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Post by LisaDV on Feb 19, 2020 19:21:44 GMT
I am in denial, but I will pay attention to all of you minimizers anyway. Maybe something will rub off on me! Seriously, I do have too much stuff in general, and my scrap stuff has outgrown my plentiful storage. Rather than taking over another room, I should probably pare it down. Also, I am facing the possibility of moving this year (bad marriage situation), and not sure where I will land, so decluttering will help me get mentally ready. Thanks for starting the thread!
Sorry to hear! Hoping for a year full of blessings and beauty for you.
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Post by ss on Feb 19, 2020 20:13:30 GMT
950nancy! Congrats to you and your DS! It is an exciting time. My DD just texted this morning. The wedding is 11/14/20. Let the planning begin!
Today I finished up the taxes and decluttered a bit. Just reading these posts encourages me to let go. I just really struggle with that, but I don’t want to leave a full house for my kids to go thru. Thanks for the inspiration.
One bag at a time!! Wishing everyone the best!
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 19, 2020 20:34:19 GMT
Yesterday & today I've started a few layouts, & decided that other than the base cardstock paper, all the pattern paper I use would be pulled from my scraps.
So with each layout I grabbed 8-10 scraps.
But the catch is whatever I pull, I either use it on the layout or it gets tossed afterwards. No re-saving these scraps.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 19, 2020 20:41:28 GMT
Can I ask something of the hive mind on clutter? My DH is always saying that our walls are cluttered, and the tops of my bookshelves are cluttered. This is because we have photos of our family hanging up or framed and on top of the book shelves. I do not have knick knacks, candles, or other decorative stuff. All photos. How many pictures do you all display, or think is tasteful? I guess I don't think I have too many, but for this dude, one family photo, recent, no pics of our darling children growing up, playing, etc...would be enough. I love, love, love having photos around. My ex saw photos of people as clutter. Baby, family... all eyesores to him. He only liked nature pics that he took to be on the walls. My mom also holds no value in family photos. I'm pretty sure she's tossed all the ones she had other than the few envelopes she sent to me. My scraproom has several rows of bakers twine stretched from one Command hook to another, with mini clothespins holding 4x6's and 5x7's. I love seeing birthdays, award ceremonies, day trips to special places, etc.
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Post by joblackford on Feb 19, 2020 22:09:40 GMT
I'll bite and be the annoying person who leaves you with questions to ponder. You've probably thought about most if not all of these before. But sometimes it just helps to have someone else be the interrogator. You don't need to answer these here publicly if you don't want. These are just to help you come to a decision. 1. The china's timeless and won't go out of style. Granted. But do you actually like it? 2. You mention you like to cook and entertain but that you're not "fancy eating" folks. Does this mean you feel you'd need to adapt your cooking to live up to the standard of your wedding china? Is this something you really want to be doing in the future? 3. You can imagine having dinner parties. Have you had these in the past? If not, how long have you been imagining this happening? If it's been several years, you should consider whether the china's just an aspirational keep. 4. Can you have dinner parties (sooner rather than later *mumbles something about no better time than the present*) without this china? How would this affect the parties? Would you be comfortable hosting people for dinner with your regular everyday china? A more relaxed aesthetic (and overall vibe) is very common these days. Plain white everyday china, bouquets of baby's breath and eucalyptus leaves, a fun taco bar as main course, etc. Would this be envisagable for you? Maybe make dinner parties even easier because you could just throw your regular china in the dishwasher rather than handwash the fancy one? 5. If you're still resistant to donating the set, what about embracing using