2019 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

I am much more conscious of the things we bring in these days

I think that's one of the big advantages of decluttering. The more you get rid of and learn you can live without, the more discerning you are about what new things you bring in. Plus, once you start enjoying the less cluttered environment and the peace that brings you, the more you want to keep it that way.

[Scallywag]

I struggle with depression and recently started to watch Marie Kondo on Netflix. It really motivated me to declutter. My problem is that I tend to hold on to my son's therapy materials even when he's shown no interest in them and it's physically painful for me to get rid of it, making me even more depressed.

But since starting to watch the show, I've given away a few items and continue to work on decluttering. One thing that I do to help me get rid of "stuff" is to pretend that there is a fire and quickly determine if the item I am holding or watching is important enough to save as we're fleeing out the door. If it is then I keep it. If not, I then set it free ... I am much more conscious of the things we bring in these days since going "Scorched Earth" so we're well on our way to being completely clutter free soon !

[disneysteve]

Took 3 boxes of stuff from the kitchen to Goodwill today along with the old bedroom tv that we replaced yesterday.

[Thrif-t]

I worked down in the basement this morning and got it all organized. I got rid of the comforters that I had in my attic and then stored in the basement this summer. If you remember I thought I was going to hold on to them for my girls because they were complete sets with dust ruffle, comforter, shams, and drapes. But today I got rid of them, donated. Plus got rid of an old comforter for my son's bed that he outgrew (boyish).

We have wooden built in shelves that has a ton of food items and other misc stuff. I got rid of a ton of coffee mugs that I used to drag out for outdoor picnics (my family are coffee drinkers so we used old mugs for outside). Also got rid of an old carving board and some old books and other misc stuff on those shelves. I was able to reorganize what i'm keeping and things just look so much better clutter free.

Purged a trash bag full of trash, and also went through some old wall decor and donated some of that. Free'd up some bins and stored some stuff in them to just make the place look a lot better.

I also was able to go through some of the stuff I took out of the dining room and living room hutch's last weekend and donated some of that stuff.

Ah it feels so good to purge and be clutter free!

[scfr]

Since I'm a "book person" I thought this one was worth sharing: Today I packed up the books. I did a final purge and got myself down to just one small size moving box. I even had some room left over to add some other small items to the box. Since we are DIYing our move, the thought of having to carry the books was a big motivator. I mostly kept reference type books that I refer to from time to time, plus a couple extra-special sentimental choices. For books that I read once and am done with, I get them from the library.

[disneysteve]

Tomorrow is our day to Marie Kondo the kitchen. I’ll report back after we do.

Stage one is complete. That was going through all of the drawers and cabinets that held utensils, pots and pans, bakeware, containers, etc. It didn't include dishes and glassware as we've done those previously. It also didn't include the cabinets and pantry holding food items. We'll do that next round.

We emptied out every drawer and cabinet and spread the stuff out on our kitchen table, another table that I brought in, and the counters. We went through item by item, deciding if we still needed each thing. A few things went in the trash or recycling bin. A good size pile of stuff was collected to give away. A number of items we decided we need to keep but they don't need to be in the kitchen and we will store them in the basement instead since we only use them occasionally when we entertain. Everything that remained got put back but in a more organized manner so that things are easier to get when we want them.

Here's a photo of everything that is going to Goodwill from today's efforts (and is no longer hogging space in our kitchen):

[creditcardfree]

Prior to our move we sold my desk, simply no room here for one. It's changed how I deal with paper it seems and not in a good way. Yesterday, I finally tackled several piles of papers, deciding what to keep and what to recycle or shred. I went to put the remaining ones to keep in our file cabinet and decide to flip through about four folders. I found another 58 pieces of paper to let go of. Old manuals and receipts for furniture we sold (yes, including the desk receipt!) were the most of obvious. So many manuals can be found online, I probably have less than ten we are keeping. I also found Honor Roll certificates from when my husband was in college...not needed EVER, so those were tossed. And then there were handouts from our youngest daughter's college orientation this summer, most of it information we no longer need or can be found online.

Marie Kondo's paper practices are ruthless but very helpful in reducing what is kept. I'd have to go back and see if I wrote about my paper purge on my blog early last year, but I'm sure I let go of hundreds of paper documents (some I did scan, such as year end financial statements). This was primarily motivated by our move. It's important to hand carry personal papers when you move. The move prior to this one we had two bankers boxes overstuffed with paper. I was determined to move with just ONE. And we did it. One banker's box of papers, and it wasn't even stuffed full. I threw our hard drives and some jewelry in the box, I think it was only 2/3rds full.

[disneysteve]

In the basement tonight I tossed a stack of old sheet music and got several items added to the Goodwill pile. Tomorrow is our day to Marie Kondo the kitchen. I’ll report back after we do.

[scfr]

The pre-move sales and donations continue but are in the wind-down stages.
Big ticket items are leaving the house at a steady pace, on their way to new homes in the community, all sold via FB.

