De-Cluttering Techniques

This is a follow-on from last week's post about the places that I donate to or where I sell the unwanted items from my quarterly clear-outs. I thought more detail about my system for de-cluttering may help others facing this task.

I'm more comfortable in a minimal styled space, and get stressed put when I'm surrounded by clutter.  Most of my friends and family are aware that I am eternally clearing out.  I've inherited this trait from my Nanna.

In the past I have actually been asked by a couple of friends for my suggestions of where to start, and most recently by my Mum when they moved house.

So below I'd like to share my top tips.  Some will be obvious, but it doesn't hurt to see them in black and white to help get you motivated!

In the process of de-cluttering the kitchen dresser, so I can sell it.

*  Look at your clutter from a purely practical point of view.  Put aside emotion for just a moment.

*  You get to keep one "box of memories".  A box of keep-sakes, treasures etc.  Buy a nice box that seals well to keep the dust and silverfish out, and find a spot to keep it which is out of the way but easily accessible.

*  Set up a cardboard box marked 'charity', one marked 'rubbish', one marked 'keep', another marked 'sell' and any other relevant labels.

*  Ask a friend or family member to help.  This gets the job done quicker and also helps you to stay on track and motivated.

*  Start with one room at a time, or if there's a lot of clutter in one room, work with one cupboard, drawer or box at a time.

*  Try to remember when you last used each item.  If it has been longer than 3 months, it has to go.

*  If you're holding onto an item 'in case' you might need it in the future, put it in a cardboard box, write today's date on it, and the date in 3 months time.  When you come across the box in your next clear out, sort through it and if none of it has been touched it has to go!

*  When possible, try to bring your items into an area with natural light to sort through them.  Sitting in a dark space will make the job even harder.

*  With everything you do keep, try to put it away in an organised way so you avoid it becoming clutter again in the future.  My favourite way of storing things in cupboards is in boxes.  Particularly the clear plastic SAMLA series boxes from IKEA.  They stack well, come in multiple sizes and you can see the contents easily.  Labels stuck to the front help identify the contents too.

*  Find a picture of a room that you would love your finished room to look like, and keep it in view while you're sorting.

*  Set a deadline for achieving your end goal.  If it's a room be realistic and allow a few sessions.  If it's one cupboard or set of drawers it should be achievable in one day, especially with the help of a friend.

*  Clear out regularly.  If you frequently do small amounts of clearing it won't mount up to a mammoth task.  I suggest starting with a quarterly clearing session.  Use the start of each season as a reminder.

*  And last of all, try to enjoy it.  You'll feel cleansed and satisfied when you finish, so focus on the end result if you start to feel overwhelmed.

I could probably go on and on for pages with more de-cluttering techniques, but I think this is enough for you to get stuck in!

Quarterly Clear Out

Some people have a yearly "Spring Clean".  Others, like the people on the TV show Hoarders, never clear out.

Personally I like to clear out at least one area of my house quarterly.  The change of the season always makes me feel like culling and reorganising.

The crisp Autumn air has just arrived and already I've started clearing out the vintage dresser in our kitchen, all the kitchen cupboards, sorted through the kids clothes, and all my maternity clothes.

When I clear out, I always like to ensure that I sell, reuse, recycle, re-home as much as possible to reduce landfill and give items a new life.

There are a lot of great options I utilize to clear out my house, and I thought you might appreciate me listing them in case there are one or two you haven't come across.  I've included the obvious as well.


Places to sell your goods:
eBay
Gumtree
KID size Living Community Garage Sale
Tempe Buy Swap Sell
Tempe Yard Sale Trail - annual event happening again in September this year.

Donate your goods:
Salvation Army
Marrickville Council Collection
Little Wonder - donate your baby clothes and equipment her to help premature babies at RPA
Reverse Garbage - donate excess materials, stage props, paper, fabric etc
The Bower - donate windows, doors, furniture etc.
Local Nursing Home - donate your unwanted magazines and books to your local aged care facility

If you don't know about the Tempe Yard Sale Trail, I'll be publishing a post about it on here soon, or visit the Facebook page for more info.


And of course a lot of these places are also fantastic for buying as well, just try not to fill the space you've just created from clearing out!

I hope I've inspired you to clear out your own home, and at the same time give as many of your items as possible a second life.

DIY Rainbow Crossing

Our backyard DIY Rainbow

Unless you've given up your phone and computer this past week, then you would have seen your Facebook feed and Twitter feed full of chalk rainbow images.

As a peaceful response to the Taylor Square rainbow crossing being removed, multitudes of people have hit the pavement drawing their own colourful rainbows with chalk.

Started over at the DIY Rainbow Crossings Facebook page. the trend has gone global as you can see by the images posted on their Facebook page and as reported by The Australian.


On Monday, I took the kids out into the backyard with a packet of chalk and we created a mini rainbow on the path.

Work in progress on Union Street
Photo: Helen Pentecost

Littlies chalking in Union Street
Photo: Helen Pentecost

As we started our little backyard rainbow crossing, I received a message from a neighbour across the road who had just bought a load of giant chalk to embark on a full size rainbow crossing on our street.  She invited us over to be part of it.

Union Street DIY Rainbow Crossing

The rainbow crossing on the street was a lot trickier as we had cars occasionally coming through, so we had the youngest kids colouring at the side of the road out of harms way and the adults / teenagers doing the middle.  Luckily we're on a small one way street so there wasn't too much traffic.

Union Street DIY Rainbow Crossing Complete!
Photo: Helen Pentecost

Station Street DIY Rainbow Crossing
Photo: Ellie McNamara

With such a warm and welcoming community in Tempe, there were a lot of us who wanted to get involved and spread the message of 'love is love'.  So about four or five streets in Tempe got on board and created there own DIY rainbow crossings. 

Toyer Street DIY Rainbow Crossing
Photo: Bettina Kaiser

Toyer Street DIY Rainbow Crossing
Photo: Bettina Kaiser

Brooklyn Street DIY Rainbow Crossing
Photo: Selina Martin

Another lovely example of the young families of the area working together for something they believe in and having fun with the kids at the same time.

Renovation / Life Balance

Sometimes it takes a moment of reflection to see the path you've been heading down recently.  And while breastfeeding, I'm forced to sit and reflect on things a lot!

This week I realised that while we succeed at maintaining a healthy work / life balance (most of the time!), it's trying to establish a more sustainable renovation / life balance that we need to work on.

And last weekend is the perfect example.  For a while we had wanted to replace the guttering at the front of the house to match the new roofing on the porch.  During the week I had a spare moment to ring around for quotes, and when we discovered how affordable it was, we decided to do it.  Mark measured up, I ordered it and Mark picked it up before work on Friday morning.  We had our neighbour booked in to help and we were all ready to go.

Then our TV antenna stopped working.  Another trip to Bunnings, and Mark's time spent researching.  I spent most child-free moments on Saturday painting the front door jam, and filling any gaps between the jam and the architrave.

Mark then spent Sunday morning up the ladder taking down the old antenna and replacing it with a shiny new one. I love shiny new things!

Then we all went to Ava's swimming lesson together as a family, before Mark spent the rest of the afternoon replacing the front guttering.


That was the weekend gone. And while the kids spent patches of time with their Daddy on Saturday and Sunday, had a nice time with me, saw their grandparents and had an afternoon in the park with friends, they didn't get big chunks of quality time with their Daddy and we didn't get much family time.





We all felt the effects of not spending time relaxing together, and have promised ourselves to try not to let the house take over again.

It's so easy to focus on the end result we want to achieve with the house, and loose focus of the time we need to spend together as a family along the way!