Would your family eat the food item buried the absolute furthest and deepest in your pantry?

I think today is the day to find out!  Today’s the day for decluttering your pantry.  Three cheers if the item in the back of your pantry is chocolate!  But if it’s not chocolate, well it’s time to roll up your sleeves.  I’m taking The Decluttering Project into the pantry.

Our pantries reflect so much about our families and our lives, making it a tricky place to offer step-by-step tips.

When we emailed everyone back in the United States pictures of our newly remodeled kitchen, I’ll never forget what one family friend said when we first saw him.

“Those pictures were great, Martin and Katie!  Did you guys all see their kitchen?”  Everyone starts nodding and congratulating us.  ”But the thing I don’t understand,” he said, “was all that stuff in your fridge and your drawer for food.  I mean, what was all of that?”

“Oh!” Martin said.  He was so proud of our kitchen.  ”It’s all pretty much the same as the food in the US.  The food just comes in smaller packages with less packaging.”

The man held his glass in his hand and tipped his head to the left slightly.  ”That was NOT food,” he clearly stated.

Everyone started to laugh.  We were all about to head out to a restaurant (a steak place of all things!), and everyone knew Martin and I preferred tofu, vegetables, and well, I guess foods that aren’t traditionally landing in a steak and potato lover’s pantry.

In fact, the item in the back of our pantry as I cleaned it out last night was… lentils.  And they weren’t back there because we were ignoring them.  We just have a teensy pantry.

When you clean out your pantry, ask yourself:  is my family going to eat this?  When?

**If the answer is no, please don’t keep that food item in your pantry until it expires and you have to throw it away.  Do two things with the foods you don’t want to keep:

1.  Donate unopened items to the food bank, soup kitchen, or local churches.

2.  Donate opened items to the rescue mission. My hometown rescue mission gladly takes opened dried goods as long as they are not expired.  When college football games are over, concession stands often donate all of the unsold hotdogs and perishables to the rescue mission.  They love leftover wedding cake.  (A whole crew of us did, too… that’s why my mom quickly donated it before we ate every last bite.  Good move!)

**As you work on your pantry decluttering, make sure you wipe out the drawers and shelves as you go, too!  Get rid of the stuff that doesn’t belong there.  Pull out organizing tools you don’t use.

My favorite organizing tools are old jars.  I write the contents on the lids when our food is stored in drawers like here in Berlin.  Otherwise I can easily see the contents through the glass in a normal shelf-based pantry.

Tall and narrow glass jars (the one you see on the bottom drawer is from IKEA) also really help make an efficient and easy-to-access pantry.

So what do you say?  Are you ready to go tackle the pantry?  What’s the craziest thing you think you’ll find?

If you have time over the weekend, add the fridge and freezer to your list.  Keep in mind what your family actually eats, and have fun.  ”Fun” being a relative term unless – AHH!  We did have a chocolate in ours.  Lentil salad + chocolate santa = dinner?

And while we’re at it, how did you do in the kitchen?

It probably comes to you as no surprise that Martin and I are crazy about handmade.  It’s getting harder and harder for us to comfortably shop at places using a lot of unnecessary natural resources or using cheap, unhealthy labor forces to save money.  So when Lisa and I started exchanging emails, I was beyond compelled to learn more about what she’s doing and why.

I think you might really like some of her ideas.  She has some great thoughts on using the stuff we have (which is perfect for The Declutter Project!).  Make sure you check out the free gift she’s offering right from her Etsy shop at the end of this interview.  So – welcome Lisa!

* * * * * * * *

1.  Tell us a little about yourself.  I understand you love to craft and create a simpler lifestyle.

I’m Lisa Hsia, I’m just under 30, and I’ve lived in California my entire life. My husband and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and we have two cats and a little container garden in our back yard. :)

I’ve always been “crafty” and artistic, but for years I let that side of me go neglected because I didn’t think it was practical. After college, I went to grad school, but it didn’t feel right. I kept wanting to make a change but I was too afraid of the unknown. Then one day it hit me just how uncertain life is. We don’t know how much time we’ve got… I realized then that my life would be wasted if I never made a serious attempt at writing books or making art.

After that, I left school and started pursuing my creative interests full-time.  I really feel like I’m living a different life now.

2.  What inspired you to start a shop with repurposed goods?

Actually, it’s the repurposed goods that inspired the shop!   I discovered FabMo, a wonderful Bay Area organization that rescues designer samples (mostly fabrics, but also wallpaper, tiles, and other materials) and makes them available for free to local artists and organizations.

