5 Decluttering Techniques For Your Quilting Studio / Sewing Room and Your Home

Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I wasn’t planning to write another blog post about decluttering, but right now it’s a topic that is very much on my mind so I thought I’d delve a little deeper into it by exploring some of the more popular techniques. I’m sure there are lots more, but for today, we’re limiting ourselves to 5 of ’em.

To be honest, I didn’t get back to decluttering my studio this week, but I did clean off 3 bookshelves in my bedroom, condensing them down to 2 shelves after I removed books I wasn’t interested in reading anymore or found duplicates. Yay! Empty space! Not really, though, as I rehomed part of my Sasha doll collection on that empty shelf. Sigh…………

I was also inspired to clean off and organize the family movie collection in the living room. Again, I weeded out the duplicates and the movies we just aren’t into anymore. I was surprised that when I was done, I had weeded out 2 bags of movies! Rockin’ Awesome!

Guess what? I felt a real sense of accomplishment by doing those 2 little tasks. Now I just have to get back to decluttering my quilt studio, don’t I?

Speaking of decluttering, I hope you had a chance to read last week’s post. If you missed it, you can find it HERE.

Blog reader, Sherri, made this comment about last week’s blog post:

I have been working on a declutter challenge but missed several days of the 30 day challenge and was feeling a little bummed. Read your idea of a “job jar” and just turned the five minute items into some of the jobs. Added fun ones like make two blocks from a current quilt project and go outside for ten minutes. Mostly chores but it will be fun to pull and not know if it is a chore or a reward when I pull that piece of paper. Thank you for this lovely idea!!!!

Big shout out to Sherri for her SUPER idea to combine the Rewards Jar with the Job Jar in the same jar — LOVE IT! Sherri’s comment reminded me that there are so so many different approaches to decluttering. So this week, I thought we’d take a look at some of them together. Thanks for the inspiration, Sherri!

The 30 Day Declutter Challenge

Sherri mentioned this one in her comment, so I thought it only fitting we take a look at it first. Perhaps the most popular decluttering method right now is The 30 Day Decluttering Challenge. But what exactly is it? Honestly, I’m a little confused about what it is because I’ve seen a couple different versions. Is it one or the other? Or both?

A 30 Day Purge

Each day of this 30 Day Challenge, you remove that number of items from your space. So on day 1, you remove 1 thing. On day 2, you take out 2 things. And so on until day 30 when you remove 30 items. If I did the math correctly, that’s like decluttering 465 items in one month. Wowzer! That would really make a dent in one’s decluttering project, wouldn’t it? This was the first version that I saw on Facebook and I was very intriqued by the concept, but I bet it’s a real challenge to gather up 30 items on day 30!

Here is more information and tips about this technique:

Modern Minimalism

Homes and Gardens

Minimalist Home

A Bite a Day

Another version is that on each day of the 30 Day Challenge, you focus on a small task in a different part of your home (or studio). For example, on day 1, you clean out your coats. Then on day 2, you clean off the bathroom counter. On day 3, a different small task in a new area. The idea with this one is that you work on one specific task for a short amount of time every day of the challenge. 10 minutes? 20 minutes? I’ve seen several different time suggestions, but I also know you can of course tailor this to yourself (I promise, there really aren’t any decluttering police,,,,,,,,,).

Hey! I think I started this challenge without even knowing it by tackling my bookshelves and the movies shelves! Wohoo! I am such a forward thinker, am I not???? Seriously, though, this idea is very similar to the Job Jar of last week’s post, but instead of writing tasks on a slip of paper and pulling one out, you are simply tackling one small task everyday.

Here’s a few resources for this variation:

Clutterbug (see below for a few books by Cas)

bemorewithless

Life SImplified

I hope all of the resources above will help you understand the nuances of The 30 Day Challenge(s) and maybe they will help you to jumpstart your own decluttering adventure.

