i want to simplify! - Page 2

[TiredX2]

We try to donate a trunk full of stuff (clohtes, toys, household goods) at least every couple months. I don't know where we get all this stuff, because I keep doing this and our house is still FULL.

[whateverdidiwants]

We did a serious de-clutter last month and I feel sooooo much better now. One thing we focused on that I had never really purged was the linen closet. Got rid of lots of old holey sheets, sheets for bed sizes we no longer have, and old ratty towels. We also got rid of a lot of baby stuff, since we're done having children, and even if we did somehow end up with another, we know what we *really* need and what's just sucking up space.

One thing that helped me was getting rid of all the boxes and organizers and baskets we had because we would just fill them with crap. This was especially true in the bathroom. I got rid of tons of stuff in there, and realized that I had a lot of things that I had no idea I had (like 3 half-full sticks of deodarant, oops!).

Good luck!

[mamaley]

i just got my karen kingston books in the mail i really like them. off to the feng shui thread i go!

i love that mantra--possessions are a burden. i want to get rid of it all!

whateverdidiwants, i was just thinking that today, i haven't been through my linen closet in forever. it's on my list.

oh yeah, speaking of, i made a list. kingston suggests it in her book. i went through the house and made a list of all the clutter areas. then i put them in order from smallest job to biggest job. it says to do what is bothering you most first! just take it one thing at a time, marking things off as you go.

[spero]

I did the mud room AND the play room today!!!!

2 bags of garbage and 4 boxes of garage sale stuff later...I started!!! Woo hoo!!!

I was late starting my declutter - after I posted my whole family got sick and it's taken me two weeks to get ANY energy to do anything.

I reorganized the mud room cupboards, put away all the summer stuff, paired up all the winter gloves/hats/scarves, got out the jackets & snowpants, organized all the sports equipment, swept down the cobwebs, and mopped the floor.

I still need to CLEAN the playroom, but I threw out TONS of broken toys, games with missing parts, dried-out markers, scribbled papers, and ripped books.

Last weekend I went through my clothes and Miss BB's clothes - donated some stuff and gave the rest to family/friends.

Tonight I'm pricing stuff, and omorrow I'm tackling my office

This coming weekend, I'm having a garage sale. Hopefully, after that - before it gets too cold - I can start organizing the attic for a spring sale.

btw - just a reminder, I have some nice clothes on the TP and I'm willing to negotiate prices/trades...

How's everyone else doing w/the fall decluttering?

[meco]

RE: TOYS

We just moved cross country, and I threw out every stinking toy except books, wooden puzzles, playsilks, real mini conga drums and wooden blocks. I mean everything--I sold em all and donated the rest. And you know what? DS has not missed a single one. In fact he is using his playsilks, puzzles and imagination more than ever.

I am not sure how old your kids are, but I would cull the toys in AT LEAST half. I found my DS was overwhelmed too with the # of toys. He seems much more free without them all, and he has an easier time playing and exploring.

Of course I did this with my ENTIRE House. I was the crap collector of the world. If it was on sale and it MIGHT be useful one day, I had it. Every kind of tape, every kind of battery, every kind of freaking adaptor, three can openers, 67, 000 bottle openers. I had it all :LOL And now with NONE of it--I feel so free and liberated. Like I can do anything and not be tied down.

Good luck. It was VERY hard for me, but I finally just did it.

[Henry's_Mamma]

You are all so inspiring!!! I wish I had the time and energy to declutter. DS is so high needs and dh works a zillion hours a week -- I have enough trouble just keeping up with food prep and laundry. We have so much stuff. We're both pack rats and on top of that, my basement has become the collection point for other family member's stuff b/c they've moved out of a house with storage so they're using my basement as storage. Ugh.

But, I do have a plan. Come Jan. 1st, we are going through the basement and every other room in the house and we are purging or packing away (like baby clothes that we'll need again someday, I hope) all the stuff. And in April/May/June, we're having a garage sale. And whatever is still around after the garage sale, gets donated or given away. I'm sick of this. I want a sanctuary!

Thanks for the inspiration!

[spero]

Clutter really weighs me down and sucks my energy.

We have a large house, and all the clutter and mess has turned me into a zombie. I used to be SUCH a consumer - buy, buy, buy! And now I have the overcrowded attic full of junk to prove it. Now, I'm more careful about how I spend my hard-earned $$$...I buy myself quality stuff instead of quantity stuff, and way less of it!

Oh, I was SO energized by getting those two rooms done! Before supper, I went up and tackled the 4-year old's room while she watched a video downstairs. After supper, I'm usually ready to slip into a fatigue coma, but not tonight...I went back upstairs and decluttered 7-yo DS's room. He is very enthusiastic about getting rid of stuff, and let me take several big items out of his room. I think he gets overwhelmed by the stuff, too...he has Asperger's and is perfectly happy to have just his Thomas trains and a box full of Matchboxes and Hot Wheels. (And his stuffed lovies for bedtime )

While I was doing that, 14-yo DS collected a box of stuff from his room, too.