I went to one of their distribution events, came away with bags full of beautiful fabrics and wallpapers, and thought, “I have to make something with all of this.”

This rug is one of the first things I made.  I got the idea from a Laura Ingalls Wilder book.

3.  Can you please tell us how we can get away from the “must buy new” crafting mentality?  You seem so gifted at finding lovely and used all in one.

I’ve always been eco-conscious.  Once I knew there were such high-quality used materials out there, and once I’d looked through thrift stores and estate sales and seen what treasures they hold, it just felt impossible to turn my back on all these things for the sake of the convenience of buying new.

Especially after seeing the incredible creations of the other artists at the FabMo show… I looked around that spacious room and it was filled with so much beauty and craft, and all of those materials would have been sitting in landfill if it hadn’t been for FabMo.

You can get a little of the same experience when you look through some of the items in my shop. Take this pouch, for example:

Everything that went into making that pouch came from FabMo, except for the ribbons and the thread. Those ribbons were in a drawer in my mom’s house; she’d bought them years ago when we were little. And the thread probably came from an estate sale; that’s where I source a lot of my sewing notions.

There’s a lot you can make without having to buy new stuff at the store, and your creations have more character and history this way too.

4.  How do you find creativity when it seems like there’s so much pressure about newness?

Creativity is not some gift reserved for the chosen few. To be creative is just to look at things differently than everyone else, which is something we all do every day — since no one else in the world, now or ever, can replicate exactly who we are and how we think! In other words, we’re all intrinsically original!

But it can take some practice to learn how to tap into our uniqueness. A good way to do it is by getting really comfortable with what makes us different, weird, and special. At the beginning this might mean stepping a toe out of our comfort zones; later, it can mean practically living there.  It’s all about learning to see the world with new eyes, and then to keep seeing it with new eyes, again and again.

If you have trouble with this, I recommend a number of wonderful books on the Inspirations page of my website.

5.  So how about simplicity?  Can you expand on how you implement simplicity into your day-to-day life?

The search for simplicity is a constant battle! I seem to have a tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be; my husband’s the one who truly understands simplicity. If he had his way we would be rid of probably 90% of our possessions, and a good portion of our social obligations too!

But simplicity means different things to different people. For me, it’s remembering what’s most important to me, and trying to bring my life more in line with those values.

A lot of what we think of as convenient or necessary actually makes our lives more complicated. Email and cell phones, for example — when we were in Hong Kong, I had no cell access, and I was only able to check my email every couple of days (and that was on a tiny handheld with a slow connection, so I couldn’t even look at photos).

Instead of feeling disconnected, I felt more richly connected to the world around me in a way I can’t tap into when I’m tied to electronic devices! So I try to constantly evaluate my surroundings and my habits, paring them down to only what’s essential. It’s a tall order.

6.  Tell us about your etsy shop.  What’s your favorite item?  (And can we see pictures?)

It’s an ever-evolving project. I began my shop in late October 2009 with mostly sewn items made from FabMo fabrics.  But the more I delve into my creativity, the more channels it wants to go into!

I think my current favorite items are probably my brooches and hair fripperies (my own name for them!). Here’s one I particularly love:

7.  I noticed that you have a unique approach to clothing.  Tell us what you think on the subject.

I’m still not skilled enough to make my own clothes, but sewing has wholly changed the way I view shopping and clothes. For starters, soon after I learned to sew, I stopped wanting to buy anything I could make myself. There’s no sense in paying $75 for a bag when I can make my own, or for a cardigan that I could easily embellish with similar ribbons and embroidery! Moreover, doing so much sewing has really shown me how much work goes into everything we wear.

When I look at clothes now, I don’t see price tags; I see hours of labor.

I have the luxury of being my own boss and of setting my own prices on my creations, but most of the people who work every day to make our clothes, shoes, and accessories don’t have this status. This perspective has made me completely uninterested in cheap, mass-produced clothing.

If I’m going to wear the products of someone else’s labor, I want that person to have been paid fairly, and I want them to have been involved with what they made in some way — not just churning out piece after piece in a factory.

8.  What is a constant challenge for you on this journey?

Balance, always balance! Creativity is rarely a problem; I have more ideas than I’ll ever be able to use. I think I’m finally learning to trust myself and move forward with confidence. But finding balance is a daily test, whether it’s maintaining a healthy work-life relationship; trying to juggle my writing, drawing, and crafting; or even just eating right and getting enough exercise.

