Nancy's attempts to declutter

Mari Vega wrote:Thinking it might just help you, also, Nancy.

Great video Mari, thanks for sharing. I don't think I'm in danger of taking things to extremes (I am a Permie hoarder after all!), however what he said about it taking him 4 or 5 years was quite reassuring. I'm only 5 months in, so I don't feel so bad I haven't cleared out that much. I do have a life to lead after all!

I've heard it some, and probably need to remind myself more-- to not judge my insides by comparing myself to someone else's outsides.

That is so true! we can never know what really goes on in someone's life. Especially those in the media. I haven't shown the state of my living room at the moment, which still has piles of mending and fabric needing homes.....

I have however put the buttons on two of my husband's summer work shirts, and mended the cuff on one. That is two items out of the pile and back into useful life again at least!

Today, I decluttered a screw (wow! you say) into the back gate, so now the latch works properly again.

I felt extremely accomplished!

You go, Ac! Way to make progress!

Seriously, no joke here.

Ac Baker wrote:Today, I decluttered a screw (wow! you say) into the back gate, so now the latch works properly again.

Yay! Now if you'd just chucked that screw when you found it lying around, you'd have to go and buy a new screw (£ and time and spoons) as well as fixing the latch (time and spoons). Permie hoarding for the win! It's so nice when something works properly, especially when it is something you have to struggle with every day.

No more news on my house clutter. I must put the mending and fabric I'm not going to mend away somewhere; probably the spare bedroom for now, since it looks like we're not going to get on with insulating that this year after all. At least that means it is not taking up space (mental and physical) in our bedroom. I'll pull out two or three garments that just need a bit of hand sewing to get on with in the evenings, and wait for a suitable rainy afternoon to try for the machine sewing marathon.

Nancy Reading wrote: Yay! Now if you'd just chucked that screw when you found it lying around, you'd have to go and buy a new screw (£ and time and spoons) as well as fixing the latch (time and spoons). Permie hoarding for the win! It's so nice when something works properly, especially when it is something you have to struggle with every day.

My thought exactly!!!  We do sometimes manage to use odd pieces of things, like packaging material, wood, for useful jobs.

Nancy, I've lived both extremes.
I grew up with plenty of clutter, the sight of which, I will admit, still makes me shudder.

Once on my own, I became a minimalist. At one point, I strived to be an extreme minimalist and what was called "zero waste" at the time, which is not exactly an accurate term.
The thing about extreme minimalism is it sort of works in an urban environment. It's easier to practice the lifestyle, but the truth is, there is still "waste" behind the scenes, such as goods being shipped from overseas and the waste that goes into urban construction. There are also pitfalls. For instance, you can sustain an injury by trying to avoid acquiring an "unnecessary" tool. The treatment of an injury creates waste in itself. Not to say that people couldn't get injured or ill as a result of clutter.

Certainly, there is a cost to living an extreme minimalist lifestyle, a level of illusion and privilege. Yet, clutter can make it extremely difficult to clean and organize. It can be a mental and time drain. Not to use a cliche, but I don't like using things that don't spark joy. There is also a level of illusion with clutter. Is it really frugal to never throw things away if you're spending an hour looking for something and another 3 hours to clean around all the stuff? Time is certainly valuable.

Decluttering can also be challenging if you want to feel prepared (in my experience, SKILLS are more important that THINGS). Ironically, both feeling unprepared AND clutter can create a lot of anxiety. Decluttering can be harder if you live in a rural area and can't make a 10 minute run to the store. On the other hand, these days, it can be MORE expensive to discard things versus buy things. Junk removal can be very costly.

Today, I am neither an extreme minimalist nor a clutterer. I very occasionally DO declutter things I may need later. I have yet to regret decluttering these items. I don't think there is anything wrong with clutter in itself, as long as it's not harming others around you. While minimalism is appealing, it doesn't mean that it's the only way or the right way.

In summary, I think getting to the bottom of the issue, whichever extreme it may be, may help one find motivation and direction. What about your current lifestyle do you enjoy? What are some things that you don't enjoy about it? What are some reasons you want to make changes?  Are there any "excuses" which are really fears? Are these based in reality? What's the worst thing that can happen if you go overboard?

I don't think you can go wrong with starting small and experimenting further!

After I froze and utterly failed trying to declutter my fabric stash early this year, a couple months on I was able to go back to it and chuck out a load of stuff--my stash was a lot of old clothes and bedding, a little bit of actual off-the-bolt fabric, and some smaller scraps for quilting/mending.  I got rid of most of the polycotton stuff (kept a couple sheets for making mock-ups), and pared down the cotton/linen stash to just large pieces.  And I thinned out the smaller scraps too.  I got it down to one box of large cotton pieces, a small suitcase of knit cottons (mainly old t shirts), and a bag of scraps (no polycottons).

