By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

Julie Falatko’s journal reads like a yard sale advertisement:

January 5, 2007

12. Paper shredder

13. Wooden Barney puzzle with a missing piece.

54. Freecycled two pairs of pajamas, size 18 months.

February 9, 2007

57. A small bin of Legos, fake Legos and other junky toys.

58. One cat hair mitten

 June 7, 2007

96. Stretched out Speedo swimsuit

On a quest to rid her home and life of clutter, Falatko has discovered
there’s some truth behind the old adage: one man’s trash is another
man’s treasure.

Last December, while surveying the contents of her South Portland home,
Falatko felt a rush of panic about accumulating more “stuff” during the
course of the holiday season.

“Our shed is so full that you can’t open the door without something
falling out,” reads her Dec. 16 entry. “We want to do work in our
attic, but the prospect of moving all the boxes of stuff up there to
get the work done is stopping us.”

 Instead of establishing a moratorium on Christmas gifts, the
mother of two decided to rid the house of the belongings that no longer
had a purpose beyond collecting dust.

Falatko, 36, has chronicled her progress in a journal and on her Web
site, worldofjulie.com, and has dubbed the project: “365 things in 365
days: One woman’s attempt to move all the extra junk out of her house
and out of her life.”

She said posting her progress online seemed like a good way to keep to
her goal of donating, selling or throwing away one thing a day. A
computer glitch has prevented her from updating the Web site to her
current count, but her detailed journal fills in the gaps.

Some rules were established from the get-go.

“I think I need to have had them for at least three months, so they’re
actual clutter and not just some new acquisition,” she stated in a
journal entry. “And I can’t count them as separate items if they’re
logically a bundle. Also, I think it’s OK if I do buy some things. Even
if I replace things.”

Falatko kicked off the project on Jan. 1, throwing away an American
Express Gift Check envelope, a crib bumper and a Curious George trading
card.

By posting items on Web sites such as eBay and Freecycle – an
international organization, with groups in South Portland and Portland,
of people seeking to recycle household items rather than throw them
away – hosting a yard sale and making frequent trips to Goodwill and
the transfer station, Falatko has nearly reached her goal. Her current
count of eliminated items is 322. She estimated she has made between
$400 and $500 so far.

“Once you start, it’s really easy to get the momentum going,” she said.
“It feels so good to get rid of huge bags of things you’re not using.
It definitely lightens you mentally.”

Falatko said she drew a lot of inspiration from the book, “Clear Your
Clutter with Feng Shui,” by Karen Kingston. The book offers insight
into clearing your mind and your clutter.

“The things in your home should be things you love,” Falatko said.
“There shouldn’t be anything in your home that makes your heart sink.”

Falatko said the little piles of “stuff” around the house and the full attic and full shed had started to feel oppressive.”

The response to her unneeded possessions has “always been a little surprising,” Falatko said.  

A woven wool rug, for example, didn’t garner much interest, but a woman
sent Falatko a “passionate” email, telling her how much she wanted the
cat hair mitten. Falatko excerpts the email in her journal, "Please,
please, please let me be the first response. I need this so badly. I
have a long-haired cat and there’s hair everywhere!”

For the most part, Falatko said she is giving away her possessions and her husband Dave is supportive of her efforts.

“I think his feeling was let’s do 1,000 things,” she said.

Despite her sons – 4-year-old Henry and 21-month-old Eli – being
blissfully unaware that some of their broken toys and puzzles with
missing pieces have gone missing, Falatko said Henry has picked up her
eye for clutter.

During a walk past a home festooned with Halloween decorations,
including small, hanging ghosts made from newspaper and plastic bags.
Henry said, “Look, Mom, a Halloween house! At our house, all that stuff
would be called junk.”

One item Falatko hesitated to designate as junk was her wedding veil.
While the veil had emotional significance, that was not reflected in
the way she had stored it –  shoved in a box in the garage – so
she decided to post it on Freecycle. Falatko decided if she wasn’t
going to preserve the veil, she shouldn’t keep it around.

Evaluating her progress so far, Falatko said she has thrown away very
little with the exception of old toiletries and old food. Having met a
few people via the Freecycle connection, Falatko said a couple of
people try to reserve her items in advance, saying, “Oh, you know I’ll
want that.”

As she nears her goal of 365 things, Falatko says she’s not sure how she will proceed with the project.

“If I hit 365 by the end of the year, which I think I will, next year,
I’d like to concentrate on not accumulating things,” she said.  

She said she wants to break free from buying or acquiring new things
without thinking about whether she really needs them. In a culture
where there is so much available to buy instantly, that is easier said
than done.

Falatko said she is also learning to resist the urge to bring home
items given away by family and friends. Previously, if a relative was
giving away a free table, Falatko said she would be the first one to
say, “Great, I’ll take it.”

Having found inspiration for her project in several books, Falatko, who
is currently working toward a master’s degree in library science,
wondered if her experience might also work as a book.

“I’d love to have this turn into a book project, but I know that’s
fairly presumptuous since everyone thinks they can write a book these
days, and I know it’s not at all easy,” she said.

As studies report Americans are suffering from rising stress levels,
Falatko has discovered an uncluttered home can go a long way toward a
calm mind.  

To learn more about Julie Falatko’s project, visit www.worldofjulie.com.