9. What advice would you give to those who have just started to repurpose and create from materials that used to have a different life?  And why should people be motivated to try to turn to these resources?

First, I’d say congratulations on taking this step!

Second, I’d refer crafters to this thread I started in the Etsy forums.  Fellow eco-crafters have lots of great ideas and experience on how to use repurposed materials, and many of them share these thoughts on this thread.

My main advice is: just go for it. The more you seek out and work with these materials, the better you’ll get at it. You’ll be able to look at things with new eyes, and you’ll keep coming up with more and more ways to reuse something! Your creations will be 100% unique, you’re diverting material from landfill and giving it new life, you can feel better about your consumption habits, and you get to exercise your creativity. You get to look at your work with the satisfaction of someone who’s confronted a problem (“what do I make from this??”) and figured out a solution!

* * * * * * * *

A big thank you to Lisa for some wonderful thoughts.  Now she’s kindly offered to share one of her newest handmade creations with a lucky reader.  I love how she’s repurposed old papers into these beautiful notebook dividers.  I don’t know about you, but when it comes to the paper section of The Declutter Project, I could really use a few of these.

THE PRIZE: One winner will receive a set of Lisa’s repurposed page dividers.

SHIPPING:   She’ll happily ship from the US to you anywhere you live.  Yeah!  Note: these dividers are made with standard US/Canada dimensions.  It’s a little shorter and fatter than A4 paper like the rest of the world uses.

HOW TO ENTER:   Leave a comment below to tell us about a favorite handmade item in your house.  The catch?  Can you think of an item that was not made by an immediate member of your family?

DEADLINE:   Entries must be received by Monday, May 24 at midnight in San Francisco where Lisa lives.  The winner will be announced Tuesday.

What does your kitchen look like behind all of those cabinet doors?

Today in The Decluttering Project is all about seeing how we can spruce up the kitchen.  I’m always excited to start decluttering in the kitchen because I’m never quite sure what I will find.  Obviously I know the things that I use on a regular basis quite well.  But what about the stuff tucked behind and underneath all of that?

I spent a little time thinking about the simple plan that I take each time I decide to declutter the kitchen so that I could put together some ideas for all of you.  We’re only focusing on gadgets and utensils today.  So don’t worry about your pantry, spice racks, fridge, or anywhere that you are storing food.

The key it to break decluttering projects into little pieces to keep them simple and manageable.

There is nothing more stressful for everyone in the family than a decluttering project that is only have finished with a pile of unknowns stacked on the counter.  And trust me – it can happen!  So let’s just take things one at a time.

How far can you get with just an hour or two?

Our kitchen is super small, so we have to be extremely selective.  I really learn a lot about kitchen needs and kitchen wants.

Here’s the way I like to do it:

1.  Start with a tidy kitchen.  Unload the dishwasher, put away the clutter. When you start with a clean kitchen, there is less stress throughout the entire project. When you’re done, your kitchen is clean.  Plus you’ve got a better idea of just how much stuff is in your kitchen when its all put away.

2.  Begin with a utensils drawer.  Pull out everything. I like to start with a fresh slate so that instead of figuring out what I don’t want and don’t use, I can prepare to re-add the stuff I do use.  I wipe out the drawer.

3.  Then item by item, I put back the stuff I regularly use. I do not put back anything that is broken.  No duplicates.  Nothing that I  intend to use but just haven’t gotten around to.  Only the things that I am actively using stay.

4.  Throw away the garbage, add stuff to the recycle pile, and put everything else that didn’t make the “yes I always use this” pile into a giant box or basket. We’ll come back to it.  For now, the kitchen is still clean.  One drawer is decluttered.

5.  Go through all of your drawers like this. If you personally don’t use waxed paper at your house, put it in the clutter box.  Just because something is standard kitchen supplies doesn’t mean you need to keep it on hand.

6.  Then start going through a cupboard. By pulling everything out, you can really see what you have.  Do you need all of the dishtowels?  Can you get by without some of the gadgets?  I bet you can part with some.  You can ditch those plastic containers without lids and extra empty jars you’re storing.

At our house, we’ve found solutions for less kitchen stuff: refrigerator iced tea, a gadget-free salad spinner, popcorn on the stovetop, salt storage without those annoying boxes and bags, and attractive displays for dish soap… all of which equal fewer accessories and less clutter in the kitchen!

