Don't Need It - Don't Want It

When we listed our house last summer, I decluttered, depersonalized and freshened up some paint, etc... Lots of things were tucked into my sister's garage only to come home again after the listing ended and we decided to stay put at least until the next house catches my attention ( LOL).

Part of the process included unplugging the small wall hanging TV in our bedroom so the ugly cables wouldn't be dangling.

The thing is we haven't found a reason to plug it back in -- since LAST SUMMER!

With my husband going to bed so early we NEVER get a chance to watch TV in bed.

It's not pretty and it's proven unneeded so why is it hanging around? Literally hanging around on the wall by my bed? I think I will give it to my sister (though I don't think she watches TV from bed either....?

One thing is it is attached to a VCR to DVD recorder and we still have loads of VHS family videos to put onto DVD before we get rid of that machine. Maybe I can get my talented husband to hook it into the entertainment system downstairs or something.... BTW we still have the video camera that records onto those half-sized VCR tapes! I suppose that should be culled too.

At least I recognize that these gadgets aren't adding anything to my life right now. And knowing is the first step to getting them out of my life for good.

Dig dig dig dig dig

Figuratively and literally today!

The weather was spectacular all day. I celebrated by turning over my little garden plot. Dig dig dig.

Also, I opened all the windows and doors and gave the house a much-needed airing out.

Unfortunately I burned something very very badly in the kitchen last night (damn you laundry distraction!). Even after freezing us with all the windows open until bedtime, fans running full blast, scrubbing the stove top, washing the range hood screens, even taking apart the fan to clean -- even after ALL THAT WORK the inside of the cupboards even stink like smoke. I am genuinely afraid I may need to paint to seal in that burnt stench. I'll give it a few more days or even weeks (I am so glad spring is here so there is better air flow through the place).

Back to the digging.

While waiting for the "eco" shower cleaner to sink in, I pulled out everything in the linen closet and put it back in an orderly way (I love doing this BTW) and took a small pile of rags to my husband's rag bin in the garage (made him happy). A good warm up for decluttering!

Then I called my youngest into his room and told him he had to make sense of his catastrophe of a room. This didn't come out of the blue, even he has been complaining that it's too messy lately, so today was the day.

I sat with him in the middle of his room and picked up each thing to ask where it SHOULD go (not where does it FIT- that's how it got so disorganized in the first place). I know each category of toy has it's own bin.... lego, hotwheels, models, stuffies, even a miscellaneous doomahicky bin... so I got him to get out the bins so that he could easily toss each thing into the best bin for finding it next time he wants it! Revolutionary concept, I know!

At the end of it all, we found a few items that he decided weren't "worth" finding a home for, so off they went to the charity shop box. And there was a grocery bag of broken bits and paper scraps to get rid of too! Wow. Does his room ever look better now, and it didn't take nearly as long as it could have.

I felt so inspired by that success that I visited my dining linen and sorted, purged, and neatly put away in a logical order the table clothes, placemats and napkins. (I host the big family dinners, so these things are used at least 4 times a year.). In the process I found 8 placemats I no longer find "my style" and some cloth napkins that don't really go with my favourite placemats. ta-da! 20 less things in the drawers!

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It happened again. The shower curtain was getting a bit stiff (and maybe whiffy too?) so I went to hang up the "spare" shower curtain to put the primary one in the wash basket... but I couldn't find the back-up! Where could it be? I looked in all the logical places. And didn't find it. I must have purged it already. And guess what? The world did not end! After the initial twinge of disapointment at the inconvenience of not having the spare.... I simply washed the primary one right away with a load of other stuff (there is ALWAYS other stuff with an active family of 4). Voila! clean shower curtain no fuss, and no chance for procrastination!!!!

Goal #15 Pantry Accounting

It's good to visit the pantry regularly to take stock, and check rotation to keep on top of expiry dates.

Goal #15 KNOW what's in my pantry right now!

