2024 Organizing & Decluttering Thread

Thank you ladies, I really appreciate the support  

Survival mode really is a perfect descriptor. And there’s a whole host of ways that we deal with various scenarios, whatever it takes to get through it. And honestly? Decluttering has helped a ton with this. If you don’t have stuff it can’t be part of a bigger mess. Less clothes means we do the laundry more frequently, it’s rare to have more than a couple of loads to get done. So when the pain or depression hits unexpectedly, he’s not trying to climb a mountain to deal with everything, but rather a molehill. 

Thank you for sharing the article mich5481! Reading articles like this remind me that I’m not alone, I’m not the only one whose house starts to implode when I am particularly unwell.


This is so true. What little capacity you have has to be directed towards things like eating and showering, making sure to take your medication or things will just get worse. And for those that live alone and/or have someone else to take care of? I can’t even imagine, I am so lucky my DH is so understanding and willing to pick up what slack he can.

Her last suggestion of stopping the problem before it starts is dead on. It’s sort of like preparing for a Hurricane. In general if you live in a Hurricane prone area, you keep certain things stocked and available pretty much all the time. Then when the storm is possibly coming there are further steps taken just in case, and finally when it’s imminent you batten down the hatches.

When I’m doing well I do my damndest to keep up with/get ahead on all of our major stuff. Keeping things like laundry done, healthy food in the freezer, bills on autopay during this time is super important, buy gifts and cards and have ready for upcoming occasions. I also, like now, spend a lot of time decluttering and organizing problem areas. I like her guidance to look at what you are always having to pick up and find a better way/place to store it. My question to myself and my husband is “what’s annoying you most right now?” Or “what’s super hard for you right now?”

In the middle, when I can feel a fibro flare coming on or a depression cycle starting we know it’s a good time to make things easier for him when it hits. Laundry kept up 100%, check freezer stocked well enough, as well as pantry items. We try not to eat a lot of processed foods, and rarely bring them into the house because we have no willpower. This is an exception. Maybe we’ll get bagels and cream cheese for breakfast so he doesn’t have to cook. Milk to get some protein. Make sure we have enough paper plates and plastic silverware, meds are refilled or at least called in. Anything to mail goes out the door.

That way, when it hits hard, we’re prepared. Besides using disposable plates and utensils, she also points out that laundry must be clean…but it doesn’t have to be unwrinkled. Great point!

iamkristinl16 I understand about the sink - we live in an old house (1863) and have all kinds of plumbing problems. We finally had to change out all the pipes running out to the septic. DH discovered the pipes was slopping uphill slightly and wasn't allowing for proper draining. Hope you get it fixed today.

I just listened to this while getting dressed. She talked about “clutter nests” which is something I have been thinking about lately. We have several areas that tend to get the most cluttered because I put things in there that I don’t have time to deal with, then end up huge messes. One is the crawl space. Another is the “red room” (because it’s painted red). That is the room I have been working on making more functional and I want to stop using it as a drop space. I can understand the importance of getting that space clean, but how to KEEP it clean is where I struggle. We also end up with a basket full of stuff that doesn’t have a better home (no space for a junk drawer). Where are your clutter nests? And how do you plan to keep them from getting more cluttered again?

Also just found out that many people are having sink issues and the pipes are frozen, so the city will be steaming the sewer or something. So the kitchen is still a mess. I guess the silver lining is that under the sink will be cleaned out. It isn’t too messy, though.

youtu.be/CMuVQs6DAJ4?si=KGLoxBz7RW5iXz9z

Was going to get caught up on washing clothes. We are being asked to conserve water (snow/freezing temps) so that's out.

Guess I will price stuff for when flea market opens.

I was thonking about the paper plate post. In our municipality, paper plates can go in your green composting bin.

And for me, I wear it casually. Sometimes half a dozen times a month, sometimes not for months on end. I found my old favorite mascera in a smaller size (and price!) once and it was like the heavens opened up and angels sang. But apparently it was some special thing because it never happened again. They tend to make the most popular items in a mini size, and waterproof mascaras don’t fall under that category. But my IT concealer comes mini sized in my color!

How I handle it, honestly, is keep most make-up for a lot longer than recommended. I used to be super sensitive to eye makeup when I was younger and my eyes would swell shut all the time. So I’ve always been careful about just-cleaned hands and face when I apply makeup, and keeping really clean brushes. My makeup also stays stored away not out exposed to everything. If it’s not performing well, the color or smell is off, it’s no longer the consistency it’s meant to be, or anything else stands out to me, I whimper as I toss it into the trash. I just can’t afford to replace everything as frequently as they say we should. Were I getting any eye infections or having issues with my skin then obviously it would be a different story. But I’ve never had an issue. 


