Decluttering

Storing Holiday Decorations

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This week the local discount and hardware stores are advertising for sale all kinds of storage containers and shelving. They want to help you get organized by storing your decorations in lots of fancy containers. But do you really need so many containers? Of course, it depends on how much “stuff” you have to store.

Now is a good time to declutter you decorations because you can be more objective about them. It will be fresh in your mind as to what worked and what didn’t work. There is no reason to store the broken decorations or ones you didn’t like or have room for.

Below are some questions to ask yourself about your decorations before you go buy lots of boxes to store them. After decluttering you may not need as many boxes, therefore saving you money for other things.

  1. Is it broken? Can it be fixed and is it worth it?
  2. Do you love the item and does it make you smile when you see it displayed?
  3. Do you have a space to display it?
  4. Are you keeping the item,even though you don’t like it, because you’ve always had it or someone gave it to you?
  5. Is the item easy to pack away for next year?
  6. Does it take special packing material and/or containers to store it?
  7. Is it easy to unpack and clean up for use each year?
  8. Do you have room to store it?

Throw away the broken items and give away the ones that are good but you no longer want to use.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Simplify Your Holidays – Tip 1

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One of the basic rules to control clutter is the in-and-out inventory rule. When something new comes in, something old must go out. This is the time of year where lots of new things come into the home. How about getting rid of some old things?

imageNow is the time to make room for all those new things, especially if you have young children who will be receiving gifts from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and you. Have your children go through all their old toys, with your help if necessary, and pull out the ones they don’t want anymore.

Throw away any broken ones. Any toys that are in good shape can be taken to a local charity collection center (Goodwill, etc.). This will help teach your children to get rid of the toys they no longer use and learn to bless others by donating them to a charity.

Their anticipation and appreciation for the new toys/gifts will be even greater without the old unused toys cluttering up their rooms and lives.

I will be posting many more tips on how to “Simplify Your Holidays” so be sure to check back often during the next few weeks. If you like, you can sign up to receive new blog posts by email. Just fill in your first name and email address in the top box on the right sidebar. (the one above the blue box)

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Home Office Desk Paper Clutter

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It seems like the home office desk is the dumping ground for papers of every kind. We know if we put it on the desk we will eventually take care of it, plus there is less chance of losing the paper or bill. The problem comes in with trying to keep it organized with the constant influx of papers.

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When the desk is piled high it is hard to work efficiently there. It is easy to miss paying a bill because it’s lost in the mountain of paper on the desk. Permission slips for your children’s school don’t get turned in on time. You lose out on refunds because they expire before you get them filed.

With the holiday’s coming up you want to make sure your finances are in order before you set your budget for holiday shopping. Take some time now to declutter your desk so you can take care of your bills and other important papers. If you send out holiday greeting cards and you use your desk to make your list, gather your addresses, and write out your cards, then you will want to get it cleaned off. It will be hard to get them out in time otherwise.

My weekly newsletter is currently giving a 6 step plan to simplify the writing and sending out holiday greeting cards. You can sign up here to start receiving these free weekly newsletters.

I wrote any article on eHow about how to “Divide and Conquer” paper clutter. Check it out for a step by step process to helping you get control of you home office desk.

Halloween is just over a week away. If you haven’t bought my eBook yet, it’s not to late to benefit from all the tips on safety, decorating, and storage of your Halloween decorations and costumes. Get it here: How To Have A Fun, Safe, And Decluttered Halloween.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Autumn and Halloween Decorating

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Halloween is only 12 days away. If you haven’t started your outdoor decorating now would be a good time. In my eBook “How To Have A Fun, Safe, And Decluttered Halloween” I talked about extending the season. This is where you layer your decorations for Autumn, Halloween, and then Thanksgiving.

Many seasonal materials, such as colorful leaves, gourds, pumpkins, etc. can help create an Autumn feeling outside or inside your home. Halloween decorations can be added for a couple of weeks then taken down. Then you can add Thanksgiving decorations to the Autumn ones. …

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Houseplants in the Fall

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In the Midwest, Autumn is definitely showing it’s face. Some of the trees are losing their leaves. The evenings are beginning to cool down. And the sun is setting a lot earlier than just a few weeks ago.

I have mixed feelings about this time of year. I don’t like the shorter days but the cooler weather is nice. It’s sad to see the vegetable garden looking tired and worn down.

But my houseplants, especially the flowering ones, are looking great with the cooler weather. IMGP1737They will soon have to come inside. That’s where the problem is.
As much as I love the houseplants I don’t have a lot of room to over-winter them inside. When I squeeze them in front of the windows the rooms start to look cluttered. I do have some lights on a timer in my basement for the smaller plants but the big ones are heavy to carry downstairs.

Each year I go through the same debate. Do I let the frost take them or do I bring them inside and have the room look cluttered? I’ve had many of these plants for years so it is hard to let go of them.

Maybe I will get more lights downstairs and put most of the plants there. Then if I can remember to water them on a regular basis they should survive until next spring.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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