuff has been building up around your home. Use the insight created by your pretend move to give up items you don’t use anymore. Then enjoy the extra space that’s created in your home.

Do this every year or so, and if or when you do actually move again, it will be a much easier experience than what we went through years ago. Just the mere memory of those days revs up my declutter meter and I start assembling boxes to donate to Goodwill.