7.  Go to the next cupboard and the next. (We’ll get to under the sink later.)

8.  How full is your box or basket looking? Mmmmaybe you want to salvage some of those unknowns.  Martin and I will often do this part together so that we don’t end up keeping too many of the unknowns.  We make a pile of what we want to keep, and thanks to a system of checks and balance between the two of us, we don’t end up pulling everything right back out of the box.

9.  Give items to friends and family. Chances are you know of someone starting up a new kitchen about now (any graduates or newlyweds perhaps).  Can they use any of the stuff in your box?  Pull it out for them, put it in a bag, and label it right now.  Put it at the door or in the car.  The key here is that you have to see that person in a reasonable amount of time.  Like it’s completely impractical for me to hang onto something for my sister when I live in Germany.  That might sound extreme and obvious – of course I’m not going to see her tomorrow.  But when is the next time you will see the person you want to give to?

10. If you have a large number of dishes or silverware, contact a few local organizations that have fundraiser breakfasts or bake sales (they could put treats on your plates!).  Your church, the rescue mission, a nonprofit, or a summer camp program might love to have your goods.

It’s so much easier to give something away when you have the beneficiary in mind.  Thrift shops are great.  But first think of the direct donations you can make.

11.  Close the box.  Everything else is going to the thrift shop, flea market, or garage sale when we’re finished with this project.

So how do you think you can do?  I love that this project always finishes with freshly wiped shelves.  The biggest problems I find is papers and twist ties in random places.  What about you?  Any tips or thoughts as we all go tackle together?

* * * * * * * *

Oh!  And if you’re joining in this challenge, email me a photo of your box of items you’ve decluttered.  Or send a shot of a stylin’ decluttered drawer.  We’re all doing this together, and a few photos of what people are accomplishing along side one another is like the feel of finding a $20 bill in last summer’s shorts.  You know you’d love it.  So send those photos…!  (I promise I’ll share mine, too.)

What could your house look like with a quick purge?  If you spent just an hour or two tackling a different part of your home every day for several weeks, what could your home become?

You can part with some of that stuff.

You can decrease the clutter.

You can breathe!

I think that regular purging habits are important.  They make us so much more aware of what we already have in our lives and how much we’re consuming.  Our homes get a nice little lift.  And if you live in small spaces like we do, the place can feel just a bit bigger.

I thought we should tackle a different corner of the house every day or so.  Some spaces need more time, and some homes have several of each space.  So just try your best.  The goal with this project isn’t necessarily to go piece by piece through the entire house.  The goal is to begin simplifying the space we have.  I’ll give you some tips that help us succeed.  I encourage you to think about a system that works for you.

The hardest things about decluttering are:

1. eliminating the things we’re sentimentally attached to
2. eliminating things we’re sure we’ll have a use for later

I think we can put together some really effective ways for overcoming these problems a bit so our homes can become more manageable.

Here’s the tenative schedule I am planning mixed in with a few fun bits you’ve come to expect on Making This Home just to divide things up a little:

• Kitchen shelves
• Pantry
• Paperwork, stationery, & magazines

Why does all this matter?

• Under the bed
• Books
• Craft & hobby supplies
• Jewelry boxes & personal accessories
• Clothes

Be true to yourself, not your stuff

• Office supply
• Holiday stuff
• Gift cards
• Heirlooms & sentimental items
• Unfinished projects

Homes of hoarders & a hoarding quiz

• Wedding and formal dresses
• Broken waiting-to-be-fixed-or-something stuff
• Gifts you’ve received
• Your guy’s space

So shall we begin?  Take a breath, turn on your favorite music, and enjoy this process.  Envision what you will achieve.  Take this one step at a time.

And believe it or not, we’re going to have some fun – the most fun you could have decluttering.  Why?  Because we’re doing it together.  I know you’re counting on me; you know I’m counting on you.

Meet me in the comments section, and then we’ll be back here tomorrow as we head to the kitchen…

The Girl Scout movement had a huge impact on my life.  We were always taught to leave a place cleaner than we found it.  I learned to actively give more than I received.  And who could leave out those one-match fires?

Give.

Isn’t that a powerful word?

Today before we launch a Making This Home group effort to declutter our homes a bit, I want us to pause and think about giving.  The art of giving is actually my number one secret to living a simpler life.  I think of who could be happier with the things I have.  Who could benefit from my skills or my ideas?  Where can I give a piece of me (and my things!) to make this world better?

