View allAll Photos Tagged declutter
The thing I enjoy most about photography is I never know what I might see find to capture. I enjoy the colors of sunsets, the challenge of capturing a tack sharp moon shot, and wildlife when I get lucky. Sometimes I look for the uncommon in the common. This shot is of a fallen tree worn by years of river water passing over, around, and on this day, below. I was drawn to what looks like an eye on the broad head of an elephant, with tusk and trunk leading into it. I converted to B&W and added a vignette to declutter the other roots protruding out of the water and emphasize the focus on the eye. Once again, not my typical capture, but I'm really pleased with the result.
Photographed on the backwaters of the Mississippi River near La Crosse, WI.
(c) Lee Live: Photographer www.leelivephotographer.com/
For commercial usage of this image please visit:
ourdream.smugmug.com/Talks-and-Lectures/2018-Life-Pod-Int...
This Precious Moments colouring book... I've had it since before I was even a teenager yet. Though I didn't colour in it anymore, I managed to keep it and it survived a lot of moves. Now that I've been into colouring again and also trying to declutter a lot in my life, I decided to finally finish the book! It's very nostalgic to colour in it! I'm putting the coloured sheets up on my whiteboard to display for a while and then it'll be gone after. But I thought this was a better way to enjoy the childhood memory than to just store it for years!
For this sheet, I used Rowan's childhood vegan crayons from Melissa & Doug. But after this one I switched to pencil crayons as I like them a lot more.
Any pretty woman who becomes my friend has to pay a price for that friendship, although the price is in no way unreasonable; it consists simply of having her picture taken and posted to Flickr. And this one is no exception.
This is Alison, a law school graduate currently awaiting the results of the July bar examination in Arizona, and who was recently hired to fill a vacancy in our little corner of Family Court. I have spent much of my time over the past couple of weeks helping to train her, and as I once said to our boss in Alison's presence, having her around has been a delight.
I will only be involved in her training for a couple more days, after which she will be finishing it elsewhere; but in the time I have been with her, Alison has played a central role in a couple of amusing stories. The first one happened a couple of weeks before I took this picture, when another co-worker and I took her to lunch at a Mexican restaurant near the Arizona state capitol building. As we stood in line to place our orders, with Alison directly behind me, I perked up when I made out the music that was being played over the intercom and said it was "good salsa music." Then I broke into a spontaneous salsa dance, right there in that line, and Alison was quite amused by it. I told her I occasionally practice new dance steps while riding the elevator, waiting at a bus stop, or in other such situations, and that I knew the Fred Astaire people would understand that, even if other people who happened to witness it could not.
I have yet to hear the end of this. A few days later, a litigant in one of my conferences told me she had recently seen me in the elevator at the court. I had no recollection of having seen her there or anywhere else, but Alison, who was observing me that day, quipped that I would have been dancing in that elevator if the person the litigant had seen had in fact been me. She has since dropped a few other, similar remarks when other people have been around, and I get the distinct feeling that she derives some kind of perverse enjoyment out of watching my reaction.
The second tale concerns one of my most conspicuous flaws, which is that I am a packrat and a clutterbug. Big time. Years ago, I showed my wife a reproduction of a color painting that had been inserted in the frontispiece of my hardbound copy of _Don Quixote_, which showed the novel's principal character, sitting at a candlelit table in a cluttered study, totally absorbed in one of his books while hundreds of other volumes looked down at him from the dusty bookshelves which surrounded the room. Sheila said the scene reminded her of my law office in Ohio.
I have no trouble at all believing the New Testament account of Jesus feeding five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, because I routinely perform a similar, albeit much less useful miracle all on my own. If you hand me a newspaper, I can make it multiply and divide into hundreds of other newspapers, which soon find their way into every nook and cranny of the house -- especially if I don't get around to reading the newspapers, which is all too often the case.
