First Foray into Clothing Clutter

Right, this is scary, I am actually going to open my wardrobes and take some photos AND get rid of some things straight into the charity bag.

I am planning to discard anything that my instinct says NO! to too, that has seen better days, can´t be sold (ie not a “brand”) and isn´t going to contribute to a more pulled-together me.

Come back later for photos and details….

If you also feel like decluttering your clothes this week, please let me know I´m not the only one doing it!

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The Big Reveal…..the ugly ugly truth.

This is what happens when you move your wardrobes, have to take everything out, dismantle the wardrobes, move bedrooms and because you are pressed for time and 6 months pregnant, just stuff everything in any which way including a whole pile of stuff that didn´t fit anyway to begin with and was overflowing to other areas.

Yep, this is what happens….when you don´t need to wear anything except for a handful of pregnancy clothes.

See all the clothes stuffed in at the bottom?

This is what happens when you are a complusive shopper (was) who bought a lot of clothes….

I don´t dare open the other door!

Stay tuned tomorrow for details of what I have tossed- I may weigh the bags and reveal the kilos, lol.

Filed under: Clothes, Decluttering Monday, Decluttering to get my life back

Recap and Soldiering On

I have come a long way since I started this blog. I can look back with pleasure at many rooms, boxes, cupboards, plastic bags emptied, sorted, thrown and put away. I have got many bags of rubbish out the door and clothing bags to the charity shop. I have also been able to sell some things and will work on that more in the coming year.

While sorting through long unopened bags and boxes, I have been amazed at the things I have kept and for how long. I have to keep that in mind as I am in the future tempted to keep things just in case…

Yet, I feel I am lost in a sea of maintenance and that things have not got that much better overall. I still have a LOT of uncluttering to do and the clutter also seems to continue to build up in areas I have cleaned. Maybe I am just seeing the negative at present and perhaps I am getting too obsessed with having less and less. I want to be a minimalist. I want to live in a minimal household.

Having a whole new slew of baby things scattered around scares me too – if I am not managing the household I have, how will I deal with another human being´s belongings as well? All the more reason to have less – we are not going to be moving to a larger space anytime soon.

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Thank you to everyone for their good wishes! I am off to the hospital very soon to spend the night. I have an ache in my chest and am a bit scared. Things are a bit tense at home too and that doesn´t help.

Apparently they have wifi in the hospital (yay!) so I may be able to get online again some point soon – terrible aren´t I? – though I am not taking my Mac with me now as I am not sure if I will have somewhere safe to leave it tomorrow. I have friends here expecting me to text them from my mobile phone in the operating theatre, though I don´t think this will be possible

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Reflections

Clutter Rears Its Ugly Head Again

Lest I forget the original raison d´etre of this blog, I am still floundering over the above. This is the “cleverly” concealed pile of clutter that I have cleverly relocated to my son´s room and covered with a blanket- and in the corner of the photo you can also see an “in progress” garbage bag!

I have to get this sorted out this weekend- the sun is shining and I feel tired but good. My family have gone camping and I am all about peace and quiet at home (no, I am not sad about being alone at home Easter morning – I will enjoy the much needed solitude too much! and also have guaranteed uninterrupted sleep for however long they stay away).

Yet…..this is the last bit of clutter in the apartment (bar the usual exception- my wardrobes) …and it is not going away. I think I can pick away at this bit by bit and still get out for a bike ride (yes, I am still riding) in the sun to pick up some groceries. German shops must be closed on public holidays and Sundays, which means that today in the only day in four that they are open!

If I am “good” this weekend, I will also download CDs on itunes and get rid of them too…but one thing at a time.

My Spacious Self arrived this morning, sending my husband into paroxyms of mirth. He thinks I buy decluttering books without actually doing anything about it…though he does acknowledge the progress I have made at home. I am saving it for hospital in any case.

On a lighter note, here is the spread from yesterday´s biergarten picnic at Gauting.

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Easter

Lifetime Goals

Shoestring Alley blogged about her April Challenges and when I read them they really resonated with me, however not being just challenges for April, but challenges for my whole life.

My goals when I started this blog and decluttering process were to change all my values and convictions about what I think I need, consume and live my life. Some of these things I am doing already to an extent – how much I have already changed since the beginning of the year!

• Making the most of what I already have – I am working on this day by day by “consuming down” stockpiles I already have and having many many no spending days in a row. I will also work on changing my mindset so more things get repaired, altered or put to alternative use so the need to buy disappears.

• Doing things for free – Thank goodness summer is approaching! It does make it easier to get out and about with the children and do things that do not at least involve huge amounts of money (like going to an indoor play centre, driving somewhere instead of biking etc). Though as I am writing this I realise that the best things in life, are not really going to be free, however at least inexpensive: going to the local swimming pool will cost money for entrance and an iceblock (though I take food and drink from home – planning needed again), going to beer gardens is the price of drinks (Bavarian beer gardens which are a paradise for young and old with great playgrounds allow you to bring your own food however do ask that you consume their drinks) – and yes, it is a necessary evil for the social opportunity for adults and children alike (every weekend we meet friends at one at least once) and camping (cost of the campground and food – we have the rest).

