How Pinterest can help you declutter

 

Pinterest is, in my opinion, one most useful and versatile social media out there. I've been using Pinterest for years, way before I even had a blog, as a way to find, sort through and store all those ideas that inspire me - things that I would like to make someday, useful tips, beautiful photos, etc. 

But Pinterest is much more than a place to see and share inspiration. In fact, it can be a very useful tool to help you declutter. 

Because in addition to adding links to web pages and blogs, you can also upload images from your computer, there's a world of information you can put there. And if it's not something you can't or don't want to share publicly, you can create private boards. To do that, you just need to activate the "secret" option as shown below:

Examples of things that occupy space in your house and that you can add to your Pinterest boards: 

• recipes - I have scanned and placed on Pinterest almost all of my recipes. I created private boards to organize the recipes by themes (fish, meat, soups, Christmas recipes, etc) and believe me it's much easier to access those Pinterest boards with my tablet or phone than to look around my recipe box for that magazine cutout or the instructions I scribbled on a napkin a while ago. Even if it's handwritten by you, it can be scanned and uploaded, as long as it's readable. In the pin description there's also room to add who liked and disliked the recipe or when was the last time you made it.  

• sewing patterns, craft tutorials and the like - again, if it can be scanned, it can be on Pinterest. Just make sure to keep it private if you're not sure about the source and to avoid copyright issues. Again, create boards with clear titles and add as much description to each pattern or tutorial as possible. When you need it, you can just print it out or follow the instructions online. I used to print a lot of patterns I found online. They occupied a lot of space on my crafts closet and, in reality, I ended up not using half of them. Sometimes I couldn't even remember what was in my files. Now they are all online and organized just the way I want them. 

• interesting books you've read or want to read - yes, you can do than on Amazon and Goodreads too, but I find it useful to keep all the information in one place. You can virtually create a board with the covers of all the books you've read. Or those that you want to read. Again, if you want to keep it private, don't share your Pinterest boards with anyone.

• tips and tricks - I used to cut a lot of those out of magazines too. Or just read them and commit to memory. You can guess how that ended. Now they go directly to Pinterest where I can easy access and find what I need when I need.

•  photos - again, keep then private or share them just with who you want to. 

•  lists - shopping lists, school supplies lists, things to do, places you would like to visit, wedding lists, etc. You do upload links or images, but even so pins don't have to be static, you can edit the description at any time to add or delete your notes-to-self.

•  fashion trends - again, no more magazine cutouts. Just put them all together on a Pinterest board and updated as you go. 

And many, many more. To me, those that really made a different in terms of clutter reduction were the first two. As I scanned and uploaded the recipes, I gained a lot of space in my kitchen and now I can access and review the recipes much better. As for the crafts patterns and tutorials, I used to print a lot of stuff and then save it in physical files which occupied space. No more of that. What I could find again online I added as links. What I couldn't find, I scanned. It took me a while, but it certainly was a good investment of my time. Now my house and my life are much more organized.

Pinterest is easy to use, easy to access and to search and it's free, and you have the option to share it publicly or keep it private. I've never had a problem with my private boards, but I'm not sure how "secret" they really are, so I still would not store sensitive information in them, but for recipes and sewing patterns and reading lists it works great. And if you don't have a scanner, you can still take pictures of what you want to store and upload them as well, and then access them from your computer, your tablet or your phone.

Of course Pinterest boards can get cluttered too, so I recommend you to once in a while go through your pins, discard those that don't interest you anymore and update any comments on the others, to make sure you can always go back and find exactly what you need with minimal effort. But Pinterest is still a very strong decluttering tool and you should explore it's full potential. 

If you want to visit me on Pinterest, I'm here.

Happy Monday,