Study

Living a More Uncluttered Life

June 3, 2013Home and Organisation, Opinion and Other Random Things, OrganisationCleaning, family, Home, Organisation, Reflection, Studysubversivereader View all 2 comments

Last post, I told you about how I’d been uncluttering my study. I’m nearly finished with it, especially since the garbage will be picked up tomorrow, but I’m already noticing a few differences. In fact, one of the first things I did was pick up my crochet hook and begin making some little crocheted characters – something I hadn’t done in ages.

Why did I return to crocheting creatures? Because it was easy. Because everything was right there where I needed it – I could easily lay my hands on the right hook, the right yarn and even the eyes. And then I had space to work.

A little decluttering is a powerful thing.

So, I wondered, what would happen if I consciously chose to unclutter my life in other ways. If I chose to do more with less, chose to spend less time on inconsequential things? If I created a house that makes me truly happy. And how can I go about doing this?

Well, it turns out there are lots of books and websites on being more uncluttered. So I plan to peruse them, to find things that some something to me and to try them out. Then I will, of course, share the results with you. Because if decluttering one room feels so good, what would it me like if more and more of my life was in the same state?

What would you like to declutter in your life?

How I Decluttered My Study

May 29, 2013Home and OrganisationCleaning, declutter, Home, Organisation, studio, Studysubversivereader One comment

Do you remember this?

Last November, I wrote about my study and the problem I was having getting it tidied. Since then, I’ve been able to do very little – the study was just too close to Squirm’s room to get anything done during nap times – and the mess just kept piling up and up and up.

Finally I decided enough was enough. I don’t need a study, so much, but I want a studio to work in. I want a place to keep my crochet things safe and a place which will inspire me. And I want a room which is welcoming for Squirm. As it was, this room was far from welcoming.

So with the help of baby wearing and a pile of empty cardboard boxes to keep Squirm amused, I’ve set out decluttering and cleaning. I started with the books, setting targets and going through my bookshelves again and again, to remove any books I didn’t truly love or need. I gave 6 bags of books to a teacher friend, 3 bags to my cousin, 8 bags to op shops. Slowly I opened up shelf space, not to mention being able to find books I wanted to find!

The next step was organising craft items. Some of them were so old that they really needed to be thrown out. Others I’ve put aside for a friend. Some of the new shelf space was repurposed to hold yarn.

The hardest part – old ‘stuff’ I’d collected over the years and things from my parent’s house – was next. Suddenly I was throwing out invitations to Year 9 speech nights and Year 9 graphics assignments (I sucked at graphics; why on earth did I keep those?) Suddenly I was having to ask myself if I really needed things, if I really loved things, what might happen if I threw things away.

And slowly, I moved past my need to hold on to everything, and started throwing away. And slowly the room started clearing up and seemed bigger. And I felt lighter.

It’s not completely finished yet, but I feel like I’m getting somewhere. I feel like it could be a beautiful room to enjoy.

Just Getting Started Photos

Study declutter: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

There’s a desk under there somewhere

My bookshelf

Study declutter05Study declutter: Adventures of a Subversive Reader

Halfway Through Photos

I see floor!

Getting rid of those cardboard boxes was actually harder than getting rid of some of my other ‘stuff’ – I kept telling myself that I ‘needed’ them

Nearly There . . .

Have you ever taken on a big decluttering mission? What was the hardest part for you?

Home Organisation 101: My Messy Big Secret

November 9, 2012Home and OrganisationCleaning, Home Organisation 101, Organisation, Studysubversivereader View all 12 comments

So far while doing Home Organisation 101, I’ve been doing projects which need not much more than a little organising and a little decoration. It’s all been relatively tidy, which makes me look like a tidy person. Unfortunately, I’m nowhere near as tidy as one might suspect.

You see, there’s this.

And this.

This is my office/study/craft room. I want to get it neat, organised and safe for Squirm to play in when he gets older. The problem is, it’s also the room where everything ‘goes’. Whenever I need to do a quick clean up or put something that I don’t need until later, this is where it goes. And stays. And builds up into gigantic piles of . . . stuff.

So by posting these photos, I’ll have other people looking on, (possibly) wondering if I can ever work it out. There’s no way to wriggle out of doing the work that’s obviously needed. There’s no way of getting out of throwing away the things which need to be thrown away. I’ll have motivation to make it better.

I have started. So far, I’ve cleaned out the book shelf, taking a large collection of books to the charity shops. Now to tackle the rest of the room . . .

I’ll keep you updated 🙂