Slow and Gentle Decluttering |03 Home Office and Craft Corner
Is your home feeling cluttered and overwhelming? Do you feel like you don’t know where to start? Welcome to Slow and Gentle Decluttering.
We were never meant to live life accumulating stuff. We were meant to live simply enjoying the experiences of life, the people of life, and the journey of life - not the things of life.. —Joshua Becker
Hello my friend
Decluttering is very close to my heart. Clearing my home has played a key part in how I have simplified my life thus far. As you are here with me right now I am guessing that this is something that you want to explore too?
You are so very welcome to come along on this wonderfully freeing journey of clearing our space, both our physical and mental space.
We will explore the process of decluttering and organizing our homes together and at a nice calming and slow, but structured pace. No point rushing through this, right?
If you are new here, welcome, you can find part one here. If you are not already subscribed please consider doing so to receive future publications straight to your in-box.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional declutterer. Everything I share with you today is based on my own knowledge and experience from decluttering my own home to enable me to live a more simplified and slower life. My only wish is to pass on some of my wisdom to help you on your own decluttering journey.
Before we get going, how did you get on with last months task clearing our bedroom? Did you manage to finish, or are you still working on it? Let me know in the comments.
For the next few weeks we will be working on our home office and craft corners - our creative space.
Remember, work through this at your own pace, there is no rush. It’s a journey so enjoy the ride.
I want to keep to the same format for all of our spaces throughout this process so you may see similarities with each part in this series. Keeping to a structure helped me so I hope it will for you too.
First of all we need to define our space.
Do you have a designated room for your office or is it part of another room, like a corner of your bedroom or living room? If so, just work on this space for now.
If your creative space is in your bedroom, check out last months newsletter where we covered bedrooms here -
Take a few moments to think about what you want from your creative space and the mood you would like to experience as this will be your guiding light as we go through this process. Do you want a space that’s clear, so that you can focus on your task or project, or do you prefer to have everything around you for ease of accessibility for the project you are working on?
Ok, are we ready to start?
As always - put on some happy music, music that raises you up, music that makes you sing and jump around.
Have a quick look around your room and remove anything that doesn’t belong there. If like me, you like to drink and have a snack at your desk, take your dirty mug and plate back to the kitchen. Put books back on the shelf. For those of you that keep books in your office we will look at these too. Empty the bin if you have one.
When sorting, create three piles keep, donate and discard. At the end of the process make sure that anything in the donate or discard piles are removed from your home as quickly as possible. Putting them to one side can result in them making their way back into the home again.
Office Stationary
One of the most important questions to ask yourself when it comes to office stationary is “How many do I need”? “Do I really need more than one”? Do I need it at all? If you have duplicates this is your permission to discard.
Pens and pencils are particularly high on the list when it comes to quantity aren’t they. I have now parred mine back to just three pens and half a dozen pencils of varying grades.
I bought myself a fountain pen with some money I received at Christmas and since then I have only used that pen. I love using it. I also have a couple of parker jotter ball point pens, one of which stays in my bag. I love these as they are refillable and nice to write with. I no longer use disposable pens.
To begin with I would suggest getting all of your office stationary out in one place and put “alike” items together. Often we doesn’t realise just how many of each item we have until they are all grouped together. Seeing things in one place helps us to discard duplicates. I had five rulers when I did the first round of decluttering. Do we really need that many? Perhaps not!
Planners/Diaries/Journals/Notebooks
Hands up, who’s addicted to planners and journals? 🙌 Yes me too! As with pens and pencils this category would benefit from seeing all of your blank notebooks and journals in one place.
I’ll be honest, this really was a tough category for me and it continues to be a struggle as I just love them, as I’m sure most of you do too. The question I ask myself when going through them is “will I enjoy using this book?” When you see your entire collection of books together you should get a clearer indication of which ones bring a smile to your face and those that don’t. To quote Marie Kondo, which notebooks spark joy?
Books/Magazines
If you keep books and magazines in your creative space then now is the time to go through them. One method that I use when it comes to storing books is to keep them in the room that they are most likely to be used. Cook books in the kitchen, garden and travel books in a downstairs space. With our office and creative space I keep business and craft related books there. I also keep my self help books and some fiction books in there as I have created a little reading nook in the back corner of my office.
When going through your books in your creative space relocate those that don’t belong and return them to the correct place. With those that remain, ask yourself if they are still relevant. Particularly craft books as we often keep books for a craft that we no longer participate in. Business and self help books too.
