Lots of things have prompted this decluttering. The main thing is that since we don’t have a garage anymore, we have lots of things that don’t have a proper home. And we can’t do that thing that we used to where we would just chuck stuff in the garage and shut the door quickly (a bit like Monica’s cupboard on Friends!). Either we need it and we keep it and find somewhere to put it, or it goes. This is how ruthless this decluttering will be! Another thing that has prompted it is that we have wanted to build some shelves in our living room for a long time now, and we decided that the two things could go hand in hand. I also had to move my computer downstairs (because the internet signal is really bad upstairs) and we’re going to build a desk into the shelves too. You might be thinking that we could get one of those booster thingies and that would solve that problem, but it’s nicer being down here anyway (except for the temporary home on our old dining table…but it’s not for long!) and it’s helpful too, especially as I do all my making in the kitchen now.

I had a little look online for some decluttering tips – there is quite a lot out there about what is the best way to do things. One post I read said that you shouldn’t have a ‘keep’ pile, and that you should just find a home for the thing straight away instead. I like this idea in principle, but that’s clearly not going to work for us because we haven’t built the home for the things yet! So we’re sticking with the ‘keep’, ‘throw’ and ‘give to charity’ piles for now. I also like this list from Apartment Therapy, which is what not to do when decluttering. Tip number 2 is useful to me – I always try to do more in a short space of time than I can actually achieve! So I need to remember that this isn’t going to be a quick process…we’re not going to be building the shelves until we can take a couple of weeks off at the end of August/beginning of September, so there will be mess and there will be time to plan. Speaking of shelves, if anyone has any tips or can point us in the direction of some, that would be FAB! I’m like ‘yeah, we can build some shelves!’ but Tom is not a DIY fan and we’ve never done anything like this…my Dad has kindly said he will come and help us to construct them, but we need to work out what that actually means…

I have been trying to reorganise my craft supplies a little better so that I’m not forever going up and downstairs for something else that I’ve forgotten. Know that feeling too? I seriously spend so much time doing this – it’s really frustrating! So I decided that something needed to be done about it asap. This included buying one of those super cool raskog trolleys from Ikea (yes, I got the teal one – whoop!) and it has been brilliant. I’m planning on doing a separate post about that soon, so stay tuned. I have already begun to sort out my fabric stash (read more about doing an inventory here), so I feel like progress has been made already. Yay! Wish me luck for the rest…

Do you have any tips for decluttering?

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It was actually really good to take stock of everything and sort things out – even though I did make a huge mess before I could get everything organised! I had various thoughts beforehand about how to carry out the inventory. This included having a notebook with everything written down in it, so the name of the fabric and the amount that I have, along with the type of fabric too. However, I don’t know about you, but whilst I can remember what some things are called or which collection they are from, I certainly can’t remember them all. Many bits of fabric I have are from years ago (before I was a dedicated crafter), so there was no real chance of me remembering. But then I had a cunning plan: what would be most helpful would be to have a photo inventory! That way, I can have it with me on my phone and then I can browse through it when I’m trying to match things and make decisions for projects. Bingo!

So I found all my boxes and bags of fabric and laid them out on the spare bed. I sorted into three piles: plains, patterns, and a pile of fabric that is already earmarked for a project. Most of this pile is things that I’ve got to make into clothes – I decided not to take individual photos of these so that I don’t end up accidentally using them for another project by mistake! I laid out a huge piece of white card as a background for the photos. White is best for anything like this, especially as I’ll be using the photos to match up fabric for projects. Starting with my fat quarter selection (which I keep in my vintage suitcase) I took photos of my fabric. Most of these photos have a maximum of 4 fabrics in them, and I tried to group some that went well together, for example the Christmassy ones. There are a few exceptions – like the photo below which shows the selection of fabrics that I used to make the quilted record mats (which you can see here). In my suitcase I also have a few metre pieces that can be used for baby quilt backings or other small projects, so I grouped these together too.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7033,7035,7036,7053″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425053180382{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Next, I moved on to the other piles of large pieces of fabric. For the plains I stacked a few together to be able to get more in the photo. I’ll see how this works out when I actually use my inventory – I might have to take individual ones to get a better sense of the colours. Some of these fabrics are categorised by collection, just because they go together really well and it makes sense to know that they are by the same designer.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”7048,7049,7050,7051″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425051340672{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]

Once I had taken all of my photos, I decided to organise them in my photo stream. By having them on here, they will be easily accessible and I can also add comments to each of the photos – this includes the length, or any details about the colour or fabric, which will come in handy! I just gave a rough measurement for most of the pieces, but you could be more precise and measure everything if you wish. Our internet decided to play up at this point, so I had a right old faff trying to get them from my computer and into the stream, but eventually they made it! I edited them a little just to get the colours right and brighten them lighting a bit, and I also square cropped them so that they fit nicely on the album overview screen. You can see how I’m using the comments section to add details in this next photo:[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425051357108{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]

In addition to creating my inventory, I also made sure that my fabric stash was a bit more sorted. Not having a dedicated craft space means that this is really important – especially now that we have had to find a new home for lots of things that used to live in the old garage. So I organised my boxes a little better, keeping those fabrics for projects in mind in one box, with prints and plains in another and everything else that didn’t really have a home in my final box. I’m hoping that by being a little more organised, I can stop the spread of the stash…at least for a little while anyway! :-)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1425051368764{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

How do you organise your fabric?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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You’ll need about half a metre to cover these files, which I got from Paperchase. Over the years, I have learnt that you get what you pay for with magazine files, and I was always forever buying those cardboard ones that break after a little while. These are super sturdy and much wider than normal ones, so you can fit more in too! They are £7 each but are worth the investment, I promise.

You will need

A magazine file (or as many as you need)

Half a metre of fabric to cover each one (pre-washed and ironed)

Some A3 card

Pencil

Sharp scissors

Mod Podge and a paintbrush (I just used the matt one, but use whatever you have)

Step 1

Make a template of your magazine file by drawing around it on the card – you just need to draw around one side and half of the back (the deepest bit) and then measure the bottom and front (the shortest bit) as a separate piece (see below). I added a couple of centimetres around the edges of the side template to allow for overlap, except for along the bit where it is half of the back. This edge will be placed along a fold of the fabric when you cut out.

Step 2

Place the larger template with the deepest edge along the folded edge of your fabric. Cut it out carefully, and then repeat with the rectangular template (which does not need to be cut on a fold). Then open out the larger piece of fabric, face down, and position the file on top.

Step 3

Once in position, spread some Mod Podge on one side of the file – you need a fairly thin layer but enough to make it stick. Pull the fabric over and smooth out any creases. Repeat with the other sides. If there’s a hole in the side (for pulling the file off the shelf) you can either cover it up as I did with mine, or cut a hole in the fabric if you prefer. I covered it for easiness!

Step 4

Next, carefully spread a little Mod Podge on the inside of the edges, and fold over the fabric and stick down. You’ll need to snip the fabric a little for neatness.

Step 5

Now stick down the edges at the bottom, and then cover the rest of the area with Mod Podge.

Step 6

Take the rectangular piece of fabric and place it carefully along the edge, and then smooth it down. Then repeat with the front section and neaten the edges inside too.

Ta-dah! You’ll have to let the file dry before you can use it – you don’t want all your magazines to stick to the insides!

Now I can tidy my magazines away in style! And when I have a craft room one day, they will go in there perfectly Until then, I’ll be storing these in our study. The great thing about this project is that you can cover these to suit different rooms and styles. Yay!

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