With that as background, one day Alison suddenly announced that it was time to clean up my office, and immediately undertook the task all by herself. I did not interfere, although I felt both sheepish and amused at the same time, and am sure I must have been blushing. Alison said she hoped she wasn't offending me; no, I replied, I wasn't offended at all, just embarrassed that I was no good at doing this myself and had created the necessity for her intervention. In other words, I simply recognized that she was doing something that really needed to be done, and was better able to do it than I was. And this isn't because I've never tried to declutter my office; it's just that I can't bear to part with an unread newspaper or magazine, and I tend to collect bits and pieces of assorted junk and papers for reasons I can't explain. Among numerous items Alison found and brought to my attention was a court calendar dated July of 2004, which she said she was sure I could do without; and I presented no convincing argument to the contrary, so out it went. My growing collection of Arizona Highways magazines was stacked neatly into a corner of one of my bookshelves, and a couple of half-empty water bottles left weeks before by previous litigants were chucked. It took Alison perhaps 15 minutes to have my office looking much better, even if not quite spic-and-span, although the trash can was overflowing by the time she finished this impromptu project.
Somehow it seems fitting that Alison and my other friend Nicole should know and like each other, because they both worked for the same judge for a time, and I have similar feelings for both women. And as was the case with Nicole, I believe firmly that Alison's job description simply must be changed, and that instead of what she is being trained for now, she needs to be made special assistant to me. That idea will get nowhere with the powers-that-be, of course, but it is certainly nice to think about.
Alison agreed to let me take pictures of her late one Friday afternoon. We went out into the patio area of the Superior Court complex in downtown Phoenix, and I snapped away for about 10 to 15 minutes. While she did ask me to delete certain images that she did not like, she knew full well that one or more of the remaining photos would end up here on Flickr, and she accepts that; again, it's simply the price of my friendship, and a natural and inevitable consequence thereof. But she was a very good sport about being my model that afternoon, and I liked this image best out of all the ones I took -- or at least out of the ones Alison allowed me to keep.
I stopped at the Container Store today after another errand. It was my first time and I was apprehensive. I wandered the aisles for awhile, looking for useful things and trying to think about our storage needs. I was afraid it was going to be ridiculously expensive, but all together everything was only forty bucks.
Last week Andy got two brand new, identical monitors for his desk, and he gave me his widescreen. So now I use that as my main monitor, and my old, regular-sized one as the second. To fit the two monitors, I had to get rid of an IKEA dokument. I spent some time going through all the paper that had collected in two of the trays, using expandable folders leftover from my teaching days. I used one of them to collecting the growing pile of paperwork associated with all of the business stuff. That folder is now on the top right shelf for easy access/drop-in. The top level of the tray collected an assortment of trinkets and things, and some of them I put away and some of it I still don't have a home for. Nor do I have a home for the letter tray itself. It can go in my giveaway pile.
Today I bought a few clear plastic shoeboxes for storage in our bathroom/hall closet, because it is a mess, and the smaller bins I have in there are overflowing. I put one together tonight--all our medicine/pharmacy-type things--but there is SO much more work to do in there. Mostly getting rid of old makeup-type crap.
I also wanted some storage options for my desk, and I ended up with two medium stacking bins plus a slim paper file. Previously I had upright things just leaning, and an assortment of crap holding the vertical stuff up. Which meant things were in a jumble and constantly falling over. So going vertical with the smaller stuff storage was important. However, pretty much all of the storage pieces were large and flat, or large and tall and wide--and I need smallish and vertical. So the bottom one holds random stuff like pens, earphones, etc, while the top holds the stapler, tape dispenser, notepads, and the tiny bowl which has work keys and binder clips. The top left shelf used to have a precariously balanced full pencil bin, and now it's two pen cups, kleenex, and envelopes.
Overall it looks and feels SO much clearer and cleaner! I love that feeling. Except that then I look around at all the other places that need this kind of attention and I feel depressed, because it's everywhere. Oh well, baby steps. This is really good progress for me, and it'll be good motivation to keep going, in small bits.
Oh, and if you need some inspiration, flip through Unfuck Your Habitat. Seeing that occasionally has gotten the declutter/cleanup bug seeped into my head here and there.
Clean and orderly after shot of my home office after completely re-organization and decluttering. Includes a bit of re-arranging of the smaller pieces of furniture, as well as completely removing a few items I was no longer using.
"Shrine" to Tool and A Perfect Circle on the top shelf of the CD rack. Need to hang a few things on the wall...
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
This is my current computer workstation.
My current desk is a (gasp) rubbermaid-ish picnic table (yes that's a $2,000 30" Apple Cinema Display sitting on top). This is just pathetic, I know.