Game plan: Take all the dry goods out of the pantry. Sort from oldest to newest of like items, make a note of anything that is running low and put it away with the most urgently dated items at the front!

Verdict: This is an exercise that always makes me feel very wealthy and secure! In about one hour --while waiting for a reply email -- it was all done. Now I know what I currently have ample amounts of, and what I still haven't touched from my last pantry audit (and therefore leave off future shopping lists!)

Goal #16 Framed

This goal is a bit different.

Residue from when we listed our house briefy last year... a few boxes of "personal" decor that were removed to neutralize the house for showings. Of those boxes, the hardest one to deal with after the house was un-listed is the one with framed family phots. They are great photos in carefully selected frames.

BUT the problem is I like my walls better with    l e s s    on them... and therefore putting the photos back up would be clutter.

What could the solution be?

I love the photos - they make me happy and connected to family that has passed, and my boy's younger cute-ness.

I am seriously concidering taking the pictures out of the frames, scanning them and putting the originals in a plain photo album. The idea makes me sad that they won't be displayed, but less sad than the idea of putting the pictures back up. Is that crazy?

So my goal is to find a respectful and wonderful way to honor the pictures in a place I can visit often enough (like when they were on the wall). I can't put them back up, I like the space better clearer.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

(PS a digital frame is not an option because I loathe cables dangling down the wall)

Clutter Creep

I had an opportunity to do something different with my life the last couple weeks, and with hesitation I went for it. The result was that I was working away from my desk (and even away from my town) for 3 days and coming home in the evening.

You would think with no one home for all day the house couldn't possibly get messy, right?

WRONG!

Somehow only having time to cook, eat, do dishes and prepare for the next day made the little messes that the family makes in the evening accumulate. Clutter had creeped onto every surface and into every nook. Lego, remote controls, homeworks sheets, half folded laundry, computer accesories, novels, etc, etc... the result was chaos that looked like a grittier version of the after Christmas morning mess. And in every room of the house too!

Thankfully I was able to spend the morning tidying. Then the afternoon cleaning. Hubby worked on the yard.... a winter of neglect had to be acknowledged out there.

It was an eye-opening experience. Apparently I do more tidying throughout the day than I give myself credit for!

The adventure that was my out of town contract is over for now, but apparently I did a good job and they do want me back... and that's good, because now I will be better prepared.

Goal #14 Paper Monster

One thing that fills me with dread is the thought of throwing away papers that I am supposed to keep. And likewise keeping too many papers for too long can be a real threat to my clutter anxiety.That is where GOAL #14 comes from... slaying the dreaded paper monster one sheet at a time!

Step one: Pull out the giant box of "old papers" to a place that I may actually feel good about sitting for an hour or so.

Step two: Pull the papershredder and recycling pags to the same place.

Step three: decide on what year will be my cut off for bank statements, bills, etc. And decide what items I will want to keep no matter what year thery were from (employment letters, receipts for cars I still have, etc)

Step four: pour myself a tall glass of water and grab a snack, then DIVE IN!

Verdict: I made the cut-off 10 years for most of it (I'm sure any time before that nobody cares about but me.) The still relevant stuff from before then (house improvements, car repairs, major life events) went into a special envelope called "PRE-2002". Some papers were so boring that they could be tossed right into recycling without any identity compromises, but MOST of it needs to be shredded. That hungry machine worked hard for me today and the kids had fun feeding it! I ended up with a FULL bag one of (those large clear ones) of shred that will go to the curb with my next recycling pick up day.

My ugly box of "old papers" was practically empty, so I moved some papers from my file cabinet to the box... then I actually put it away before it languished in my livingroom for too long! (Huge step for me!)

My mom says she keeps envelopes that say "SHRED AFTER XX-XX-20XX" so that she doesn't even have to sort later. I may adopt that technique.

Imagination exercise revisited

The moving plan I posed on the 13th of last month isn't going quite as planned.