it? Just using it. Family lunch on the weekend? Go fetch the fancy china! Friendsgiving or Friendmas, fancy china! Those who have a lot of people over and don't have a dishwasher (like me) just turn the cleaning into a fun social event: one friend scrapes, one washes, one rinses, two dry. Over a cup of coffee and some Swiss biscuits or another glass of wine. 6. "Oh this? This is grandma's wedding china. I can't really remember ever seeing it out. I think she was saving it for a special occasion like a fancy dinner party but it never really happened. Maybe a couple of times. What a shame. Seven boxes of it. Barely ever used. Too pretty and dainty to be enjoyed outside of extra special events which almost never occurred. To think she held on to all these boxes in the hopes of... Makes you sad, really." Yah, this got dark real quick (I'm sorry but it's for the sake of the exercise, I promise). Just let this one sit and simmer for a bit and see how some long-term projection helps to put this into perspective. Personally, I don't know why I'd have seven boxes of china... Jokes aside, if I really liked it, I'd use it much more frequently and test-drive it for a few months. Is it still super annoying to clean it all by hand (I mean, that's a daily task for me no matter which china I use so... )? Do I enjoy having it out? Can I realistically schedule recurring occasions to use it? Can I perhaps pare the set down to something more realistic? Just keep the coffee and tea sets if I can't be bothered with the plates anymore? Ohh, good questions! 1. Yep I do like it a lot. If I bought China now, it would be the same. 2. I can see myself doing this in the future. I cook pretty fancy now and again, we just use our everyday stuff because of the lazy aspect. 3. Good point, need to think. 4. Could, yes. But I have 3 children. Horribly messy, slobby teenagers. So we don't entertain as often as I'd like. 5. I have thought about just using it as I really dislike our set of everyday dishes. 6. This will totally be my kids and grandkids someday. Sigh. So I exaggerated a bit at 7, probably closer to 5 with the serving pieces included. 10 place settings. I know I can get rid of serving pieces, just a matter of going through the boxes. And then there is the matter of the large chest of silverware to go WITH the china that I didn't mention. It's sterling, so the stuff needs to be POLISHED, then washed. Ugh, what were we thinking? Another quick consideration - do you want/need to keep ALL of it? Could you keep however many place settings you would conceivably use - how many chairs do you have in your dining room? I would seriously consider tossing your current dishware and just use the good stuff. Or letting go of the burden of the good stuff that gives you no benefit. The silverware is another big consideration - no concern about breakability there, but a lot of care/polishing for something no one cares about any more. It has value, but almost certainly only for the silver (scrap, melted down). Sooner or later that's how it will end up. Would you want to convert that burden to cash? How much cash would be enough to say goodbye? ?? btw scrapcat it's true that ceramics of all kinds are about the longest lasting man-made things found in archeological digs. Think Greek pottery shards, Chinese and Native American too. BUT none of the things we put in landfills actually biodegrade, whether metal, cloth, paper, or food. Or at least, they shouldn't, or only at a fractional rate. A properly managed modern sanitary landfill is a giant vault of trash, preserving everything. I just read a fascinating book called "Garbology" that explained what they find when they excavate old landfills, and all kinds of other scary trash-related topics. It's actually a good thing in a way - between the methane and other gases that would be released if everything was breaking down and the scary quantities of household toxic waste we dump secretly that shouldn't be allowed to leach into the soil/water... but I'm imagining the archaeologists of the future digging into our massive middens and being perplexed and horrified by what we've buried. I have so many other comments for everyone but no time right now! sorry.
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kelly8875
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,390
Location: Lost in my supplies...
