View allAll Photos Tagged Decluttering
Spring cleaning fever = sorting out winter & summer clothes (and accessories like snow boots or mittens), and getting rid of what does fit anymore, what we never wear, what we don't like anymore. The big bag on the right is for charity, the small one is for a friend, and also contains some toys. (March 18th 2009)
These greeting cards fold flat, but when opened, a paper structure pops up in 3-D. Some of them are surprisingly complex. I was sorely tempted to buy a few just to admire how cleverly they were made, but my wife and I are at a stage of decluttering our lives and home, and the last thing we wanted to add was another souvenir!
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Also found while doing some decluttering - foreign coins used on previous holidays. I was impressed with the amount of detail on them. Don't suppose I'll be using any of them for a while!
these shells were in a jar on the top shelf on our bathroom. today I have been 'decluttering' before we put the house on the market.
the jar was so dusty it went into the dishwasher leaving these shells on the counter.
They were BEGGING to be photographed.. they were shameless...
But, they are back in their jar now.....all is quiet in the shell world :-)
Close-up to the fly on the wall view. More details and useful links @ www.willtoknow.com/workstation
Another lot for the recycle bin...
As someone who worked in the printing industry for nearly two decades, I was musing of how the digital age has changed this aspect of travel. Kitty and I hanged on to piles of printed matter that we bought in advance of or during our many travels (it must be said that Kitty travelled a lot more than I did) and to what purpose? If I were to revisit some of these places I suspect that almost all the information would be out of date and should I want new information, I would simply Google it.
have been decluttering the house and found this lovely vintage gal in her original box. guessing about 15 yrs old for this doll release? cant really remember
she is now positioned on the mantel in full view of all that come to serve her ...
The video lessons are so well done and encouraging. The course has a great online private group, that is also very encouraging.
Well, I made some progress in the kitchen, but then got behind. So, now I'm tackling the pantry, which is an awkwardly shaped little closet underneath the stairs. The stuff started piling up in there until it was 4 feet high. All sorts of things in that closet. Almost done emptying it to begin organizing, giving away, throwing away, taking auto & painting & other items to the garage, where they should go, etc.
But I thought I'd share one of my surprise pantry finds.
You tell me: Eat them, Plant them, or Throw them away?!!! :-)
Today's decluttering task was to find a new home for our collection of wine corks. One of my friends in another town makes craft items from wine corks, so I boxed them up and mailed them to her.
Of course, I had to take a photo of them first.
Another way to see my workstation from the side. More details and useful links @ www.willtoknow.com/workstation
Best way to hang the speakers to the board. Screw or strong Velcro. More details and useful links @ www.willtoknow.com/workstation
Another Tale of a Ten Minute Task -- see the previous panel for a not-so-brief recounting of the sage advice which inspired my attempts to tackle "ten minute" jobs.
I purchased this decorative hanging lantern nearly nine years ago. In all those nine years, this "hanging lantern" has never ever been "hanging" until a few minutes ago when I finally managed to "temporarily" hang it from an exposed rafter in the storage shed. For the previous nine years the lantern has been "temporarily" sitting on the floor, usually buried under boxes and tools and the other detritus that accumulates in a storage shed.
The lantern started out as a pair of lanterns, but its partner only survived six and a half years on the floor before I inadvertently stumbled over it and managed to break all of the glass panels. Needless to say, I seriously considered keeping the broken lantern "because I can probably fix it," but after considerable mental anguish, and in a fit of pique, I discarded it.
I've had this lantern for so long that the major retail chain from which I purchased it, a chain of stores called Pier One Imports, no longer exists.
Pier One was a "mall staple" throughout most of my life. I still feel sad that Pier One no longer exists; although for the last several years of their existence, the Pier One stores were a pale shadow of the exotic import stores they were during my youth.
I purchased the (formerly) pair of decorative tin lanterns shortly after moving in to my current home, thinking they would add an element of exotic ambience to... to wherever I decided to hang them. Also, they were only $14 apiece, marked down from $60. Sixty dollar lanterns for less than fifteen bucks! What a deal!
Now that there's only one left, it's actually a $28 lantern, so a much less impressive deal.
It's not a lantern that actually lights up, either. It doesn't even have a recess for a candle. But in my enthusiasm, nigh unto a decade ago, I optimistically envisioned wiring up the cages with a socket and installing a flicker-flame bulb to cast an atmospheric jungle cruise or theme park pirate ride mood light.
Instead, the lantern(s) sat on the floor in the shed until I broke one two years ago and almost broke this one yesterday. After I finished swearing at myself, I thought, "Oh! That 'ten minute' thing! How 'bout I at least hang this thing up where it'll be out of the way and I won't kick it or trip over it anymore!"
Good thinking, huh? Only took me the better part of a decade to come up with that plan.
Okay, so, I needed a hook to hang it on. I have a little box of cup hooks around here... somewhere. They should be... right there... where they aren't. How about over here? No? Over there? Uhmmm.... half my "ten minutes" are used up and I haven't even found a freakin' hook yet!