The only one I can't convince to let go of anything is my 11-yo DD...and where was she tonight? Out birthday shopping w/Grandma, getting more "stuff". :LOL

I cannot get over all the stuff I am getting rid of.

I feel so free...I swear, if I can get my office done this house will almost be floating on air! I might have to tether it down once I get the attic cleaned out.

[mamaley]

go skellebelle!

meco:
" We just moved cross country, and I threw out every stinking toy except books, wooden puzzles, playsilks, real mini conga drums and wooden blocks. I mean everything--I sold em all and donated the rest. And you know what? DS has not missed a single one. In fact he is using his playsilks, puzzles and imagination more than ever."

wow! that is so inspiring. this is exactly what i would love to do, have everything go except his trains, art supplies, and a few other things. i'm sure it was hard to do...it would be for me, emotionally. but i'd think it would be worth it. i'm sure there are many who would flame us for thinking this way though! he isn't even playing with his trains hardly anymore. he hardly knows what he has, and this is post decluttering! sounds like i have more work to do

henry's mom, my advice to you is to just take 5-10 min a day, while your little one naps, sits in a sling, or plays on the floor, and go through a little pile of clutter. throw away some things, give away some things (stuff it in a sack for goodwill or some place like that) and put the rest where it goes. you will be shocked by how quickly you can do that stuff. if you do just 5 minutes a day, more or less, from now till jan 1, you're job in jan 1 will be much easier, and by then you'll be on a roll. believe me, it's addictive!

ladies, i have gotten rid of around 15 boxes and trash bags of stuff. my home has never looked this good--and it's far from perfect, believe me--but it just feels better. and i'm still going! i have so much to do, but it's not overwhelming (well, usually not).

[spero]

Originally Posted by mamaley

ladies, i have gotten rid of around 15 boxes and trash bags of stuff. my home has never looked this good--and it's far from perfect, believe me--but it just feels better. and i'm still going! i have so much to do, but it's not overwhelming (well, usually not).

Oh, you are so inspiring!

My ultimate goal is to lose that overwhelmed feeling I get every time I walk into my own home (not to mention that cringning feeling I get when somebody drops by unexpectedly! ).

henry's mom, my advice to you is to just take 5-10 min a day, while your little one naps, sits in a sling, or plays on the floor, and go through a little pile of clutter.

Yup. Bring a garbage bag and a box (for stuff you want to donate/sell) into a room. Start at the doorway and work your way clockwise around the room. Once you start, you won't want to stop until you're finished...I'll admit I'm obsessive and simply cannot do the 5-10 minute thing, I HAVE to work until I'm finished!

[mamaley]

"I'll admit I'm obsessive and simply cannot do the 5-10 minute thing, I HAVE to work until I'm finished!"

:LOL me too!

[meco]

Sounds like we are all making headway. It is ard but once it is gone, it is hard to miss it :LOL

Another trick that helped me was packing up stuff I was on the fence about and either dating for 6 months or a year down the road and tossing it then without opening. Or open and then force yourself to go through it and weed it out.

Good luck!!!!!

[spero]

Still rollin' here!

My poor family....supper has been an hour late the past two nights, b/c I can't stop my decluttering mania! :LOL I so wish we could afford take-out for a week.

I didn't get around to decluttering my office today - had to grocery-shop and get to the bank to pay our school taxes. But I did venture into the attic and haul some stuff out of there...and it still is overflowing up there. 1/2 of the stuff up there is cast-off clothes, we have a few pieces of furniture and some basic baby stuff I want to keep (crib, carseats, high chair), building supplies for our (unfinished) house, holiday decos, hand-me-down clothes I'm saving for our youngest. Of the rest, some stuff is saleable, but most is just junk that I've collected over the years and simply needs to be tossed. Bleh! I'll have my work cut out for me, come spring.

I've priced and packed everything. I'm having the garage sale at my mom's (she lives in town and has more visibilty - we live on a private road that doesn't get much traffic). My van is full and ready to unload at my mom's tomorrow; and I still have four totes and two boxes that'll need to go on Thursday. Plus stuff from my office, if I can get to that tomorrow.

I've decided to donate all the craft supplies clogging up my office to our Religious Ed program and to the Library (for Story Hour). I only use the stuff for RE (I teach) and story hour (I assist) anyway...and I want to free up space in here so I can start sewing again.

This has been such a LONG time in coming. Let me tell you something...if I can do this, anyone can. I have been SO bogged down by all this stuff, for so many years. Now that I've started decluttering, I'm finding it difficult to stop. I haven't had this much energy in ages.

How's everyone else doing???

[be11ydancer]

Don't throw anything away - have a garage sale! We did that last Saturday to declutter. It went well. We sold quite a bit of our stuff (mostly clothes and books). It was lots of fun and a great project for our family. The best part (aside from the money ) was spending time outside all day long. The girls just loved it. They loved the fact that there was furniture in the front yard and people coming over and toys and boxes to play with. They had a blast and were sad when it was over (they are 15 mos. and 3 y.o.).