Oct 26, 2014 17:02:56 GMT
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Post by kelly8875 on Feb 21, 2020 23:49:18 GMT
I am working on using up stash, getting rid of stash, and consolidation of my stash. I want to rearrange my scrapbook room, and want to get rid of some of the shelves. I think it’s getting very close to being a reality, and I’m excited and proud of it! Sometimes the look of all my Kallax units get the best of me. Just looking to get rid of 1-2 pieces, but I think it’ll make me happy
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Post by joblackford on Feb 22, 2020 0:11:42 GMT
I am working on using up stash, getting rid of stash, and consolidation of my stash. I want to rearrange my scrapbook room, and want to get rid of some of the shelves. I think it’s getting very close to being a reality, and I’m excited and proud of it! Sometimes the look of all my Kallax units get the best of me. Just looking to get rid of 1-2 pieces, but I think it’ll make me happy Good for you. Feel free to share pictures if you want to! Before and/or after
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Post by joblackford on Feb 23, 2020 22:24:20 GMT
We really need to hear the rest of story about your mom. The short version (yes, this is the short version) is that she just couldn't let anything go. And I mean anything. I'm talking cleaning appliances she hasn't used in 10 years and can't find the charging cords to. I'm talking napkins that she bought to celebrate New Year's - and you're thinking - well, that was six weeks ago - that's not so bad. Oh, no, New Year's 2000. I'm talking exploded batteries. I'm talking a 12 x 12 x 6 box of hose couplings for her indoor pool that she got rid of at least five years ago (her reaction: I might be able to use those for something!!!!). I'm talking used grout floats when she doesn't have any grout in her new townhome and she moved to the townhome so she doesn't have to do maintenance. She's known for almost a year that she was going to downsize. For comparison she went from an approximately 2,500 square foot home with a finished basement to a 1,000 square foot townhome (no basement). And she has been working at getting rid of stuff. Just not anywhere near enough. I think she got rid of a couple of large pieces and a few boxes of paperwork and thought that should do it. When I pulled out her cleaning products - it was like clowns from a clown car. Somehow she had them all stuffed in her mud room closet. They filled up the entirety of her kitchen counters, kitchen floor, kitchen table, and beyond when I started lining them all up. I told her to choose just the products she uses on a regular basis and that's all we were going to bring. She still ended up with a couple of shelves in her new place full of cleaning products. Anyway - moving day arrives. We did our best but just plain ran out of time in the weeks leading up to the move. And part of the problem was she was out of state for about 2.5 weeks up until 10 days before her move. She was of the mind of "let's move it and I'll sort it out later". Still refusing to get rid of anything. So they fill up two large moving trucks and we meet them over at the new place. And they walk in and all five of them - their eyes just grow really wide and they say - where are you going to put it all? At the end of the day her furniture was in place - a few pieces had to go back because the rooms are so much smaller - and her rooms at the townhome are filled to the brim with boxes. Her garage looks like a warehouse right now. It's rows of boxes with aisles down them and labels facing out and she is working on dismantling aisles one box at a time. Somehow she thought she could fit an outside lounger, two redwood with cushions chairs, an outside swing, two more large cushioned outside chairs, a grill, and an outside fireplace on a 6x8 patio slab. She's going to have to make some more hard choices. She has a walker and a manual wheelchair from when my father was sick (he died from ALS in 2005) and she doesn't want to get rid of them "just in case I need them someday". But she has absolutely no room to store things like that. She has closets full of clothes and shoes just for her. She went from a decent amount of wall space to next to nothing so her wall displays are just sitting around wrapped up because she doesn't have any space to put them up and can't bring herself to get rid of them. She doesn't need to go to the grocery store for probably a year - she moved her deep freeze packed full of food, a whole refrigerator full of food, and two pantries full of food. We can't get the pantry food to fit in the two upper cabinets she's designated for her non-cold food. She's parking her car outside right now and doesn't like it, but I just stare at her with a "What do you want me to do?" confused look when she brings it up. It's going to be months before she can park in the garage. She's supposed to be having an estate sale at the old place to get rid of the additional furniture. I don't think that's going to go down the way she thinks it will. And then, after that, she's supposed to get the house fixed up (nicks in walls, restretch carpets, etc.) and put it on the market. She was hoping her house would sell before she had to make an April house payment. I don't think she has any idea what the real time line is going to be like. Reading this it sounds like she's a hoarder. She's not. But she certainly has pack rat tendencies. She had me move an outside glass hanging globe that had fallen from the house about 7 years ago and was smashed. Her reaction: "It's still pretty and I can hang it up." She had me move the directories from the previous ten years for her old home's neighborhood association "In case I have to call someone." She had me move the "cookbook" entitled "How to Cook with a Microwave" from the VERY FIRST microwave she bought approximately 1982. Yeah, I guarantee you she's never cracking that thing open again. I just keep taking deep breaths and telling her we'll work on it one step at a time. Oh boy, that sounds frustrating! I firmly believe that we all have certain tendencies in relationship to our stuff - some people have no attachments to anything and deal with stress by tossing it all and moving on, which can be as pathological as the opposite, the person who sees value in every single thing. Most of us fall somewhere on the pack-rat side of the equation. It's functional to hold onto things that we love and can use, but it can break down and become dysfunctional, especially in a land of plenty. I'm wondering how much of this is a response to your Dad's illness and death - that must have created a huge amount of stress and feelings of loss on control in her life, and left her with a big gap after his passing. A lot of people hold on tighter after a tragic loss. I hope she's doing Ok in her new place. It sounds like you all have a lot of work to do. Hopefully she can find more feelings of control and security to counter this fearful need she has to keep All The Things just in case. I don't know how much the logic of letting go will get through if she's not emotionally ready. I like to logic through things like "if you need this ~ we can get it for you [in this way] in [ this small amount of time ] so it's safe to let go."
