Using What You Have - Multiple Uses

No matter if you are becoming a minimalist, just de-cluttering a bit, or attempting to get your spending and/or shopping under control, I am willing to bet that you will unearth multiples of the following:

• food (pantry items)
• paper products (kitchen and bath)
• bath & beauty products

I am willing to wager because I was guilty of this in the past.

If you're hesitant to donate your excess, here are some ideas for using up bath & beauty products.

1. Soap can double as shampoo and as detergent for hand-laundering bras, tights, etc.
2. Shampoo can double as shaving cream and as detergent for hand-laundering bras, tights, etc.
3. Conditioner can double as shaving cream and as cleaning agent for your sink and shower (in-between deep cleans, of course)
4. Body lotion can double as a leave in conditioner

What are you double duty ideas?

Quick Exercise - Letting Go

Recently, both the Minimalist Sparrow and Sharry Berry uploaded videos on the topic of 10 items that can be tossed quickly and easily. Sharry was inspired by Nora, and Nora was inspired by Courtney Carver.

Some of the categories included: abandoned craft items, old, scary cosmetics, excess dishes, mis-matched Tupperware, duplicate items, and clothing that do not wear.

Given that I have worked through the bulk of my my possessions courtesy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I do not have much to address. However, when it comes to simplifying, I believe two things:

1. That small bursts of simplifying and de-cluttering are ways to keep your home under control while working through your de-cluttering method of choice
2. Clothing is a category that needs regular attention

After a mere 15 minutes of digging in my closet, I gathered more than 10 items that I am ready to consign and/or donate.

More Life-Changing Magic

Since the move, I have focused more on creating a comfortable home than I have on tidying up (aka de-cluttering).

Given that I have been walking the de-clutter path for a number of years, my purge categories may well be smaller than the average bear's. Which makes for an interesting dilemma: I have a strong desire to re-visit several of the completed categories. At first, I dismissed this as an odd exercise in procrastination.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that while Marie Kondo's rules are excellent, the rules may need to be personalized and/or broken.

The main goal is to create a home and a life that feels right and simple. Thus, you may need to:

• work in smaller sub-categories, rather than one large category
• re-align sub-categories to make more sense to you
• realize that you already did as much work in one category as you needed to do
• realize that you did not fully work one category as you should have

Working jewellry as komono, rather than clothing

Make the rules work for you -- or break them!

Jump to a category that is easy and/or relatively completed

Tidying Up | eSubsciptions (komono)

John and I have been living in our new house for a little over one month, but we have been living without furniture -- living room and dining room furniture. We spent several weeks considering the options, but our loveseat and dining room set arrive this week!

Between furniture shopping and attempting to sell the items from tidying up my knitting and crafting, my attention was shifted away from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Also, the weekend weather was more Spring than Winter, and I do not like to waste such days indoors.

I needed something simple. I did not want Close Encounters of the Third Kind in my home.

I decided to KM (short of KonMari Method) my eSubscriptions:

• email adverts
• blog subscriptions
• YouTube channel subscriptions

It was an easier tasks than sorting other categories, it was more time-consuming than I had anticipated. At least the clutter was not visible to anyone but me!

Tidying Up - Knitting Items

I knew this was not going to be an easy task. Thankfully, I do not have the huge stash that many knitters do. Of course, that didn't stop me from discovering that I owned five tape measures for measuring gauge.

I devoted roughly six hours of my weekend to the task of sorting, organizing, and streamlining my knitting stash -- notions, buttons, yarn, books, patterns, etc. I managed to organize all of my knitting needles, but I still need to de-clutter a huge box of circular and straight knitting needles. Oh, did I mention that I own -- in addition to the bin of needles shown below -- two sets of interchangeable needles?

Keeping

Purging

Needles to be sorted

The complete insanity captured on video!

Tidying Up - Craft Items & Stationery

John and I are settling into our new house and the changes moving has brought -- new routines, new commutes, etc. For the past two weeks, we focused on unpacking and space planning. We still need living room and dining room furniture, but with the President's Day sales looming, we decided to wait.

Moving kicked my arse, and my desire to pursue The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up wilted. I knew I needed to get back to it, so this week, I committed to a small category of komono: the craft items and stationery lurking in and around my desk.

The entire affair took less than an hour, and it yielded good results. I still have a small abundance of Sharpies and pens, but progress was made!

 

Tidying Up - Papers

I am in for another round of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying-Up, and tonight, I focused on papers. Bank statements, random print-outs, and crafting information... all of it gone. Well, it is not entirely gone, as I refuse to toss sensitive materials. Those must be shredded.

In addition to papers, I purged magazines and CDs. Most likely, I should have tackled both as an extension of books. The magazines were easy enough to purge. Very few brought me joy, and even fewer had been read in recent months. Goodbye!

While I don't have a massive music collection, it's a daunting task. I started in earnest, immediately pulling and listing 10 CDs to sell. After an hour, I needed a new plan.

A Simple Plan
Shred the purged papers within seven days.
Digitize all of my music by the end of the month.
Keep 10-15 of my favorite CDs for listening in the car.
Sell the rest.

This all-in method of de-cluttering is intense, but it yields great results!

Tidying Up - Books

Before embarking on this segment of the tidying up, I owned enough books to fill three of paper ream boxes. For many book lovers, three boxes is child's play. Once, I owned far more books. Once, I dreamed of owning a large house with a giant library.