I would advise being strong with yourself here. It is very easy to get caught up in the “I might want to read that again one day, I might try that craft again”. In my own experience “one day” almost never happens.
Think about your interests and values right now and how you visualise the future you. Are these books part of that vision? Do you want to go into your future, holding onto a past that no longer serves you?
Important documents - bank statements/wage slips/warranties/invoices/certificates etc.
With so many household documents being available online now it’s not necessary to keep physical copies anymore. I agree that there are some you will need to keep (mortgage/rental agreements/house deeds etc) - you will need to refer to your own country’s requirements for keeping important documents, but I would say that 95% we no longer need.
When going through your paperwork, shred any that you no longer need. If there is something you want to keep, just in case, perhaps take a photograph of it on your phone, or scan it to your computer. Make sure to save it to the cloud too.
Miscellaneous paperwork
College notes and coursework, newspaper articles etc. Ask yourself if these are still relevant. If not, discard. If they are, or you just want to keep them, can they be digitised?
Craft Supplies
If like me you’ve tried many crafts over the years it is so easy to accumulate numerous supplies. I’ve tried many different crafts, jewellery making, stained glass, card making, pyrography, whittling, knitting, sewing, embroidery to name but a few. And yes I collected a mountain of kit for each one.
Group all alike crafts together, again it makes it easier to see exactly how much kit you have for each craft.
For those crafts that you no longer participate in or no longer have an interest in, discard. Give them to a friend or family member, or donate to your local craft group if you have one nearby.
If you struggle to part with some of your supplies (even though you no longer use them) perhaps put them away in a box in your garage or loft. Set a reminder to yourself to refer back to them at a later date, say three to six months. By then you may be ready to part with them, or decide to revisit the craft.
Here is a useful checklist for you to use if you wish to go through your belongings category by category - this is not an exhaustive list but hopefully I’ve covered most things.
Paper
Pens/Pencils
Binders
Diaries/Planners/Journals/Notebooks
Accessories (scissors/holepunch/stapler/rubber-bands/paperclips/glue/tape etc)
Books/Magazines
Pictures
Knick-knacks/ornaments
Bills/Statements
Warranties
Certificates
Mortgage/Rental paperwork
Insurance documents
College/course paperwork
Greeting cards
Miscellaneous paperwork
Yarn
Fabric
Craft accessories - thread, pens, paints, needles, scissors, tape, glue, paper, buttons
Craft Kits
Candles/Fairy Lights
If you prefer to work through your possessions by location here’s a checklist for you.
Desk
Work bench
Drawers
Cupboards
Bookshelves
Sorting and Organising
You can do this as you go through each section or category if you wish, or it can be left to the end. All depends on how much room you have to play with and your own personal needs.
Give your room a deep clean first. Clean the cupboards, drawers etc.
In the decluttering process you may have some empty boxes to discard. If they are small enough can they be used as storage dividers in your drawers? Suitable boxes are very handy for storing office and craft supplies. They enable your items to be visible too so you can easily find what you are looking for.
We have now come to the end of sorting our creative spaces. How do you feel? Do you feel more creative, more focussed, more inspired? I am excited to know how this process has been for you. Do let me know.
Remember, this isn’t a race, go at a pace that suits you and your lifestyle. If you only have 15 minutes a day to spare that’s fine. Just work on one drawer or one shelf. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in 15 minutes.
Donating and Discarding
Now that our creative spaces have been decluttered and our remaining belongings have been given a permanent home we now need to consider how to dispose of the items we want to get rid of.
Donate all of the good items to charity if you can, or give to friends or family that would like them. There are also donation websites you can use.
Another option is to sell your discarded belongings, but I recommend caution as there is a possibility you could be holding onto the items longer than you might like if they don’t sell quickly.
Discard only what cannot be used or donated. If you have a crafty friend, maybe they can make use of your gifts.
Please discard responsibly.
Have the courage to build your life around what is really most important to you- Joshua Becker
Thank you for coming along with me on this decluttering journey.
I am here to help if you have any questions about this process. Please ask in the comments.
If there are any specific decluttering topics that you would like me to cover please let me know.
I will be publishing a newsletter on the last Sunday of each month in this series where we will work room by room. In keeping with the very nature of why we are here, we will be working slowly through this process, so there will be no pressure to complete the tasks in a hurry.
If you feel this pace is still too much in your busy schedule you can go at a pace that suits you.
These publications will remain in the archive permanently for you to refer back to at any time and you will also find them here at Slow and Gentle Decluttering
You can read about my own decluttering journey here –
If you are just joining us today you can read part one and two here -
Until next month.
Debbie xx
