I think mine was when I got rid of the 3rd toilet. By locking the door for a year I was certain life would go on smoothly without it. I then got the toilet and tiles taken out and replaced the floor. I lined the long wall with Ikea Billy bookshelves and the short wall with Ikea CD shelves. I have about 10 books myself, but my husband and children have loads and loads. I then put all the books in there. The cd shelves are perfect for paperbacks. I got lots of extra shelves so I could configure the shelves to take loads of books. Instead of having an extra toilet to clean, we now have a great home for all our books. Better to have them in there than spread over the house.
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Posted 1 year ago #
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A miniature library! I love that idea!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Nice! But then, I've heard bathrooms referred to as the "library" before..... ;)
I think my best uncluttering idea was starting to do it!
Designating a storage bench by my front door as an outgoing area for donations and things I'm giving or taking to other people and places has worked wonders for me as well. Things I no longer need or want don't get left in closets or on shelves even when I realize I'm ready to get rid of them, just because there isn't any other convenient place to store them. OUT stuff is out of sight, but already in a bin ready to leave. The bench is still useful for holding book bags and purses or for putting on shoes by the door, so it's not a waste of space just for storing outgoing junk.Posted 1 year ago # -
FIRST STEP: Back when there were only cardboard jigsaw puzzles, I cut out the top of the box, to get the picture, and then put all the pieces in a sturdy plastic ziploc bag. Matching labels on picture and bag. Instead of a stack of large, flimsy boxes, I had a jigsaw puzzle collection that fit into a drawer.
SECOND STEP: I bought a computer program called Brainsbreaker that lets you turn any JPEG image into a jigsaw puzzle. You decide how many pieces and what kind of pieces. When I do a puzzle on the computer, the cats can't knock all the pieces onto the floor! Also, I now have a collection of hundreds of puzzles, using pictures I glommed from the net, that requires no physical storage space at all.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Imposing strict spatial standards/goals.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Seeing as I'm fairly new on the decluttering bandwagon, my best idea so far has been joining this forum. It keeps the process always in the forefront of my thoughts instead of hidden away. Er... the down side, though, is that it keeps the process always in the forefront of my thoughts. :-/
Posted 1 year ago # -
My best idea is in hindsight...DON'T BUY ANY MORE STUFF!!! :)
(I actually made a little card that says this and put it in my wallet.)Posted 1 year ago # -
This isn't really my idea, as I came across it somewhere or other, but it may be my favorite: never organize when it's possible to just declutter instead. Also, I set some limits with objects I have a weakness for, such as books...I am not buying another bookcase to accommodate my habit.
When I have the money to do it, I look forward to implementing the next great uncluttering idea: going digital as much as possible. Clutter and allergen reduction, all in one!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Best way to declutter: start with a slightly neurotic woman (me) who likes things clean and put away. Add 2 cats that knock down and run away with anything small that's left laying around or put on display. Add boyfriend who is allergic to cats and requires strict regular house cleaning to stay allergy-free. Refuse to spend entirety of life doing housework. ... it's all a natural progression from there, really :P
Jokes aside, I think my best decluttering idea was "never buy bulk". Buying small quantities of most things means I nearly always get through things like food, toiletries and medication before they expire. It means I don't need a lot of storage space for "spares". It means I get to have more variety and constantly try new things rather than have to use up my stash first. It means if I try something and don't like it, I either only have to suffer it for a little while, or I don't feel as bad getting rid of a small quantity as I would getting rid of a larger quantity. The exceptions to this are pretty much only toilet paper and tissue boxes, and the rule for those is to limit the volume to what fits in a specific spot in my storage closet.
Posted 1 year ago # -
When I put like things together, I realized how ridiculous it was to have so many of each item in different places all over the house. I had office things (tape, stapler, paper clips, etc.) in my kitchen, family room as well as the office.
Now, I have office things in the office, kitchen things in the kitchen, tools in the toolbox and so on. Basically, I've eliminated multiples.
Until I did this, I didn't know how much unnecessary stuff I had because it was spread out all over the house. I got rid of the multiples too!