Finally I found an eye hook. Not a cup hook, an eye hook. Well, that won't do me much good, unless I want to wrap a piece of wire around the eye hook and around the rope on the lantern and... "say... what's this? A carabiner-style clip? That might work!"
I needed a ladder or a step-stool to reach the rafter where I intended to hang the lantern. The ladder was outside and would take up more floor space than I had available without spending another half-hour moving boxes around. I could get to the step-stool by only moving one box and a plastic toy car.
Move the box. Move the toy car. Slide the step-stool in to position. Now to drill a hole in the rafter. There's the drill. The drill bits should be around here somewhere... but wait! I'll need a battery for the drill. The batteries are in the house. I keep them in the house because temperatures at night are still dropping below freezing, which is not good for electric batteries. Do I want to go all the way in to the house to get a battery, and then I'll still have to rummage around for the right size drill bit?
Nope! So... handy-dandy Victorinox Pioneer X pocket knife to the rescue! Use the awl tool to gouge out enough of a divot for the eye hook to "bite," then thread a screwdriver through the eye hook for leverage to screw it in to the rafter.
Yes, that actually worked.
Clip the carabiner clip to the eye hook and to the rope on the lantern and... voila! The lantern hangs at a perfect height to catch me in the top of the forehead every time I walk under it; which would be every time I walk in to the storage shed, because I hung it right in the middle.
D'oh!
More profanity ensued.
More minutes passed.
More boxes were moved to make space closer to the wall for the step-stool.
Another hole was gouged in to the rafter with the Pioneer X pocket knife. This section of the rafter was much harder and denser than the previous spot, so several slips not-quite-but-almost resulting in blood being spilled occurred.
Now... move the eye hook? Too much effort. I think I saw another one where I found the first one. Ah, there it is! Find the screwdriver again, screw in the... "why won't it screw in?"
Ream out the divot a bit more with the pocket knife. Try again. Deepen the starter hole again. Okay, finally, Yay!
Move the clip. Move the lantern.
Done! And the quick ten minute job only took me twenty-seven minutes!
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Q.: Wouldn't these tasks go faster if you weren't stopping to take pictures?
A. Possibly, but the difference would be nominal; or so I tell myself.
Q.: Doesn't it take you a lot longer than ten minutes to type up these stupid rambling captions?
A.: Yes.
I'm on a major decluttering kick. I'm sick of junk I don't use, think I might use one day, sentimental stuff that's really junk in disguise. I want it out. Today we started by cleaning up the baby/toddler/kid clothes. Down to one tote & a manageable amount. Then I tackled my closet. These are the items I found in 4 purses minus trash & toys. These 6 items were found in each bag plus my suitcase. I'm predictable. All 4 purses have gone to Goodwill & now I have one large, one casual, one clutch, & my Epiphanie bag. That feels good.
I'm even parting with hand-knits. That's how sick I am of junk.
open eye screw to hang the board from. More details and useful links @ www.willtoknow.com/workstation
Close look at behind the desk cables. More details and useful links @ www.willtoknow.com/workstation
This is the simple vision that always brings me peace. I shot this at a very slow shutter speed on a tripod to see the water's motion. It lets me feel the ebb and flow and hear it's softness.
Wingnut to secure the board to the pegboard. More details and useful links @ www.willtoknow.com/workstation
This compact gadget was real neat when it was given to prof by a Japanese client. Japanese clients always came bearing gifts, preferably ones which demonstrated how far Japanese technology had advanced beyond ours. Luckily they still needed our software and paid well for it. But etiquette dictated that a return gift had to be presented at the end of their visit and deciding what it should be was considerably more challenging than writing the software.
Today this outdated little gadget was passed on via Freecycle to a chap down the hill who wanted something which would play cassettes into his daughter's ears.
uploaded with Uploader for Flickr for Android
went into the playroom to find all of her little calico critters lined up under the windowsill.
me: emma? are they all sleeping?
emma: no. they got scared when the trash truck drove by, so they hid.
hee.
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thought about starting a 365 this year, but i'm really trying to focus on family in 2012. emma will be starting kindergarten in august/sept, we have a new baby coming in june, lucy will turn two ... and before i know it, 2012 will be over.
i didn't finish the one i started last year, mostly due to three weeks of bedrest, losing a twin, morning sickness and pure exhaustion from being pregnant while also being a mom to two little kids. maybe one day, i will finish a project of that magnitude - but for now? just family and introspection.
happy new year, friends!! thanks for sticking with me, xoxo
While sorting crayons (again), I found one with what was left of an old Kmart logo on it. Huh.
This was the only Kmart crayon in the bin, and no, I'm not sure how it got in there. I probably got it in a bag of art supplies at a thrift store.
Also, I need to file my fingernails. They're all uneven.
I got the leaf blower out and cleaned up all the dust and debris. We sorted through all our stuff and tossed out a lot of junk. My potting station was covered in dust. The winds have been awful around here lately. But it's all clean! What an improvement. Next we tackle the Herb Garden. It's so over grown with Garlic Chives, they will have to go. I'm going to offer them to my neighbors.
