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Post by Linda on Dec 28, 2017 21:46:15 GMT
and we're thinking, very tentatively, about moving in 2018 - out of our 4 bedroom, 2100sq ft mobile home into a 3-bedroom 2400sq ft house. There's more square footage but set up differently. If we do move, I want to use that as an opportunity to ONLY move what we have a spot for and a use for...no hanging on to things for one day... whether we do it or not (and doing it will depend mostly on whether we can get a mortgage and sell this place), there's plenty more here that can leave....
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MsKnit
Pearl Clutcher
RefuPea #1406
Posts: 2,648
Jun 26, 2014 19:06:42 GMT
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Post by MsKnit on Dec 28, 2017 23:05:34 GMT
According to an article I read in PureWow today, it is time for us to move on from Marie Kondo-ing our homes and take the next step of Swedish Death Cleaning! Seems it is the latest cleaning trend sweeping (pun not intended!) Scandinavia. Funny thing is, in the past year I have found myself switching gears from just organizing my stuff, to getting rid of things I know I will never use and that my daughter won't either. It's been the by product of clearing out my parents' home after they both passed. I have gotten rid of so many things that I know they hadn't used in years and didn't care about, but never bothered to get rid of. Some of the things were kept for my sisters and I, but in reality none of us wanted the stuff nor had room for it. One thing I did the last few years of mom's life was encourage her to sell things and enjoy the money. So glad she did because it was less for me to deal with. I am now starting to do the same thing with my collections and stuff. I suspect the book will do well because the Baby Boomers are now between 53 and 71. We are dealing with the belongings of our parents, trying to downsize for retirement ourselves, and many (at least amongst my friends) are coming to the realization that our kids don't want our stuff. The book in case you are interested: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of ClutterI want to read this. We aren't dealing with our parents' possessions, yet. However, I have an inkling of what is in store for us. No doubt it will be worse than I could ever imagine. It will fall to my husband & I. Doesn't matter that either of us have siblings. I do not want my son to have to go through a huge clean out of useless stuff. So, I am doing as much as I can to save him the hassle. Last night, while trying to go to sleep, I was thinking about what of my possessions I would keep to enjoy for awhile and when would be a good time to eliminate them. Should the family room be emptied of all contents? Or, leave a couple of pieces to still enjoy the space? And, on & on & on. I didn't sleep much last night. LOL!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 10, 2024 20:53:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2017 2:00:29 GMT
I have been following this thread & working on getting rid of stuff, too. I need to read that book as I have inherited a lot of “treasures “ from my parents that my 2 kids have no interest in.
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Post by Linda on Dec 29, 2017 16:51:50 GMT
went through the Christmas books last night and have set aside all but about a dozen to donate - a HUGE box worth going.
next project - the games cabinet....
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Post by Scrapper100 on Dec 29, 2017 20:28:17 GMT
According to an article I read in PureWow today, it is time for us to move on from Marie Kondo-ing our homes and take the next step of Swedish Death Cleaning! Seems it is the latest cleaning trend sweeping (pun not intended!) Scandinavia. Funny thing is, in the past year I have found myself switching gears from just organizing my stuff, to getting rid of things I know I will never use and that my daughter won't either. It's been the by product of clearing out my parents' home after they both passed. I have gotten rid of so many things that I know they hadn't used in years and didn't care about, but never bothered to get rid of. Some of the things were kept for my sisters and I, but in reality none of us wanted the stuff nor had room for it. One thing I did the last few years of mom's life was encourage her to sell things and enjoy the money. So glad she did because it was less for me to deal with. I am now starting to do the same thing with my collections and stuff. I suspect the book will do well because the Baby Boomers are now between 53 and 71. We are dealing with the belongings of our parents, trying to downsize for retirement ourselves, and many (at least amongst my friends) are coming to the realization that our kids don't want our stuff. The book in case you are interested: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of ClutterI want to read this. We aren't dealing with our parents' possessions, yet. However, I have an inkling of what is in store for us. No doubt it will be worse than I could ever imagine. It will fall to my husband & I. Doesn't matter that either of us have siblings. I do not want my son to have to go through a huge clean out of useless stuff. So, I am doing as much as I can to save him the hassle. Last night, while trying to go to sleep, I was thinking about what of my possessions I would keep to enjoy for awhile and when would be a good time to eliminate them. Should the family room be emptied of all contents? Or, leave a couple of pieces to still enjoy the space? And, on & on & on. I didn't sleep much last night. LOL! Its many years away but I am dreading this. My