It's not that I don't have boxes lying around... Unfortunately I do. There is a 4 cubic foot assortment of "stuff" that is homeless right now wandering from room to room.

It's crap (I mean precious belongings) that came from my office when it was bad that made its way to the laundry room of doom that then got moved to the family room when the renovations started in there! It got moved back to the office and had to get shuffled back to the laundry room when the office had to be tidy for a meeting... And back to the family room when it was time to hang the ceiling in the LR... It's waiting there now, making the family room too messy to be relaxing.

I'm frustrated by this seemingly endless cycle!

Back to the "moving plan"... Only a few items have left the house since my grand packing idea. Some progress is better than none I suppose. If I think about it in space savings - not much yet.

The goal I've been setting are successful in measurable ways, so I'm not being too tough on myself about the moving exercise slowness. Part of the thing that is hanging me up is the boxes chaos that the packing would cause. Part of it is that work has picked up (yay) to the point of needed a lot of my time. More importantly the pretty, sentimental things that are essentially useless are the things I find the hardest to part with (at least mostly). This has been a good way to handle it though, because I have to really LOOK at each item (pretending to pack it) and re evaluate whether I still feel attached to it or whether the item is something that has blended into the background of it's place in the house.

Whenever my honest reaction leans towards ambivalence I get to expel it! (after taking a picture if there are nice memories associated) Slow and steady. Maybe the "moving" day can just be bumped a while, after all it's not a complete loss as an exercise.

Putting a number on Minimalism

A lot of minimalists like to have number limits on belongings.
Project 333, 100 things challenge, etc. I love these blogs and projects for motivating me, but honestly a number limit doesn't quite work for me. The milder versions have less constraints, but of course even the "you don't need more than 8 of anything" rule feels too restrictive.
Let me explain
I don't need more than 8 shirts..... ? Or is that no more than 8 long sleeved shirts? Or is that no more than 8 long sleeved button up shirts? Where do I draw the line at the classification of each thing? 8 pants? Or 8 jeans, plus 8 cords and 8 pairs of slacks? See the problem?

One thing is for sure, even with 8 of EVERY category, my fashionista sister would never understand any limit but the constraints of how much she can CRAM into her large closet and 3 dressers (and of course the off season closet and the formal wear wardrobe too). 
My preference is a compromise. The limits are not numerical absolutes, and they aren't maximum capacity space constraints either... I figure if I can easily find what I need within the closet (or drawer)and everything in there is what I can wear NOW (the right size, and in good repair and a style I like) then that should be the perfect amount!
With this special density, the one-in-one-out rule is completely necessary. Otherwise things can very quickly slip into an over-crowded chaos.

Just ask my pantry... it is over the comfortable-access-capacity on a regular basis!

Goal #13 The Junk Drawer

Be afraid, be very afraid! The junk drawer is a common fixture for most families. It's the place to find a screwdriver, tape, the spare batteries and everything else that was left on the counter that didn't have a kitchen task to do.

Goal #13 Clean Out the Junk Drawer

Background: I have a confession. There is more than ONE junk drawer in this house. There is the standard kitchen one, one in the living room, one in the diningroom and even one in my office.

Challenge: One drawer at a time, clean out what shouldn't be there and re-assess what should.

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Process: With each location, get some materials set out ahead of time. Prepare a large flat surface to sort on, 4 baskets (toss, keep, put away, donate) and cleaning supplies for wiping out the drawer once it's emptied. Next empty the drawer ALL THE WAY EMPTY onto the flat surface. Then take a moment to enjoy the cleared space.... ah, doesn't that feel good? Now you can look at what you were storing in there.... the garbage should be obvious the broken bits and dead batteries (I have them, you do too right?) The stuff that found it's way to the drawer instead of "home" should also be obvious. DON'T GET DISTRACTED HERE: put the items in the "put away" basket for now. Take the time to focus on what's in the "keep" basket. Is it a duplicate? Does it belong in the drawer? Any wires can now be labelled and tied up tidy, a small container might be handy for keeping the screwdriver bits together, etc etc. Now you get to put the "keep" stuff back. You can see if a divider, or small baskets would help out (not until after the purge though). Back to the "put away" basket.... Why was it in the drawer? Is it's home in the right place? Easy to find and there when you need it? Is it a duplicate?

Verdict: It's not called a junk drawer for nothing! I think gremlins are putting weird crap in there. Used napkin in the livingroom drawer anyone? Busted plastic battery cover for a lost toy in the kitchen? On the bright side I found a DVD series that I borrowed last summer that I can now return (how embarassing). The drawers are now easier to open, close and find stuff in -- I love my clean drawers! Of course I know that this challenge needs to be visited regularly and often.

Goal #12: Spring must be coming

The seasonal "sport" of gardening accumulates a lot of stuff, even for a casual participant like me.

Goal #12: Gardening Paraphernalia: Part 1

Background: Because I garden on impulse pretty much exclusively, I have too many impulse purchases tucked away in various areas of the house and yard. A practical aspirational clutter, because I WANT to grow more than I do, but rarely follow through. I'm quite sure I have duplicates, duds and expired stuff in the mix.

Challenge: Keep only the things that work best, that are relevant to my current garden and are still viable.

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Process: In part 1 of this challenge, focus on the gardening materials that are kept indoors.
Start by pulling all the gardening things together to really see what there is. Set out a large, easy-clean area to make the inventory... then get searching. That means going into the darkest recesses of the garage, laundryroom, under the sinks, etc. ... you know where you hide this stuff. Ask the tough questions: Is it broken? Why did I buy this? Do I use it? Do I need it? Is this still relevant to the plants I have now? Has it expired?

Verdict: I found duplicates of fertilizer in almost every cupboard. I guess I think I use it more than I really do. I also found seeds that I had bought for my last house (I have lived here for 12 years!) I think if I haven't planted them by now, I won't be -- and that's provided they are even still alive. I know now with certainty where the supplies are and what I have BEFORE the impulse Spring planting season arrives here!

Goal #11 Growing Growing GONE

As kids grow, they out-grow clothes, boots and jackets, mittens, hats, etc... timing is everything.

Goal #11 -  Kid's Clothing

Background: Both kids being boys means that one gets the hand-me downs of the other. That has worked well up until recently when their very different bodyshapes and clothing tastes showed differences that made hand-me-downs not so wonderful.

Challenge: Go through the kid's clothes and reduce the items that don't fit, aren't favourites or are in bad shape. And maybe even set LIMITS to how many of each kind of garment they each own (fit comfortably in the space provided even when everything is clean - or a number limit).

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Process: Pull out the clothes that are in current circulation and ask the kids about each piece: Does this still fit? Why don't you wear this? Wear is the match to this sock/glove/PJ set? An enlightening set of questions for some of it!

Verdict: It took a while... a whole weekend with many many interruptions. I won't deny it. There were tears. Apparently the reason why some of these items are in such bad shape is because they are FAVOURITES and not willingly relinquished. I let them keep a couple outfits as "grub" clothes because I have some grub clothes in my closet too for dirty chores.... but with the warning that if I saw them worn to school then they might just lose them! Some things were hard for me to let go- stuff I thought was quite flattering or good quality but they didn't want -- since it will be on their bodies, I let it go.

I'm sure some parent trying to put clothes on their kids will appreciate what I have donated, and the messed over ones have beefed up my husband's rag supply.

Goal #10 Scrub a Dub Duds

How many sweet smelling bodywash gels does one person need?

Goal #10
Reduce perfumes, lotions & soaps

Background: I know I must be hard to buy for, because I get a lot of pretty "spa" sets for gift occassions. While I appreciate the scent-iment, I can't possibly use all of any one set before the next one comes along. Then there is the trouble of the moisturizing lotions... I really prefer an unscented moisturizer.