And I have been using up my knit cottons recently: I've been cutting them into strips and I've knitted rag rug and crocheted a basket.  So even more decluttering of the stash :)

G Freden wrote: I got it down to one box of large cotton pieces, a small suitcase of knit cottons (mainly old t shirts), and a bag of scraps (no polycottons).

Oh well done! I'm ashamed to say I have made almost no more progress on the decluttering front


It's just there are far more interesting things to do - usually ones that involve making mess, or cake, or both!

more interesting things - making mess

Nancy Reading wrote:

Ara Murray wrote:how did we acquire so many pairs?

I wouldn't mind, but I think every pair leak to some extent...that's the first thing to check.

Leaky welly boots make cute planters!

(I'm also a hoarder / zero waste reuser/upcycler)

Ra Kenworth wrote:
Leaky welly boots make cute planters!

I have seen those, I've never been that keen, however the wellies are nice and deep...I wonder whether to transplant some of my tea seedlings into them? They are needing a bit more root space....I'd have to stuff the toe with something so the plants would come out again when it is time...

(I'm also a hoarder / zero waste reuser/upcycler)

your secret is safe with me.....(and the rest of the internet)

(edit fix quote)

Nancy Reading wrote:

Ra Kenworth wrote:
Leaky welly boots make cute planters!

I have seen those,
... transplant some of my tea seedlings into them? They are needing a bit more root space....I'd have to stuff the toe with something

Rocks do nicely to stabilize the shape of the boot, and they make cute gifts too.
(If you don't have enough rocks I have plenty)

almost no more progress on the decluttering front

It's good weather for decluttering now!  I'm too busy outside during the warmer months to focus much attention on my house, but now I should really get some indoor stuff done while it's cold/dark/rainy.  

I thinned out the small daughter's books by about a third (we have a lot of kids' books), but only taking ones that weren't much fun to read out loud/didn't have great pictures.  It doesn't look like I've even made a dent in the collection though...

Another use for work socks not worth repairing is a sweat (head) band:
Tie the holey toes together which you place against your forehead then tie a knot in the back.

I usually have a pair of these on the dashboard in summer, which occasionally get used as rags (for wiping oil spills off the engine while refilling the oil and checking the gasoline)

PS
I expect that socks are a preferred dog toy because puppies love to hoard their owners' scent, so they remember they're usually a forbidden item -- so to own sock toys!

Since I have a bit of downtime, I'm concentrating on the totes of denim for sewing and quilting projects.  In the past few weeks I've broken down approximately 20 pairs of jeans into quarters or halves.  Zippers are put into a container for future use along with the waistbands.  Currently have the "parts" in a spare laundry basket where some will be cut into pieces for upcoming projects.

Also put all of my T-shirts with really short sleeves into the donate pile.  I don't like the sleeve length and rarely wear them, so why keep them.    

Still failing desperately at the decluttering, but have had a self enforced boost this week! Along the same lines of getting a new project to clear out the workshop (see here) I've been given some new-to-us living room furniture - 2 leather sofas and a couple of nice wall cupboard/shelving units. This means finding a good home for our old sofa bed (which has been used only once as a bed in 15 years up here) and clearing out the hifi shelving media shelving to make space for the new units.

Anyone want a sofa bed? Free for collection on Isle of Skye

This is a job well overdue; many of the magnetic tapes were actually unplayable due to having been kept in a damp environment and had gone mouldy. I kept hold of the nice plastic cases the VHS tapes came in though. I'm not sure what we will use them for, but I think they might be handy for sorting yarn perhaps, maybe electrical leads...My husband thinks he may be able to use some as enclosure boxes for circuit boards too.

VHS cases kept because they are useful (really)

I moved out much of my crafting stuff - mending and yarn stash that was piled in the same corner.  living room is now feeling temporarily spacious as we have cleared stuff out, but not moved stuff back in yet! Hopefully we can filter out more rubbish as we repopulate the room.

I also sorted some stuff out of the spare bedroom to make room for the media and filing stuff. That room gets everything dumped in that we don't know what to do with, for example - lots of useful jars and plastic tubs that may come in for the zero waste area in the shop for customer use but need washing. I decided to recycle some of the lighter weight cartons and repacked some of the rest so it takes up a bit less room. I did manage to put one lot through the dishwasher, so that can go down to the shop tomorrow for use

I don't know how handy you are, if sewing is your thing? If so, you can make panties from old Tshirts. See here, for example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6K5sBLPzBI

It might make your needing 100% cotton easier/cheaper?

Finally got round to sorting the wellies (I'm obviously in love with them...)

Della inspects the dead wellies

Tell me why I ended up with 5 left hand wellies and 1 right hand welly? I must be very right footed. How ever when put in the bath none were any good so I have cut off the tops and will check out the thread on dead wellies for uses for the material. They are at least more compact when cut down and aren't cluttering up our hallway.

I like how Nancy is tackling decluttering in small, realistic steps—especially reusing what she already has. That mindset fits permaculture way better than a big, wasteful purge.