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September decluttering challenge! - Page 4

post #61 of 175
9/5/08 at 7:46pm
I'm blogging about it!
http://natural-childhood.blogspot.co...luttering.html

I have pictures.

Here's my dilemma. Things are kind of chaotic here lately. So, I get things tidied up and they look better, but still clutter. Look at my pictures and tell me what to get rid of!
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post #62 of 175
9/5/08 at 7:55pm
I'm in!!
revised plan below!
post #63 of 175
9/5/08 at 9:44pm
I'm in! I'm going to start small at 50 items, but I'd like to raise that goal later in the month!

0/50
post #64 of 175
9/5/08 at 9:49pm
I am about 75% finished with my desk, and I have gotten rid of a good deal of paper items. I tackled a small catch-all thingie in my laundry room and put away a number of things that I had neglected.
post #65 of 175
9/6/08 at 7:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by annettemarie View Post
I'm blogging about it!
http://natural-childhood.blogspot.co...luttering.html

I have pictures.

Here's my dilemma. Things are kind of chaotic here lately. So, I get things tidied up and they look better, but still clutter. Look at my pictures and tell me what to get rid of!
It looks great... the only thing that stands out to me that you might want to go through still is your books : ... we are book people, too, and it is really hard to go through them and decide which ones we can live without, but even giving away a few can open up space for those that are really important to us... and we have a new family 'rule' that if a new book comes into the house then another one HAS to go out. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but it really does look great!
post #66 of 175
9/6/08 at 6:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MizLiz View Post
It looks great... the only thing that stands out to me that you might want to go through still is your books : ... we are book people, too, and it is really hard to go through them and decide which ones we can live without, but even giving away a few can open up space for those that are really important to us... and we have a new family 'rule' that if a new book comes into the house then another one HAS to go out. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but it really does look great!
I know, I know! The top shelf of the bigger bookshelf is all classics. I'm going to get rid of most of those. And the smaller shelf is a lot of parenting books, so I need to go through those. I wish there was some sort of rubric to tell which books are keepers.

This isn't even the tip of the iceberg for books, either. I have three more shelves in our schoolroom, one in my bedroom, one for each kid, one in the hallway, a huge one and some homemade board and brick shelves in the attic, and a bunch of shelving in the basement. :
post #67 of 175
9/6/08 at 6:51pm
I got some more stuff done today! I'm working by area, too. I've moved on to the kids rooms. I got DS's clothes all sorted and put away. I picked up all the toys and clothes on the floor (lots since 2 share a room) and have them in 2 bins to sort through while DH and I watch LOTR (again) tonight.

I need to take some before and after pictures.
post #68 of 175
9/6/08 at 11:52pm
: Oh My WORD!!! Thank you for starting this and I am just so grateful that I found you!

I had an epiphany today that if I didn't get my house decluttered soon I would have a nervous breakdown! We have been trying all summer to get organized but we are the King and Queen of stuff shifting. It goes up and down but never leaves my house......until today this weekend. We too are looking to put our home up for sale and well I would be too embarassed for anyone to walk through here at the moment.

I am in for 700 items though I will probably lose count, as it is I didn't count all the things I got rid of today but I will try to start tomorrow.

This is what I have done so far:

1. I have boxed up 4 huge boxes of clothes that I am bringing to Goodwill tomorrow.

2. I boxed up about 100 childrens books ( once upon a time I was a teacher and I have literally thousands of books, much more then my house allows for) that I am donating to my sons first grade teacher. She is a new teacher and I have already given her all my teacher books and many other reading books that are no longer age appropriate for my sons. We too are book people so that was HARD but honestly we still have too many.

3. A box of about 20 VHS tapes

4. I went through both my sons rooms and got rid of random lego pieces, old spy stuff that they never use, cards games that are missing too many cards, stuffed animals that have been stuffed in the closet far too long and about 10pairs of shoes that do not fit them anymore.

5. I cleaned off my computer deak and threw away tons of papers that I had no idea why I had them. Purged tons of old magazines.

6. Cleaned out under my cabinets and got rid of 4 serving platters and and ice cube tray

That's it for today,134/700 I love this thread and hope that it helps to motivate me. I have tried flylady on several occasions but never have time to read the emails!

You are all doing so amazing that it truly inspires and I LOVE the pictures, perhaps I should do that tomorrow to motivate myself?
post #69 of 175
9/7/08 at 12:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by annettemarie View Post
I know, I know! The top shelf of the bigger bookshelf is all classics. I'm going to get rid of most of those. And the smaller shelf is a lot of parenting books, so I need to go through those. I wish there was some sort of rubric to tell which books are keepers.
I have a hard time getting rid of books too, especially ones that were favorites back in the day. For some reason books have a lot of sentimental value for me.
post #70 of 175
9/7/08 at 1:20am
I too am a book lover, I have multiple copies of my favorite Little Women, so I totally understand that being hard. I am trying to make sure my books find good homes and that does ease the pain just a tiny bit
post #71 of 175
9/7/08 at 1:42am
oh i'm so in. my house is a disaster area and both girls just had birthdays so we got a new influx of crap. :
my goal is 250 items AND my craft/office area presentable :
post #72 of 175
9/7/08 at 2:59am
ok. two more bags of toys gone. so 15/100
yay! this feels good.
i tackle organizing remaining toys next, followed by paring down clothes.
post #73 of 175
9/7/08 at 9:11am
I have three boxes of books to Freecycle!:
post #74 of 175
9/7/08 at 1:09pm
Well, this post inspired me yesterday. My husband has cleared out of the house - taking my toddler with him - yay! Because he says, "You get hard to be around when you're decluttering. YOu're always telling me we have too much stuff."

