August Declutter Strategy, 2024

[Harriet]

Brace yourselves for a shock, organizers....

Are you sitting down?

Mid-August will find the Focus cleaning calendar starting Round 4 - final round before maintenance up to the... ... yes, I'm going to say it... ...

holidays.

So, even if you don't equate your decluttering efforts with that calendar, it does make you think!

As August unfolds, those of us who intend to incorporate parts of holiday plans - crafting, cooking for the freezer, making advance purchases for projects, working on the "gift closet" - will find it's an excellent time to get started thinking. (juuuust thinking, stay calm)

This is the time for some quiet decision-making. Is there a holiday plan you would like to follow? How "big" a celebration will you choose for each holiday, and how much entertaining do you want to do compared to emphasis on craft time, or kitchen time? Do you want to create a notebook or mini-card-file this year just for holidays? You might want to glance at previous years' holiday threads in this The Creative Home forum, to remind yourself of your hopes, dreams and how you managed successes before.

But no worries - we're not implementing it all yet! If there's a cardinal rule for a happy, welcoming holiday season it may well be this: Don't abandon your ongoing efforts against clutter!

There is no merriment in having lots of creativity if we find it's oozing out of an already too-cluttered home! "All dressed up with a dirty neck!" (as P and P said) is not the way to have fun!

Stick with us, and PREPARE your lovely home for creativity and hospitality.

Let us know YOUR prep to ensure that holiday feeling!

[Nancy]

I decluttered pages out of my July planners my daily planner and my faith planner.

[Harriet]

Some medical stuff got in my way, but a few decluttering projects are happening. Dd26 has been back once to work and comes again today, although the back of their small pickup will pretty much be taken up by a piece of furniture from dd44's (a big square coffee table) instead of getting her stuff out of this house.

This is one of the less helpful things about dd moving so far away. Each trip to get items that we are "storing" becomes rare, rather than how it was when we quickly moved family members previously, right in the same community. We see her leave and we look around and just don't see much change, plus we know it will be another week until she can get back, at least. Since we live relatively close to her in-laws, too, things from that house are also getting in the line to travel away on the same long trips.

The lighting re-do of the master bathroom has been a type of decluttering, for sure. Having a dedicated, shoulder-height wall outlet with two spaces is so much help (only had individual ones in 2 high light fixtures before, and cords would just fall out from gravity!) Before, things could look so cluttered if we dared to plug in more than one thing. Also, the new light fixture over the medicine cabinet and sink is 3 lights, facing up toward the ceiling, so the room is so much more well-lit. Electricians are so in demand right now, however, that our LR, hall and outdoor front fixture still have no electricity put BACK to them yet, so we are not able to have anyone in to visit in the front room, or go in there to even read, etc. Picking our battles.

[Ramblinrose]

I have parred down so much of my holiday decorations I really have little to do. I haven’t done much during the holidays for several years and must admit don’t miss it. I hang a front door wreathed for the change in seasons and a few little plaques within my house but that’s about it.

I hate the stress the holidays bring so I’m happy with what little I do. My years of being like Martha Stewart are long over….I just do the few things that bring me joy and bring back happy memories for my son. However he’s like…take a mental picture and just enjoy the times.

[Nancy]

Ramblin' I totally agree!

I have been working on the kitchen dining room zone and it's starting to show yea for that progress.
A little here a bit there really does add up.
Plus I picked up rose branches I quickly pruned last evening so they are ready to go in the can at the curb next week.
This week is full of the branch I picked up Sat. that blew down and I cut up & put in it.

[Harriet]

Ds has checked for us about the electricians, and they've called yet again, setting up an appt for tomorrow at 1:00 to 3:00. So maybe that situation can be decluttered from our lives and things can go back into place. It will get worse before it gets better, but will be great when it's over. All over my LR, things are out of place.

I am another one who doesn't want to become Martha-like (not that she doesn't have many good qualities) about decorating. What I do want is the chance to use the pieces, especially textiles, that mean something to us. That means setting up our modest tree for ornaments and have a way to change out some wall-hangings and have one quilt up.

What I've done toward that, to calm HRH's fears about ruining our expensive paint job from when we moved in, or ruining the walls otherwise because they are plaster:

6 months ago, I put up a mini-project of a small patchwork using plastic-tak (paper sewn on the back so the tac had paper to adhere to) and promised him I wouldn't use any more until we felt like we'd proved it didn't hurt anything. I took it down today and I don't believe anyone could find the place it was hung. The plastic-tac did just as well here as it used to do in the other house. And I had gotten compliments on it in the meantime! So that should handle his worries about almost all small things. Can't use pins or nails, but this is fine.

I'm also considering asking for a "quilt ladder" for the LR, or maybe den for Christmas. Something like these photos. That way, larger pieces can be at least a little bit up in the air, but not hanging with all their weight on walls.