A Year of Decluttering: Finished!

I finally finished my Less 365 decluttering project, hurrah!

The idea behind Less 365 is that you get rid of (give away, sell, recycle or throw away) one thing a day for a year, slowly but surely decluttering your space through the year. I started my second Less 365 project last summer and should have finished it this June but fell behind earlier this year. I decided to not worry too much about the dates and just keep going, hoping to eventually complete the full Less 365 no matter how many calendar days it took.

Since then I have cleared out...

... a dress that had slowly shrunk in the wash over the years because I couldn't be bothered to handwash it, four promotional totebags I was given at events but didn't like or need, three boring audiobooks, a dress that I gave to my sister after she borrowed it and looked approx a gazillion times better in it than me (I loved the print but it never really suited me), a few blanket squares that I'd knitted but which were never going to actually get turned into a blanket, a pack of pressed flowers I'd had for years and never used, a whole stack of promotional packaging materials for my now-closed DaWanda shop, a china dish I owned as a child which I no longer used and which I realised that I was no longer emotionally attached to (unlike the much treasured relics-from-my-childhood that make my heart burst with nostalgic sentiment when I look at them)...

... a pair of tights with a hole in them, an ugly egg cosy I'd made as a kid that was neither attractive, nor beloved nor useful, an old floppy disk drive (because what's the point of owning one of those when you no longer own any floppy disks), a broken bracelet I didn't like enough to fix, a couple of old photo albums (emptied of photos, as I did some editing of my photos this year and slimmed them down to just a few volumes), a cleaning product with a horrible chemical smell that I'd only used once, curtain wires and hooks bought to use in my old flat that were no longer needed, a roll of picture framing tape that I'd used to mend one old picture but had no more use for, a reference book about birds that I never actually referenced and twelve assorted bits of vintage crockery that were the least-loved pieces in my once-huge vintage collection...

 

... a gift bag I was never actually going to use for gifting, a big bag of tealights that were just gathering dust, some cookie cutters that were lovely but never ever used, a white blouse that was not so white anymore, two old swimming costumes well past their prime, a shawl that literally made me look like a crazy old lady when I wore it, a very bobbly old pair of gloves, a scarf in a colour that doesn't really suit me, two tote bags and a shopping bag that were looking worse for wear after years of use, a cake tin that I'd never used to bake a cake (when I bake I usually bake muffins or biscuits, I am bad at cakes), some boxes of fancy cutlery that was part of a set I'd inherited but which I knew I would never use (steak knives, etc), and a few more bits of vintage crockery...

 

... a "spare" whisk (I definitely do not use a whisk often enough to need a spare one) and a "spare" rolling pin (ditto), some tealight holders that were pretty but which I've never used, two trinket dishes that were empty of trinkets, an ugly tablecloth, a folding cake stand that I've used maybe once in a decade, some little empty spice jars I'd kept to put flowers in but never used, a commemorative coin without any sentimental or other special meaning for me, yet more bits of vintage crockery (I used to have a bit of a vintage crockery problem but am now trying to just keep the most beautiful, special pieces), some bunting I used to hang at the end of a bed I no longer own and a whole bunch of mugs and bowls (because I own waaaay more mugs and bowls than one person could possibly ever need)...

... a couple of old and very bobbly jumpers, a disposable tablecloth bought for a craft fair then kept in case I did another fair (which I now probably never will), two crumpled and unusable rolls of sticky back plastic, two bulky wooden coathangers, an ugly duvet cover and matching sheets, a vintage floral sheet that I never used because it was also pretty ugly, an assortment of mismatched cutlery from my student days, two slotted serving spoons (I never use slotted serving spoons, but they were part of a set so I'd kept them for years), a whole box of stuff I'd kept to craft with but which was actually just a box of random ugly junk, and two interiors books that were pretty but not filled with ideas I'd ever use in my own space...

 

... a damaged cross-stitched table cloth I'd bought cheap to craft with but not noticed how it was also badly stained, a stack of old photo negatives which I was never going to make prints from, some unfinished prototypes and samples stitched for crafty projects (which I cut up to salvage the materials, where possible), an old coin purse I never use, two of the many baking trays I accumulated during my baking-crazy years (because there is a physical limit to the number of baking trays you can use at once!), a pale grey jumper that I put on one day and thought "my goodness, this washes me out, why did I buy this??", seven brooches and some hairclips that I wore lots when I was a student but haven't worn since and a coffee-table book that looked a lot more interesting than it turned out to be...

 

... three jumpers and a pair of trousers from my student days which were well past their best (I was a student quite a long time ago!), a DVD box set of a boring sci-fi series that I am definitely never going to re-watch, a pale grey top (note to self: stop buying things that are pale grey, they look terrible on you!), three craft books I'd reviewed but was never going to make anything from, a tangle of old cables and a stack of manuals from bits of tech I no longer own, a DVD box set of a comedy series that didn't make me laugh, two dresses that I no longer wear, a cardigan that doesn't look good with anything I own, a necklace that was crazily knotted and wouldn't untangle, three more necklaces that I'd not worn for ten years and a ring I'd not worn in fifteen...

 

... a bracelet that never fitted me but which I'd kept because it was part of a set, a stack of stretchy beaded bracelets that fitted me when I was a teen but now cut into my wrist, several ugly old brown jumpers that I'd felted to use in a craft project but no longer needed, four badges I'd worn in my teens but never since, six odd socks (I have no idea where the other socks went to over the years but they are definitely now nowhere to be found and are not going to just magically reappear), a DVD box set of a TV show that was excellent but which I know I'm never gonna rewatch, a couple of books I'm not going to reread, an ugly coaster that I got free somewhere, a cheap sundress I bought when it was super hot this summer but which really doesn't suit me at all, a top and a dress that were too tight even when I bought them (so every time I put them on I thought "ugh" and wore something else), and a storage box that is now empty and un-needed thanks to all this decluttering!

Sorry, that was a pretty long list of stuff, wasn't it? As I'm sure you can imagine, it feels great to have cleared out all this stuff (and the things I cleared out earlier in the project) from my space and to have hit that target of decluttering 365 things, even if it did take 6 months longer than planned.

If you'd love to declutter your space in 2015 I highly recommend trying a Less 365 of your own - or picking another target number like 100 things to gradually work towards during the year. I'll be sharing some decluttering tips in a blog post soon!

P.S. If you're planning on blogging about your project, do so more frequently than I have so you don't bore everyone with a giant list of things you've cleared out, haha. Also remember to take some photos of the things you're decluttering as you go along so you don't have to rummage through the last couple of boxes you've got ready to take to the charity shop to find a few things to photograph :)