unclutter | Recent Entries

There is a new(ish) rule in place that any new sewing projects need to use natural materials - a semi-synthetic like rayon is okay, but there is no plastic allowed. There's another rule that new purchases must be for a specific project, when that project is ready to start.

Those two rules have cut down on fabric purchases and delivered boons in the form of stash purges.

I went through the fabrics bin earlier in search of a material that I thought could be used for trousers. I found it, but it looked and felt semi-synthetic. A flame test confirmed that it's some kind of plant fiber and plastic blend. It was disappointing, but not something that I would have used anyway.

Since it's been in there for years, I put it (and a bag's worth of other old fabrics) out for donation. The bin is finally half-empty.

- Clair

the_broken_tower

... That the inbox category that's been purged over the past week is finally at an acceptable number of recent messages. [confetti]

Also went through the DW inbox recently, and it's back down to reasonable numbers.

- Finn Amara (he/him)

the_broken_tower

I went through a round of email purging. 3k+ emails in one category have gone to within 2k.

Over the next year or so I'd like to clean up old emails until everything that is needed/desired is in its own folder, and everything else has been deleted.

- Olai

the_broken_tower

Weeks are about to get even fuller with a summer class and impending semester. The main point of progress this week was clearing out the fridge, and cleaning the handwash-only dishes in the sink. (Dishwasher FTW, it keeps things so much more manageable.)

These are some things that have helped with preventing clutter in the first place:

1. No-buy rules on craft projects. The current in-progress shirt gets finished, THEN the next project in queue, and new fabric (fabric samples included) only happens if it is being picked out for a specific, immediate project.

2. Only one craft project out at a time, and it lives on the coffee table. Keeps the mess consolidated and easier to clean.

3. Trying to maintain a schedule. Recycling goes out on Monday or Tuesday, which is the same day as big errands (car refilling, groceries). One day between Friday and Monday is for housekeeping tasks - sweeping/vacuuming, cleaning, putting things away.

4. Dedicated days off. No working, paid or otherwise. Housework counts as working. This lets the energy bar go back up so it's not a continuous struggle on low-energy weeks to keep things tidy.

... But things still get overlooked and hectic. Some tasks get postphoned because of weather or fatigue.

So here are the general goals to hit next week.

1. All of the glass recycling (minus lightbulbs) taken out.
2. Thing 1 and Thing 2 mailed off.
3. Big box of donations taken to a donation drop.

These tasks have been pending for several weeks, so it would be nice to see them off.

- Ode (he/him)

arlie

I was making slow progress last year. But then my housemate was injured, and needed to use a walker for a while. Clearing space for the walker basically boxed in everything that she didn't need to access, including all my work in progress. I couldn't - and still can't - even close the door to my home office.

She's now almost completely recovered. The walker has been retired, and so has the cane that came after it. Last week I made a very small inroad into the surface mess in my office. I'd planned to work on that daily, but life happened. Until today.

Tonight I wanted to read a book. My book reading chair was well positioned for light in the morning, but not at all good when it's dark outside - artificial light sources near it are inadequate. So I kind of lost it, and attacked the mess.

Things that got moved to my bedroom from e.g. the living room to make space for the walker have been consolidated or removed. The reading chair is in there, with a pair of plastic storage bins stacked as a coffee table beside it. A largish number of unread media have been evicted with extreme prejudice. The matching chair that was full of objects moved from the housemate's bedroom has been unburied, and moved to where the usable chair had been, still containing the smaller objects that had been in/on it. I asked the housemate to clean them up eventually - no hurry - and she promptly shoved them into plastic storage boxes and carried them off.

There's more still to do - e.g. backfilling the place the second chair was with stuff from a heap on top of a rocking chair, or perhaps moving the whole heap there, chair and all. And I'm not entirely satisfied with the new location of my laundry hamper. But I can read comfortably in the late evenings, without sitting at the dining room table in a less comfy chair.

I'm physically tired, and I imagine my back will be screaming at me tomorrow. I've doubtless inhaled enough dust to give a susceptible person an asthma attack. But both my bedroom and the living room feel somewhat less like warehouses, particularly my bedroom. (I feel like it's all mine again at last, even though essentially all the junk that was blocking it up was mine rather than ours.) Phew!

Current Mood: accomplished

vysila

Not nearly as productive a decluttering month as May, but still got a few things done. Most of my efforts this month went toward managing a big project, the upstairs renovation. Still, made a bit of progress on the decluttering front.

