Every day I pay thanks to the internet. And social media. I believe it's a miracle. And don't even get me started on Instagram. I'm a fan. Wherever I may be, I can check out what's going on around the globe . There are the most fantastic photos in my stream. This one not quite so fantastic, but a flavour of my day today. (p.s it's not a dirty carpet - ...
Decluttering
A Bag A Day Keeps The Clutter At Bay
It doesn't matter what size bag. It could be a bin-liner, or a small paper gift bag. What matters is that each day decluttering happens. Not as an afterthought, or as a 'might get round to'. When looking to reduce clutter, momentum is important. If overwhelmed with where to start or feeling daunted, it's unproductive to set yourself unrealistic ...
Engaging Children In Decluttering
Very often it's so much easier to put things off until you have the 'time' to do them. Problem is, does that time ever appear? There's a saying that you 'make time'. Sometimes you just need to get started and the time will find itself. There's another saying - 'You are what you repeatedly do'. And I like to declutter 20 things in 20 minutes ...
Don’t Walk By
Every so often the voice inside my head will replay the same few words over and over. This month it's repeating: 'Don't walk by' Fortunately I've started hearing it when the lil'-ole-procrastination-devil (nicely attired in ruby-red from head to toe) encourages me to stroll on past the laundry basket rather than grab the handles and carry it downstairs to ...
Getting Your House In Order
On Monday I attended a funeral. It was a sad and unexpected occasion. Part of the service concentrated on how such untimely deaths (and death generally) can focus the mind. The priest spoke about how death reminds us we aren't infinite beings and to not waste time on the mundane. Even if, for some, that reminder is fleeting. "One day you will wake up and ...
Make Decluttering A Daily Habit
Frequently experts advise the way to achieve your goals is to work toward them daily. I'm someone who rebelled against routine for many years, believing myself to be a free spirit, ready to go wherever the wind blows. Rather than a creature of habit - a creative creature of dreams and wishful thinking. All of my spare time during my early 20's was spent ...
Is It Useful? Is It Beautiful?
What might our homes look (and function) like if the criteria upon whether precious space is allocated, to stuff, is always based on 2 simple questions? Is it useful? Is it beautiful? Mine would look, and function, much better. It would be a major improvement. But are these simple questions? I'd suggest not. What is beauty? What is usefulness? These ...
The Cost of Storage
There was a really interesting show on BBC 2 last week. Business Boomers - Real Storage Wars "The second documentary in the Business Boomers series discovers why Britain came to have the biggest self-storage industry in Europe, when just three decades ago the industry didn't even exist in this country." (source: www.bbc.co.uk) (digressing slightly, the ...
Spring Cleaning / Let The Big Declutter Commence
There are many possible origins to the term 'Spring Cleaning'. A quick search on Google will uncover most of them. But my very favourite, and the one I always use as my point of reference dates back to prehistoric times. "Spring cleaning origins probably most date back to prehistory, and represent the time when it was easiest to conduct a good cleaning of ...
Food Waste Friday / Out Of Sight Out Of Mind
Each week since March 2008, in order to motivate her to waste less food, Kristen The Frugal Girl, has posted a picture of any food that has gone bad over the last seven days. She found this embarrassing practice so helpful, to her, that she invited other bloggers to post their own photos, and Food Waste Friday was born. I started participating in October ...