Ugh. . . . tell me where to start. - Page 2

[ssantos]

The absolute most motivating thing that makes me clean my house is to invite someone over (my choice on when - usually Sunday so I have Saturday to clean).  Once the house gets clean, it is easier to keep clean for a while.  I agree with decluttering too - especially kids toys.

[zoebird]

well, you actually answered your own question: "too much stuff."

first thing, take time to get rid of stuff. it feels good when you get down to the "bare essentials" of what you need.

For example, *all* of my clothes fit into one drawer. it helps a lot in keeping the "laundry pile" in check. my husband and I were quite the clothes horses, and i just streamlined us down into a functional wardrobe that we all love. i keep my son's wardrobe minimal too, which means that we have 1. rewearable stuff on hooks in the bedroom; 2 dirty stuff in the washer; 3. clean stuff in a drawer. thus, there is never a laundry pile, ever, in this house anymore. it goes from dryer (or clothes line) straight to the drawers. it goes from body to hook or washing machine. no piles ever! hurray!

We also only have enough dishes for ourselves plus one guest. it's great. super helpful. when i cook, there is so little to clean up because there is nothing to pile up. seriously. if i don't wash the dishes from lunch, there will be no dishes at dinner. it means i have to clean up right after lunch, but it's only 3 of each dish, so it takes about 15 minutes. 

this leaves toy mess, which is not a big deal to me. if my son is happy and playing, then so am I, and i don't think anyone really minds "toy mess." of course, if you have too many toys and not even space for them, then the toys also need to be culled, but once they are at a managable size, get a toy box baskets and have ap lace for them so that, when it is tidy time (i do tidies 2-3 times per day) you can easily toss all of the toys into this basket. 

this is what keeps the place tidy. granted, i may have a dish or two left undone now and again (from a snack). or, i might have toys all over the house. or, i might have some laundry that is being folded when someone knocks on the door. but it's all very little mess.

so, first step, go through your things. second step, have a place for everything. third step, make sure everything goes into it's rightful places at the right times. :)

[emmaegbert]

Zoebird this is my plan for when we move into our new, smaller apartment. I radically downsized when we moved. But not as radical as this! Really just ONE guest? You never want to have 2 guests? I have actually been thinking about how many guests I want to be able to accommodate.

As for clothes. I totally agree. BUT, we do have to account for changing seasons. And for some reason my husband thinks he needs upwards of 50 t-shirts. When we moved I got rid of, oh, 30 of them but still! There are so many and they are BIG. Of course he has barely noticed that he has less than half of what he used to have but still...
 

Originally Posted by zoebird 

well, you actually answered your own question: "too much stuff."

first thing, take time to get rid of stuff. it feels good when you get down to the "bare essentials" of what you need.

For example, *all* of my clothes fit into one drawer. it helps a lot in keeping the "laundry pile" in check. my husband and I were quite the clothes horses, and i just streamlined us down into a functional wardrobe that we all love. i keep my son's wardrobe minimal too, which means that we have 1. rewearable stuff on hooks in the bedroom; 2 dirty stuff in the washer; 3. clean stuff in a drawer. thus, there is never a laundry pile, ever, in this house anymore. it goes from dryer (or clothes line) straight to the drawers. it goes from body to hook or washing machine. no piles ever! hurray!

We also only have enough dishes for ourselves plus one guest. it's great. super helpful. when i cook, there is so little to clean up because there is nothing to pile up. seriously. if i don't wash the dishes from lunch, there will be no dishes at dinner. it means i have to clean up right after lunch, but it's only 3 of each dish, so it takes about 15 minutes.

[zoebird]

i borrow dishes.

you see, when i'm having more than one guest over, i go over to my neighbors and i ask them "may i borrow a couple of dishes? we are having some guests over and don't have enough." usually, three or four neighbors will loan us two or three sets of dishes each. we wash them, and bring them back the next day, usually with some treat (left over cookies), and a little thank you note. 

it's actually a really cool way to live. And, you have an eclectic place settings. i invited some friends over recently, and this is how our place looked:

1. because i don't own a table, i stacked up 4 pallets (two side by side, then stacked two high).

2. i brought yoga cushions from the studio.

3. i got a vintage table cloth (white) and about 10 mismatched napkins (white with various detailing) at the salvation army for $2. 