FIL has two huge storage units completely filled to the ceiling with stuff from his parents house and he won't deal with it. It has been there for years and he is paying hundreds a month - I so wish he would start to go through this. My husband already helped with his other grandparents house and it was a nightmare - hoarding going on. Thankfully because of this his mother has purged a ton of her stuff already so we don't have to deal with this. I would assume that 95% of the stuff or more will need to be tossed after being in storage for a decade. I helped my grandmother move from a house she had been in for 30 years and move into an apartment - she only kept what she really wanted. It made things so much easier. I am hoping to do more purging this year and not have as much stuff. I say this every year and stuff does get purged but I will admit there is still quite a bit I could purge and not miss. My goal is to only have stuff we love and use. I have replaced some cheaper kitchen tools with nicer ones and am getting rid of duplicates we don't need. Life is too short to live with clutter. I know I am happier without it.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Dec 29, 2017 20:40:08 GMT
went through the Christmas books last night and have set aside all but about a dozen to donate - a HUGE box worth going. next project - the games cabinet.... Great job! I went through the amoire that holds much of my eBay stuff yesterday. Filled a shopping bag with stuff that hasn't sold, or that I just don't want to deal with listing. This next year I am going to cut back on number of listings and focus on listing items that will net a larger profit. It's all part of my downsizing and simplifying plan! My goal is to have everything for eBay fit in there with no overflow to the rest of the room/house. Also got rid of some of my old pots and pans that DD had been using. We upgraded them as part of her Christmas. In all, I sent 3 shopping bags of donation things home with my housekeeper. Her family will take what they can use or share with others, then they drop the remaining stuff at Goodwill and bring me the receipt. Makes it easy to get rid of things quickly!
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Post by deafpea on Dec 29, 2017 21:40:10 GMT
I have a whole bunch of jeans with holes in the knees that are otherwise in good shape. I already have a pretty good supply for some projects I'm planning so I don't need to keep them. Any ideas of what I can do with them? I really hate to just throw them away but with the big holes, they're not suitable for donation.
Thanks, Merilee
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Post by deafpea on Dec 29, 2017 21:47:59 GMT
I have been working on laundry today and finally it's done. My two boys age 6 and 9 have WAY too many short sleeve shirts. I'm going to have them go through their shirts and pick their 10 favorites. I figure 5 long sleeve and 5 short sleeve shirts will be good for cold weather and 10 short sleeve shirts will be good for warm weather. I do laundry weekly so there's really no need for more than that. I'll report back here with how many shirts got donated.
I have been putting things in my donation box as I come across things I don't need. For my husband's birthday last year I bought him a set of white mugs I like them because I can hang them on my mug tree. The mugs that came with my set of dishes are smaller, and the handles are too small to hang on the mug tree. For the last year they've been stored in the corner of the cupboard. They've been out of the way and I haven't really needed the space, but I decided we were never going to use them so they've been put in the donation box. Also in the box: a set of curtains that was in my daughter's room. She's moved out for college and didn't want them, and they're a little too "girly" for my son. Some pants that I haven't worn in a few years and I know they don't fit. Some picture frames. I am sure I will find more!
Merilee
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Post by dewryce on Dec 29, 2017 21:53:21 GMT
I have a whole bunch of jeans with holes in the knees that are otherwise in good shape. I already have a pretty good supply for some projects I'm planning so I don't need to keep them. Any ideas of what I can do with them? I really hate to just throw them away but with the big holes, they're not suitable for donation. Thanks, Merilee Do they fit? Put more holes in them, ripped jeans are fashionable again
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scrappinmama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,873
Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Dec 29, 2017 21:57:34 GMT
I'm in the process of gutting my scrapbooking room. I haven't scrapbooked in a few years. I'm giving away everything to an inner city elementary school that would like the supplies. At first I was looking at every paper, remembering that I wanted to do a certain layout. Then I finally realized that if I hadn't used that paper in 3 years, I was never going to use it. I'm so tired of clutter. I want to take control of my house and get everything organized.
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Post by Linda on Dec 29, 2017 21:58:51 GMT
I have a whole bunch of jeans with holes in the knees that are otherwise in good shape. I already have a pretty good supply for some projects I'm planning so I don't need to keep them. Any ideas of what I can do with them? I really hate to just throw them away but with the big holes, they're not suitable for donation. Thanks, Merilee in our area, migrant farmworkers grab jeans with holes in a flash - they're cheap and won't get ruined in the fields.