Do you have broken sunglasses? If you won't fix them, toss them.
Used at: hellotidy.co.nz/broken-sunglasses/
Image Source: Disposable Society by Kurt Bauschardt - www.flickr.com/photos/kurt-b/13731026573/
Make a statement with this built in wardrobe that has masculine white glass and black frames. It gives a seamless, minimal look. Ideal for creating more space in your bedroom as well as creating a minimalist image. It is both easy to use and sure to make you happy by helping to declutter your bedroom.
We went to visit the Heads of State again, having heard that The Beatles were visiting and about to leave.
Here is a sense of scale.
Click here to see all the heads of state images. I have hidden most of them to declutter my stream.
Bet you didn know I was a yoga fanatic. Yoga is like an escape for me. Its just a time to relax and occupy my mind with what im doing right now instead of all the stress in life.
via WordPress ift.tt/2EDey0E
iStock
Whether you intend to sell your home in the near future or stay put for the long haul, house improvements can increase the value of your property. But if you shudder at the thought of wasting your time on labor-intensive projects that may or may not add equity, you’re not alone.
Luckily, you don’t have to spend your entire savings—and every weekend from here to eternity—to keep your house up to date. We found a slew of smart projects that are relatively simple, will cost you no more than $500, and will be catnip to future buyers—or just make your everyday life a bit brighter.
Before you begin your house improvements…
We’ll offer this pre-project tip that will make your life a lot easier: declutter.
“A common problem I see when I initially start working with a client is too much stuff that is not being used,” says Tracie Stoll, a DIYer, designer, and decorator who blogs at CleverlyInspired.com. “Declutter first—and in many cases, you can sell those extra items to make money to tackle home improvement projects.”
Now let’s get to the projects!
Make a splash in the bathroom
The bathroom is one of the most visited rooms in your home, and just a few changes can make it one of the most functional and stylish rooms as well. Simple touch-ups like regrouting and recaulking can instantly make the room look cleaner and newer.
Also, swapping out inefficient toilets, faucets, and shower heads for products that aid in water conservation can make a big difference. A low-flush toilet uses 20% less water than a standard toilet, and water-saving shower heads can help families save almost 3,000 gallons of water a year.
“Touchless water faucets are all the rage right now, especially if you have kids,” says remodeler and licensed contractor Mark Clement of MyFixItUpLife. “Touchless faucets are clean and easy, and there are literally thousands of fixture choices, including stainless steel, brushed nickel, chrome, and bronze.”
Just be sure to keep your fixture finishes consistent throughout the bathroom.
Create style underfoot
While updating your flooring is typically seen as an expensive project, it doesn’t have to be.
“If the carpet has seen better days, pull it up to see what is underneath,” says Stoll. “If it is concrete, that surface can be cleaned up and painted. Throw an inexpensive area rug down, and the room will be updated immediately.”
Tiling is another budget-friendly flooring update for your kitchen or bathroom.
“Porcelain and stone are very inexpensive,” says Alan Zielinski, owner and president of Better Kitchens in Niles, IL, who adds that linoleum floors are also very cost-effective, and come in several styles.
“[Porcelain] tiles are very strong, and they can mimic the look of stone and wood,” says Judy Mozen, designer and president of Homecrafted Homes in Atlanta.
Beware: Tearing out an existing floor can add significant labor costs, so if it’s at all possible, lay the new flooring on top of the existing one.
Customize your cabinets
Another inexpensive bathroom and kitchen update to tackle? Fix those cabinets. If they’re in good shape, you can simply clean, sand, and paint them.
“This is also an opportunity to provide a pop of color in the bathroom,” says Clement.
So, what color should you paint them?
“White is a popular color because it is clean, and it looks good with any style,” says Mozen. Black is another popular cabinet color.
Mozen advises homeowners to weigh the condition of the cabinet’s interior area. “If there’s water damage, it’s not worth it to repaint them—that’s like polishing an old shoe,” she says.
Both Clement and Mozen say that sometimes it may be just as cost-effective to purchase new stock cabinets from a big-box store such as Lowe’s or Home Depot.