Posted 1 year ago # -
My best idea was a mental turning -- to do this on my own and to have no expectations that DH will join in or resentment if he doesn't. It's been liberating for me, and although he is still not uncluttering, he is a bit tidier, which is good enough.
Posted 1 year ago # -
To echo some other folks, my best ideas were to start decluttering, stop buying new stuff, and to do A Thing a Day.
Posted 1 year ago # -
yes, i think that the simple act of consciously deciding to declutter was the single biggest thing for me.
once the mental switch was flipped, everyything else just followed on from there.joining this community at unclutterer was also a brilliant idea!
setting physical space limits has been wonderfully helpful for me.
realising that it is ok to get rid of books has been so freeing.
realising that i will never make a quilt out of damaged discarded clothing has been another huge moment.Posted 1 year ago # -
I think for me, joining this forum and just taking things one item at a time has been the biggest thing! It's so easy for me to get overwhelmed and want to throw the towel in on being decluttered all together, but ATAD and looking at things ONE item at a time has helped tremendously.
I don't need to declutter every single thing overnight. I just need to declutter one thing a day!
I'd also have to agree with bandicoot, getting rid of books has been freeing! I've realized I can ALWAYS buy a book again in the future if I really really want it back. Chances are, I'll forget it had been sitting on my shelf for several years waiting to be read.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I just got the book "The Joy of Less" out of the library, which was written by the woman that does the Miss Minimalist blog. Anyway, in one of the early chapters, she encourages you to think about some of your happy memories, and the role of stuff in them. While reading that, I realized that one of my fondest memories was my study abroad semester in college. While I still had a ton of stuff back home, I only had access to 2 suitcases of things. Same thing with some of the vacations I've been on. One suitcase, but better memories than a ton of stuff could ever compete with. And no technological clutter, too. That was a huge revelation for me!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Mine was to finally scan and get rid of the pounds and pounds of paper I had been hauling around and kept in files. Now just about everything is scanned in at some point, and the paper is shredded. It's made a big difference in my approach to all paperwork. It's easier for me to process/pay/scan/shred than it was to process/pay/file/review for tax implications at end of year/bundle into tax folder by year/shred after 7 years. Whew! I no longer have a file cabinet. I do make sure to back up my computer every other night, though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Just deciding to respond to criticism with "Fuck off." Which I actually did this weekend finally.
Yes, I totally could be taking the old computers to some charity that is only open 2 hours a week on the other side of town, and I could be shredding every single piece of junk mail just in case I missed something with our information on, and I could be combing Freecycle for people who want our 10 year old magazines...but the people telling me I should be doing better area always people drowning in clutter and not making progress on it. So fuck 'em.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Rosa- I'm with you. Somedays it pays to just trash stuff, as opposed to cluttering your mind and time with driving, calling snd waiting all dang day!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Rosa - I'm with you too! I debated having a bunch of different categories to my uncluttering -- sell, donate to charity #1, donate to charity #2, fix and try to sell, Freecycle... but then you know what? I decided to declutter to simplify my life, not to make it more complicated. So everyhing that's donateable is going to the Salvation Army, with the exception of clothes (there's a clothing donation bin on my way to work) and books (library is also on my way to work). I'd love to donate towels etc to the animal shelter, but it's just too far, so I give money every year instead. Holier-than-thou folks can just shove their sticks a little bit farther up their bums and move on, if my way of doing things bothers them.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've decided I love Rosa!!! LMAO
God I wish I could get the nerve to tell my mother that! She's a CLEAN freak. but...not a decluttered person.
She has told me my whole adult life, how my house isn't clean, or how I could do this or that better. Now that I declutter, I LOVE...LOVE saying...gosh mom...why have 58 pairs of socks??!? That's really ridiculous. I decluttered to 10 white and 2 black. Who needs anything other than that? And she just looked at me stammering. LOL I really secretly enjoyed turning the tables on her. Now she has hardly any socks. LOL
Posted 1 year ago #
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