• Sold my riding lawnmower to a neighbor. That was serendipitous. I had never planned on moving the mower (an icky lawnmower in with my furniture and clothing, ugh!) and will have a lawn service do the mowing until I move.
• Have amassed a small pile of things to go – the last of my Star Wars collectibles, some drapes & curtain rods, ignored new cat toys, unused office supplies – but haven’t actually gotten around to listing them as yet
• Also took a look around the basement and decided that all the leftover materials from various home improvement projects can also go, but again, have not done anything further than identify the items
• I have accumulated a lot of excess toiletries over time, so am currently trying to use them up. Have managed to clear out a couple of small bottles of things so far.

Will try selling things if possible, to recoup a little money, but if not, it will all get donated.

Current Mood: tired

the_broken_tower

Here's what I'm looking forward to:

The coffee table is an unholy mess. The paper piles are becoming paper towers. Once this extra-busy period is done within the next week or so, I get to sort out all the papers and clean it.

- Psii (he/him)

sisterofbloomerjunior

It seems I actually exchanged an ottoman for a bunch of books and a book bag. “Arrowsmith” is the only title I remember without opening the bag.

Current Mood: hot
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Fan

the_broken_tower

Pro: It's been a lot easier and faster to do dishes. SO much time and energy has been saved since starting to use the dishwasher.

Con: Not all items are dishwasher safe, and those items still need to be handwashed. When water pools on the dishwashed items, they need to be air dried. Both of those things lead to counter clutter in and around the sink.

I'm celebrating a minor victory that the counter and drying rack are clear right now. Especially since trying to find places to balance drying items led to a lid falling and being re-washed three times, because it's been stressful lately and stress leads to contamination-related OCD moments.

Staying on top of dishes is an achievement with how busy and energy consuming everything else has been lately.

- Bluebell (he/him)

the_broken_tower

I cleaned the fridge, inside and out.

All the ingredient-produce items from the past couple grocery runs are cut up and ready to go for bibimbap/kimbap/stirfry over the next week or so.

The inside of the fridge looks and feels so much better. ☆

And the kitchen feels so much better. Part of meal prep included clearing out/re-organizing the counter space.

Best of all, doing this means that next week will be MUCH EASIER as far as spending/food/planning. I include all of the logistical, planning, and purchase-related events as intangible de/cluttering.

- Finn Amara (he/him)

the_broken_tower

What? You mean that cookie dough from over a year ago can go bad? Even if it's frozen?

... The freezer now has a lot less cookie dough in it. RIP last spring's cookies. The aroma of freezer burn invaded my kitchen when I baked you. It was not meant to be.

- Finn Amara (he/him)

sisterofbloomerjunior

Well, the main thing is we’re staying at our current house for the foreseeable future, which is good since we still have quite a bit to clean up before we could ever move. I’m not 100% sure about the Buick, though.

So as far as the garage is concerned, the only thing I’ve gotten rid of is a pitchfork. I know I’ve donated something else from there, but I can’t remember it anymore. I should go through our toolbox before July 21st when Ridwell will collect hand tools. 🧰 Unsure if I’m going to have to wait until it’s cooler to possibly clean out the playhouse. The deck for it is rotting.

I’m contemplating whether I should go through my CD collection. I rarely play them anymore because I don’t have a player near my nightstand or one with a remote like I did decades ago. I could also take the holder over to where the Giving Tree is. I’ll probably try hunting down vinyl versions of most of my CDs, though.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Minnesota Twins - Seattle Mariners game

vysila

Big BIG doings this month! My decluttering motivation went into overdrive, mostly due to home renovation and shortened timeline for moving.

My bedroom is empty except for my bed, the (empty) hope chest my sister and brother-in-law hand made for me when I was in my teens, and a bureau that was originally part of my parents’ bedroom set. My closet (i.e., wardrobe) has been downsized and neatly organized.

The guest bedroom contains only a bed, an empty chest of drawers (also part of my parents’ bedroom set), a computer desk & chair. The closet is completely empty.

The smallest bedroom was used as a home office/library but now is completely empty, as is the closet in that room. I am using it now as a staging area for packing boxes as I gear up for the future move.

The upstairs, which includes a large family/rec room, a full bathroom, a large bedroom, 3 walk-in closets plus some floored attic space – IS COMPLETELY EMPTY! That space is currently being renovated to make the house more saleable.

• Finished rehoming ALL of my fanzines, nearly 200 in total
• Decluttered a bunch of other fandom treasures and memorabilia – three big boxes
• Gave away my son’s old children’s books, all his art supplies, games and puzzles to neighbors with young children (my son didn’t want any of it) – two boxes worth
• Gave away the last of my jewelry to a niece
• Donated slightly more than 400 books to my local library
• Donated old purses and wallets, kept two purses and one wallet
• Donated/rehomed small decorative household items – four boxes
• Flattened and took a lot of old cardboard boxes to the recycle bin
• Took a nonfunctional old printer to the electronic recycle bin
• Small closet purge – donated four knit tops and two sweaters
• Donated one set of bedroom drapes with matching tiebacks

This was a huge, busy and very successful decluttering month, but there is still more to do, absurd as it seems.