You can also update your cabinets by simply replacing the hardware. New knobs, handles, and pulls in the kitchen and bathroom will make a huge difference.
Add architectural details
You can use wainscoting, shiplap, and crown molding to add craftsmanship to your home.
“I love wainscoting,” says Clement. “It takes a two-dimensional drywall surface and immediately makes it feel homey. And there are a lot of wainscoting choices ranging from wood to PVC.”
However, Clement warns against using trims made from medium-density fiberboard in a room with a lot of moisture, because this material cannot withstand water and will mold.
“Adding crown moldings to the ceiling of various rooms or adding shoe moldings to the floor is a great way to dress rooms up without major additions,” says Allen Shayanfekr, CEO and co-founder of Sharestates, a real estate investment company that focuses on fix-and-flip properties. “Working with a trim carpenter to have these added can do a lot aesthetically for the appearance of rooms and the overall value of a home.”
Light it up
Lighting is another way to update your home without spending a fortune.
“Adding inexpensive new lighting fixtures in areas with a lot of visibility in the house can have a large impact on a home’s value,” says Shayanfekr. “Adding a few sconces and possibly an inexpensive chandelier—something around the $300 price point—can make a huge difference in a hallway, living room, or kitchen,” he says.
Create the perfect palette
Perhaps the easiest way to transform a room is with paint.
“I would say paint is the No. 1 room changer with very little expense,” Stoll says. “And don’t forget the trim; that is the icing on the cake.”
The beauty of paint is that you can use it to update practically anything. You can paint the interior or the exterior of the home. You can paint the walls, the cabinets, and other furniture.
Stoll even recommends spray-painting your lamps and then buying new lampshades. On the outside, you can paint the front door and paint or stain your deck or wood fence. You can paint your outdoor furniture and, depending on the material, you can even paint your garage doors.
The post Cheap House Improvements Under $500 That Will Increase the Value appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
Cheap House Improvements Under $500 That Will Increase the Value published first on 8hulletcondo.tumblr.com/
I've tried Bring Forward Files and weekly hanging folders. This school year, I'm trying baskets. Photo by R-M Arca.
just that kind of a day. a ton of stuff on my mind. and FGR was "uncluttered" today. perfect. so here it is. and i decided to flip it sideways just to be a rebel. crazy.
Anytime I go out to buy something new, whether it’s entertainment (like a new TV, video game, or book), clothes, appliances, tools, or anything else “material” that could wait, I like to search my home for something that has grown to be out of date or useless to me. And once I locate that item, I try to sell it, recycle it, give it to someone who needs it, or put it away in storage.
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget how much stuff we have in our #homes. To the point that we continue to accrue things, adding onto piles and piles of junk that we don’t even use anymore. When it comes to this, you know it’s time to get rid of things in order to avoid a hoarding mentality.
Thus, I do what I explained above. It’s a way for me to constantly cycle out the old to make plenty of room for the new. Nothing ever becomes too cramped because of this method, and I’m always able to locate the things I need since no “pile” of sorts begins to manifest in corners of my room or in the basement.
I like the idea of my home constantly changing because of this cycling in and out, too. I look at myself as a constantly changing person, so doing the same for my home is only reflective of who I am.
To help things stay organized, I like to have a few packaging supplies on hand for my storage situation, like old #cardboard boxes, packing tape for labeling, and even bubble wrap to make sure my old belongings are safely stored and won’t be harmed or broken whenever I need to move it. As boring as packaging supplies may initially sound, they’re extremely useful in keeping your home on track, especially if you handle your overflow of items situation like I do.
Ultimately, this way of living is a method to constantly support yourself in buying new things (as all humans want to do) without allowing a mess to build up seemingly overnight. Instead, your home remains tidy, it never loses space, and you’re able to declutter aspects of your life that have started to build up, whether it’s old clothes, books, shoes, coats, or even whatever you may collect on the side as a little hobby. It’s important to be aware of these things becoming outdated, because if you’re just holding onto them to hold on, there’s not much point in their presence, is there?
Some colorful curbside junk-art greets visitors at Detroit's way-cool Heidelberg Project on the east side.
Bought these two t-shirts years ago at a thrift store. Don't know why, cost me a dollar apparently, now going where they belong. Never even took the tags off.