Challenge: Reduce the lotions, soaps and perfumes to the ones that are most loved and used regularly... and not expired.

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Process: Pull everything scented from the livingroom, office, & bathrooms (you never know when the urge to smell pretty may come along) Beware of lotions that have been there for YEARS... if they haven't been used by now, SHOULD THEY BE?!

Verdict: So many pretty smells!  It was hard to get rid of some of these because they were given with love and I genuinely liked the scents. BUT like I said above I prefer an unscented moisturizer.... so I kept one favourite for summer legs and got rid of the rest. I consolodated two half used hair spray bottles to one and binned several scrubs and bubble baths that I haven't reached for in 5 years. The unopened lotions are in the donate box now. So my bathroom drawers are roomier and there are none but my very favourite to reach for now.

Uh-Oh

Decluttering is a beautiful thing.
The process that liberates the space is like fresh air coming into my lungs!

But...

That thing that isn't supposed to happen keeps happening -- I find myself "missing" things I have purged!

My niece was over playing with my old toys, and I found myself regretting not having my blond Barbie anymore for her to play with -- she is blond, so she likes blond dolls. And my Barbie clothes are VERY limited now. Then again for something that gets played with maybe once a year, it's quite probably enough! In the end she had fun with the Latina one (I kept the Korean, Japanese and Spanish) and still found enough outfits to have a great little plot going.

And I did get my hair cut. SHORT. Short hair needs product, but I'd already decluttered my short hair goos. I now have 1 mousse and 1 light hold hairspray to work with. At first I resented "losing" the stuff, but you know what? I figured it out WITHOUT buying anything new!

Sometimes I find myself looking for a book, trying to find an obscure serving dish or a bagged-out sweater that have already been let go. There is a pang of disappointment, doubt and maybe even regret. But it's just a pang, and I always seem to be able to find away around the lack without serious consequences.

I guess that means I didn't really NEED it after all, right?

I still have a LOOOOONG way to go in this decluttering process. More dragons to slay more hang ups to get over, more crap to wade through before I will truly feel successful at this.  But I am moving forward and every step feels lighter letting me know this is the right path for me.

Goal #9 Variety is not always the spice of Life

Keeping a spice "just in case" seems like a good idea when you love to cook as much as I do, but in truth if the lid hasn't been opened in 5 years, it's probably not worth using even if the perfect recipe presents itself tomorrow!


Goal #9 
Clear out the spice drawer (and cupboards too)

Background: I LOVE cooking! The flavours from around the world excite me... so as a result I have amassed an enviable selection of spices and herbs. There needs to be a time limit to this culinary collection (there are recommended time lines, but I'm too frugal to rotate them THAT often).

Challenge: Time to get realistic about what has expired, and what is not going to be used again. This will leave room to more easily find what is regularly used and what is loved in the spice drawer! Gather all the bottle spices from the spice drawer, bin of spice bags, and economy size spice jars from around the kitchen and purge the ignored, expired and "not my taste" flavours from these locale.

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Verdict: Under 1/2 hour of time to do.... and now the spice drawer is so much easier to use! And the overflow to other cupboards is no longer a problem! 7 glass bottles, 4 small plastic shakers, 2 ziploc bags and a large jar (consolidated down to a small bottle) of spices/herbs removed from my kitchen.

Process: The kitchen smelled amazing as I dumped the old spices and herbs to recycle the glass bottles. I sneezed, and maybe even felt a little regret at "wasting" this resources.... but truthfully it was a long overdue chore.

Goal #8 Sewing Notions

I haven't dragged my sewing machine out in years... I still want to use it someday, so it's not going anywhere, but what about all the bits and bobs that are in that sewing box?

Goal #8
Donate all outdated materials that aren't being useful RIGHT NOW and can be easily replaced when I take up sewing again.

Background: I really enjoyed sewing. Oddly, I did it a lot more before I had kids. I inherited a large quantity of fabrics, laces and bindings from the various elders in my family... and what do you know.... I don't use them!

