You aren't telling us the rest of the house looks like that too? LOL

You said, "HA! That didn't work for me," It can work for you if you do like she says. Did you set a timer for 15 min? If not, you will just get distracted. Set a timer and don't allow yourself to do anything else (even though this will be hard) until the timer goes off.

If the stuff in the picture is from a former owner, then rent a small dumpster and get it gone. They really don't cost that much. We have a Resale store for Habitate from Humanity here which will take building materials. Put it on your freecycle list and people will find a use for it. If people in your area will pick up stuff from the curb when you label it "free" then do that.

If your attic and garages have turned into landfills just get the stuff gone. I know, you are thinking it's easier said than done. Really, it's not. Make it you job to turn this house into a home. Devote as much time as you wish, but if you keep chasing other rabbits, you won't catch this dog.

The best way I know to systematically declutter and get control of your environment is to do it one closet at a time. Don't pull everything out, just start purging un-neded stuff. Move onto the next one and the next one. The idea here isn't to rearrange stuff, but to get items out of the house so you will have space for what you need to keep.

Go through drawers one at a time. Purge the clothing no longer needed. Look at what's in there and give it some thought.

I consistently worked at decluttering for over a solid year. I stuck with Flylady's methods of setting a timer and I decluttered in her zones. It is something that takes real effort and you can do this if you set your mind to it.

Put little pep posters around the house if you need to. "Today I will bless someone with 10 items." Stuff like that.

Now, post your progress here so we can cheer you on.

Gloria

Hi Foxy,

Welcome. I don't think you've lost your BO trait, just misplaced it because of a lack of time and too much stuff for it to hide under.

I can understand what you are going through. We have home businesses (4 and starting another), too, with STUFF for each of them. As we go on, some older stuff that I would just assume get rid of, DH wants to hang on to. He really doesn't care how the house looks, as long as he can find the stuff he is using now. I constantly need to remind DH that I work more efficiently if the house is cleaner and I can find a place for things, and I know what is where. I have cleaned out the living areas pretty well, and everything else sort of migrated to a few extra storage type spaces. I would now like to clean those areas out. But, like you, I just don't know where to start when I walk into those rooms. I have tried the 15 minute approach there, too, and in the end just end up with a miniscule bag of a few pieces of paper to get rid of. I will say that the timer is essential. I get distracted, too and would just leave if I didn't have a timer that beeped every 5 minutes to remind me to stay on task.

The main storage space is an unfinished room off DD's bedroom. I was in there again, yesterday moving things from box to box, telling DD I wish I could clean it all out. I thought it would be best to do something like they do on Clean Sweep - where you just take everything out of the space and go through it all. I don't know why that would work better, but I think it would. Unfortunately, there is snow all over the lawn. DD thought we should do it next summer and have a yard sale. I hate doing yard sales! But we have another unused room that we would like to put a treadmill in. So I want to clear that room out and could use that to go through a portion of the stuff at a time. So I may do that today - I'm really in a clean out type of mood. I see if that works. Otherwise, next summer!

The one thing I have found is to be really realistic with stuff. Things I would have saved at one time, I now know will just everntually be thrown out without being used, so why keep them now? Or things that I didn't even remember we had - does it make sense to keep it if you don't know you had it? Get rid of the real trash - then it will be easier to see what you really have to deal with. Then what I do is try to group like things together. This lets me see what I have and then I see easily what I don't need or have too many of. I can come up with a number - how many of these do we need? It also makes it easier to make decisions later on on what will work and what won't - to buy or not to buy.

Good luck. I'd say, just get started throwing out the real trash. That will probably make a big dent in it.

Welcome Foxykitten!

I agree with Gloria. FlyLady WILL work for you, you just have to be willing to LET it work.

The summer kitchen should be easy. If most of the stuff isn't yours, you don't have to make decision on what stays or goes---it ALL goes. You can do it 15 minutes at a time, or all at once. Start in the summer kitchen today, and you'll have an immediate sense of accomplishment (that was important to me when I started FlyLady).