Our town unfortunately doesn’t have anything like that, but good reminder for those that do, thank you. 

lindas I would say a large dent!

I’m glad it didn’t end up being a costly plumbing repair!

Thanks for the link. First, I love her makeup   I like the term clutter nest. We have what I’ve heard referenced as hot spots, which seem to be smaller than what she’s describing. On a larger scale, clutter nests works. I’d say our garage is somewhat of a clutter nest. I can’t reach and or lift things to the highest shelves, or move the heavier boxes so if I have things that need to go in those bins I have to wait for DH. So I’ll let them sit on top of another bin until they’re built up a bit and have him do all at once. Mostly, they’re in the garage so I just forget about them. We also have a corner section that has larger house project items. It’s neat, but just sitting there. And then we have a section where we are collecting hazardous materials recycling. They’ll send a special mailer with instructions to your home and then arrange a special pickup so I try and gather quite a bit first. But I just realized, I should be okay with them coming out more than once a year so I’m going to arrange for that sooner rather than later. What am I going to do about it? The house projects just have to be done. For future, we’ve stopped buying things that require us to do something for the house until these are taken care of and plan to only buy things when we are ready to deal with them going forward. I. Glad you brought this up because I think I’ll use a small laundry basket as a collection space for smaller items I need DH’s help putting away. And I’ll have to think about the hazardous materials. I’ll ask them how often is too often to call them out to start. 

Our project room with all the tables would probably qualify as a clutter nest, but that’s sort of its purpose, to keep these things out of the rest of the house until they’re taken care of. It’s organized and most importantly, functional. And when I haven’t been working in there as often as I’d like, my intake desk where we put things for me to deal with can get a decent sized pile on it. But, once I get in there it never takes long to put things where they belong. I have no plans to change the immediate future of the room because I like how it functions, but once I get this stuff taken care of I plan on having a part of a garage shelf designated for repairs, improvements, etc. and scheduling a weekly task to work on them. This project room of items has built up over decades so I’m okay that it’s taking a while to get through it. And I can take my time because it’s out of the way and not affecting the rest of the house. 

Hot spots are small surfaces that tend to collect stuff that needs to be dealt with, it gravitates there. There is one in my closet and on the buffet above DH’s drawer downstairs. I have it on my planner as a weekly task so they rarely are a real issue anymore. We need to get back to 5 minutes downstairs and upstairs every night right before bed because they were addressed every night then. 

I think part of the issue for most people with clutter nests is that those items don’t have a permanent home. So instead of getting put away they’re shoved in there and forgotten.  This will be addressed as you declutter and organize your home. Try and recognize if there are any particular categories of items that tend to end up there and tackle them early on in your decluttering process. Maybe out of season clothes don’t have a good solution, or items that need repair, paperwork, etc. 

As for your lack of junk drawer, what type of items are they? Ours is primarily a lot of office supplies. So if we didn’t have a junk drawer I’d decide what kind of space we could dedicate in a convenient to reach area, and put some sort of a system there. Be it a closet, desk, or a space on bookshelves or built-ins. Off the top of my head those Sterlite 3-drawer containers would work really well. Things could be subdivided by drawer and easy to find. Not the most decorative, but functional. I’m sure there are more attractive drawer systems you could find, but I’d use a cheap similar alternative to make sure the space and system work for you first before investing in a gorgeous all wood one or something. 

I just did a quick declutter of makeup/skin/hair products while I had a little time. I didn't make a huge difference in how it looks but hopefully when I make a big project of it, it will be easier. I also have a few hair products to try and decide keep or get rid of.

How long do you think hair glosses last?

Well, I haven’t seen anything from the city saying what Dh said he heard about the pipes, and the friend came over with the snake and isn’t working. Ugh.

I went through some of our spices and the baking decorating items. I tossed some colored sugars that were 10+ years old snd some spice mixes we weren’t using. I bought some clear plastic bins to replace some flimsy ones that made it difficult to pull them down from the top shelf. I’m much happier. We still have a ton of spices but they look a bit better.

Here is a video from Cat (Clutterbug) that I feel has a great message. It’s all about decluttering things that make you feel bad in some way. Highly recommend.

I also had a big digital declutter win in that I made the decision to cancel my Kindle Unlimited subscription! I own hundreds of ebooks that I haven’t read. But with KU I kept reading a new book and then reading the whole series on KU. So, I canceled and then accepted another free 30 days so that I could finish all of the books that I borrowed. I’ll have to cancel again but I know I will, the decision has been made and it feels really good. I also got rid of a subscription streaming service I didn’t even know I was paying for.

My decluttering task from today will have to continue tomorrow, decluttering skin care. I worked on it, but I’m not finished. I have, however finished with tomorrow’s task so I’ll just carry this one over to tomorrow.