Decluttering your creative space

By Thursday, January 22, 2015 , , ,



I always attempt to do clean out of my bedroom and craft space at least twice a year. For me this typically means over my winter break and summer break. It's amazing how much stuff I am able to get rid of each time I do this. Before break, I spent some time on Pinterest looking at various blogs tips on cleaning out your craft stash. I looked at sites talking about a general craft space and sites that specifically talked about yarn. Unfortunately I was left disappointed with each site I read. Upon my disappointment, I decided to make some short notes as I cleaned through my own crafts clutter. I hope you will find these tips useful or at least use this post as a little motivation to eliminate some of the excess from your own life!

My tips for decluttering my creative space:

  1. I think the single best decluttering advice I have ever heard was not to buy any storage bins or organizational devices before you are done going through all that you hope to sort through. So don't buy any organizational storage bins or boxes yes. 
  2. If you already have bins, remove them from your space. Yes, it would be much easier to simply organize your craft stash and call it a day but the goal is declutter first and organize second.
  3. Before you start to de-stash, make a list of everything that you intend to go through. This way you can make sure you don't overlook anything that needs attention.
  4. Gather a box or bag for each of these categories: donate, sell, trash, and recycle. Set another space aside for the items you wish to keep.
  5. Immediately throw away any dried up paints and glues they are useless. I don't ever buy paint but if I did this is a must-do step!
  6. Recycle any paper scraps unless you immediately have a use for them in mind. I think that for most people this will eliminate at least 99% of their paper scraps.
  7. Eliminate items that are not in your current hobby genre. If you never scrapbook or make cards, then why do you need a collection of card stock, scrapbook paper, stamps, and stickers? 
  8. Gather all your WIPs (works in progress) and make the difficult decision about what you want to do with them. Do you still want to finish it? Is it worth the time/effort to finish it? Is it something that can be taken apart and used for something else i.e. a knit, crochet, or bead project? What you do is totally up to you but if you never got around to finishing it, then there's most likely a reason for that.
  9. Now that you have decluttered your space, bring back your organization boxes and bins and organize what is left. Donate any unused organizational devices. 
  10. Put your trash bag in the dumpster and recycle your recyclables. Donate your denotable items to the charity of your choice. For example, I had been given two huge tubs of acrylic yarn...seriously two of those 72 quart Sterilite Christmas storage bins full of yarn. Since I hadn't touched them and wanted to drastically eliminate my yarn stash, I decided I wanted to donate them to my boyfriend's aunt's convent because her and the other sisters spend much of their quiet time working on knit and crochet projects. If you are selling some pricey yarns I would suggest adding these yarns to your Ravelry Stash and posting them as "Will sell or Trade." I buy a lot of my higher end yarns this way tore the sell pile for your next garage sale or post items on Craigslist. 

Admire how much better your space feels and how much hard work you just did!

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