I hope you're able to keep up your own energy for decluttering (and general sanity!) Great to hear that your husband is on board now. Sometimes it helps to see where these tendencies lead...
which is my cue to do a quick sweep of my living and dining room! I'm helping a relative declutter and listening to my (silent) criticisms of their stuff is helping me see that I don't walk my talk quite as much as I though I did.
Sending you patience and good energy Deep breaths!
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Post by Linda on Feb 23, 2020 23:03:44 GMT
Dropped off two bags and a picture I no longer love (art print) at Goodwill today.
Dropped off ALL the recycling - ugh we need to get into a better habit of doing this weekly so it doesn't build up
Took all the framed 8x10s off the wall in the hallway and family room - hung one big picture in the family room instead. I think some vintage family portraits will end up in the hallway.
Plan is to lightly scrapbook the 8x10 (onto 8.5x11 pages - so basically matted and labelled) chronologically and just display the most current for each kid (and then as a new one comes in - the older will go in the album). So there's a big stack of framed photos on my scrapbook desk mentally labelled 'to do'
I'm down to ONE box in DD19's room - a combination of framed photos (the vintage ones for the hall) and my mum's mostly unframed paintings. I think I need to talk to HL or Michaels about what the cost would be to frame the rest so I can hang them (in a future guest room - so I guess I need to figure out a storage spot for now)
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Post by Linda on Feb 23, 2020 23:04:04 GMT
and I'm still working on scanning then tossing slides - 22 boxes to go...
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Post by joblackford on Feb 24, 2020 0:25:36 GMT
Linda you're doing so well. I hope you're pacing yourself - it sounds like a really big job. There are so many decisions to be made, quite apart from the actual doing - it's exhausting. But it sounds like you have a plan and a strategy.
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Post by Linda on Feb 24, 2020 1:11:44 GMT
joblackford - thank you - it IS a really big job but I'm breaking it down. First I did the loose photos (@10,000 of them). Now I'm doing the slides. I still have albums, baby books (mine and mums), mum's yearbooks (I don't know that I'm scanning them all or just the pertinent pages), loads of papers to go through and toss, scan and toss, scan and keep..., and a handful of photos I set aside to deal with later (older or larger ones my photo scanner can't handle). Plus I have maybe 150-200 more handwritten memories and a dozen more travel journals to transcribe - I've transcribed about 25 memories so far and I already had 6 travel journals transcribed. But the boxes are all unpacked and stuff is either in a permanent home or a temporary one (while it awaits it's turn to be scanned or transcribed) - I did a rough sort by type (photo, slide, papers) in time for DD to come home on Spring break - I used her room as a staging area.