• Financial management - paying bills on time, having a grocery budget and saving all my 5€ notes at home for “cash” emergencies. Selling unneeded items to reduce the clutter and pay debts down.

• Considered spending - planning what I need to buy for the children, planning holiday spending, having a food budget.

So, these are some of the things that sprung to mind as I wrote this post. Lots more to consider as I evolve my new self

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I packed my hospital bag this morning, I am starting to get worried about perhaps going into labour and want to be ready. The trouble is that most of the things in this hospital bag I am still using/ wearing – so it has now become a bag that I going to live out of for the duration – like being on holiday!

Yesterday I was ill with nausea and vomiting and while I feel mostly better today (just a bit weak) I have to spend whatever energy I have left this weekend continiuing to get ready for baby. I wish it was all ready now, however life keeps throwing unexpected spanners in the works and I am behind.

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Reflections

Spring Cleaning

I think it was the first (unofficial) day of Spring here today- about 17C, sunny and happy weather.

I took the opportunity to give the most horrible parts of the apartment a good clean – not as good as a proper spring clean, however more a “ready for the weekend” and “if someone dropped by unexpectedly I wouldn´t be absolutely mortified” type of clean.

I bought some pale pink and orange tulips yesterday and they have opened up beautifully. I like to have fresh flowers sitting on the table until such point that hayfever season hits me. Tulips seem to be cheap and plentiful so I can usually afford them each week. My daughter made the mats pictured above at school.

I am still decluttering “as I go” about my daily routine. I feel I am nearly, so nearly at the point where I can say the apartment is totally decluttered (bar wardrobes scheduled for June). Its been a lot of hard work, however what will be left then will just be on going maintenance. I am going to do some reading on the Flylady site to motivate me to do weekly or daily Flings and keep it under control.

But no, I´m not finished as I still have two storage areas in Germany to purge (in addition to two lots of junk left behind at family´s houses in Australia). But I feel more confident now after having come so far with the house that I will be able to divest myself without too much angst and fear.

I think I finally know that I don´t really need so much stuff.

EDIT: 4pm- Someone is indeed dropping by!! The universe is in sync for me today.

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Reflections

The Great Jewelery Clean-up

Everything dumped out on the table…

Thanks to everyone who asked , I am feeling a little better, however not as better as I would have hoped by today. The weather is unfortunately miserable here, however from tomorrow sunny spring days are forecast, so I am keeping my fingers crossed as I heal better in warm weather.A corner of my bedroom waiting to be filled…

Today I had my long planned jewelery clean-up. When we turned the house upside down earlier this year and moved bedrooms, all my jewelery (costume, no actual jewels to speak of) was dumped unceremoniously in two bags. And because I am pregnant and lost a lot of interest (ok, all) in my appearance, I haven´t even been bothered by its absence – and I am definitely a jewelery gal!

So, even though there ARE more pressing things I need to do, I decided to do this today – it took me two hours to sort and untangle everything and I am relieved that when I do finally feel like dressing up again, it is all nicely organised.

I have way more jewelery than I could ever wear or need, however I don´t feel a need to divest myself of any of it
- firstly because compared to other clutter problems I have this takes up relatively little space and
- secondly because I think my daughter will have great fun playing with it all when she is a teenager .
Also my tastes have changed a lot over the years and maybe some things I don´t like now will appeal to me in a few years. There are a few items that need repairing as well and a lot that need cleaning, however if I don´t get around to it myself, I am sure that someone else might be motivated to one day .

I feel the same way about my scarves and shawls – they take up little space and will be a nice hand-me-down.

These are a few of my favourite things…. (yes, all those boxes are full too…)
All put away neatly

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back

Amazon Sales – Media

I have sold another seven items this week- four CDs, two DVDs and one book. The CDs seem to be selling really well (I posted six last week) so it is motivating me to download my nearly new CDs to itunes and list them- even the ones I like. CDs that are not Amazon-sellable are also going to be downloaded and then go in the charity bags.

I can really recommend Amazon as there is no fee to list, fees to pay, yes, however it still works out as worth it for me anyway.

I am not (though I respect those people who are) someone who needs to have a CD collection on display – I just want the clutter gone. I won´t touch my poor husband´s classical music collections, however everything else is fair game. He has an ipod too, so hopefully won´t complain. We don´t even have a full stereo set up anymore – just a small moveable boombox that goes from my daughter´s room to the kitchen and back. I have a set of speakers that my ipod plugs into when I need to get a cleaning groove going.

One of the gifts I got at my baby shower last week was an itunes gift card for 15€ – I am thinking of adding Depeche Mode´s new album (which comes out on April 17th in Germany, just in time to take to hospital) to my collection- they are coming to Munich in June and I am disappointed that I won´t be able to get out to see them – it will just be too soon. I know they´re not the most cheeriest music, but I´ve always liked them and their new song “Wrong” is perfect for my cleaning roster and need for techno music

Do you prefer to store media digitally these days?

