|
Post by ntsf on Jun 13, 2022 1:39:14 GMT
I keep my vacuum in front closet.. hope to find space at top of stairs for bucket of cleaning supplies. a work in progress.
I cleaned out two rolling plastic carts (with drawers) that had been collecting stuff for 10 yrs at least. big bag for recycling, a throw away bag and stuff sorted for scrapbooking.. found fun things like my ranger schedule from alcatraz when I worked their in 1986. and a collection of postcards from my grandmother that date from 1900 to 1950's.. mostly 1905-1915. most are postcards of Wales. a couple that celebrate the coronation of george the 5th in 1911.
but just to tackle them was progress. while watching the giants baseball game.
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on Jun 13, 2022 11:58:54 GMT
I am feeling like my closets are too full here at my new house, as well as the storage area. I made another pass through yesterday and came up with my crap to get rid of. I plan to make a trip to Goodwill today. The office and guest room closets look much better.
I am also working on throwing away partially used scrapbook stuff that I know I haven't touched in years.
|
|
|
Post by bigbundt on Jun 13, 2022 15:28:28 GMT
I need to shred papers. I've been putting them to the side to shred but not actually doing it so I have a huge pile. Will be a good thing to do tomorrow since we have high temperatures and I don't want to do anything outside.
|
|
|
Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jun 13, 2022 15:48:59 GMT
I need to shred papers. I've been putting them to the side to shred but not actually doing it so I have a huge pile. Will be a good thing to do tomorrow since we have high temperatures and I don't want to do anything outside. That's a good idea for this week as we have those high temps as well. There is a basket full that needs to be shredding and if I do it now I can send the shredder to the storage unit on Friday! Thanks for the idea! DH ended up flying home a day early from his fishing trip, but I was still able to accomplish a good bit. Just on Saturday I added the nine slide carousels to the donation pile. Also added some foam core boards I don't need, a couple of old t-shirts of mine, some more photo frames and canning jar/lid from some jam. I know those can be difficult to get so I donate those whenever I empty one. Beginning to look forward to having so much put into storage. Our plan is to be very judicious with what comes back in the house. DH has agreed to keep the unit for a year, though I will most likely downsize it once the majority of the stuff is out. There are some large antiques we brought back from SE Asia and don't plan to use for now, but aren't at the point we want to get rid of them. He finally decided he'd rather have less stuff in the house so is now willing to pay for a unit...finally! We don't look at it as a long term solution though.
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jun 13, 2022 17:37:55 GMT
I really want to tackle re-arranging my scrapbook area but I have to be patient until DH assembles my new stuff. I might do some purging in the meantime. Last night I organised my cards and card blanks into the new containers I got at IKEA yesterday...I need to buy more envelopes and cut more white cardblanks...as well as decide if I'm ever actually going to use the coloured ones in my stash (I didn't buy them - they were handed down)...I think they might end up leaving.
|
|
|
Post by deafpea on Jun 16, 2022 13:43:52 GMT
Progress is happening! Since school was out for the summer on June 3, I have gotten my basement family room cleaned up. I had lots of boxes, bins, etc. of stuff that belonged in the basement or needed to go outside, or needed to be donated. Those containers have sat there for MONTHS--some was from Christmas! It's all been sorted, put away, donated or thrown away. I even got the room dusted! It still needs vacuuming but otherwise it looks great. Today I've been working on my office. A lot of stuff got thrown in there when we were doing a quick cleanup of the public spaces for a party last weekend. The party was supposed to be outside but that day was quite windy and we couldn't put up our canopy. It was too hot to be outside without shade so we started the party inside, then after about 45 minutes there was enough shade (cast by the house) that we could move out to the patio. So now I'm getting that mess cleaned up. We're going out of town for 2 weeks soon so I have lots of things I want to get done so we come home to a neat and clean house that also smells good. Two questions: What's a homemade air freshener that I can make and just leave out? Essential oils in baking soda? Also, I have SO MANY pens and pencils! Way more than I need or will use. Where can I donate pens and pencils that have been used but still have some life in them? I hate to just throw them away but my pen/pencil box is FULL! Merilee
|
|
|
Post by ntsf on Jun 16, 2022 14:52:43 GMT
I finished sorting through a bin of old school papers. a few went into my save pile, most split into piles for the kids to go through.. and several bags of recycling to go out.. progress on getting kids's stuff out of my house. (they are in their 30's)...
|
|
milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,569
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
Mar 18, 2015 4:10:31 GMT
|
Post by milocat on Jun 16, 2022 18:17:57 GMT
I went through my closet and dresser and took out a bunch of clothes. And bagged them up and dropped them off at the thrift store a few days later when I went to town!