Time for another declutter. The last one in June got cut short because I ran out of energy and inspiration, but it’s back with a vengeance now! Since June things have steadily been accumulating again and we are now embarking on decorating two bedrooms, so all those things that got stashed in bedrooms just for somewhere to put them are now being sorted out.
Today’s offerings are mainly from the bedroom. From top left:
Wooden rocking chair that was given to us to give to our daughter when she had her baby in March 2008. Her house was never big enough to take it and when they moved it didn’t fit in either, so we inherited it and it was in our bedroom until today. We are minimising the furniture in our bedroom and this is now excess to our needs. This has gone on Freecycle.
The pleated lampshade from the bedroom has also gone on Freecycle. We are changing the colour scheme so will buy a new one.
The ugly ornament was originally on our charity stall to sell as Russian goods. No-one has bought it in 3 years, so it was given to me as a tombola prize. I really don’t think anyone would be thrilled to win that, so I’m giving it to Oxfam to see if they can sell it!
Hubby bought me the book on Victorian England for 10p from our local library. He got it a few years ago when I showed an interest in studying for an OU course, but I didn’t do the course and have never read the book! This too will go to Oxfam to see if they can find it a new home.
The wall bracket for TV has been in our bedroom ever since we moved in, in 1998. It has served us well but we feel that we’d like a change now and will be putting up some shelves to hold the new flat screen TV we hope to get when we decorate. This has been put on Freecycle.
The empty perfume bottle is one that I have only just finished. I used to keep empty ones in my underwear drawer to make them smell nice, but I have learnt now to just dispose of them as they empty! This is going in the glass recycling.
Hubby cleared out the garage last week and found an Umbro polo shirt. No idea whose it is as it is far too big for him. This is going either to Oxfam or to the homeless shelter we send our clothes to.
Old table mats. We bought a lovely new set and relegated the old set to the breakfast room. These are the ones from the breakfast room that didn’t match or had chunks taken out of them. They are going in the box for Oxfam.
TV from our bedroom. This has done us a treat, but we would like a flat screen one for the bedroom now. This TV, like all the other portable ones we’ve ever had, was given to us, so we’re giving it to someone else now through Freecycle.
The clock radio was in our bedroom for a good few years. We haven’t used it since Christmas 2008 as we have been sleeping in the spare room pending decorating our main bedroom. (Yes, it’s taken 8 months to finally get around to it!!). We don’t need a clock radio any more as hubby has given up work now (voluntary redundancy) so there’s no need for an alarm any more. And if we do, we’ve got all sorts of other devices that can wake us up! We’ll probably get another one when we’ve decorated and moved back in, but there’s no hurry, and this one is destined for Freecycle too.
Spring is almost here! I took a break from crafty photography, and hunkered down for the winter with various projects. It also encouraged me to sift through my craft materials.
A few years ago, I was handed a grocery bag worth of buttons (I love it when crafters think of me when they declutter). Around the same time I went to a vintage fair and bought the chipmunk and bunny cards. I liked the buttons on them, but I was mostly drawn to the cute animals. These were probably old cards that the vender repurposed to make the buttons more distinctive? If so, it worked!
The buttons are mostly Domcord, Streamline, Tiffany and Lady Fashion.
I did a lot of thinking this winter about how to use up all these up. I have lots of ideas, but it will probably take me years.
This shipment took between 3-4 weeks to finally receive due to waiting for stock of some items!
Supa happi with everything per usual though always worth the wait. [:
Favorites are the macaroon earphones ( good sound quality ), animal earphone winder, and O'slee Rosehip toner ( works fantastically ).
Purchased some cute organizers so to downsize and declutter.
Good quality stirrup tights, undershorts, and especially the knit socks.
Wooden pencil case is very nice condition and works great.
Lovely small heart cooking pan which works great just need to coat with oil or butter and be careful not to scratch the pan.
Some items may no longer be available.