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Post by joblackford on Feb 24, 2020 3:28:13 GMT
joblackford - thank you - it IS a really big job but I'm breaking it down. First I did the loose photos (@10,000 of them). Now I'm doing the slides. I still have albums, baby books (mine and mums), mum's yearbooks (I don't know that I'm scanning them all or just the pertinent pages), loads of papers to go through and toss, scan and toss, scan and keep..., and a handful of photos I set aside to deal with later (older or larger ones my photo scanner can't handle). Plus I have maybe 150-200 more handwritten memories and a dozen more travel journals to transcribe - I've transcribed about 25 memories so far and I already had 6 travel journals transcribed. But the boxes are all unpacked and stuff is either in a permanent home or a temporary one (while it awaits it's turn to be scanned or transcribed) - I did a rough sort by type (photo, slide, papers) in time for DD to come home on Spring break - I used her room as a staging area. Wow, seriously, so much work. I’m digitizing my own old journals (at least the ugly ones, maybe all of the “morning pages” ones) by reading them into my Day One journal app. It’s so much work, although I’m encouraging myself only to do a few pages each day so it’s a small daily habit instead of a huge task that I burn out on. I only keep the current one I’m working on out so I don’t feel so overwhelmed - there’s a big stack. It took me a little while to actually shred the paper once I was done saving the content but I took a photo of each book and any particularly visual pages. It’s been interesting to revisit my thoughts of 10 years ago. Might’ve mentioned this before but I actually found out about a UK group who will archive your journals - you can leave them to them in your will or send them in yourself - the intention is to archive them as historical documents. Most people will shred or burn them to protect their privacy, but very quickly those thoughts/writings stop having much personal power (especially as many of the people they discuss also pass away) but daily diaries and journals have great historical value, even if we don’t live greatly historical lives. www.thegreatdiaryproject.co.uk/
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Post by Linda on Feb 24, 2020 3:39:09 GMT
joblackford - that's neat about the UK group. Mum's journals are trip/travel journals not daily life. That's a neat project though -I'll have to check it out. I started with the easier parts of the project - photos just need scanning - I'll triage them later for ones to keep in paper form and maybe turn some into photo books. Slides I'm tossing once they are scanned so again easy - no decisions. The papers will require decisions - the memories/journals are just a ton of work - her handwriting was umm...more like a doctor's than one would expect from a 3rd grade teacher.
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Post by lesserknownpea on Feb 24, 2020 8:27:39 GMT
Thank you tc - yes, mum didn't want to get rid of anything, she didn't really cook anymore (just readymade sandwiches/salads and microwave meals) but she wouldn't let us toss spices that were years out of date because they were expensive and she might need them. I'm definitely even MORE on the decluttering bandwagon now because I don't want to leave that mess to my children - it's hard because DH isn't really on board although he's a bit more so since helping with my mum's house. When my dear Gram passed last year, I felt like the biggest heel cleaning out her kitchen. I threw away so much expired box food, old spices, old mixes, literally 2 pantries and nearly 8 cupboards full of this kind of stuff. She would have KILLED me. I kept thinking, I am going to turn around and she is going to be standing there with her hands on her hips going, "What the HELL are you doing to my kitchen???!!!" (gulp) My grandmother died a couple years ago. She had medicines that had expired in the 80’s. And she had still insisted on moving them with her into assisted living. We’re all felt like traitors throwing away her stuff. tc I’m sorry your family had to deal with ALS. Worse disease ever.
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Post by scrapcat on Feb 24, 2020 16:48:01 GMT
btw scrapcat it's true that ceramics of all kinds are about the longest lasting man-made things found in archeological digs. Think Greek pottery shards, Chinese and Native American too. BUT none of the things we put in landfills actually biodegrade, whether metal, cloth, paper, or food. Or at least, they shouldn't, or only at a fractional rate. A properly managed modern sanitary landfill is a giant vault of trash, preserving everything. I just read a fascinating book called "Garbology" that explained what they find when they excavate old landfills, and all kinds of other scary trash-related topics. It's actually a good thing in a way - between the methane and other gases that would be released if everything was breaking down and the scary quantities of household toxic waste we dump secretly that shouldn't be allowed to leach into the soil/water... but I'm imagining the archaeologists of the future digging into our massive middens and being perplexed and horrified by what we've buried. I have so many other comments for everyone but no time right now! sorry. Omg joblackford this stuff keeps me up at night! I try to do what I can to reuse, recycle, upcycle, but yea, the problem is so vast and really individually, we can only do so much. It's frightening! I go back and forth with this hobby sometimes too...like do I need to use this much paper? If I'm leaving these books to no one, is it wasteful? But at same time, then I am like, well we have to live and do the best with what we have. Sheesh! I don't think I could read that book, too much anxiety about it.