Challenge: Be realistic about what I will use. If I haven't found a need for it in this last decade, why do I still think I may need it someday? Donate the excess now and enjoy the space it frees up!

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Verdict: Better than expected! I gave a box of great-granny's laces and bindings to a niece that loves making small figures (she loved it). I also gave her a jar of buttons and most of my threads and ribbons.

Process: All of these things were already together so it wasn't a hard challenge. 15 minutes from dusting off and opening the bin to closing it back up again. It was easy once the decision was made... I did feel a little catch in my throat when I came upon my grandma's hand-crocheted lace. I kept that. Just one roll. It's just too pretty and sentimental (and not replaceable).

Imagination Exercise

Since my sister won't "rob" me like I was hoping, I have to find a new way to shake up this blind addiction to my everyday stuff. 

A kind of shock therapy could be helpful.

How about pretending I am moving?

Even better, pretending I am DOWNSIZING!

Or I could get crazy here and pretend I am downsizing and moving to a different continent! ooooh.... that may be a better challenge farther down the road... for now I will stick to the idea of just moving.

Moving means sorting, purging, prioritizing and really weighing if something is worth the time and effort of taking it along.... sounds like a great decluttering exercise!

I am no stranger to moving. At last count I have called 48 locations "home" in my lifetime (and I've lived in this house for nearly 12 years!), my parents did not live together and they both had the itch to move very regularly - hence the stupidly high number. Those itchy feet have passed down to me and the only things that have stopped me from continuing the trend forever was: A) Money and B) My Husband (and kids). I have "settled" here in that the offers on the other houses have fallen through over the years one way or another and we aren't desperate to take a hit to leave this place. Our house is pretty good actually. Cheap enough to maintain small enough that it can be maintained and has evolved over the years to accommodate our changing needs. The location is on the edge of rural enough for my country-boy-husband while central enough for work-at-home me -- and the school only a short walk away has been a unifying part of my kids' academic and social life so far.

Moving involves a pulling-out of EVERYTHING. Every single item needs to be prioritised as it is packed: occassionally used stuff gets packed first, decorative items and other non-essentials go into boxes next, then the everyday items need to be weighed as to how badly they will be missed when they are packed... until finally you are down to the bare minimum that fits in one tote for the morning of the move. It's an exhilarating process! (or is that just me?)

Then there are the dregs .... Everything that is trash or unloved or isn't important enough to come-with  -- in short everything you don't want to pack -- is either tossed or sold.... or if you are a lazy mover, hucked into a miscellaneous box to be sorted (and loathed) on the other side.

If this mindul, evaluative, methodical process can be used on each room of my current house, I will surely end up with less than I have now and really know what it is that I have chosen to move on with. If while taking this action, I pretend to be moving into a home with LESS STORAGE it will be even better!

So many of the places I have thought to live in over the years actually do have less storage than this place... this house really has obscene amounts of shelving for a home this size! It may open up new opportunities to have less storable crap. More opportunities, and less stuff, that sounds good to me.

Let's pretend....

Parameters: It's conceivable that a future house could easily be 100 sqft smaller with 1 less kitchen cupboard, 1/2 the pantry, and a storage space a fraction of the size we have now!

Timeframe: 8 weeks is realistic. Countdown to April 9th as the theoretical moving day!

My boys are growing

As the kids grow there are eras that are outgrown. The ample amounts of baby gear and strollers have long since been passed down to neighbours and friends. In the past are the chunky primary coloured toddler toys and sandbox gear. Replaced with tiny bits of lego, hotwheels, skateboards, bikes and electronic gadgets. Now that they are older, they make many of their own decisions regarding toys.

Let it be said here... older brother is not very good at passing down his toys... even if he doesn't want them anymore, he doesn't like "giving" them to his brother. It's been a stress-point since the beginning. I try not to get in the middle of the battles, but I do have to mediate from time to time to keep either from collecting too much broken or worn out items or paying too much or trying to take back items after a deal has been reached, etc etc... and I will sometimes pre-empt the transaction by selling or donating the item to prevent younger from having too much (failing miserably with that BTW).