This is such a kind and encouraging community and I am grateful to have a place like this to report on what is – and will continue to be – a physically difficult and emotionally challenging project. And I do hope that my progress might serve as a beacon of hope to everyone who struggles with clutter and downsizing, to see that through baby steps, it totally is possible to reduce your excess possessions down to whatever level is comfortable to you.

Current Mood: jubilant

fred_mouse

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

fred_mouse

Attempting to get back in the habit of weekly(ish) check ins here. Love that people have been tracking their decluttering!

So! On that note: what have you achieved in the declutter sphere? Have you done a tiny thing? Something marvellous and magical that has transformed your life? Made a plan but haven't yet carried it out? Tell us, tell us!

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

vysila

It has come in small bursts of activity here and there, but in April I did manage to find new homes for over 80 fanzines, took a couple boxes of linens, clothes and small decorative items to the charity donation place, used up some older foods in the pantry, and finally finished my family photo curation project! 10 smallish albums and a lot of boxes were condensed down to one large photo album and two smaller ones, encompassing 160 years of family history dating back to the US Civil War in the 1860s. I can't tell you how many photos I eliminated and tossed, but it was 2 large trash bags full. There are still a lot of photos and each and every one has been identified with names, approximate ages, dates and locations. It was such an emotional journey to winnow these down. I confess to having shed a lot of tears during the process and my goodness, it was HARD. But it is DONE!

Hoping to repeat the success in May, with another large collection of fanzines and clearing my desk and paper files to something more manageable. And possibly start packing up some moving boxes. I may get rid of some furniture pieces as well, since I am downsizing to a much smaller place.

Current Mood: peaceful

the_broken_tower

I went through the dry mixes and binned a half dozen or so that had either expired or were opened and half-used sometime in the past... two years? Eesh.

The lesson was learned: I only bought ONE replacement rice seasoning during today's grocery run. It's for trail food, and if that doesn't use up one packet, then they aren't worth getting again.

It's part of the new system: Each week, a couple of older/half-used items get separated out to be used for hiking food, meal planning, ingredients, whatever happens to be going on. Eventually the old stock gets cleared out, and there's a sane use:replace ratio going on.

Based on the pantry-clearing soda breads, the method is working. The sugar/nut/dried fruits shelf is half-empty now and today I could reorganize enough that there's floor space in there. It's half as crowded as it was a month ago.

- Ron S (he/him)

the_broken_tower

... over the past month have been Baking and Beading.

Weekly bread has been a solution to clearing out the last of the Mysterious Unlabeled Cabinet Flour (it appears to be spelt) and various dried fruits, roots, and nuts that were lingering in their last dregs.

This week's bread contains the last of the spelt flour, crystallized ginger, and toasted almond slivers, as well as part of a container of dried currants.

Beading projects currently involve using up the last small bags of loose beads in the beading box. It's working reasonably well.

- Jack Mesa (he/him)

vysila

About two and a half weeks ago I posted that I am working hard on decluttering in prep for a cross-country move. After several years of doing the huge cleanouts, I'm down to the small stuff, the emotional/sentimental items and wow, it is so much harder now.

But in the last two weeks I found homes for 44 of my fanzines. 34 remain but I am hopeful that perhaps some of those will find homes as well. The bad news? Is that this are zines from just one of my fandoms and many boxes of zines from another fandom remain upstairs in a closet. But still, I am going to count progress because 44 zines is a very big pile!

The other project I am focusing on is to curate the family photographs and must admit I've done no work on this project in the last couple weeks. However, I have cleared my afternoon today to sort through a large pile and make decisions on them. Last time I posted here,

stonepicnicking_okapi had some advice from her own photo curation project, which I plan taking to heart: 1) no photos without people 2) no photos of people I don't like and 3) no photos of people I don't know.

Onward and upward!

Current Mood: satisfied

sisterofbloomerjunior

Left some rusted bakeware and an old license plate out on the curb near the driveway to be scrapped. Found more sewing notions that could be donated. Might need to go through my books to consider which ones to pack up before moving - even though we haven’t even considered all the areas we want to search for housing yet.

I added the weight of this to the running sum of things I’ve gotten rid of for the final two weeks of the Zero Waste Challenge, this final one for 2025 measures from April Sixth through the 19th. I admit I forgot to fully record the exact weight of items in the 90 gallon inorganic cart, so I just added photos to the emails I sent my liaison.

Current Mood: determined
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Birds chirping