So, consider a garage sale for decluttering. Whatever doesn't sell, just load it up and haul it off to Goodwill or a shelter that needs it.

Good luck!

[spero]

It's spring - how is everyone doing???

We just had a garage sale over the weekend and got rid of so much stuff!!! It was a lot of work (I had to actually clean the garage b/c the Sat. forcast was rain), but so worth it!!! I invested about $20 in advertising and garment racks/shelving (which can be re-used to organize stuff in storage in the attic) and still made a decent profit.

I had DS (DH is still not able to walk well or carry stuff - man, so much has happened since I last posted to this thread! ) clean ALL the big toys out of the basement and bring down big stuff from the attic - I priced it to sell and we got rid of so much clutter!!! I also had stuff left over and still neatly packed away/priced from the fall garage sale.

Everything got marked 1/2 price yesterday...great way to get rid of stuff.

We have a little bit left over - next weekend is the town-wide garage sales in my mom's village, so I'll take it over there and hopefully unload the rest.

Still need to clear the junk out of the attic...1/3 is clothes which will be donated to Goodwill, 1/3 is pure garbage that needs to go to the dump, and the rest will be NEATLY (at last!) stored away!

Now I need to CLEAN my poor neglected house. :LOL

[spero]

Still plugging away here, making progress!

Rather than start a new thread, I'll keep it here.

OK, so I definitely got sidetracked for all those months that DH was in the hospital and then recovering at home - my mom (bless her!) stayed here for 6 weeks to care for the kids, and she made things WORSE!!! She's a terrible clutterbug, it was Christmastime, and she brought so many little knicknacks/goodies into the house! Not to mention that so many kindhearted ppl (bless them!) brought us LOADS of food, gifts, and paper products/etc. - our house was just overflowing, and I had to do a major overhaul once things settled down and my mom moved out.

Then when it got warmer I started cleaning out the attic (a task I've been dreading for YEARS - it was really, really BAD up there), and had two garage sales this summer. One was a great success ; the other, not so much. I ended up taking about 40 garbage bags full of clothes to the goodwill drop-off bins, and so far there have been 2 fairly large loads of pure garbage to come out of there. Everything that didn't sell in my garage sales is boxed and ready to go to our church's annual fundraising garage sale in the spring.

This is the first year we've been able to get out the Christmas tree and decorations without a hassle! And, I actually have a dedicated space to store/wrap Christmas gifts.

Last month, we decided to finish 3 rooms downstairs. (We built the house ourselves, and moved in before it was finished, in 2001. We'd had all the rooms primed and sprayed white, and no trim on the doors, windows, etc. A couple of walls still needed priming. DH's original plan was to go room by room, but he got sidetracked.) So I knew it was time to declutter these rooms; esp my office/sewing room, which has ALWAYS been a complete disaster and the repository for junk we didn't want visible in other rooms. I once had all the Christmas decos/wrapping supplies sitting in the middle of my office for a YEAR b/c I couldn't get them back in the attic. :

As a result...for the first time in four years, my office is functional, neat, and I am finally using the beautiful antique rolltop desk my mom gave me when we moved in. (Now I need a flat screen monitor, though.) And the room is now a lovely shade of plum. Our former playroom will soom become the dining room it was originally meant to be, and looks rich and lovely in a deep cranberry shade. And our living room is almost the room we envisioned so many years ago - neat, functional, and a beautiful deep blue. All the trim is done in those three rooms as well - we used pine and just sealed/poly'd it and kept the natural wood look, which I prefer.

The kitchen will be next. I've always had a blue-and-green theme going out there and I have hickory cabinets, I think the walls are going to be a light pumpkin color.

And I really need to organize my bedroom - although DH is the bigger culprit for the mess in there.

It's been slow progress; but with every step of the way I feel so much less burdened, my energy level goes up, it's easier to clean, my mood improves. I don't function well in chaos and clutter, I just shut down mentally and retreat, then NOTHING gets accomplished; and the house goes to hell, and it's a vicious cycle. It's hard to get started; but once I do, I find that it's even harder to stop!

Now I am working on being less of a consumer, and bringing less stuff I don't really need into the house. Which is an enormous task in itself.

It CAN be done, mamas! Trust me - If I can do it, you can! It might take some time (so far I've been at it for a year and a half), but once you start it WILL provide the inspiration to keep going!!!

[mamajessica]

I love these declutter threads. DP and I spent yesterday trying to get thru our junk in the "extra" room. Since we bought our house I feel like we haven't really unpacked. We have a small living space and I cannot stand feeling cluttered in, so our garage and the extra room hold everything that didn't fit neatly into the other 600sq feet. It's a lot of stuff, some big and some small. I really want to throw it away without looking at it because that's when we start keeping things. It also is very hard to declutter with a toddler. I didn't work yesterday (I only work one day a week that DP has off) and it was the first time we have been able to get anything done since there were 2 of us to keep an eye on DD. That's it for now