Help me take advantage of this opprotunity

[Jazmommie]

We had a house fire last month.2 bedrooms burned -all ok .
The fire /water people came & boxed up the house stuff-all of it except my closet stuff & things that were plastic & have to be pitched.

So when they bring it all back clean & desmoked ,I get to go through all of it & get rid of & reorganize.

I will read the threads here but wondered if anyone had some easy tips for me .

Books (which I love ) are one thing I need to rethink-get down to my favs & keep a box or basket of ones I want to share with others?
I can give to goodwill or the used book store.

How do you organize a house with 5 people & 16 years of stuff quickly?

[marasmum]

You gotta be "brutal". We were in a similar situation when we had to move cross-country last year. Years of accumilated and redundant things (we didn't throw anything out when we were married and moved in together). I borrow this strategy from another MDC mom:

"One 'rule' I try to follow (when I can get myself motivated to de-clutter in the first place) is to ask myself - about each thing in my house - is it

Useful?
Meaningful?
Beautiful?

My 'rule' is that everything I own should be at least one of those things. Otherwise, it's taking up space in my house, sapping my energy, and draining me emotionally."

It is difficult at first, but then it gets REALLY easy to let go of the "stuff". Good luck to you!

Laura

[Ruthla]

Ask yourself this question about each item "If I didn't have this, what would I do? Would I replace it or not?"

Anything you wouldn't replace, you probably don't need.

For things that have memories, it's a bit tougher. I save one or two things from each child each school year, NOT everything they make!