Sold off at a super discount price to a young woman all but 6 of my wedding crystal wine glasses & water goblets. This was a hard one to decide what to do. I hardly ever use it, but I still love it and will use it occasionally. But I have more than I need and the thought of the amount of packing material and space in the truck and effort to pack & move and lack of storage in the new space made it unpleasant to think about. I just don't think I'll be doing sit-down meals for 12 any more. I decided that 6 should fulfill my needs, and if I ever do need more, I can either borrow or fill in with more plain glasses or even rent. 6 was the number I decided on and I'm really happy with that decision - it feels right. It was a decision I had been putting off, and emotionally I feel a bit lighter now that it's been made.

And I mailed off a package with a few old pairs of eyeglasses to the charitable organization New Eyes which gave me a moment of feeling virtuous.

[corn18]

Waiting for the local charity to call us to pick up all of the formal living room furniture. Nice stuff, but not needed. Have another 2 loads to go to Goodwill as well. Moving is awesome for decluttering.

[disneysteve]

Not new progress but the final step: took 4 trash bags of clothing and accessories to Goodwill this morning. I feel better when the stuff is actually out of the house, not just set aside to get rid of.

DW and I decided last night that we need to do a thorough decluttering of the kitchen cabinets. I'm off this weekend so I think we will do it then. We plan to empty out every cabinet and drawer that holds pots and pans, cutting boards, bakeware, utensils, small appliances, etc. We'll go through it all, pull out items we no longer want or use, and then decide the best way to organize and store them going forward. I'm quite sure there will be a bunch of stuff leaving the house after that exercise.

Step two will be emptying out the pantry and cabinets holding food items and doing the same thing there.

[disneysteve]

DW continued in the bedroom today, specifically the top of her dresser. She organized her head bands and hair scrunchies into a couple of decorative boxes and cleared off a bunch of other stuff. She started going through her jewelry cabinet and got rid of a bunch of jewelry boxes, realizing that she will never need them. And she did some more work on our photo albums.

I did more in the basement and threw out a bunch of things that I've been hanging on to for years and years but will never use or need. The recycling bin is filling up and I took out a couple of bags of trash as well as packed a box for Goodwill and set aside more items to donate. I also found several things that I will list on ebay. I'm doing my best to rid myself of items that are only selling for a few dollars each but we have quite a few things that are worth $20 or more that I think are worth the time to sell.

[disneysteve]

Today, DW did more work with her clothes, getting rid of a number of items of exercise gear that either don't fit well or she just doesn't use. She also did more of the neglected laundry, now that we fixed the dryer, and those bins are nearly done. Once everything is clean, we will gather all of the like items together to decide what we can get rid of. We know there are at least bed linens that need to go, but we want everything together at once to pick out what to keep and what to discard/donate.

Tonight, after watching another episode of Marie's show, I spent some time in the basement. I can't say that I took any sort of orderly approach but I did take a large empty Rubbermaid tote and make it a recycling bin and started tossing a bunch of paper items in there. A bunch of stuff went into the trash. I also cleared off one storage shelf and started filling it with items that are to be donated. Some will go to Goodwill. Some will get donated to a couple of upcoming charity events.

I'm still debating whether or not to list things on ebay. This is a tough one for me, as I've said before. Being a collectibles dealer for more than 30 years, it's very hard to get out of that mindset but I'm working on it. I've already given away a lot of stuff that I formerly would have tried to sell.

ETA: Finished off the evening going through some old stuff in one filing cabinet and got a pile of stuff to recycle and a little trash, too.

[Bluebird]

I routinely donate or give away stuff throughout the year. But the basement was really bothering me for the past few months. So last weekend, I went down there and did a major clear out. Between the basement and a few closets, I filled the back of my SUV about five times and took to Goodwill, the women's shelter and animal rescue. I also cleaned out our small pantry, kitchen drawers, misc drawers. I will go through my clothes and shoes/boots in the Spring. It's way better and I will not allow it to get to that point again. I berated myself a few times because it took me almost two days to finish the project and I'd much rather spend my time on something else! But I'm really happy with the results! That's motivation enough for me! I've read Marie Kondo's book a couple of times, but haven't seen the Netflix shows yet. I'll look for those tonight and tomorrow since we're also dealing with the snow storm this weekend!

[Thrif-t]

Well we are having a snow storm today (OH) so I cleaned my curio's! Took a bunch of stuff out of my curio in my living room. Packed it up and going to see if anyone in the family wants anything as some things were my Mothers and Grandmothers. I just kept a couple memento's from each of them. Curio looks so much better as its not as cluttered.

Then I cleaned and decluttered my dining room hutch and another little curio I have in my dining room. I have A LOT of Mikasa crystal pieces. I can't part with them, I wrapped them up and packed them away in a bin and put in my basement. Man I'm sad, I can't let them go. I'll get there though...it's hard. But the hutch and curio look nicer, the crystal I kept is all sparkly and clean, I love it!

I know me, and I know at some point I'll go back down the basement and just get rid of things in bins that I haven't used, but I can't do it today.