We (FINALLY) recently got an upfright deep freeze! I'm so in love with it, every time I need something it makes me so happy. I ditched some old stuff that was at the bottom of the chest frezer, that I wasn't digging for. I got some fabric bins for the new freezer to use as "drawers" and to keep like things corralled together.
|
|
|
Post by natscraps on Jun 20, 2022 21:18:16 GMT
I had to dig through 3 pages of threads to find this! We had 24 hr notice of overnight guests coming so that threw us into major cleaning mode on Friday. We had plan to declutter the counters and clean the downstairs on Saturday anyways to prep for DS’s birthday party yesterday. Today I finished purging and organizing my huge art closet in my classroom. Too hot to work at school tomorrow so I plan to finally tackle more of my home office/scrap room.
|
|
|
Post by ntsf on Jun 20, 2022 22:01:06 GMT
I posted on a small group list that I had threads magazines to get rid of.. someone working at our GS camp came and took 50 of them for a summer craft project!!! I had made some progress, but both my daughter and her wife came down with covid (they are visiting from out of the country) and they are sheltering in my study --it has a bathroom. so I am stuck caring for them.. which is ok. but can't get rid of much.
|
|
|
Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jun 20, 2022 22:09:07 GMT
I added a gift from my best friend to the donation pile today.
‘Bottle trees’ are popular in the south. Quite literally they feature glass bottles (often in colors like blue, green, and amber) stuck over branches on a tree. They even make wrought iron ‘trees’ now especially to hold the bottles. It’s a type of art installation, if you will, in the garden.
She found a shrub type version and gave it to me for my birthday right after we moved into this house two years ago. I dutifully collected some smaller size bottles to fit it, but just kept shoving them in the closet with the stand. I ran across it today and made my peace with the fact that I kinda hate it. It’s just not me. I guess that’s why two years later it’s still in the damn closet. Lol.
So it’s all in a box marked for donation and I’m happy about it.
She’s never asked about it after gifting it up me. Not sure if I’m going to fess up to donating it or not. I probably will… one night after several glasses of wine!
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jun 20, 2022 22:41:46 GMT
Dh finished building my new IKEA pieces this weekend and I got the scrapbook corner put back together. Ended up with an empty 3 drawer cart (plastic) and a 3-drawer unit (also plastic) and a milk crate and a couple of other small items - they've gone to the storage shelf in the garage but if they haven't been re-purposed by our next donation run...they're leaving. The 6ft folding table went out to the garage - it will get used every now and then but it's not in the house.
Also took the second monitor off my desk - it's not working and hasn't been working so why is it taking up real estate?
And I'm working my way through a box of photo cd/dvds that have separate sheet of paper with photo captions - adding the captions to digital files and then tossing the papers and discs (yes- my digital files are backed up)
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on Jun 21, 2022 11:01:50 GMT
My mom can't part with anything on her own. She had my sister help her clean dad's closet. She let me start on her walk-in closet. I tossed an entire bag of clother that were so old and yellowed or out of date they were not usable. That's as far as we got. I think if I buy her some new shirts it will be incentive to let me back in there.
|
|
|
Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jun 21, 2022 12:25:57 GMT
With graduation finished, and elementary school out, I tossed paper grad decorations, put away grad souvenirs & keepsakes, cleaned out bookbags, tossed the bag with the broken zipper, tossed broken bits of crayon & pencil, tossed the beat up and worn out lunch bags.
I washed all school uniforms and put them away for the fall.
|
|
|
Post by natscraps on Jun 23, 2022 1:46:16 GMT
Started on the second set of closets at work today and came up with an organization plan. Two sets of empty sterilite drawers are now out of my basement and will be taken to work tomorrow.
I finished my scrapbook paper reorganization project yesterday. Over 5” of paper made into the purge pile. I’ll take it to my crop on Saturday to get rid of it. This evening I spent clearing out and putting away all the extra crap that ended up in my office/scrap room that didn’t belong there. A whole laundry basket of stuff went down to the garage sale pile in the basement. It’s been a productive few weeks.
|
|
|
Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jun 24, 2022 15:38:48 GMT
Finally got my 20 y/o son to do a deep clean on his room this week. As a part of it we pulled everything out of his two closets, vacuumed them out, and completely reorganized them. Ended up with a large box of things to donate, a few items he'll try to sell, and a surprising amount of trash (boxes from old electronics, stained clothing, old papers, and the like).
