Good luck, Lavender! I helped my Mom move from a large house to a small apartment last year, and watching her get rid of a LOT of stuff inspired me to do the same at my house (oh, and I had to make room for some things she gave me...) A lot of what I got rid of was junk. Keeping a cage, because my boys loved their pet rats, and maybe we'll get another one some day? Nope, we can buy a new cage if that happens (fat chance). I have cabinets in the laundry room that were black holes. I emptied them completely - and found quarts of paint that were decades old. Those walls have been painted over twice since then! Cleaning out those cabinets gave me space for things I need to keep - and now there's room to find those things! I'm sure you've heard all the tricks for purging closets, like put all the hangers in backwards, then turn it around when you use it. After X months, anything still on a backwards hanger goes out the door. Anything that doesn't fit is gone. And if you get rid of an outfit that had shoes to go with it - the shoes can go too. I completely agree with Lucille - if you give things to family or friends, or donate them where you know they will be used, it's a lot easier to part with things. And getting things out of the house (like in the back seat of the car, to go to Goodwill) helps too. Boxes from liquor stores make great packing boxes - sturdy, but not too big. Have you posted in the "organizing the home" forum? There is a nice bunch of cheerleaders over there who will help you celebrate your accomplishments (and sympathize with procrastination). Ann

Today "should" be Day 16---- Day 10 (October 17th) was the last time I posted here, so have a lot of catching up to do! Key phrase "self discipline"....I have been allowing myself to become side-tracked for the past few days and don't want to lose myself in this, so have come back to the boards for motivation. It's Tuesday (trash day)----the box my neighbor was to pick up a week ago Monday went out to the curb before bedtime last night. No wonder we've been friends for so long! LOL! She is into the procratinating mode too! But.......like I warned her before, if it IS NOT picked up on Monday night it gets kicked to the curb. Since I have been away for a few days and not checking in like I was doing before, things have gotten off track for me at home. No way to go back and explain what's taken place each day now as I don't remember what excuses I had for not doing my 15 minute routines. Anyone that has been following my posts here might recall that I was working on my tiny bathroom decluttering and cleaning. This job was started but not completed! During the times I did not post on the boards, things however were accomplished at home. We tossed an old radiator (had a short in it) from my dad's room, as well as the neighbor's box of goodie AND a huge trash bag of "junk", not to mention I started de-cluttering the bedroom (can see progress now). Still in the "de-cluttering and fluttering" stage, which means going from room to room with a trash bag in hand. Sometimes I don't always allow myself to see the trash from the functional items, or end up putting on the blinds because in my heart I'm not wanting to part with the item. This is why it takes so many trips with the bag in hand (fluttering)...LOL! What I view as being something necessary one day is viewed differently the next, so it's an on-going adventure for me. Since my father passed away last Thanksgiving, I am saving his room for last as I catch myself pondering over everything in there. This energy needs to be focused elsewhere for now (our living space to be exact). Today is Day 16-----I have to keep in mind my 15 minute routine and just do it! As I've stated before.....you can get a lot accomplished in 15 minutes and it also serves as a starting point since getting motivated is generally hard for me to do. There is still hope!! I have not lost the motivation...just took a break to deal with other things that needed my energy and time! BTW, at least I don't have to backtrack and redo anything that has already been accomplished! WOOT! Rules were laid down and now being followed both by me AND my DH! He knows that the mess causes stress=) Just wish he'd learn rinse the bathroom sink after shaving! Hate scouring anyone's stubble droppings! Will post results later in the day>>>>

Honestly, yes, taft, just get it out any way you can. Seriously--you are in charge, not the stuff. That's my "Take It Out Back and Smash It With a Hammer" philosophy. Here's another one of my theories: I call it my "Stop Me Before I Kill Again" theory. It will all end up in the landfill anyway. Eventually. It will wear out, get broken, become so out of date nobody wants it. Everything. Seriously--everything. It all goes in the garbage eventually. Just like--we all die. What the end will be is never in question. It is just a matter of time. And, more important, it is a matter of how much good or evil we do (or the stuff does) along the way. Right now that stuff in boxes is evil. Remember your words: "I was feeling so hemmed in by the stuff in this house I couldn't take it anymore. " That's evil--that's what that is. That stuff is a little (or big!) piece of evil in your life. You can't move; your home doesn't feel welcoming; you look at it and feel horrible about yourself. That's evil. Seriously, it is. The stuff is crying out: Stop me before I kill again! So, you have two choices: rehabilitation or execution. If you can rehabilitate it (give it away to someone who will use it; get it into a recycling bin; sell it for money) easily, that's a sensible move. But will it rehabilitate? Will the cost--emotional cost, time cost--be prohibitive? Do you want to find someone who takes "stuff" and sorts through it to find stuff they can sell on eBay? (an eBay entrepreneur?) Do you want to give it to a thrift shop somewhere, so they can see if they want anything? Do you want to pay your college-age/teenage son/neighbor (or maybe your neighbor's cleaning lady) to go through it looking for stuff like money or photos? But all that sounds like a lot of work, with little guarantee it will be viable. Remember, the stuff will continue to work evil while you sort through it. So just toss it. If you're pretty sure you won't lose a $10,000 bearer bond, or something, just throw it out. (I found $40 in cash in a box I sorted through--but it was just one box of sorting. If I had 18 boxes, and someone said, "would you pay $40 to get rid of them?" my answer would have been yes. So you might not need to be that concerned about what's in them.) Good luck! OH! Here's one other option to consider: Let this forum be your discipline. If you want to, you could decide that every day you will eliminate one box. Every day. (Or, OK, every Saturday, you'll eliminate 3 of them, minimum.) Post here, and tell us how you're doing. (Or, make that a real-world situation, which will be more powerful, even: If you've got a good friend, ask her to come help you sort through 5 boxes every Saturday morning; you'll buy donuts if she'll help you. Even if all she does it sit there and say to you, if only by her presence: "Hey, I gave up my Saturday morning to help you get rid of boxes. Get off your bum and get rid of some boxes; don't waste my time." Don't have a friend? Hire a cleaning-lady-type person for a Saturday morning, several weeks in a row, and get boxes, trash bags, and directions to a donation place in place before you start.) Go get 'em, taft!

Prairie-girl, I know how you feel about not wanting to unpack, because it is easier to maintain a house with breathing room. I'm beginning to realize that if I don't miss it, don't remember I have it, then I can do without it. I never thought of myself as a "collector" or "hoarder" either. But I have a friend who religiously throws out EVERYTHING, and she thinks I keep too much around. It made me self-conscious. So now I box things up and if I cannot remember it, then next time I open the boxes, I weed things out. Most folks could live in one of our smaller homes, and do not need to add on to their home. That was the case with my mother, who added a 20 x 20 building for her craft work, then filled it up and had everything in the house packed too. It sure detracted from her enjoyment of her living spaces. So when I watch DESIGNED TO SELL or the other show with Sabrina Soto on HGTV, the first thing they do is DECLUTTER. But that is to make the home more sellable. It does give a sense of spaciousness. What I'm wanting to achieve is a nice balance between storage and function. I want space enough to store the things that I like to USE, and have them within easy reach. I like to sew but have no good spot to keep projects out unless the house looks ugly. And I like to paint with acrylics and also paint furniture, but you cannot put those things back into a cabinet if you have limited room. When you took the pics of your house and it was cozy and warm, it was probably between projects when everything was put up. Looking nice and working on a project make us all walk a fine line. Hmmmm, I have an idea for a thread, and I'll post it pretty soon. Thanks for giving me the idea, Missy! :)