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Sunday 23 June 2013

Day one of the big declutter

I am exhausted!! I started my mammoth chore of decluttering the kitchen today. And my goodness it was a mammoth chore too! My utility area is the space that not only houses the washing

machine but also houses all my craft supplies. These consist of clay, clay tools, acrylic paint, water colour paint, chalk pastels, oil pastels, paint brushes, canvases, art paper, tiles, jewellery making supplies, beads, shells, pebbles, glue, tape, felt, thread, wool, etc etc etc. I tried oh so hard to get rid of the stuff I haven't used for ages but I'm so so rubbish at getting rid of things. I'm such a hoarder and it pains me to throw things away. Especially craft things!

Anyway, the space above the washing machine did look like this (shameful photo):


Gosh it looks awful.

Now it looks like this:


Those two boxes need sorting still but at least I can now see what's there.

I forgot to take before pictures of the main kitchen but here are the after pictures.



It really was a tough job. I emptied out cupboards and cleaned the shelves. Threw away out of date flour that had been "saved" to make play dough with. Struggled to decide what needed to go and what needed to stay. And then I sat on the floor and sobbed. I sobbed because I find de- cluttering really hard. I want a lovely minimal simple house but I really struggle with throwing away things that I "might" need or which have sentimental value. So what I did today was a huge achievement. I managed to get two archive boxes of stuff to sell at the next boot fair and THREE bags of rubbish!! Three!! So, although the kitchen is not yet finished... It is much much better than it was and I am now feeling OK to carry on. 








Saturday 22 June 2013

.... and.... breathe!

It's been one of those days today where your blood rises to boiling point and you think you might blow! Various things triggered it but it all seems to boil down to one reason and one reason only. And that is the house. There's five of us living in this house. The living space isn't teeny tiny but we are quite rubbish at using our space well. I've read Simplicity Parenting over and over. I've read 101 Ways to make more space over and over but we still live on chaos. In five  years time we will have a 6 year old, a 13 year old and a 15 year old and if the house is still just as chaotic we will be in for a bumpy ride.

Some time ago I followed the advice from Simplicity Parenting and cleared out a huge amount of the children's unused toys. It made so much difference you would not believe. However over the past year or so "stuff" has managed to return and we are back to chaotic living.

So it's time to do it again... More so than ever now that F is with us. We live in a three bedroom house. N has the best deal so far. She has a double room all to herself and her goldfish. C had a tiny box room that fits a normal bed and nothing else (but he doesn't have a normal bed... He has a high sleeper with all of his things underneath). G and I share our room with F. FM's cot is beside or bed but more often than not he's in with us.

So its time to change.

Tomorrow I will begin my major clear out ... Beginning with the kitchen. In the hope it will help in us trying to live more simply... I'll keep you updated... Hopefully with photos! x