When I began, I made it my goal to fill the equivalent of one 30 gallon trash bag PER DAY and get rid of everything in cardboard storage boxes (I was organized... we just had too much JUNK). This was actually easy, because there was so much I knew I didn't want to keep. And I love FlyLady's 5-minute room rescue in the worst room of the house. It doesn't sound like much, but you WILL eventually see results, and the work is painless. And don't forget the 27-fling boogie, which also works wonders. You can probably walk in nearly every room and find 27 things you don't need, right? I CHALLENGE you to get a bag, take 5 minutes, and go throw out 27 things the minute you read this!

By the way, the TIMER is a wonderful device to keep you on track. You'll learn not to get distracted, because you're working fast to beat the timer. Sounds silly, but it really does work! Find other motivational ideas, too. For example, keep a supply of bags handy, then make a game of it--like if you're watching TV and your program goes to commercial, jump up and fill a bag. Eventually you'll become addicted to decluttering like some of the rest of us! LOL

Keep us posted on your progress and we'll try to keep you motivated!!!

Julie

A variation of Flylady's "15 minutes" technique is called (10 + 2) X 5: Set a timer for 10 minutes. For those 10 minutes, do nothing but the task at hand. When the timer goes off, set the timer for 2 minutes. You have 2 minutes to do whatever you like -- get a drink, read the newspaper, stare at the lawn. When the timer goes off, set it for 10 minutes again and work work work. Do this for five repetitions. You've spent an hour at the task you couldn't start and got in 10 minutes of free time for yourself. At that point, you can either invoke the whole process again or keep working on it (now that you've made some progress) or move to something else. Might work if you think 15 uninterrupted minutes is too many.

When I did my reorganizing and purging, I started by making a list of all the like items that needed to be found and put together such as photos, stationary items, maps, computer related stuff, personal projects, crafts, etc.

Then I'd pick one item from the list and look for items all over the house and organize it into its new home. I left extra space in case I came across more.

It felt so good to cross each item from my list. Once I started on one item, I kept going until it was done. Usually, it didn't take more than a couple of hours per item. Looking at each one, you'd think it would take days but it really doesn't.

I too had moved. For me, it's been a move every few years and dragging stuff with us that movers packed in unrelated boxes which got stuck in the garage or a cupboard.

Good luck! You can do it!

Marie has a good idea, but I'll be the first to admit (shame-faced) it wouldn't have worked for me in the beginning.

I *really* needed to go through first and get rid of the HUGE HUGE HUGE quantity of junk (remember, my house was where the posessions of dead relatives came to rest) just to be able to get to the little stuff.

O.K. if the Flylady 15-minute workout don't do it for you ------ its time to re-group and rethink the situation.

Here are a few things that work for me:

1) the ROOM-BY-ROOM way: Start clearing a day in your schedule -- or at least organize the time so that you got the house to yourself. Put on lively music of your choice. Get out dark green/black garbage bags -- one for MOVE (to the correct location); one for DONATE; one for TRASH. Clear the stuff -- use the bags. Then Clean. Step out of the room -- and get a pad/pen. Write down how you want the room to function. WRITE it down -- that makes thoughts come alive! Then note what the room needs -- more lighting? too cold? bookcases? desk? etc. MOST IMPORTANT: to really SEE the end result of your labors.

2) the WHOLE PROCESS (and therefore HOUSE) APPROACH. This is the same as any business or factory owners have learned in the last 50 years. (you could tell that men were in charge -- accounting had NO idea what sale were doing -- and the factory floor has NO idea what sales were doing!!!)You gotta think through the WHOLE process. So -- grab yer three bags -- and JUST CLEAR OUT the house. Go room to room -- set a timer if you have to -- but JUST do ONE PROCESS at a time.

A) CLEAR IT -- includes drop off at charity shop
B) CLEAN IT -- vaccum, dust
C) ORGANIZE IT -- now step into each room -- and really decide how to make it work for you.
D) DECORATE/CREATE -- a nice or pretty or wonderful room

REMEMBER -- your life/house ((because right now it ain't a home -- you gotta claim it, name it -- and make it your own!!)) did NOT get this way overnight -- and things are not gooing to magically change. Nope, No way. No how. No wizards in this neck of the woods!! Just you. And sheer stubborn determination to make your house into your HOME!!!

O.K. -- I'm going to make coffee. Anyone want a cup????

Foxykitten said: "I have plenty of time to organize my home and now I'm in a house that has an insane amount of storage space."

This part just hit me.