Well, duh!

So, yesterday I went through my entire home office. I purged 1/4 of my books, 3/4 of my CDs (haven't listened to most in years), 1/2 of my photos, and so much more.

When I open my desk drawers, there are no piles, just a few things in there. My desk has my lamp, a candle, and my "mom statue" on one side of the monitor... a pencil holder and a forest picture I love on the other side of the monitor. Nothing else.

I cleaned out all of the computer paper/filing folders... even went through my "won't these be fun to implement" magazine tear-out inspiration binder and threw out more than 1/2 of it.

All my receipts and bills are now up to date.

Then today, I tackled the downstairs and upstairs bathrooms. Threw out all expired medications... organized all of my holistic and non-holistic medicines into "type" (skin irritations, homeopathy, muscle aches, flu/cold prevention, etc.) in plastic tubs... so now everything's in one place and we won't have to race from downstairs to upstairs to find where something is. All of my bathroom drawers are clean and de-cluttered. I also moved some of the toddler-tempting kinds of things out of the drawers (my son isn't really into going in drawers, but I figured why tempt fate?).

Took pictures of some Balinese wall hangings and Indian pillow covers that I bought years ago and always assumed I'd give as presents (but haven't). Just need to get those on craigslist and see what happens. I give them a week... if they haven't sold, I'll see if someone from my HMN group wants them... if they don't, then I will just donate them.

So, that's what I've done so far... I realized that it's hard for me to part with certain things... I feel like I've been purging my office since we moved in 2+ years ago (and I have!).

Now I'm trying to figure out if I can make money off the books and CDs that I've de-cluttered. Posted some books on craigslist... anyone have any other ideas of how I can make money off them (without having to ship them anywhere?) before I take them to the library to donate them?

Also, wondering about CDs?

Thanks for the inspiration!!! I'm wondering what to tackle next...
post #75 of 175
9/7/08 at 1:37pm
Well now that my very busy week last week is done, I can really tackle this challenge!! I keep track and I will keep updating my OP with my tally.

FWIW, about 3 years ago when we first started these challenges, I did one saying 500 items and people where like- wow thats a lot at first and at the end of the month, most people did like 700-1000 items without really trying..
post #76 of 175
9/7/08 at 2:15pm
I have just made a dent in the homeschooling book collection 100 books,out the door,going to other homeschooling families

I also got rid of 1 TV. The Salvation Army would not take it,even though it works perfectly! They told me to take it to the dump *dies a little inside* I brought it home and put it curbside and someone took it.
post #77 of 175
9/7/08 at 11:18pm
I brought my boxes to Good Will today and it felt great.

I have a running box of baby things for Free cycle in the gargage and added our old infant seat to it today.

I am thinking even a little each day and we are on our way!
post #78 of 175
9/8/08 at 12:25am
wow count me in too. I am going to aim for 100 items. How did we get so much stuff???!!!
post #79 of 175
9/8/08 at 10:02am
I went on a major purge of several places in the house this weekend. I started with DS' closet. I have forgotten that I hastily dumped some stuff on the top shelves when we moved in. I tossed out a hand full of junk, put three toys and a decorative shelf in the donation box, and reorganized his keepsakes to put them neatly on the shelf. Doing this made room to store the sheet sets I bought on sale for when we convert his toddler bed to a full size bed. Also went through his drawer again and pulled put 8 more shirts/shorts to donate.

Next, I went through a box of craft supplies that my aunt gave me. I put the needle point supplies in the donation box, along with 5 toys. I kept some wooden Christmas ornaments (paint your our variety). Tossed the old, dried up paints. A few other tings in the basement: gave my mother in law 3 brand new corningware casserole dishes that I was planning on donating or selling. I also posted three collectable Boyd Bear figures on Craig’s List after I got myself registered.

In the kitchen, I disposed of the last of our 7 plastic cups (DH loves these, but I can’t stand them). I also put 2 mugs and one mismatched glass cup in the donation box. Gave MIL another 4 mismatched glasses. Tossed out another broken glass cup. Tossed out two pickle jars that I had saved (not sure why? ). Tossed out 5 old candy tins. Tossed out a drawer full of fast food napkins and condiments that MIL deposits on me every time she visits :. Put two cook books and 2 pots I never use in the donation box. Now I actually have room for all my glasses!

I went through the coat wardrobe. Didn’t have anything to get rid of, but I made it more organized and now we can easily get out what we need.

So far I’ve gone past my goall of 30 for the month, so I’ll up it to 100. I'm so :! Running total: 48/100
post #80 of 175
9/8/08 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MamaBug View Post
...I had an epiphany today that if I didn't get my house decluttered soon I would have a nervous breakdown! ...
Ha -- love it!