4. i used our dishes as serving dishes, and borrowed 8 place settings from neighbors--all different, including drinking glasses and mugs as well as silverware. 

5. i used amber colored bottles -- left over from cod liver oil and rinsed out with labels removed -- and put flowers (summer here) in each of them. I was able to get the first blooming pohutukawa ("nz christmas tree") blooms in. 

6. i used empty mustard jars (low, nice shape, clear glass) cleaned and labels removed with beeswax tea lights inside.

Everyone had a seat, my white dishes and white table cloth and napkins and black cushions made a simple back drop, you couldn't see the pallets (but people thought that was cool), and each person had a different place setting. we served wild pork roast with a honey-mustard glaze, mashed herbed turnips, asparagus, and green salad. for dessert, some local ice cream and home made cookies.

washed the dishes and wrapped up left over cookies (for guests to take and also to take to neighbors). bound each setting with twine and the little packet of cookies and set it aside. put table cloth and napkins into wash and then put them away into storage once done (in the kitchen. i actually use these very frequently now.). recycled the wax for the candles (put those in a jar to melt-down later), cleaned the jars (i do use them for many purposes, or they could just go to recycling if i have too many).

next day, took the dishes back to my neighbors, took the pallets to the workshop where i do some modest building, and took the cushions back to the yoga studio. 

there weren't any left overs. it was another no-waste meal. :D (btw, i use recycled brown bags and paper to wrap my cookies. usually, DH buys bulk dry goods in them, so i put those in clean jars for easy storage, and then reuse the bags, tied up with twine. 

so, there you go. usually, though, we only ever have one guest. it's strange, but true.

[zoebird]

also, while the seasons are not so severe here, we do have the same issue. we used to live in philadelphia, where we needed more cold-weather gear, but even that i was able to streamline down.

here is what i have for cold weather wear:

1. coat is an "outer shell" that doubles as a 'wind breaker/rain coat' if you don't have the under layers for fall/spring;

2. fleece layer, which simply doubles as a fall/spring jacket when it is not raining;

3. sweater layer (we use thin merino here, so it looks nice and not bulky; we each own one);

4. shirt layer (can be dress, t that is short or long sleeved);

5. under layer (silks).

now, in full on winter, such as our firebird festival, we would definitely be wearing these layers. in fact, all of those layers--and hats, scarves, gloves, thick socks, and our keen train shoes. 

right now, because we are in summer, i have packed away the outer shells, the fleeces, the merino sweaters, and the under layers. the shirts we can--and do--wear all year round. we also wear jeans all year round, so i don't have to worry about that.

Basically, in addition to the above, here is what i own:

1. 3 dresses

2. 3 skirts

3. 7 undershirts (tanks)

4. 7 t-shirts (long or 3/4 sleeve)

5. 3 jeans

6. underwear and mamma cloth

7. pjs

8. 3 yoga pants

9. bathing suit

10. denim jacket

11. 2 dress jacket (look good with jeans)

12. less than 5 pairs of shoes (here, i do have some in storage in the US)

my DH has

1. 3 jeans

2. 3 shorts (one is a bathing suit)

3. 7 t-shirts

4. 2 dress shirts

5. one suit

6. two pair of dressier pants (one ripped earlier this week, so we'll make those into shorts and replace them)

7. 2 polo-style shirts

8. undergarments

9. one work out gear (shorts, t-shirt)

10. various socks

11. two jackets (one fall/winter, one dressy to wear with jeans/etc)

12. 6 pairs of shoes

13. PJs

my son has

1. 4 pairs of overalls

2. 4 pairs of pants

3. 4 sweaters

4. 10 shirts

5. 2 PJs

6. 12 trainers (we did EC, so it cuts down on how many diapers you have to wash by a lot; we are just about to move him to underwear)

7. socks

8. 1 pair of shoes and one pair of rainboots

9. rain gear (pants and jacket)

we simplified down to things that can mix-and-match, things that are hardy and can be washed frequenly, and things that can be worn in a variety of occasions. i so feel like my son has too much clothing (my mother and MIL send it, usually doubling what i ask for), so a lot of it doesn't get worn all that often. 

so, we literally have a load of wash every day or every-other day, and that goes straight back into the drawers.

i store out-of-season clothing in those "space bags"--cleaned, folded, put in--and then inside our suitcases which are stored in our closet. right now, two suitcases have clothes stored, because winter clothes take up much more space.