Following on from the Minimalist Journey and Minimalist Quiche threads. The journey continues...
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Out with the old and in with - NOTHING! Further adventures in minimalism.
995 replies
MrsPennyapple · 12/04/2013 21:34
OP posts:
BeCool ·
12/04/2013 23:06
Love the thread title! Hello.
Day out in London today. Big boat ride up to. O2, cable car, run around and handstands in turbine hall of the Tate. The kids had fun too 
. We dodged the showers and saw a rainbow - awwwe!
So no decluttering. Attacking clothes and bedroom on Sunday. It was lovely to come home to a relatively tidy flat, kitchen clean and clear and ready to cook dinner in .
Loving sorting all this crap in my life out.
Teddimac ·
12/04/2013 23:45
Evening all - ooh, lovely new thread! Despite doing very little over the hols, I feel all the work so far is starting to show. I still need to do a big sort out of the kids' toys but now have the majority of them all neatly stacked in my room (it's the loft room, so they're tucked out of sight under the eaves for just now) ready to go through a bit at a time as soon as the DC are back at school.
I am also very proud to report that today I recycled ........ four white vests! Baby steps and all that . I did have six 
despite the fact that I really don't wear or suit white clothes and the majority were looking sad, grey and mis-shapen... I also reluctantly chucked a pair of Fitflop boots - they were flipping expensive and I loved them, but they were looking very sorry for themselves and starting to let in water after a good five years of use, so feels good to have put them out of their misery. Better be some bl**dy sunshine now!!!
LovesBeingWokenEveryNight ·
13/04/2013 08:25
Hello - have just seen the title of this and felt inspired to wonder in top tips please 
LovesBeingWokenEveryNight ·
13/04/2013 09:08
That's what I need. There is stuff everywhere. Old clothes I need to sell/get rid off, toys in every room and overflowing 
ArtemisatBrauron ·
13/04/2013 17:53
7 items in bag for charity shop (never worn shoes 
, pestle and mortar (we have 2!), 2 lovely but huge and cluttery photo albums, a naice scarf, some more clothes). That's not from a clear-out but just from tidying up and cleaning today.
I actually downsized a HUGE amount when we moved here (15 bin bags of clothes, shoes, sold £500 worth of stuff on eBay, about 200 books to charity, giant suitcase of craft supplies to local scrap store etc) but there is still a LONG way to go!.
wendybird77 ·
13/04/2013 22:10
Ponderosa do you have space for a narrow set of drawers or shelves hung on a wall or above the door frame? What about bottles in nice baskets on the window sill - easier to move and looks nicer and more contained? How many bottles do you have / need? Can any of them be decluttered? (saddo me loves a small space storage problem on a Saturday night)
I have decluttered nothing today. I did however show up for a child's birthday party a full 24 hours early. See? I told you decluttering would help you with time management!
wendybird77 ·
13/04/2013 22:34
Loves best tip is that ever popular quote about don't keep anything that you don't believe to be beautiful or know to be useful. Start with one room / category and be ruthless - the massive difference it will make to the room will inspire you to keep going. Don't keep stuff to sell / ebay / carboot unless 1) you will actually do it - give yourself a deadline and 2) it will earn an amount of money that is worth the effort. Generally you need to get stuff out of the house immediately or it finds its way back into circulation. If in doubt I chuck it, but I'm mean like that. Some people will tell you to put it in a box for 6 months, if you don't miss it just donate the box without opening it. Really though it is about changing your attitude about what is valuable. The money spent on an item is gone - so getting rid of something because it would be a waste is incorrect - the money was wasted at point of purchase. You don't have to keep stuff around that was given to you - the gift giver never wanted the item to cause you stress and anxiety by contributing to an over-full house. If it isn't useful to you let it go, someone will find it useful and you are being greedy by denying the item purposeful use - a bit of stretch, but you get the whole release it to it's destiny thing there? Don't keep all your DCs stuff for when they are older - houses are only getting smaller and more expensive and no one wants boxes and boxes of old papers / sculptures / baby clothes to have to store. Keep a few truly special things, photograph the less spectacular and chuck the rest of it. Lastly, you probably have far too many clothes - stuff you don't wear because it doesn't fit right, is uncomfortable in some way or doesn't fit with who you are now (either because you have moved out of that stage of life or because you have purchased aspirational clothes that don't fit with your lifestyle, say, ahem, several sweater poncho things that you don't wear because you can't wear a coat over it / use your arms to carry crying babies on your hip without the sleeve being up your armpit in a most uncomfortable manner, ahem). Anyway, you can get rid of them. Should you ever need such a poncho item, you can buy a new one at the shops or off ebay when the time is right. Life is much easier with fewer clothes that don't need washing / ironing / moving about the house / sorting through / refolding / hanging up / etc.
Those a few choice bits of wisdom from my journey / learning so far. Perhaps some of it will strike a chord. Disregard the rest .
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