I was doing a little decluttering and took Rusty's old bed out of the closet. Someone claimed it almost before it landed on the chair.
This photo and declaration of intent are going to motivate me to clean this mess up.
There's about 15 other giant bookshelves in the house that look just like it that also need help. But here's where I'll start. I know, I just cleared it all out and made it lovely a year ago. It's horrible again. I generate a lot of entropy in the book and paper realms.
love these photos of me...i think i'm about 9? at first glance i thought the photos were the same, the one underneath i'm laughing hysterically...maybe i'll post it
more from the decluttering.
nearly all of this tossed into paper recycling...
of course i am keeping the photos of me (hmm i'm 9? in these?)
and the little address book filled with names of high school friends and my family. i took this address book with me to europe -- for writing all the promised postcards.
Lilac background totally not working with this outfit, but this is the best spot for light at the moment.
Dolly sale delayed a bit, my camera is playing up and stick stuck with my dying computer, so photo processing is a right pain in the **** at the moment.
Have been taken over by the decluttering bug and have decided I am going to allow myself only 2 drawers of dolly stuff - yes 2 drawers for dolls, clothes and re-ment, so I am going to have to make some hard decisions. I hate parting with stuff, but I am going to have to have the 1 in, 1 out rule even for clothing!
This outfit is incoming, from Atelier Momoni :)
Front view.
The pegboard with the peripheries and cables attached under the desk.
Cables are not connected to the PC.
Doing some decluttering due to a bathroom remodel. Came across these looking back at me in a bowl of dusty potporri!
The story is gonna be a long one.Please bear with me.
As almost every thursday, for the past few months, I've participated in the Utata.org "Thursday Walk" project.This thursday I decided to pay the birth village of my late father and consequently, my grandparents, a visit.After roaming around on the few streets of this small village (which lies in the province of Antwerp, Belgium, and is called "Hingene") and having taken some shots, it started to rain.I went for a coffee in a brown pub and waited for the rain to end or at least diminish slightly.It got dryer again and I packed up my camerabag and decided to hit the streets again.I didn't have much hope of shooting anything decent any more and was in fact heading back to my mountainbike.Now the village has some quaint little (uninhabited, or so I thought ) houses that date back maybe 150 years and on one of these little houses the door was open and I saw two people, an elderly man and woman, doing things inside this house.The man noticed me from inside and I said hello and asked him what they where doing.I asked the man if he was from this village or was born here and mentioned that my late father was also from this village and the man had known my late father well.In fact, they had gone out (partying) together when they where both young men (somewhere in the mid-fifties I presume) So the man came to know that I was in fact the son of my father and we started talking.The man's younger brother, age 55, had just passed away and he and his girlfriend where busy clearing out the little house where the departed brother had lived all his life.He (the departed brother of 55) had, I found out, had once lived there with a woman ( she to had previously, a couple of years before, been found dead in the house) that was well known in our community for her weirdness and awkwardness ; the woman's name was "Zotte Betty" (translated as "Crazy Betty" ) and one of her sons.The son of Betty, the crazy woman, had lived with the brother till the day they found him dead.
At that point I had to just ask if I could take some photos of the inside.This had to be a one time opportunity.A once in a lifetime chance.I appologized several times if I was being impolite or intruding ( after all, this man's younger brother had just died ! ) but the man and his girlfriend saw no objections.So I stepped through the little door and was immediatly struck by the ackwardnes of the place.How in earth people could have lived in such circomstances was beyond me.It most resembled the home of some horder who never in his live decluttered !
I will save you a detailed description of the state the place was in ; look at the photos and let your mind do the work.
On the other hand, the house was full of memories of a man who must have lived the live of a recluse and now his things, his memories where about to be thrown away, to dissapear.
The more I photographed the interior, the wallpaper with this frail golden color, the odd trinkets and old objects, the more the man and his girlfriend became at their ease and they let me share their thoughts and insights in the life of their brother( in law).The woman even let me take a couple of shots where she was on inspite of her being very wary in the beginning.
I am deeply indebted to these people who have let me in in their personal lives whilst in the midst of a beriefment.
I express my gratitude.
These photos where taken with love.Be so kind as to threat them that way.
copyright Ange Soleil ( a.k.a Tweng) 2008
As I've said before, neatness and organization is key no matter what you're storing! In this case, I think I better find another home for these soon or they might topple over!
90% of this is going to the recycling bin and a pet shelter or somewhere else to be re-used. Much to my husband's discontent, 10% will remain for crafts and future mess maintenance (I guarantee he'll appreciate that, he just doesn't realize it yet!!!).
Check out this photo in a very interesting article:
www.valeriezinger.com/selling-and-decluttering-newspapers...
Join the Use your Scrap Clay Challenge and start the year by decluttering your studio! Click on the link and get inspired! www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8rbmYA0bIQhttps://www.youtube.co...
One of the things that tends to hold people back when they think about getting organized is that they look around, see a bunch of clutter and think they need to put aside a whole weekend in order to do the whole project.
Read the full blog post at: blog.rubbermaid.com/home/2010/04/decluttering-and-organiz...