If you've been here since the beginning, or even the beginningish, you might remember that I used to have young kids. My oldest was 7 when I started this deslobification journey. Now, instead of reminding him to pick up his toys, I remind him to shave. And we're deciding which colleges to visit. And figuring out when to visit …
decluttering
Decluttering In the Midst of Remodeling
Over the summer, after a very long pause due to writing my last book, we finally got going on the unfunness of remodeling. We had our popcorn ceilings scraped and repainted, our floors replaced, and most of our rooms repainted. It's not even what I consider "real" remodeling (knocking down walls and such), but it was stressful. The biggest …
Decluttering Strategy: Use it (Up)
Over the summer, something terrible happened. It happened slowly, and the slowness made the pain so much worse. My beloved comforter, the one I'd pretended still looked fine for the past decade . . . started (quite literally) falling apart. I wasn't surprised. That thing was 21 years old. Yes. Really. To be clear, I hadn't kept it …
Decluttering Frames (But Not the Photos)
Over the past few weeks, we've removed things from walls so they could be painted, and moved every last item from one room to another while floors were replaced. It's not the least bit fun, y'all. But it's revealing. Things that once seemed perfectly fine become unfine. I'll take something out of a space because I have to. But if I don't like …
Decluttering or Tidying or Cleaning the Kitchen (Or Whatever YOU Want to Call It)
Some words are kinda sorta interchangeable. Or not. Depending on the person using them. If you want to get super technical, I suppose you could define decluttering, tidying, and cleaning like this: Decluttering - removing clutter from a space Tidying - moving things back into place and improving the general appearance of an …
One Thing that’s WAY Over My Clutter Threshold
My Clutter Threshold is the point at which I have more stuff than I can handle. Or I have specific things I personally can't handle. Everyone has a Clutter Threshold and each person's threshold is different. I had a great idea recently. An idea with the noble goal of saving my still-newish couch from the teenage boys who sit on it. I bought a …
Real World Fact: More Things = Less Value
If you're a high-end collectibles dealer who buys and sells with skill, I'm not talking to you here. I'm talking to those of us with collections of stuff that give off a vague aura of value. Our family has recently been living the experience every family goes through, but no one looks forward to. We've been cleaning out my husband's parents' …
A Donate Box Doesn’t Have to Be a Box
The key word in my game-changing strategy of using a donatable Donate Box isn't actually box. It's donatable. Which isn't actually a word. Whatever. It works. My only decluttering supplies are a trash bag, a donatable Donate Box, and my feet. This means every single item I pull out of the space I'm decluttering never has to be touched …
3 Clues That an Item of Clothing is Clutter
Decluttering clothes? Or . . . trying to declutter clothing? Overwhelmed because you have a hard time identifying which pieces are clutter? I feel your pain. Clothing seems to multiply when I'm not looking, and decluttering clothes is a constant battle in our home. While a big purge is awesome, there are clues I find on an ongoing basis that …
