Tuesday 20 January 2015

A clean start for 2015

Happy new year everyone!

I am finally back from four blissful weeks at the Sunshine Coast, where we stayed with my brother and his very accommodating brother and his family (you may have seen my instagram photos).  We miss them already.....they are a twelve hour drive south from us in Mackay, and we have all decided that we really want to move a bit closer to them......stay tuned!

In the meantime I have been busy with my New Years Resolution of getting my house in order - for
that smooth and sleek mid-century look.  So now I am de-cluttering and de-owning - for some reason that seems so much easier after living our of a suitcase for four weeks!  So far we have donated three car loads of bags to good will, and are on our second trip to the tip/recycling centre.

I have been on a few blogs devoted solely to to de-cluttering.  Some advise to take away one thing a day - which with eight of  us living at home (my son and his girlfriend are here for a few weeks while they clean out their apartment and move states) - doesn't make a dent.  My approach is to be ruthless and get rid of anything I haven't used in the last 6 months (or year with clothing).   Then  last night I read this amazing book (e-book version).

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever


Now I am even more motivated to purge.  Marie Kondo is a Japanese 'tidying' expert, and somewhat of a celebrity in Japan. Marie's advice is that if something doesn't " spark joy" then you should let it go - not forgetting to thank it for it's part it played in your life before doing so.  Some of her ideas are a little different, but they make sense in a way - and I was so happy to find someone who hangs clothes in the wardrobe like me - I thought I was weird with my dark to light, long to short method, but apparently it's better in many ways.  And as for her method of folding and string clothes - genius!

I am having a little trouble cutting down my books, but I have let three boxes go.....

vintage pic cleaning is fun
tidying is fun!
I am fitting my 'tidying' in between work and children, so I haven't been able to devote a whole day to one area.....but it's almost the weekend!  I'll try and take some before and after photos. Then I'll just sit back and wait for my life to change!

Do you have any de-cluttering goals for the year?

Deb

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