Here’s my family and me.  I was 16 years-old and had just earned my Girl Scout Gold Award (an equivalent to the Boy Scout Eagle).  I think my mom earned it and gave just as much of her heart as I did with all of my community service projects.  …and all of my brother’s.  …and all of my sister’s.

I am beyond touched by the people who continue to give and give of themselves to help one another.

Earlier this month when I opened Gadanke – my new writing prompt journal shop – I was overwhelmed by the support that poured my way.  Thank you!  I’m setting big goals for this shop to support my own family, of course.  But I also really want to help others share their stories and discover themselves through my writing prompts.

Give.

Would you like to know how I came up with the name “Gadanke”?

Since I live primarily in Berlin, Germany, you probably guessed German roots, yeah?  The name comes from the German word, Gedanke. It means thought, idea, or mind.

I have a teensy embarrassing problem in German. Despite hours of studying the language, I still trip up. It’s like I’m saying “ball” or “bull” when I’m really trying to say “bowl”. We’ll be sitting in a restaurant with a group of Germans, and I’ll look at the waitress and announce, “I’d like a ball of soup, please.”

Luckily, Gadanke has a big “thank you” in it. (Danke means thank you.) There’s so much to be thankful for in life, and I want us to remember that every day.

So tomorrow we’ll begin our decluttering project.  Keep thinking give.  It’ll make decluttering so much easier.  In the meantime, I have a little treat.  I’d like to give two of you a love letter journal from my shop – Italian patterned paper of your choice.  I really appreciate all of the support so many of you have given me as Gadanke becomes my career path.

I’ll bet you can guess why I’ve chosen to give away a few love letters.  These minibooks are a journal specifically designed for giving to someone else.  Sneaky, huh?  The writing prompts on the left of each page really help you express the gratitude and love you have for someone else.  The right pages are lined for you to pour out your heart, paste pictures, or detail the specifics.

The best gifts in the world are always the thanks yous and the love yous when we least expect them.

One expecting father is even writing one to his unborn child.

Imagine the strength of his letter when that child can read it one day.  Imagine the strength of giving a love letter to someone who matters in your life.

Thank you for all that you give – to your community, to your family, to Martin and me, and to the world.  Let me continue the old Scouting tradition and give something more back.

THE PRIZE: Two winners will receive one love letter from my shop.

SHIPPING:   I’ll happily ship from the US to you anywhere you live.  Yeah!

HOW TO ENTER:   Leave a comment below telling us someone who gave to you when you were a child.  It must be someone outside of your family.  A teacher?  A hairdresser?  A neighbor?  Please tell us about someone who has touched your life.

DEADLINE:   Entries must be received by Thursday, May 20 at midnight EST.  The winner will be announced Friday.

Good luck!

I’ve been thinking a lot about decluttering over the last week.  I told Martin that I would love to get rid of half the stuff in our house.

“Wouldn’t that be the greatest?!” I said.

He froze a second.  ”By getting rid of half…” he said slowly.  ”You wouldn’t mean getting rid of my half of the stuff would you?”

I shrugged.

(sort of like this)

Okay, okay.  I promised to leave Martin’s things alone.  (Most of his things.)

I am, however, eager to pull out some of the extras in our house that are my own.  Call it a late spring cleaning bug if you want.  But chances are you’ve got a few corners that could benefit from a little purging, too, right?  It doesn’t seem to matter what season it is.  They’re always there.

I’d like to invite you to join me.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll tackle little projects and offer some strategies, then on your marks, get set, gooo and see what you can do in your own little space.

We can cover a lot of ground by taking it a step at a time.  Plus it’s more fun when you know someone else is doing the same thing – kind of like sibling rivalry without all the sticking out tongues.

We’re starting simple at our house.  See this box of Annie’s macaroni and cheese from the United States that we’ve been saving for a rainy day?  Well it just had to go.  Mmmmm.

I promise it won’t get overwhelming, and I promise to cover a few topics that have never really applied to our 480 square foot casa.  That’s the nice thing about living in so many places from a tire house to a house in a retired community in the Denver suburbs.  You learn a lot about different places and people.  You also get to peek in a lot of garages.

So if you have any particular areas that you’d like to discuss, please let me know.

In the meantime, go relax.  What are your weekend plans?  Go have fun.  I’ll see you back here again on Monday.

Don’t want to wait that long to start a few purge projects?  Here’s how we declutter the bathroom, cut back on shoe collections, downsize in general (includes peeks into our hallway), and not to mention, give up sentimental stuff to get you started.