Up until very recently, I have kept my older boy's clothing after he's outgrown to be hand-me-down to the younger (elastic waist bands are forgiving for different shapes) it takes between 2-4 years depending on the timing of their growth spurts. There is a place in the storage closet for these things and totes marked and rotated.

Suddenly a new era has appeared.

Young boy is heftier than the slim older one... and there aren't a lot of adjustable waist bands on the pre-teen sizing. Not much CAN be passed down I realised last size switch. Out of 12 pairs of pants he could only wear 5! The rest went to charity after storing for so long... kind of annoying really.

Here is the dilemma... do I keep the totes for the years in between ages "just in case" the clothes will fit and be appealing to the younger one? Or do I let the skinny jeans go now and just accept that more money will be spent when the time comes for the younger to need new pants?

Goal #7 Cables and Cords

Got a Gadget? It most likely comes with a cable or 2....

Goal #7
Reduce, organize the cables/cords to what is used/needed.

Background: Adapters, charges, connectors all over the place....my junk drawer is full of them.... what are they all for anyways?!

Challenge: Find the gadget that the cable/cord goes to and label the cord. Edit duplicates and redundant items.

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Verdict: Mixed results. There were some charger cables that I just had no clue what they went to (and I'm afraid to throw them out in case the thingy show up needing a charge! BUT I did find a handful of USB cables that were identical, so I picked 3 favourites of varying lengths (one for each computer) for the many items they can be used with and donated the rest.

Process: Junk Drawer, office drawer, laundry room bin, bedroom side table, coffee table drawer... they all had cables! I pulled them all into one place and sorted the redundant from the good. (I really don't think I need 75 ft of phone cables anymore with all the cordless phones in the house). With the wireless router working so reliably these days, 4 different ethernet wires are redundant now too. Unfortunately it was a huge challenge finding the gadgets to go with the charger cables. The ones I found, I did label. the ones I did not find are now living in a clear plastic shoe box in my storage space. I'm not sure this goal is "done" exactly. But so far, it's taken a couple hours.... yes I'm that disorganized and had that many cables!

Snapshots of L E S S

Here are some pictures of recently released items... (I must make a habit of taking pictures more often.)

Goal #6 Pretty Little Things

All that glitters is not gold. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces, broaches, watches, hair accessories all have a way of coming into the home but never leaving (they don't take up much room). I think NOW is the time to admit that some of these pretty things have overstayed their usefulness (or fashion era!).


Goal #6
Keep only the Beauty Accessories that are flattering, that I love or have real sentimental value.

Background: I don't really have a problem in this area.... or at least I didn't think I did until I dragged it all out onto my bed! Little boxes and baskets housed an amazing quantity of sparkly bits!
Challenge: Be ruthless! Cull all jewelry down to the most beloved. Cull all but the best quality hair accessories. Bin the broken, soiled or odds, bag the rest for charitable thrift donation.

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Verdict: From 6 bins and baskets down to one jewelry box (and a small hair accessories basket) in less than an hour. I now know where every piece is, and I know every bit works properly)

Process: Put each box, basket and bin onto my bed in front of the full length mirror. Got a big tray out for safe sorting. Asked the questions of each item: Does this work the way it's supposed to? Do I have all the pieces? Do I still like it (this is where the mirror comes in handy)? Is it comfortable to wear? Does it have any cash value (I don't have much in the way of "real" jewelry so not much fits this category for me)? Some choices were really easy.... bold patterned scrunchies?! broken earrings?!

BONUS! During this cull process, many empty baskets and pretty boxes presented themsleves. Some I repurposed (replacing uglier ones) and left overs went off to my favorite thrift shop as donations. Not an easy thing for me to do... I find small storage boxes almost as appealling as what in them.