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Post by joblackford on Feb 24, 2020 17:19:29 GMT
btw scrapcat it's true that ceramics of all kinds are about the longest lasting man-made things found in archeological digs. Think Greek pottery shards, Chinese and Native American too. BUT none of the things we put in landfills actually biodegrade, whether metal, cloth, paper, or food. Or at least, they shouldn't, or only at a fractional rate. A properly managed modern sanitary landfill is a giant vault of trash, preserving everything. I just read a fascinating book called "Garbology" that explained what they find when they excavate old landfills, and all kinds of other scary trash-related topics. It's actually a good thing in a way - between the methane and other gases that would be released if everything was breaking down and the scary quantities of household toxic waste we dump secretly that shouldn't be allowed to leach into the soil/water... but I'm imagining the archaeologists of the future digging into our massive middens and being perplexed and horrified by what we've buried. I have so many other comments for everyone but no time right now! sorry. Omg joblackford this stuff keeps me up at night! I try to do what I can to reuse, recycle, upcycle, but yea, the problem is so vast and really individually, we can only do so much. It's frightening! I go back and forth with this hobby sometimes too...like do I need to use this much paper? If I'm leaving these books to no one, is it wasteful? But at same time, then I am like, well we have to live and do the best with what we have. Sheesh! I don't think I could read that book, too much anxiety about it. Some of the book actually made me feel better and some of it made me feel worse. The "plastic chowder" description of the oceans was devastating but it helped clarify that "garbage patch" is a misnomer, and that there are people working on the problem. We just need to work faster and harder. There are other solutions to the landfill garbage problem but they don't always sound good if we don't understand them (I always thought incineration was a terrible idea but I want to live in Copenhagen after hearing about their system that turns garbage into heat with almost no emissions - probably a lot less than our garbage trucks and trains). But I hear you, and I feel much the same way - I try to do well for the future but I also have to live well for myself. I have at least decided that glitter is one of the worst inventions of the human species (at least in the crafty realms, microbeads might beat it out overall) and wondered if I could mount an anti-glitter campaign here... lol. Christmas card glitter is the devil.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Feb 24, 2020 17:30:00 GMT
joblackford Might add Garbology to my reading list. I just picked up Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You again because of the minimalism/declutter threads in here since the beginning of the year. Your review makes it sound like it would be nice anthropological and ecological expansion on the psychology-focused Snoop!