One thing that got trashed was his old high school soccer bag. Already a hand-me-down from a brother, it had a permanent funk to it that would knock your socks off. He barely started unzipping it and said, "Ew, mom. Smell this." Un-uh. No way. Being mom to four boys taught me to NEVER fall for that one. Lol. He glanced inside and the whole thing went straight to the garbage. Good riddance.
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jun 24, 2022 15:45:36 GMT
spongemom - congratulations - that's major! nothing big here - some bits and bobs and a binder - oh and a pair of capris - I had two almost identical pairs but on the rare occasion I wear them, I always weatr the same pair because the other one is a little snug on calf. So why was I keeping them? I also tossed a handmixer (the cord was fraying) and mini-chopper (the bowl/lid was chipped/cracked beyond use) but I replaced both so I'm not sure it made much difference
|
|
amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,403
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
|
Post by amom23 on Jun 24, 2022 17:37:41 GMT
I look around the house and think "What area should I tackle next?" and there aren't any. Not big ones anyways. The house feels so much easier to keep clean with less inventory in it. So now I'm turning my focus to doing some deep cleaning. That's an area with lots of jobs to keep me busy for a while (actually cleaning is really never ending!).
|
|
|
Post by hmp on Jun 24, 2022 18:50:40 GMT
I lost my mojo & haven’t done anything for 3 weeks. I’m really struggling. I got rid of carloads of my parents stuff. The Habit for Humanity Restore, Goodwill, Salvation Army have all had trucks at my house. It’s just that there is soooo much stuff I can’t get thru it all. I just can’t bring myself to care, but I’m the family historian so I need to care. I need to restart but I don’t know how to motivate myself. Thanks for listening.
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jun 24, 2022 18:59:13 GMT
I look around the house and think "What area should I tackle next?" and there aren't any. Not big ones anyways Yes - my big areas are good for now - I'm trying to keep an eye out for things here and there but my focus is less on decluttering now. I have a ton of photos and papers and digital files that I need to go through, do what is needed as far as labelling/identifying, weeding out duplicates and un-needed items and consolidating etc... and that's where my current focus is - not much is leaving (unless you count emptying the computer's recycling bin) but a few are...one by one. I also have a ton of books and I'm reading more and as I finish a book, I'm really trying to think hard about whether I'll re-read it - if not, I offer it up to family/friends or donate it - again slow progress but still progress ((((Hugs))) it's ok to take a break - decluttering and organising is a process and it's hard work. When you are ready to tackle stuff again - can you pick something small and achievable to start with -one drawer, one pile, one shelf, even just item. Get that ball rolling again and it'll pick up momentum. I know for me (and I'm also the family historian/archivist) - that looking at the big picture of what I need to do is overwhelming so I'm trying to focus on one small project at a time and tell myself that some progress is better than no progress
|
|
amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,403
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
|
Post by amom23 on Jun 24, 2022 20:27:56 GMT
I lost my mojo & haven’t done anything for 3 weeks. I’m really struggling. I got rid of carloads of my parents stuff. The Habit for Humanity Restore, Goodwill, Salvation Army have all had trucks at my house. It’s just that there is soooo much stuff I can’t get thru it all. I just can’t bring myself to care, but I’m the family historian so I need to care. I need to restart but I don’t know how to motivate myself. Thanks for listening. Please give yourself a little grace. Decluttering is hard enough when it's your own house and stuff. Lots of us have had to clean out our parents homes and it's brutal.
|
|
|
Post by Bobomommy on Jun 24, 2022 21:47:25 GMT
I’m a sentimental pack rat, but have made progress. This week I went through the wooden puzzles from my childhood and separated them into 3 sets. I gave my daughter a set for my granddaughter (25 months old), and will give a set each to my boys this weekend.
My daughter also received 8 antique crystal stemmed water glasses and 9 matching stemmed iced tea glasses that were her great grandparents.
I have one big bag of clothing ready for donation and need to fill a few more. Then I want to downsize what’s in the kitchen cabinets and drawers and donate a bunch of it.
|
|
|
Post by natscraps on Jun 24, 2022 22:36:07 GMT
I lost my mojo & haven’t done anything for 3 weeks. I’m really struggling. I got rid of carloads of my parents stuff. The Habit for Humanity Restore, Goodwill, Salvation Army have all had trucks at my house. It’s just that there is soooo much stuff I can’t get thru it all. I just can’t bring myself to care, but I’m the family historian so I need to care. I need to restart but I don’t know how to motivate myself. Thanks for listening. We all ebb and flow with decluttering. I understand the soo much stuff and trying to be the historian. Be proud of what you have accomplished so far. It’s ok to take a break.