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Post by dewryce on Dec 29, 2017 22:01:02 GMT
went through the Christmas books last night and have set aside all but about a dozen to donate - a HUGE box worth going. next project - the games cabinet.... Great job! I went through the amoire that holds much of my eBay stuff yesterday. Filled a shopping bag with stuff that hasn't sold, or that I just don't want to deal with listing. This next year I am going to cut back on number of listings and focus on listing items that will net a larger profit. It's all part of my downsizing and simplifying plan! My goal is to have everything for eBay fit in there with no overflow to the rest of the room/house. I have to admit, when I put my mind to it I am mostly great at decluttering except for my boxes of things to sell. When I help other people I can point out that if they haven't sold it yet, they aren't likely to. That the money gained isn't worth years and years of storing the boxes and the mental weight that entails, etc. But we have a handful of boxes of things that I can not just give away or donate. A lot of it I could sell to Replacements, ltd. but I'm not sure just how much money we'd net after paying for packaging and shipping. Just haven't gotten my stuff together enough to get it done. Also among the boxes are 2 file boxes of DH's sports cards. He doesn't think he has any worth much but that what if in the back of my mind stops me from pulling the trigger.
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Post by dewryce on Dec 30, 2017 1:28:12 GMT
I'm sick today (lovely) so haven't been able to give in to the need to declutter and clean. Growing up I always decluttered, cleaned and organized every last spot in my room and bathroom for the new year. Down to taking my drawers out of my dresser and vacuuming the inside of the dresser. Then for 7 or so years DH and I moved every New Years, and I did the same thing while packing. Now it's not possible to go through and declutter/clean 100% of my belongings during that time frame, but the urge is still there. Reading this thread has just made it stronger. So...sick and can't do anything? I cleaned up my friends list on FB, deleted some pins on Pinterest, and went through and tossed half a dozen make-up items when I went to the restroom. I feel better now
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Heathen
Full Member
Posts: 427
Feb 12, 2017 6:05:44 GMT
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Post by Heathen on Dec 30, 2017 6:09:11 GMT
I have to admit, when I put my mind to it I am mostly great at decluttering except for my boxes of things to sell. When I help other people I can point out that if they haven't sold it yet, they aren't likely to. That the money gained isn't worth years and years of storing the boxes and the mental weight that entails, etc. But we have a handful of boxes of things that I can not just give away or donate. A lot of it I could sell to Replacements, ltd. but I'm not sure just how much money we'd net after paying for packaging and shipping. Just haven't gotten my stuff together enough to get it done. Also among the boxes are 2 file boxes of DH's sports cards. He doesn't think he has any worth much but that what if in the back of my mind stops me from pulling the trigger. Don't waste your time and money. I found out the hard way that Replacements doesn't buy much unless it's in mint condition, as in never been used. I spent a fortune packing and shipping and ended up $32 in the hole because the company only bought a few pieces.
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on Dec 30, 2017 12:53:42 GMT
I filled 20+ boxes of craft supplies and posted them for free on our local neighborhood group—all called for within 7 minutes!!!
Going to do it again this weekend!
I need 4 more IKEA Alex drawers!
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scrappinmama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,873
Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Dec 30, 2017 19:53:21 GMT
More purging today. I put away our Christmas decorations and decided to go through all my decor. I was able to get rid of 2 boxes full of stuff.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 10, 2024 20:53:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2017 19:59:55 GMT
We replaced the light fixture in our closet. It was one of those tube lights that we didn't like. It worked so it was low on our priority list. It started flickering, giving our closet a strobe light effect and us a headache. Got a simple globe fixture and replaced it. To prevent dust (dh knew he would have to drill for a fixture), we emptied the closet. As we put stuff back, we picked out stuff we haven't worn, don't like, don't need. Filled a box with clothes.
I'll probably end up taking out ornaments when we put stuff away tomorrow.
Time to start thinking about decluttering the basement again!
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Dec 31, 2017 20:37:05 GMT
I had to come right to this thread and report that my husband volunteered to clean out his sock drawers... and followed through! He purged way more than I thought he would. Now both drawers actually close easily without having to smush the contents down as you ease the drawer closed. Lol. He was so happy with the results, he went ahead and did his underwear drawer and t-shirt drawer. Now I have two big bags to take to the hospice resale store.
I purge on the regular with my stuff, but I am so happy that he's beginning to see the value of it and offer to do it with his stuff on his own. We have a long ways to go to the level of minimalism (less stuff) that I would prefer.
And let's absolutely keep this motivation for one another going in the new year --- but, I do vote we start a new thread for 2018.
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