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Post by joblackford on Feb 25, 2020 3:36:10 GMT
joblackford Might add Garbology to my reading list. I just picked up Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You again because of the minimalism/declutter threads in here since the beginning of the year. Your review makes it sound like it would be nice anthropological and ecological expansion on the psychology-focused Snoop! Oooh, Snoop sounds very fun! Totally my kind of book. I will add that to my list. I read another book called Waste and Want that was a VERY detailed (read: dull) social history of trash in America but when I got to the end I was a bit disappointed because it was written in 1999, before we all got a new smartphone every year, but also before people woke up and started thinking about zero waste and lowering their impact, etc. Garbology barely mentioned the historical stuff (just a few paragraphs of overlap) but talked a lot more about the current state of the world. (BTW I have been meaning to get onto your book group thread since I finally noticed it this weekend!) Today I set aside to re-home: - a pair of champagne flutes that we got as a wedding gift 18 years ago (and thought were tacky then, also we don't drink champagne and they had never been used) - a blue crystal sake set that was a gift when we left Japan, not to our tastes, not needed - 4 pottery cups, also gifts from Japan, not useful or especially beautiful (I didn't know my husband was ready to let this kind of thing go but I was thrilled when he said he'd be fine getting rid of some of it - I thought he'd prefer just to box it up and hide it) - a journal that was a lovely gift but I don't like the paper/ruled lines - found out the YWCA will take it for their battered women's shelter! - decorative tea light lantern thingy - no longer beautiful to me - 3 empty Milo tins that I had covered with pretty paper - they look like small paint cans - in theory very useful, but I had never found a use except as storage for dried beans that I will never actually cook... AND I sold a friend 2 large crocks from my FIL's stash - she's happy not to pay shipping and we made some money for us and him. The vintage kitchen stuff I have listed on Marketplace is stagnant. I must be asking too much. I have a guy interested in the fishing gaff and wooden fish club but he wasn't very polite (how hard is to text "yes, thanks"??) so I'm hoping he changes his mind because I don't want to meet up with him. Might have to send hubby...
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Post by Jessica on Feb 25, 2020 6:01:15 GMT
I finally got the piles out of my house! As my parents plan to have an estate sale in a few months, we're going to try to sell my things as well...and if nothing sells, then we donate.
Seeing the now-clear area where things had accumulated for so long was actually super inspiring and I'm looking forward to the next round of decluttering!
I've been putting off going through my clothes for a while so this weekend everything is coming out of closets, all the laundry will get caught up AND THEN I'll be making conscious decisions on what to keep -- you know how everything is good and then one day you look down at your favorite sweater and realize it's well past its prime? I had that happen to me last week and it flipped a switch in my head. MUST GET IT DONE.
Thanks for being my accountability buddies!
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Post by mikklynn on Feb 25, 2020 13:56:05 GMT
Small step...how many potholders and hot pads did I think I need? Sheesh. I just tossed half of them. My shelf looks so nice now.
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Post by cumber1137 on Feb 25, 2020 14:47:47 GMT
I've been on a major "use it up 2020" this year. I've only purchased from Kelly Purkey since she is closing up her shop. And I'm proud to say I haven't walked into Michaels yet this year.
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Post by joblackford on Feb 25, 2020 17:26:59 GMT
I finally got the piles out of my house! As my parents plan to have an estate sale in a few months, we're going to try to sell my things as well...and if nothing sells, then we donate. Seeing the now-clear area where things had accumulated for so long was actually super inspiring and I'm looking forward to the next round of decluttering! I've been putting off going through my clothes for a while so this weekend everything is coming out of closets, all the laundry will get caught up AND THEN I'll be making conscious decisions on what to keep -- you know how everything is good and then one day you look down at your favorite sweater and realize it's well past its prime? I had that happen to me last week and it flipped a switch in my head. MUST GET IT DONE. Thanks for being my accountability buddies! Absolutely! One of the ways I like to assess clothes is actually to do it on or just before laundry day. The stuff that’s in the laundry is what you actually wear. Ideally on laundry day the closet would be almost bare because you would wear all of the clothes you love. I know what you mean about looking down and realizing you’re wearing old worn out or sad clothes. I’ve been working with a small wardrobe for several years now and wearing and washing things constantly means I’m actually starting to wear stuff out. Good luck on the big sort! Let us know how it goes.
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Post by Jessica on Feb 25, 2020 19:16:42 GMT
joblackford good point about doing it near laundry day! There are things I already know I'm getting rid of because I've been mentally thinking "okay self, you can wear it one last time to decide whether it's a keep or toss" and I would not be able to live with myself if I put dirty clothes into the donate/sell pile. 😉
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Post by ecvnj58 on Feb 25, 2020 22:53:20 GMT
I’m doing the #goingsimple challenge on Instagram this week is bathrooms. Today I did my everyday makeup bin and got rid of 20 things. I have also been working on paring down my closet and my kids stuff almost daily.