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on Jun 24, 2022 22:55:59 GMT
I lost my mojo & haven’t done anything for 3 weeks. I’m really struggling. I got rid of carloads of my parents stuff. The Habit for Humanity Restore, Goodwill, Salvation Army have all had trucks at my house. It’s just that there is soooo much stuff I can’t get thru it all. I just can’t bring myself to care, but I’m the family historian so I need to care. I need to restart but I don’t know how to motivate myself. Thanks for listening. Give yourself this break. You clearly have done a lot. Stop beating yourself up about it. When you feel ready, just tackle one thing at a time. One box, on drawer, whatever.
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on Jul 2, 2022 11:04:53 GMT
BTT
|
|
|
Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jul 2, 2022 12:18:05 GMT
I tackled my husband’s office here at home this past week. He never ended up using it during Covid as he went to the company office every day. He had two boxes of stuff from his old work when he retired that never got unpacked from moving in two years ago! Plus as a basically unused room in a tucked away location in the house, it became that catch all room for stuff we didn’t have a place for. A perfect storm for decluttering and organizing.
I’ve now whipped that room back into shape. Stuff you haven’t touched in two years becomes pretty easy to make decisions about. Trashed some stuff, donated a small amount, and rehomed what we needed to keep. Plus I found cash! His old work boxes yielded a bank envelope with a couple hundred dollars in it. Lol.
He gave his blessing on the endeavor as I’m sure some are wondering about that. The topic of frustration with other family members is a frequent one here. He is definitely my hoarder. He wants to keep everything. But over the years he’s seen the value of my consistent efforts at decluttering and organizing. He’s much more on board now. Part of our agreement with a project like this is that I will make a pile of anything questionable so he gets to make final decisions. That gives him enough control that he’s learned to be comfortable with me tackling decluttering and organizing for him.
|
|
|
Post by MZF on Jul 2, 2022 15:13:26 GMT
I was going to get rid of my curio cabinet, but decided to try it in the guest/play room instead, and moved all the games from the garage cabinet into it. I gotta say, it looks really good in the room, holds all, and now everything is much easier to access. So now there are 2 large cabinets in the garage that are empty. Not getting rid of them, I'm sure they will be used by the time all our re-organizing is done.
btw--changed my display name to my initials. I was going by Agnes, but there was some mix-up with the other agnes(deux).
|
|
|
Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jul 2, 2022 15:50:41 GMT
I'm still working towards less things in the house overall, to make actual cleaning easier.
I tossed two large comforters that were past their prime and hadn't been used in two+ years.
Tossed a shirt that looked worn out.
Tossed a ton of old bits of Tupperware & freebie water bottle parts that had lived in a giant bag on a chair in the kitchen for a year+.
So much of the house stuff wasn't brought in by me and then just sits in the way.
My big project this summer really needs to be to help the younger kids get a grip on their bedroom. We are making progress, but aren't finished by a long shot.
Oh, a little thing, but went through the medicine area, tossed those past their use by dates (a few).
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jul 2, 2022 18:22:27 GMT
not sure how much this'll count but I hung up the 'lost socks' sign in my laundry and it's now holding lost socks. I also put up a nail to hang my duster and put the mesh bags in the cabinet with the laundry soap.
I called the vet the other day to ask about donating the leftover prescription food after Little friend died and DH brought over to them - turns out the canned food is returnable to the manufacturer so we got a refund on that and the vet took the dry food also as a donation.
I want to do some organising in the garage this week and hopefully hang some pictures in my craft room that have been sitting in a pile since we movedd 18m ago.
|
|
|
Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jul 2, 2022 18:49:26 GMT
Working this weekend on getting the last things out of the kitchen & living room cabinets that didn't go to storage. Most of it is food and liquor, but there are also the scrapbooks and several boxes of photos. Moving the photos to the guest room that we are living out of now. Some of the canned food will go in there as well, but most I'm putting in the paper grocery bags to take to storage. Also going to take over all those drawer organizers as well. There were 2 drawers of spices and things like oils and baking supplies that I went through yesterday. About half went into the trash. Found several things that were outdated, including a couple from 2019! I also discovered that sesame seeds can, and do, go rancid! As I added to the trash bag I also wrote what I was tossing on a list so I know what needs replacing once we are back in the kitchen. All the drawer liners were tossed. Once I finish this there will be very little for me to do until the project is completed. I'll be able to focus on some sorting photos and a little sewing now - hopefully!
|
|