If you don't love it, don't keep it!

Kaylene Pettit
Jan 6, 2016
4 min read

As the New Year Year has rolled around, so many of us have made de-cluttering our houses a 2016 resolution. But what about that craft room? You crafty ladies & gents know what I'm talking about! It's never just one room, the creative genius spills out all over the house and before you know it you have boxes of "stash" fabrics, yarn & other crafty bits that your "saving" for that big project.

Well, I am one of those people. I find it hard to throw away crafty bits and pieces. But I've come to realise, in this crazy instant gratification, materialistic world we live in that those bits and pieces that I was "saving" are really just gathering dust and I was just going to go buy what I needed, because those bits and pieces were never right.

So before Christmas 2015, with the impending overload of gifts that Christmas generally brings, I de-cluttered our house, our garage and my sewing room. (I've yet to tackle that hideous beast of a toy cupboard!) With half a garage full of stuff throughly cleaned out, I bombarded my local buy swap and sell pages on facebook and cleared almost all of it & what I couldn't get a few dollars for I donated.

The funny thing about de-cluttering is that its always good stuff, its not rubbish, and I think that may be why we find it so hard to part with some things. I tried to be realistic about the clutter and whether I was just keeping it because it was cool, or "I might use that one day" kind of stuff.

I want to share with you my tips for ticking that New Years Resolution off your list.

1. That cupboard you always walk past but never open because its full of stuff - chances are you can't remember the last time you went through it and you won't miss anything thats in it. This is a good place to start.

2. Seperate into piles, not boxes, as you go - that way you can see what's in front of you and your not just putting it into another box to be left in the dark for another 2 years. Have a keep pile, sell pile & donate pile to help keep your de-cluttering organised.

3. Be ruthless but not too ruthless as to throwing out a family heirloom or something of sentimental importance. Though it's important to make sure its sentimental to you and not just because someone gave it to you - it's better to let someone else enjoy something you may have stashed away, never to see the light of day again.

4. Kids toys, clothes and all those fingerpaintings can be quite hard to let go of. But you must be realistic - keeping a garbage bag full of soft fluffy toys in the back of the cupboard hoping one day in 25 years time that your grandchildren will get to play with them, is in this day and age, to put it mildly - outdated. It is better to pass on/sell/donate those bags of toys, clothes and let a few more generations get use & enjoyment from them instead of ending up as landfill. Just think about how many lives could be touched by just passing them on. Limit yourself to one box of keepsakes, and keep them stored correctly out of moisture/dust etc.

5. Giving or donating is a great motivater for de-cluttering. Just the thought alone of making someone else happy, or giving them something they needed, but otherwise may not have had, is awesome. Even if you're selling your items, you are giving someone the opportunity to buy something that they may not have been able to afford - the postive things that can happen from that act is endless.

6. The craft room can sometimes be the hardest when it comes to de-cluttering. All those craft magazines, scraps of fabric that are "definately" going to be a quilt one day, all acummulate very quickly. Not to mention that piece of cheap fabric you got on sale! I've come to realise, that when I buy anything, whether it be fabric, yarn, or clothing - if I don't automatically love it, I don't buy it. And that is excactly the way to approach a craft room de-cluttering.

7. This one is a must for me - music! Fun, upbeat, rock 'n' roll or my favourite - punk. Music is a great movtivator. I advise against picking slow songs though, make it something you love that gives you that instant 'you just wanna dance' feeling. You'll be amazed how much de-cluttering you've done and how much it doesn't suck because your rockin out to your favorite tunes.

I hope these tips help you out in giving your house a spring clean. It's amazing what a de-cluttering session can do for a postive and motivating mindset. So have fun & don't get too dusty!