-Always check measurements-
Included:
Rosehip Beauty Solution Advanced Formula III [100ml]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1031330841
Stirrup Tights [Black - One Size]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1035309283
Under Shorts [White - One Size]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1035360635
Dotted Storage Organizer [Dark Blue - One Size]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1035717668
Lace Trim Pattern Travel Organizer [Cherry - One Size]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1036854637
Egg Pan [1 - Black - One Size]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1037835887
Eiffel Tower Print Wooden Pencil Case [Transparent]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1037891399
Cable Knit Mélange Socks [Dark Blue - One Size]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1037905193
Animal Earphone Winder [5 - Bear - Brown - One Size]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1038143959
Garment Organizer [Bear - Beige - L]
www.yesstyle.com/en/info.html/pid.1038404963
Set: Earphone + Macaron Earbuds Holder [Mint Green - One Size]
Found another load of bits that were given to me for a charity bric a brac but were unsold, also some bits from the bathroom. All these items today were given to the same person from Freecycle. She is going to put them most of them in her church’s Christmas fair in November.
Two books – painting and decorating and house plant expert. These will go to the church Christmas fair book stall.
Lots of plastic knives, forks and spoons. These will be used by her daughter for school.
Bottle of pink shampoo: left over from when we had Russian children last summer. We bought it for them, they forgot to take it home, and it’s not the sort we use. Unfortunately the lid was broken so it couldn’t go with the other toiletries. I had to put it in the rubbish collection.
Nivea talc: I don’t really use talc, this was a giant pack and I’ve got a smaller one that will do if I need it. This was given to the homeless shelter. They take used toiletries for the homeless people to use when they go in for a shower/bath.
Marks & Spencer foam bath: given to the homeless shelter.
Paco Rabane after shave: given to the homeless shelter.
A pottery thing that goes over a radiator, filled with water. Given to me for charity stall, but not sold so passed on for church fair.
Pink vase: same as above.
Plastic case with bowls, plates and cups. This was for picnics when my girls were younger. They have both grown up and left home, we don’t need them any more. The person from Freecycle who took them said she’d ask at her daughter’s school if they could use them, otherwise she’d Freecycle them on.
Square hook duck thing: not quite sure what this is, a photo holder I think. Given to me in a box of stuff from my sister. This is also going to the church Christmas fair.
Thus concludes today’s ‘stuff’. I can almost see the floor in the study now, which is where all this lot was stored. Can’t believe how much stuff we’d collected and had been walking around and over because it was in the way!
Well, I think I'm back home for a while. Enough merriment, time to get back to regular stuff. Nothing glamorous on the agenda, just a couple weeks of catching up and making plans before the girls blow in for Thanksgiving.
Given that two years ago we underwent a major revamp of our living quarters and did a massive declutter, it may seem odd that I've filled up a tiny space of our tiny home with a canvas. The reason for this is that when I was given a voucher for a canvas of Rhossili for our Charity Dinner Auction earlier in the month, I was also given an extra voucher to use at the same place. It also feels very self indulgent to put a photo I took myself onto the wall, but my OH insisted although I got to choose which one. I rarely if ever put full photos of our home on Flickr either unlike many but I've made an exception because it puts it into context.
Original pic in comments.
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
The extremely long journey to acoomplish less. To do less. and ultimately to have less. I feel that the end is insight. Finally. Today my friend Adam Baker launched his new ebook project. manvsdebt.com/sell-your-crap/
So soon I will be going through the whole selling stuff on ebay thing and finally completing a major declutter of my stuff and my life.
one of the fun, very simple activities for all my clients is to get their wallets looking sharp. Decluttered, user-friendly, a metaphor for their overall financial life.
A reminder for the bigger picture - though nothing lofty here, just proctical goals and an overview in one place of all the work to be done, and the 'why?'. Reminding myself of the 'why' helps to approach a problem from different angles. These are short and medium term goals and a brief list of the main jobs to be done to achieve them. As 'things' are my current millstone, there are three major projects or approaches to dealing with things - storage, declutter, organise - get rid of what I don't need (not that easy to do in a way to not waste things and limited transport and access...), safely store what I retain, and be able to find things. This sits on the easle with the to-do list.
There is more on the slip method on my website.
via
According to experts, environmental clutter is detrimental to your emotional well-being. An average adult faces several emotional battles which one needs to overcome for some peace of mind. Your home should not be an addition to those problems, but the one place that creates a diversion, amongst other things. It all starts with removing items that of no significant use in your everyday life. Below are some removable valuables that could make a tremendous difference.
