Tag Archives: decluttering

Clutter Makes Me Hate This Chore Even More Than I Already Do

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

Do you have a least-favorite chore?

I like to cook, don’t mind doing laundry, and will even vacuum if I have to. But wow, do I ever hate dusting.

Why do I hate dusting? Well, it’s boring, and once I do it, the furniture only looks nice for a day or two and then dust starts collecting again.

Not that I don’t appreciate a freshly dusted and polished surface, because I do. I just don’t like getting it to that point and having it last only a brief time.

So I often procrastinate about dusting, and that’s bad enough, but I daily procrastinate about dusting when the surfaces around my home have collected clutter.

Perhaps one of us recently celebrated a birthday, so there are cards on the bookshelves, each one requiring that I move it before I can dust each shelf. Bleah! ( as Snoopy would say.)

Or maybe someone has been really busy lately and has allowed extra reading material to build up all over the end table next to her favorite chair (can’t imagine who that would be!) I figure, since the table is covered with stuff, the dust can’t get under it anyways, so why bother? But once the frustration of not having a place to set a coffee cup kicks in, dusting (after decluttering) the end table goes back on the to-do list.

You see, the decluttering part is what really drags out the whole process. When I make the effort to keep surfaces clear, I sometimes get an urge to quickly swipe a dust cloth over a surface. But when the surface is cluttered, the only urge I get is to pretend I don’t notice what a mess it has become.

Whittling Down the Wardrobe

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

Some areas of clutter are easier to conquer than others. For me, keeping my wardrobe under control is a challenge, so I tend to put off doing so until my closet becomes too crowded. It has now reached that level, so it’s time to go through my clothes again.

This gets complicated. We have very definite changes of season where I live, so there are summer clothes and winter clothes to be gone through as well several seasonally transitional items.

To make matters worse, like many women I have three sizes of clothes in my possession: tight clothes, clothes that fit fine and larger clothes for when I overdo it.

I’ve learned over time that the best way to start getting rid of clothes is to first find and pull all of those that have seen better days. I have tops that I love but that are looking pretty worn, to the point that I don’t wear them when I leave the house. There’s no reason to keep them all except that I’m sentimentally attached to them, and if you’ve read my latest book, you know that is not a good reason to keep things. So out they go!

I’ve also learned to keep the highest quality clothes that I like, as well as those I love. It’s been a while since I’ve seen well-made clothes out of good material in stores, so I will hang onto anything I like that is good quality because it will keep its shape and last longer than most other clothes I own.

Sometimes I have to pretend I’m someone else when I’m assessing the condition of each item; this helps me bypass my innate sentimentality in favor of the part of me that adores well-made things.

I make a yearly effort to go through all of my clothes because I live in a small house with small closets and limited storage space. My reward will be that great feeling I’ll get when I go through my closet and drawers to find that everything is neatly arranged and nothing is squashed in. Know what I mean?

Another Digital Fasting Update

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Personal, Simpler Living Tagged , ,

So it’s been nearly three months since I began my digital fast. While I’m no longer avoiding web surfing, I’m trying to keep it on a short chain. I take a quick look at the news, and move on. No more hours of surfing or following rabbit trails.

I’m also reading more actual, physical books. I’ve been working my way through several entertaining series written by Rhys Bowen. All of the books have come from my public library. I like being able to give back each volume when I’m through with it instead of trying to find a place for it in my home. Libraries are simply wonderful, aren’t they?

I’m still spending more time working with my hands, although I burned out on making dishcloths and have gone back to playing Candy Crush at night while we watch a movie. Once I get some quilt tops quilted, I’ll need to hand-stitch the bindings, and that will take the place of Candy Crush.

Ultimately, I do feel that I’ve reduced the digital clutter in my life. This recently carried forward into another area of technology when I learned that my beloved ancient cell phone with the slide-out keyboard would soon stop working because it’s 2G, which is being phased out.

After much research, I chose a smartphone that cost me $80 (including a year’s worth of use). I have chosen not to use it to access the Internet except for a map app that will help me when faced with the need to find alternate routes while traveling. Otherwise, I’m only using it for calls, texting and the occasional photo. This should help keep my Internet usage down, instead of increasing it.

Whenever I’ve decluttered my home or decluttered my digital life, I am continually reminded that less clutter equals more freedom.

Need Help Decluttering Your Home?

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

The hardest part of getting rid of things you don’t need is finding a good place to send them. You don’t want to just throw things away when they’re still useful (just not useful to you).

Here’s the scoop on 11 apps that will help you send your unneeded belongings where they will be wanted, and you can even make a few dollars doing so. A couple of them offer decluttering help, which will keep you on the right track so you can live a simpler life and make your home feel roomier, no matter what size it is.