Declutterbug

My decluttering project is going great guns. I wrote a plan of what I wanted to do in each room. I spent some time thinking about the purpose of each room, looking at the furniture in there, and imagining how I wanted it to feel and function. I used one of my half-completed journals and just started drawing plans into it.

Here is my lounge as it was.
Lots of things. Being the magpie I am and having an eye for the unusual meant I had lots of odd cool stuff all over the place. Add to that my crafting projects and all the materials and tools needed for each one (not to mention a garage filled to the ceiling, front to back with more stuff) and we are in serious overload. When the girls come over to play, this is our gathering point.

Then there's my children who watch tv here, play games, do art, entertain their friends and sleep in here. During winter, to keep costs low, we sleep the children in here as it is the warmest room in the house. The heating is kept on 24/7 as my kids all suffer from bronchial illnesses and asthma. Wellington is a cold, wet, miserable city in winter.

This room is used for many things. It's where we eat dinner too, hold family meetings, Jedi's practice their saber skills, Ninja's leap about, and babies find old moths to chew on.

BEFORE

AFTER

For instance, in the lounge was a great hulking bookshelf and several baskets with craft stuff overflowing in my corner. I realised that the bookshelf dominated and hid the great view of the ocean through the little window there.

I had a great set of drawers. It has two big deep drawers. It lived in the garage buried beneath more stuff. I had started stripping them to revarnish them. We cleared out the junk and brought in the drawers, took out the large bookshelf and presto, instantly the whole corner changed.

BEFORE

AFTER

I am keeping one drawer for me for my current craft projects and one for the kids art materials. Drawers are good because I can shove my projects in their and they disappear from sight. The top of these deep drawers also provide me with a display surface. It currently houses my crafted goodness which is destined for a craft market this weekend at Pataka Art Gallery in Porirua.

BEFORE

This home is a rental so I must make do with things structurally. I found that just editing stuff out, removing junk and putting things away created a sense of space. Some inbuilt shelves had all manner of made things on them, photos, a painting I did. I cleared it off all but some little wool sculptures I made and two giant Nautilus shells. It became my white space. Me, who never does white, enjoys the visual breathing space all these changes are creating. I also removed one of my textile peices and reinstated my dear friend Dagmar's print back in its home place.

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

" To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time."

- Leonard Bernstein.

Overall I removed two large coffee tables, one large bookcase, a multitude of books, several large baskets of yarn and fabric, plus miscellaneous needles etc. I now have two tiny tables handmade by old patients at the Porirua Mental Hospital. I got them for $6 each at the Sallies store and love their naivety.

Today we finished dusting, vacuuming under the couches and wiping the leather down on the upholstery, finding random buttons before our now mobile baby did.

Every room in my home is going through a similar transformation. We have been able to give away a lot of things, hold a garage sale and share the proceeds, as well as chuck out a big carload of rubbish and stuff up to Trash Palace.

I'm on a roll. I found a small green rusted cubbyhole cabinet for the front door, just the right about of distressing and for the costly amount of $5. And the other large bookshelf there is being picked up tomorrow for another family to use along with a baby bath.

I realised my being an 'orphan' of sorts as a kid led me to an attachment to my things, which was the only constant in my life as a kid. I also love holding onto things so that I could bless others. I also love collecting things and can't even return from the beach without a pocket of sea glass, round pebbles, feathers, and buttons.

This process is helping me define what is important to me, and what isn't. So I love textiles and making textile stuff. Stitching, knitting, crochet, jewellery making, and the odd exhibition. As well, I love photography and can't wait to get some of my photos on canvas and onto the walls in the spaces I've created. I'm becoming more intentional each day. I walk past things I would've bought because they represented a good deal. Now I leave things for others to appreciate and enjoy.

Still a lot left to do but we are enjoying our home more, its easier to tidy and has decreased the amount of work I do here, leaving me more time to spend with friends and family having fun.

My Goals:

• Declutter and Clean Home: Two weeks to create a home that works for us and not against us.
• Financial plan and weekly/monthly budget: Two weeks to completely familiarise myself with everything from scratch.
• Homeschool plan: Two weeks to apply for exemption and American curriculum for Nemaia.
• Health and Fitness: Two weeks to establish a fitness plan, some goals and an incentive.
• Career: My own private counselling practice: Two Years time!
• Home: A bigger home when the opportunity arises once the finances are sorted.

Lots of big things to do. I felt so overwhelmed last week when I started clearing my home. But I journaled my thoughts about what I wanted to create, visited some folks who are organised, viewed some amazing homes via blogland and got myself inspired. Even with all the pain from my back injury and complications, I pressed through because I knew it would be worth it.

My husband walked into our lounge the other night and said 'it's like a rugby field in here". My friend Betty Ann and I are pacing ourselves, and email each other regular with any updates and progress reports. Its inspiring and encouraging to see someone elses progress and also hear about their dilemnas. Another friend went home and sorted out her garage full of art supplies. Another friend has asked my help and still another went home to start sifting through her possessions.

Serendipity and hard work. I just keep focusing on one box at a time, one shelf at a time, one task at a time. These little tasks everyday add up. I am seriously considering offering this as a service because I can see how it works. It really is about having a vision and getting your head right about things. I was overwhelmed at first but it was really oppressing living in a constant state of disarray. A reflection that some of my life was out of kilter perhaps.

I can't wait to help friends and anyone who needs a hand to get started. It really does bring a freedom and pleasure that can only be understood after the hard graft.

spring ...

... means summer is coming. It's still chilly here but the flowers are signs that spring has sprung. My children have mostly stopped coughing and we can leave our heavy jackets at home. We are still wearing wool though, my favourite fibre. Slowly peeling back the layers.

Just like my home. One small step at a time time as I go through my many possessions removing the clutter until (hopefully) all that remains are those most important treasures. And as I go, I am confronted with dilemma's as many things contain a story. And I am forced to consider what is important.

Leaving behind an artistic lifestyle to pursue my passion for working with people as a counsellor. And yet I will continue to create which is as essential as breathing really. So I am busy creating small corners for myself. A pile of handknitted and crocheted blankets. A vintage suitcase filled with old embroidered linens. A steel cabinet with all manner of stitchy things. My thrifted woollen blankets await new lives as clothes and homewares. Handmade baskets full of woollen and cotton yarn. A new project underway with new love crochet.

And our daily possessions. One wardrobe at a time. One drawer at a time. One bookshelf at a time. One box to the thrift shop. One to a friend with a baby on the way. A carload to my artistic sister Cleo. One for Trash Palace. Each step I feel lighter as I create space.

Hidden treasures are revealed and bring delight once more. Blessing others with preloved things. I've found the psychology of what I own to be the most interesting aspect of this whole decluttering and simplifying exercies. Why I own things in the first place and why I want to keep them or remove them for instance.

I also have in mind new spaces I want to create. A small shelf of my most used crafting stuff in the lounge to replace the oversized bookshelf that sits there. A desk with my laptop, sewing machine, diary and bible in my bedroom. A cabinet and shelves in the garage with my crafting materials, visual art diaries and supplies. And little else. We may even be able to park a car in there one day.

My dream ... a larger home with a small conservatory-like studio space for myself. A second living room for my children and their friends. An outdoor entertaining space. A family home that can accomodate others.

It's these ideas which motivate me and help me to push past the daily pain I suffer with a injured back. And I will get there one small step at a time.

Kapiti Island at dusk.