The Golden Rule of De-Cluttering…

 

The  Golden Rule of De-Cluttering is…

to identify what you need and love,

Store it in the most accessible spot,

Add so-so stuff only if it fits,

and get rid of the rest!

One reason that we avoid and dread the de-cluttering process is that it’s such an unpleasant one. When we open a drawer or closet with the purpose of ‘getting rid of stuff’, we know that we are going to be faced with the painful task of deciding what to put in the throw away pile or the give away box.  It’s no fun saying ‘good-bye’ to things that we love, paid good money for, or that are still quite useful.

And therein lies the problem.  We are focusing on the NEGATIVE aspects of de-cluttering.  We need to focus on the bright side…

When you are getting ready to declutter anything, The question to ask yourself is NOT what should I get rid of…but

What should I KEEP? What do I LOVE?

What do I NEED? 

What can I NOT live without? 

Which clothes would I hate to not have in the closet? Focus on what you truly need to keep and what you love.  Pull those favorite or absolutely essential books, records, CD’s, fabric, movies, dishes, clothes, craft supplies, toys, shoes, desk supplies, bathroom accessories, jewelry etc and put them aside.  Make a pile of your BEST stuff in whatever room you are working.

Remember the 20-80 principle? THIS stuff is the  20%

that you actually love, need, and use.  

Now, pull everything else out and set it aside. Put your treasures and/or your most useful and valuable tools in the BEST SPOTS… Give them EASY ACCESS. 

THEN…when you are ready to de-clutter, look at what’s left. Throw away the junk.  Now, IF and this is a big IF..there is extra space in the drawer or closet, you can put some of the ‘useful but not my favorite’ things in there.  But once the storage space is reasonably full, donate the rest. Stick it in garbage bags and donation boxes.

This week, I de-cluttered my fabric stash. I gathered all of my fabric and piled it on the couch. Then I began pulling out only the fabric that I LOVED…ADORED…or knew would be extremely versatile and useful for future projects.  Rebekah, my daughter, and I made stacks of everything that was white or linen, everything that was dark blue or denim, a stack of dark colored or costume fabrics, and a stack of light colored or bright colored prints--prints we thought were just so pretty we couldn’t bear to part with them.

 

These fabrics we sorted much like we do the laundry. Three drawers now house ‘whites, lights, and bold or dark colors’. We also have one drawer in our IKEA cabinet for unfinished projects that we really do want to finish. We put all this ‘good stuff in the drawers right away.

Some fabric was already ‘ear-marked’ for special projects like a green brocade fabric destined to be made into a Victorian costume for Dicken’s on the Strand, a $30.00 piece of Old English style tapestry, the indoor-outdoor fabric for my porch swing and porch lawn chairs, and many yards of light denim won from Trudy at Sewing with Trudy. All of these large pieces of fabric went in an ‘under the bed bag’ to be pulled out when we have time to do those projects. You could also hang extra large quantities of fabric on coat hangers in the closet.

What about the rest of the fabric? Well, first we culled out some fabric pieces that we thought we  could use sometime in the near future. We didn’t love all of it, but there was room, so in the name of ‘frugality’ we kept and stored some of it.  Of the rest of the fabric,  half of it went into the garbage can (scraps which we refused to save due to lack of storage space) and half of it went into a giveaway bag.  Yes, we gave away some perfectly good fabric and we may possibly regret that but we really didn’t have room for it in those drawers.

The premium here is on space..and ease of living.

I also have a new rule that helps me decide when I have ‘enough’ of anything or ‘too much’.  If the supplies or tools that  I need won’t fit into the room where the activity is being held, then I have to get rid of it or make room for it in the proper room. 

Now..Our cubby hole shelf holds livingroom items especially our movies.
(Wicker shelf has been removed.)

Before...The wicker shelf housed our movies. The cubby hole shelf held my fabric.

In other words..no storing fabric in the living room, tablecloths in the bathroom, appliances in the utility room, games in the bedroom, or  books in the kitchen. If there is overflow, get rid of it.  Now our 12-cubbyhole shelf houses only living room items like games, movies (organized by genre), cassette tapes, grandkids' toys, magazines, and music CD’s.  The fabric (that used to be in those cubbies)  is all gone or moved to the sewing room where it belongs.

Why De-Clutter? The less you OWN...

the less you have to put away, dig through or clean.  

When your home is streamlined, you will find you have more 'free time'..time to live, create,.and enjoy the people in your home. I am thoroughly convinced that we do have ROOM for the things we really need. We just don't have room for the excess..unless we live in a really big house. Even then, why bog your self down with more stuff to have to deal with?

When your possessions are pared down,

you will find that every job you do is easier. 

 Having only the essential cooking supplies, sewing accessories, and school supplies, books, or gardening accessories at hand will save you hours of preparation time and clean up! This is worth taking the plunge.

 

We applied this same principle to the living room with stunning results. Rebekah and I asked ourselves..

What furniture did we absolutely, without a doubt,

have to KEEP in the Living Room to survive?

We came up with this list…

• couch
• upholstered chair
• coffee table
• one end table with lamp
• TV and stand
• piano
• 12 compartment storage shelf
• 2 book cases
• record player and stand

Livingroom before decluttering books and furniture.

What did we get rid of? The doggy-bed/cradle (stored until it can be returned), antique sewing machine, retro-style leather chair (moved to game room), a huge hutch (it replaced a worn wicker shelf that housed fabric in the sewing room), and one wicker shelf.

That’s five pieces of furniture removed
from our small living room!

 Livingroom after…

What did we keep beyond the essentials? The second matching end table. With everything else gone, we could afford to have two end-tables. We could have lived without it, but it didn’t hurt to keep it and was helpful on the other end of the sectional couch.

For the first time in three years, our living room seems truly comfortable! It feels ‘right’.  It looks good--streamlined…stylish...well..more stylish-LOL!  It looks like we had all the space we needed..right from the start.  :o)

  Ahh…NOW we can breath easy!  And our home feels SPACIOUS!

Try applying this Golden Rule in your closet, bathroom cabinet, or desk drawers…and see if it doesn’t work…beautifully!

Linking with My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday

PS. Happy Valentine's Day!!!