Instead, my books often lived a dismal life boxed up and stored in an attic, basement, or who knows where. I moved around the country, and some of my books came with me, but mostly, I saddled family and friends with storing them.

My first serious round of purging books came in 2001 or 2002 -- after reading Karen Kingston's Clearing Your Clutter with Feng Shui. By the time I moved to Pittsburgh in 2009, I owned roughly eight boxes of books -- down from over 28!

It is still difficult for me to part with a book if it was a gift or if I have fond memories surrounding its purchase. Yet, my books, like every item I own, must be assessed for their ability to spark joy.

Tidying Thoughts

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I dedicated roughly four hours to the pursuit of a more tidy home. This was not a series of timed 15-minute bouts of cleaning and decluttering. Rather, I collected every stitch of clothing I own, and I piled it on the guest bed.

A frightening amount of crap.

And then I wanted to vomit! My guess is that I own less than my peers, but I still own a ton of crap!

I am following the principles of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The author gives the reader pre-work, which I did not do. Although, I do think it is worth your time to think about the life you want and what feeds your appetite for reduction. Once that is concrete, it is time to get serious -- gathering the like-kind, purging  the unwanted, and properly storing what remains.

The author states to tidy (aka declutter) in this order:

1. clothing
2. books
3. papers
4. komono (miscellany)
5. mementos

As I just tossed empty bath and beauty products from October and November, I am anxious to tidy my bath and beauty products. However those will have to wait until I tidy up my books.

Tidying Up - Clothing

The book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has received much coverage as of late. Various bloggers and vloggers have mentioned it. The author and the book garnered attention from the New York Times. Additionally, the book is an NPR bestseller.

I am on an eternal quest to streamline and simplify my life, so I had to read this book. The task of gathering all of one's possessions of like kind (clothing in my case) and spreading them out on the floor seems daunting enough. Add to this that you must handle each piece and determine if it sparks joy. Items that do are to be thanked and kept. Items that do not spark joy are to be discarded, but only after thanking it for its service to you.

A little odd? Yes. But does it work? Yes. The sight of all of your clothes in one spot (rather than strewn about the house in various closets and storage bins) is an eye-opener! And I think I started with less stuff than many.

A Four-Hour Tour
I was able to gather, sort, and act on all of my clothing in roughly four hours. Four hours seems like a good chunk of time to lose, but that four hours covered everything -- gathering, sorting, organizing what I'd kept in my closet, and preparing the other items for donation or for selling.

The author says that once you apply her method of tidying (the KonMari Method), you will never backslide to cluttered living. That is the part that only time can reveal.

Autumn / Winter Wardrobe

Guess who did not get her shit together to create a 33-item (or less) wardrobe for the autumn-winter round of Project 333?

Recently, a cousin purged her closets, and I took the clothing. I realize this is the opposite of streamlining and minimizing, but I wanted some shiny new things.

Lately, I have been down in the frumps. While I realize that I am light-years away from my punky goth youth, I continue to struggle with my personal style as I drift to becoming a woman of a certain age. I look in the mirror, and I am not happy with the clothing that I see.

Today, I took some time to assess the clothing hanging in my closet, as well as the bag of loot inherited from my cousin. Slowly, I see something taking shape that pleases me.

De-Clutter Weekend

Thanks to Lea Ann, I have been watching Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners. I am neither an obsessive compulsive cleaner, nor am I a hoarder, but this show has inspired me to do a bit of de-cluttering this weekend.

As it stands, our lives are rather streamlined, but there is always room for improvement. I decided to tackle three areas:

1. skincare
2. cosmetics
3. workout clothing

Skincare
Earlier this summer, I committed to using up skincare, and aside from replenishment, I have not purchased new skincare items "just to try". While I plan to use a number of skincare samples during an upcoming business trip, I have too many bottles and such cluttering the skincare shelf in my bathroom cabinet.

Cosmetics
Yes, I culled my cosmetics collection a few months ago. At the time, I was reluctant to let go of a few items, but this weekend, I tossed those items that I had kept out of guilt.

Workout clothing
I tried working out at home, but I enjoy -- and almost require -- the community and motivation that comes from group fitness classes. As such, weeding out the fitness togs was mandatory. I will not sport grotty clothing and see-through sports bras in public.

Second Closet De-Clutter | August 2014

Several years ago, I returned to my home town, and I was confronted with the task of fitting 2+ decades of accumulated items into one bedroom. What did not fit was packed and stored in the attic. I routinely assessed, purged, and re-packed in an effort to align my possessions with my needs.

Clothing was always tough for me. I like a few different styles (e.g. pin-up, steampunk) that do not marry well with a corporate job in a rather provincial city. Also, weight fluctuations, extreme (to me) seasons, and rampant thrift shopping kept me from creating a capsule wardrobe. Hence, my participation in Project 333.

Confession: I still have clothing stored at my parents' house. Granted, it is a small closet full and a small clothing rack in the attic, but those clothes have been weighing on my mind. Since I am staying with my parents for a few days, I decided to take action!

Culling My Cosmetics Collection

Inspired by Lea Ann's streamlined cosmetics collection, I decided it was time to cull mine.

While my resulting collection is as compact as hers, I made huge strides. I did not allow feelings of guilt to rule me. What is the point of holding onto items that did not work for me? I will return, swap, or toss these items, but they will no longer take up valuable space in my home.