EDIT: Just chatted to my husband and he told me to go to the concert – two month old baby….fully breastfed….I am dubious. I would be leaving him with bottles of expressed milk and away five or six hours – I never did with either of the other two.

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Media storage

Keeping the Kid´s Stuff under Control

I am still struggling with this on a daily basis, even though in the last two months I have done two total “clean ups” of their bedrooms.

When I say “clean up” that means I have a charity bag for clothes and toys, I throw away wads of paper (there is the odd thing I keep in a folder, however I am well past that stage of keeping everything that my darlings have scribbled on), I throw away Kinder Surprise egg toys (in pieces), I re-sort all lego, cars, playmobil, barbies, ponies etc into the correct buckets. I throw away craft projects which have had their day (egg carton trains, chocolate box computers etc) and I tidy their bookshelves. I end up finding loads of utensils in their rooms to be returned to the kitchen.

My hope after the last big clean up was that they (Miss 7, Mr nearly 5) would somehow keep everything tidy! I was clearly delusional…. and yes, I do “make them” clean up their rooms, however its not being done on a voluntary “I like to live in a clean bedroom” basis. In fact, I think my son is better at this than my daughter- she doesn´t seem to care about the state of her room at all, which doesn´t bode well for the teenager years!

Additionally, even though they have two rooms to play in, they prefer to play in our living room/dining room, so there is a request from me at least once a day to take “everything” back into their rooms. I suspect this is not uncommon however for children to want to play where the heart of the family is- though I draw the line when things start to end up in my bedroom!

The things I think I am doing right are:

- They have plenty of separate storage for different toys (cars, trains, lego, playmobil, barbies, ponies, dolls clothes)
- They both have a bookshelf
- They also have storage for their much loved stuffed toys under their bunk beds
- They have adequate room for their clothes

Wrong:

- Still too many toys, too many choices….do I just keep decluttering down to the bare minimum of toys or do I accept that this is the way children´s bedrooms are? They do use what they have though, I truly believe its not excessive and when I secretly get rid of things, they seem to notice and want to know where “x” is within a week…

I think I perhaps need to be very Zen about this and “let go”….. though on a final note, my husband says “they have too many toys” without having any suggestions or helping in any way. And that gets my back up because I am really doing my best.

I kept most of their baby toys too, which will be making an appearance in the next year- heaven help me!

Flashback to photos of their bedrooms on a good day

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Home Matters

My Pact with Myself for Today

1. Go through my daughter´s toys and remove small cluttery Playmobil pieces (the kind that end up on the floor being stood on painfully or sucked up by the vacuum cleaner) that I know can be put away (already done for son´s room a few days ago). Store these pieces labeled to be bought out in years to come. (half an hour)

2. Transfer summer t-shirts into kid´s drawers from wardrobe where I had sorted them out previously (ones from last year I think might still fit). (5 minutes)

3. Clean that sticker off the window in the living room I have been meaning to do for months! (10 minutes?)

4. Clean out “physician´s chest” or at least start to. (1 to 2 hours).
Pictured above- most of these drawers are full of random pieces of paper, old batteries, pens, hairclips, broken things, cords from electrical equipment, flyers from home deliverys etc… I don´t think it actually is a physician´s chest either, its just what I call it, its a French antique we bought at a flea market 10 years ago.

Four not onerous things…the last one is the only one reducing clutter permanently- ie, there will be things going in the rubbish bin.

Small small steps….

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UPDATE: As of 2.10pm have done three of these things as well as taken my son to the doctor which resulted in no real result- ie, have to wait for him to get better on his own.

5.23pm- Finished and exhausted again. I´m happy to have got rid of at least a small bag of rubbish from the chest and decluttered my daughter´s room so hopefully its easier for her to keep clean. I am also hoping that when its my husband´s turn to take care of the housekeeping, less clutter makes it easier all round.

Having a list for the day posted like this here really helped me. I don´t need to do it everyday, however today it helped keep the momentum going as well as taking care of usual household business. I am not doing anything else “work related” now for the rest of the day!

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back

Two Bags…

for the clothing collection and the beginning of bag number three. Today was not a productive day (Mondays are usually spectacularly bad motivation wise for me), however I did manage to fill another bag to add to yesterday´s one and sort out baby clothes to be washed. Now I just have to wait for the next collection notice to be pinned to the front door of the apartment block in front of us.

I also decided to (sob) get rid of my wedding dress which inadvertently came up from the storage too. I am going to do what my mother did and cut the lace off to keep- she gave it to me and I sewed it onto my veil (which is stored away in tissue paper). The dress itself is not worth keeping – it is stained in some places that the dry cleaners weren´t able to get out, it was inexpensive, even though silk, never meant to be an heirloom – it´s now clutter. I have the memories and the lace from the bodice will be enough to pass down to whoever would like a piece

13 years ago in Sydney, two people, one now with salt and pepper hair, one blonde….

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Wedding dress