The Living Room
Cushions
Sofas are designed to give you comfort, one cushion per seat for that extra comfort will suffice. You absolutely do not need mountainous colorful cushions. If you have children, they are just one more thing for your children to play with and scatter all over your living-room floor. You can pack them neatly in a box and store them away in a storage_facility near you.
Sofas
Have you noticed that, more often than not, there is someone lying on your sofa? Chances are you have too many available seats. One 4 to 5 sitter and a single sitter are enough for your living room especially if it’s not roomy. Put the other sitters in storage.
Compact Discs
In 2018, there are a few people who still buy and ply music from CDs and DVDs. Pack them along with the CD rack stationed by the corner of your living room and store them away.
Flowers
Feeling like you have just walked into a garden? You have too many flowers. Try using only one vase. The others might be antique pieces you have collected along the way, therefore you do no need to get rid of them if you do not want to. Consider keeping them in storage.
Souvenirs
It is quite understandable that it could prove to be a struggle fighting the urge to collect souvenirs to remind you of all the countries you have visited. However, displaying all of them may leave the room looking like a museum. Pack them up in a box and put them in storage.
Entertainment system
TV units were quite in style a few years ago. Nowadays mounting your television and sound system is the ‘in’ thing. You can store away your TV unit/stand.
Portraits
One portrait of you and your family on the wall is enough. It’s unnecessary to fill your entire living room with images. Portraits just take up space and take away from the exquisite painting job on your wall, making it look untidy.
Ornaments
Your grandmother’s ornaments are very close to your heart but lest we not ignore the fact that they are taking up space. You can store them safely so you can pass them on to your grandchildren when the time comes.
The Closet
It’s very simple. If you haven’t worn it in the past three months, it’s taking up space. In summer, all winter clothing items should be stored away, including all summer clothes which were not worn last summer. The best part is, you have access to your storage unit whenever you need. If you miss it, you know where to find it!
The bathroom
You purchased skin-care products; body lotions, soaps, etc but were less than impressed with the results so you decided to switch brands? Get rid of what you are not using by donating to charity. In the meantime, keep them in storage until you can find someone in need.
All your skin-care products should be placed in the cabinet. Mounted cabinets take up less space, eliminate dust participles and other objects that might creep under. The bathroom has a lot of moisture. In the long run, the hidden objects will start molding, leaving an unsettling odor.
The bedroom
Items you need in your bedroom: bed, headboard, chest of drawers, mirror, sideboard for your bed, linen, 2 to 4x pillows. Anything else is taking up space.
If you can help it, avoid keeping a chair in your bedroom as that often leads to mounting it with clothes every time you change outfits, making your room look untidy no matter how clean it is. This does not apply to you if you do not have a mounting habit.
The Kitchen
The first thing you need to do is to open your cupboard drawers. Some single-use items have not been used for months. There is a very high chance that you have too many peelers due to buying a new one every time a better looking one is released, leaving the older ones collecting dust in the drawers. If you are completely honest with yourself, you will find many items you purchased due to a promising future of making life convenient for you i.e. a pizza cutter. Honestly, whenever did you last make your own pizza? It’s high time you said ‘see you later’ to them.
Open up the cupboard. Too many lunch-boxes and you do not even take home-made lunch to work? Remove those you have hardly nor ever used.
Remember those chipped glasses and cups you always skip when you need to use one? Why are they still in your cupboard? Extract them and the chipped/cracked plates from your cupboard.
Toss away the empty bottles of seasoning on your spice rack.
Recycle all the shopping bags you have collected over the months and invest in green-bags.
Lastly but not least…TOYS
If you have children, combine your efforts and make them select the toys they hardly use. Involve them in the decision making on whether to toss, giveaway or store. This will eliminate any element of surprise such as your child suddenly throwing a tantrum as they cannot locate their favorite toys. The remaining toys should be packed away neatly in a room. It also helps to teach children from a very early age to pack away their toys after using them.
In summary, if it has been out of use for more than three months pack it away and keep it in storage if you feel you might need it in future. An uncluttered home has a fresher smell and will do wonders for your state of mind. For your storage convenience, find the nearest storage_facility to keep all your valuables safe and well-maintained.
The post How to Declutter Your Home appeared first on Whatstorage.