clutter begone!

[mamaley]

i'm so proud of myself and wanted to share. for the past few days i've been tackling a cluttered area of my home--1-2 a day. the first day it was the junk room (which is now "the transition room" lol...still has some junk in it, but is waiting for things to go back to their right owners, etc...it looks much better). day 2 was this shelf i have in the kitchen, which is totally clean now! also, a bookshelf in the hallway was done that day, which looks better...actually, i did everything in the house that has magazines on it. then today, i have cleaned out my closet, and the bassinet which has been full of laundry for months--i finally just moved it out of the room! and, i cleared out this laundry basket that has been overflowing with socks and stuff forever, and the area around it was a mess...now it is so much better! i still need to clean this room though.

it's amazing how much better doing this makes you feel! i have gotton rid of at least 7 trash bags so far, and it really hasn't taken very long.

is anyone else in the process of doing this? we could use this thread to discuss plans, progress, etc...

[kamilla626]

Doesn't it feel awesome to get rid of huge amounts of stuff like that? I go through phases... there might be a week where I'm on a real de-cluttering streak. Then I sort of get lazy about it because it just seems overwhelming.

I always have to remind myself, it never takes as long as I think it will. Just looking at some of the piles in my house I feel like it would take hours (which I don't have working full time). But then when the mood strikes me and I actually tackle the job, I end up finishing in a few minutes.

Keep telling us your little success stories. I need them for inspiration!

[TwinMom]

WTG, mamaley! I suddenly got hit by the anti-clutterbug as well and have packed up a full trash bag of clothes and some miscellaneous items for Goodwill...all in the last half hour. It's going to shock my dh because I'm clearing out the area by the garage door, where we enter and leave the house. He's always complaining about tripping over stuff or not being able to open the door all the way. It feels so good!

[laurabfig]

I can relate...it feels so freeing to get rid of things we don't need or use! I try to keep the kids clothing pared down to a few drawers, and limit myself to only the one small dresser that I have full. (Dh still won't let me touch his stuff but he is coming around I think! :LOL ) I really feel so good using the same things over and over and enjoying the things we do have. ..Now if only I could convince dh to get rid of all the golfing videos and books he has had since college and hasn't touched in 4 or 5 years!!!!

[bamboogrrrl]

Why does decluttering feel so good, yet it's soooo hard to get started? I was on vacation this summer, and I wanted to tackle two closets that had stuff pouring out of them. Took me about two hours, got rid of a ton of stuff to the Salvation Army, and walked away with a nice donation receipt for tax time. What was so hard about that?

I started a list of decluttering projects, so I can break this process down into little pieces that might actually get done. Decluttered the dining room table this week, got lots of packages wrapped to mail, and donated three bags of books to our library sale. Now I have to bring the stack of boxes to be mailed to the PO and get them out of the house!

[mamaley]

bamboogrrl, i know what you mean about getting started...here it is the next day and my plan is to either tackle ds's room or the car, but i'm having a hard time getting started.

[philomom]

Yay! I walk around the house with a big box chanting "Beautiful or useful?". If what's in the box if nice, goes to the local furniture and accessory consignment store. If not so nice, to charity or trash. It feels so liberating to have "space."

[KellyB]

I heard an anti-clutter motivational speaker on TV give some good advice once...a trick called "toss 10 things". It works like this...go into a room..say, the bathroom..whatever..and find 10 things to throw away. Get into the habit of doing this every day, and eventually the mess will lessen, bit by bit.
I feel overwhelmed by the decuttering task, so this is something little and not so intimidating I can actually do.
Do any of ya'll ever look around your house and think "I hate my crap!"
I've grown to despise my stuff!!!!Even my beloved books...
So sad...lol...

[dynamicdoula]

Have ya'll heard of flylady?

I am getting some regular cleaning/decluttering routines (and other routines, like eating at a decent time, etc) thanks to Flylady!! www.flylady.net.

Go girls!!!

[Mavournin]

Oh I so need support in this area. My whole house needs decluttering. We moved in last December, and we're still not even "moved in". I feel hopeless, I have no idea where to start. I hate all this stuff, but it is so hard for me to throw things away. It's not sentimentality, it's my issues with waste. DH, on the other hand, can't throw away anything because he "might want it again someday"

[mamaley]

Do any of ya'll ever look around your house and think "I hate my crap!"

all the time!

well, it's almost been a week since i started this and it's still going ok...could be better, could be worse. as someone posted above, i've been trying to do a little every day, even if just a little.

the "baby's room" (better known as the junk room) is still packed with crap, but most of it is to be given away. we just need to do it! then i'm going to take down the crib, because who are we trying to kid...it has never been and will never be used! working around the room. anyway, major work to do in there.

and, so, what do i do? i accept 4 boxes of hand-me-downs for the baby! the clothes are adorable but we have no room! so i'm going to go through and pick out what i need/love and take the rest back to the previous owners.

my son's room needs major work too.

but it will happen...just a little at a time.

I walk around the house with a big box chanting "Beautiful or useful?".

i'm going to borrow this.