Marie Kondo Method

By now most of you have at least heard of Marie Kondo and her “spark joy” method of decluttering, which is often called the KonMari Method. This popular decluttering technique focuses on keeping only items that “spark joy” and letting go of everything else. So, how exactly do you do the Kondo method?

First things first, you will tackle your clutter by category instead of room-by-room. Start with clothes, move on to books, then papers, miscellaneous items (also known as komono), and finally sentimental items. This order will help you build decision-making skills along the way.

When sorting through each category, hold each item in your hands and ask yourself if it sparks joy. If it doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies, thank it for its service and let it go. Once you’ve decided what stays and what goes, it’s time to organize what’s left.

Marie Kondo wrote a best selling book that will guide you through the entire process.

Get it HERE

12-12-12 Challenge

The 12-12-12 Challenge is a simple yet effective way to declutter your home and maybe have some fun while doing it. The idea is to find 12 items to throw away, 12 items to donate, and 12 items to return to their proper places. It’s amazing how quickly you can make a difference in your space with just this small effort!

It’s a flexible way to go about organizing and decluttering your spaces because once you complete the 12-12-12 cycle, then you simply repeat it until you achieve the level of organization you are looking for and you can take as little or as much time as you need. It’s also a feel-good win-win experience as you are donating items you no longer need or want to local charities in order to help others in your community.

Here are some great resources to help you:

E-ZCleanUp

LIFEHACKER

20/20/20 Challenge

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by clutter and don’t know where to start, the 20/20/20 decluttering challenge might just be your new best friend. So, how does it work? It’s super simple and totally doable for anyone.

Here’s the deal: You spend 20 minutes decluttering, pick 20 items to either throw away or donate, and do this for 20 days straight. That’s it! The idea is to break down the daunting task of decluttering into bite-sized chunks that are easy to manage.

The beauty of this challenge is its flexibility. You can choose any part of your home each day—whether it’s your closet, kitchen drawers, or even your scary junk drawer. By dedicating just a small amount of time every day, you’ll start seeing big results without feeling like you are taking on an impossible mission.

A few resources to get you started:

The Minimalists

Minimalist Home

10-10-100 Rule

The 10-10-100 Rule might just be the one you’ve been looking for if you are a procrastinator or don’t know where to start.

Like the other rules and challenges we’ve discussed, this one is also pretty simple — you focus on one specific spot in a larger space, like a particularly messy corner. The idea is that you declutter in 10 minute intervals to find 10 things to remove from the space (trash, donation items, items to sell, or even just items that need put back where they go). This is a very flexible technique because you don’t have to do 100 items all in one day – you can spread it out as long as you keep working towards that 100 item goal. Of course, your 10 minutes could be longer or shorter, say 20-10-100 or 5-10-50. The real purpose is that you get up, lose your paralysis, and get decluttering.

Of course, I’ve got a few more resources for you:

Bobby Berk

Livingetc

I hope learning a little bit more about these 5 decluttering techniques will give you inspiration to work through your own clutter if you struggle with too much stuff like I do. Of course, there is nothing that says you can’t combine and/or modify any of these techniques to better suit you and your individual needs.

Please remember that one technique, rule, or challenge will NOT fit absolutely everyone. You may need to try several different ones before you discover the one(s) that work for you. It’s not failing if a techniques doesn’t work for you, so try again. Instead of failure, look at it as trying to find the right fit for decluttering and keeping your spaces organized. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that having a clutter-free organized space is much healthier and happier than living with the unnecessary extra stress and anxiety of a perpetual mess.

Since I’m such a book geek, I’m going to add a short list of great books to help you on your decluttering adventure! I chose these books because of their popularity and, of course, several of them are currently waiting for me to read them, too.

Get it HERE

Get it HERE

Get it HERE

Get it HERE

Get it HERE

Well, that’s it for me. I feel the need to get back to decluttering and organize something! LOL!

Take care until next time —

Sew. Laugh. Declutter. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD