yet another decluttering thread - Page 3

[Cloverlove]

Hi- I'm late, but I still really want to join!

We are fairly minimalist around here but between moving, kids growing and decluttering we have a ton of stuff in our basement for ebay/garage sale. I keep going back and forth with taking it to Goodwill or selling it. After this thread, I think I'll skip ebay and just have a huge yard sale. They can be fun- right? Does anyone have any hints for a successful one? We have some big ticket stuff like a sofa and washer and dryer, and of course, things like toys, diapers and clothes. All this stuff is making me insane!!!

Toys are probably my main *problem area* as well. I was deprived as a child and I over-compensate. Most of the them are wooden and nice or things like legos and playmobil, so I have a hard time getting rid of them. I have donated things in the past that I later regret. So, I think I'll just keep stuff in bins for now and let that be my one downfall.

This might be OT, but another area of my life that seems really scattered and disorganized is photos/family memoriabilia. All of our pictures for the last 3 years have been on a digital camera that I burn to a disk and that is about all. Any tips for this?

monnie- thanks for the pm. I think of you and will write soon!

[greenbean]

Somebody smack me next time I say I am going to do a project like this! OH MY GOODNESS!

We spent 14 hours yeaterday tearing out carpet, vinyl and linolem (sp?)! The layers of nasty! I HATE CARPET! We also filled the rest of the nail holes and removed the ceiling fan. Then we painted the ceiling, walls and all of the trim. I am so TIRED! Okay so I am up this morning and checking the spots to touch up and sweeping the floors. Part of the wall was rotten behind the bathroom so that will get repaired and paineted today. Also laying floors. Fortunatly my dd won't be here to get into the havoc- yesterday was very rough with her here- no naps (she refused) and generally helping do everything!

Here is what we have doen so far- WOW!!!! The before and after pictured of the paint do it no justice. Imagine 20 yr old streaky paint job and that was the before. Now it is a heather green with witch white cieling and trim.

Off to work!

[tracymom]

I've been subscribed to this thread, like, forever, but this is my first post to it. I'm so excited. I read about freecycle and joined up and I just posted my first offers today and two out of three of them were claimed within 5 minutes!

Now I've got them all bagged up with the lady's name on 'em and hopefully she'll be by later tonight to get them OUT OF MY WAY!!!

[Elowyn]

Joining the decluttering thread....I need this so badly!! This apartment is a virtual sea of paperwork (it doesn't help that I'm job-hunting so covered in resumes and applications) among other delights. I don't even want to dust, because of all the claptrap! I tried Flylady, but she just makes me feel guilty with her emails all day while I'm at work. So I'm just using her ideas as much as I can, and being reasonable about the rest.

My goals for the rest of the weekend:

1) Clean out the linen closet - all 4 shelves. Donate or trash remains.
2) Clean out 2 kitchen cabinets. Donate or trash.
3) Eliminate visible clutter from the bedroom (mostly done already - just a few "hotspots" thank you flylady)
4) Clean off living room bookcases of clutter (keeping books), donate or trash.
5) Clean out dining room buffet. Donate or trash.

Oh, and I need to bake the week's bread and probably make a batch of blueberry jam before they go bad. I'm tired just thinking about it!

OK - I'll check back tomorrow night and let you know how it went.

[Mizelenius]

I feel SO free when I declutter. Yay, for this thread! I like to "bless" other people with my things (go, Fly Lady!), but I have NO idea what to do with DH's stuff. He has so many hardware and techie things . . .I have no idea how to sort them/store them/weed some out. So, we end up with a super-junky computer desk and boxes underneath the bed. (Oh, and we live with my mom, so space is at a premium.)

Someone asked about photos . . .I'll tell you that our digital camera has helped enormously in that area. Our screen saver is made from all the pics on our 'puter, so we enjoy them throughout the day. The photos that were taken with a regular camera, though, are sitting in boxes waiting to be sorted. ACK!!!

[sea island mama]

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

Someone asked about photos . . .I'll tell you that our digital camera has helped enormously in that area. Our screen saver is made from all the pics on our 'puter, so we enjoy them throughout the day.

I would LOVE to do that!! Is it difficult? We have Windows 2000.

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

The photos that were taken with a regular camera, though, are sitting in boxes waiting to be sorted. ACK!!!

Mine too - from the last 20 years !

[Mizelenius]

I would LOVE to do that!! Is it difficult? We have Windows 2000.

Ours is from Windows XP . . .DH said there might be a free program out there that you could use, though!

[sarasprings]

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

The photos that were taken with a regular camera, though, are sitting in boxes waiting to be sorted. ACK!!!

My project last year, ending last summer , was going through photos and organizing them. It took a lot of work (I labeled the backs, put negatives in negative sheets), but it was SUCH a load off my mind. It's so easy now to keep up with. I found time for the last big push when we had to go spend a long, long weekend with my ILs. It gave me something to do besides sit and "visit" (which of course means stare at each other after the first day).

Yesterday was day 1 of our garage sale. We made $227 after expenses and got rid of 3/4 of our stuff. I don't have high expectations for today, but I'm hoping some freecycle people will come after to take some stuff, the library will get the rest of the books, and the family down the street is on a corner, so stuff will get put there for a day or two.

ETA: We finished renovating one bathroom last week (we had to do the screws, paint the base cabinet and doors, putty/sand/paint/ and put up the hardware -- the contractor did the hard stuff like put in the tub and tile) and should have the second bathroom done next week!

[love2all]

I need to declutter my life.........
we worked all weekend on cleaning out the kids room. i got rid of 5 or 6 huge boxes of stuff, this will be sold at a huge yard sale in a week at a local pizza place!!
i feel like my life is stuck in this sea of too much stuff. mostly toys and random papers.........i live in a small house-550 sq ft with 5 people living here.
anyway...it felt great to do their room and i can wait to do the rest of the house.
this all started because my children are sick with whooping cough and we are isolated to being at home!!!! i could no longer stand it- i guess that is something positive ffrom this sickness lol!!!
maria

[MamaMonica]

Well, I have the storerroom cleaned out pretty good- but am up against my ceramics. I have a ton of things- small sculpture mostly I made in the years before kids. I am tempted to toss them all, even though I like a lot of them. Unfortunately I was very proific and have already given everyone I know one or two pieces, so I don't want to inundate people with "stuff." And with kids around, the last thing I need is ceramics!

I tried to throw some away a few years ago but dh was horrified and dug them out of the trash.

[SpiralChrissy]

Could you donate them some place????
Maybe some social service agency, hospital, nursing home, etc?

Sometimes when I have a hard time getting rid of something, I take a picture of it. I can always go back and look at the picture if I start missing it.

Good luck!! Be Ruthless!

[MamaMonica]

Originally Posted by SpiralChrissy

Good luck!! Be Ruthless!

Thanks! I'm feeling very ruthless lately :LOL A picture of them would take up so much less room...

It's funny how after each level of decluttering there is a new level of "letting go" to face Anyone else experience that? It's funny because all of this is "stuff" that can neither love us back nor can we take it with us in the end. Why does it have such a hold?

[singermom]

Just wanted to drop a quick note to say that I FINALLY got off the dime and started sorting the baby clothes! (Of course, I had insomnia, so I was doing this at 4 in the morning, which was not exactly what I had in mind, but it's a means to an end...). I'm pleased to report that it wasn't quite as emotional as it had been a year or so ago--they still aren't out the door yet, so it doesn't completely count as decluttering yet, but I am getting there!

Not much other progress made on my other decluttering goals (or on any goals) these days. Like others have said, I feel completely weighed down with STUFF these days. I'm a little aggravated with myself and my inability to break through on any front. But I guess that is a topic for another thread!

Mia

[bamboogrrrl]

Greenbean: Your work is beautiful! The room looks incredibly peaceful and serene (after copious chaos I'm sure). Great job! It inspired me to start listing out the things I CAN already do (have the materials bought already) that I haven't done yet.

One thing I did over my two week vacation (which ended this week - ack!) was declutter two closets and drag a carload of stuff to the Salvation Army...for a very nice receipt at tax time. The funny thing was that it only took me a couple of hours to do... I can't really explain why I didn't do it sooner, but it feels great to go into those closets and actually be faced with order. I also donated a bag of books to our library sale and got another receipt. Feel lighter already!

[whateverdidiwants]

I was so inspired by reading this thread last week that over the weekend dh and I got rid of 6 boxes of random stuff that was sucking up space in our house, and almost *12* bags of clothing and linens (we found 4 sets of sheets that fit a Full matress - we got rid of our Full in 1998!). The thing that I really tried to focus on was getting rid of things that hold things, like baskets and cute boxes because if I have those the temptation to keep junk in them is irresistable. My goal is to have all the tops of things (bookcases, the sideboard, etc) totally cleared off and at least one bare shelf in each closet. Wish me luck!

[SpiralChrissy]

Congrats! You can do it!!