I left 2 bags out today for someone to pick up of clothes and now I realize it’s raining and they are probably still there and wet. Ahhh.
I was listening to simple scrapper and someone said that they always feel like declutterin after staying in a hotel because it makes them realize they can live with less. I went to Europe last week and now want to get rid of all of my stuff. It’s actually causing me stress to look at it. I’m trying to just do one step at a time to reduce stress but it isn’t working.
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Post by myboysnme on Feb 26, 2020 15:24:59 GMT
I went to a retreat last week where they had stacks of free paper. I went through it with abandon, but was thoughtful about what I chose. Then I bought several packs of paper for around $1 each. Now what in the world does that have to do with destashing?
Well I came home and went through all the papers I had gotten and picked out the ones I just don't see myself using. Then I went through other paper I have and put about 100 sheets together to give to a paper loving friend. So even though I brought free paper home, I got rid of a bit more paper I don't like or want.
It's a start!
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Post by 950nancy on Feb 26, 2020 17:43:25 GMT
I don't want to brag, but I got rid of 100's of things yesterday. If you count each gem as an item that is. My gem/enamel dot situation was a little overwhelming for practical use in my scrap room. I cut some 4 x 6 cards out of card stock and put my gems onto the matching color. They used to be on 3 x 8 cards shoved in a drawer, but I wanted them out on my desk. I also put my enamel dots in a matching box and can have them out also.
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Post by joblackford on Feb 26, 2020 19:07:46 GMT
I went to a retreat last week where they had stacks of free paper. I went through it with abandon, but was thoughtful about what I chose. Then I bought several packs of paper for around $1 each. Now what in the world does that have to do with destashing? Well I came home and went through all the papers I had gotten and picked out the ones I just don't see myself using. Then I went through other paper I have and put about 100 sheets together to give to a paper loving friend. So even though I brought free paper home, I got rid of a bit more paper I don't like or want. It's a start! I think that's awesome! The goal is not just to get rid of things, but to get rid of things that you don't use or love. So getting something new inspired you to let go of things you don't love any more that's perfect! I'm sure your friend will appreciate the gift and hopefully she'll do the same thing, and on down the line...
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 27, 2020 9:45:41 GMT
I've been on a major "use it up 2020" this year. I've only purchased from Kelly Purkey since she is closing up her shop. And I'm proud to say I haven't walked into Michaels yet this year. I like the way you phrased that - "Use it up 2020." That's what I've been trying to do as well. I'm also telling myself it's okay to decide a product is finished, even if there's some left. This includes pieces of scrap paper, stickers I'll never use, etc. I'm not letting myself feel guilt for them. I got my use out of it, it can go.
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Post by joblackford on Feb 29, 2020 3:05:19 GMT
I just watched a documentary I’ve wanted to see for a couple of years - it’s called My Stuff or Tavarataivas in the original Finnish. It’s available to watch for $3.50 on Vimeo and might be on some other platforms too. Young guy had dealt with sadness over a breakup by buying a lot of stuff, decides to find out what he really needs to be happy by locking it ALL in a storage unit and retrieving one item a day for a year. So the movie starts with him running buck naked down a frozen Helsinki street at night to get.... a coat. It’s pretty funny and sweet and quite thought provoking. What would be on your list? After you got a coat and shoes and some bedding and then clothes for work, what next?
I haven’t decluttered anything for a few days but I got a good new thing to replace a crappy old thing - found a much better iPad cover than the inherited one that came with the inherited iPad with the bonus that it was a returned but like new version so it was half price! I’m not going to keep the old cover. It collapsed way too often. Better go look closely and see if it’s worth donating. It was pretty gross when I got it.
Also made progress on my “use what I have” challenge - I was able to use a stamp that I love but haven’t used much with some patterned paper that I overbought, and the results are really pretty! I can make a lot of beautiful cards with this stamp and one sheet of pretty paper + some scraps.
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