(1) You have time, so you just need to get off your... well, you know what I mean! LOL It might help if you set time goals for certain rooms, with a "reward" at the end. Maybe something like, "I will clear out the living room by Thursday and go out to dinner Thurday night to celebrate." Or, "I will get rid of ALL the clothes that don't fit or that I don't wear, and buy one new nice outfit". Or, "I will get rid of the summer kitchen junk and buy me a wicker table and chairs to set in there so I can enjoy the room". Whatever works for you.

(2) Remember you are not required to fill up storage space! This is important. You only want to do this once... so keep only things you use or love, and do not keep things just because they were expensive and you have space for them.

So... have you started yet? We want to know!!!

quiltglo, lol, no the rest of the house doesn't look like that. Actually my bed room is flawlessly decluttered. I read somewhere that having a neat bed room helps promote a restfull sleep so that is the one room that has never gotten away from me. Now depending on if it is quilting season or not the living room can be a disaster area.

Okay, here is where I'm at so far~ I got up read the responses and decided I was going to accept the challange of going into the summer kitchen and baging up one large garbage bag full of stuff. I couldn't do it imediatly, because DH was dragging me out of the house so I promised you all and most of all myself I would do it when I got back. When I got home I had to deal with DH's new aquarium and the fish he had just bought. DH knows nothing about fish and I had to teach him. After that I was about to sit down and rest when it hit me I had a promise to keep. So I got up off of my assetts (lol), grabbed a big green garbage bag and went out to the dreaded summer kitchen. I now have a bag of garbage to go out next week and items in the burn pile. One of the items that is now gone was a broken VCR. Why did I still have it? I have no idea.lol

My problem with getting distracted is not while doing the decluttering, it is simply keeping focused enough to remember to go back to it every day. I have a very creative mind and a thought for a quilt, a painting, a wood working project etc...can pop into my mind and all structure slips away. The problem I have when decluttering is the feeling of being overwhelmed by the massive size of the task. I will find myself almost walking from one section to the next trying to figure out a plan of attack.

Julie, you are so right, I need to get off my assetts and not let my mind weigh me down.

The last thing I want to do is fill up storage space. I want big open storage areas with a few items neatly stored in them. This may be a big dream, but if I can stay focused it could be possible for the most part.

I think the beginning of my plan of attack will be getting rid of anything I can from the summer kitchen. The difficult part's of this job are the fact that I have to dig through our stuff to get to the previous residents junk and the fact that I have to wait to get my truck back to haul away the old refridgerator and stove that are in there. It is almost scary to think of what else I could find in there.lol

Thanks to all of you for cheering me on. I will keep you posted on my progress. Feel free to look at my online album and see that the rest of my home is not as bad as the stroage areas.lol

Foxy.

Here is a link that might be useful: My album

Foxy,

Lovely pictures, and what peaceful surroundings you have!

Can you visualize using one side of the summer kitchen as the "outgoing" side, and pile things there so they're ready to haul off with the stove and refrigerator? Seems odd to suggest you make piles, but that would make everything ready to go when you take out the stove and refrigerator.

One thing I've found helpful is to write down (ahead of time) my goals for each day in my planner (this keeps me from coming home from work too tired to think of what needs to be done). Any calendar will work; just check it every day to keep your focus (and don't think I didn't notice that you're not attacking the clutter with the same enthusiasm that you would give a new craft project, LOL). The tasks at hand are not nearly as massive when broken down into smaller pieces.

Good job on Day One!

What a beautiful quilt! I didn't use a calendar when making my list. Somedays I found myself doing more than I had originally planned and just kept crossing things off the list, rewriting a new one and stapling it to the old list. I did this so I could see my progress. Do you have plans for the summer kitchen? Can you turn it into your craft area? Deciding if there is any use at all for it might help you focus when cleaning out the room.

Welcome to the forum, Foxy!!

I just checked out your album . . . your home is fabulous! It is simply a "diamond in the rough" and you get to be the one to polish the diamond! I would love a home like that . . . one with character and history . . . but here in Spokane to get such a place either costs a fortune for a nice area or is in gang infested neighborhoods if it is affordable. So I guess I'll stick with my boring 4 year old home!! LOL!

For me setting the timer does work well and also giving myself rewards. I have to play games with myself . . . if I work for an hour, then I can go read my novel for a half an hour or if I finish cleaning out my closet or some long tideous task, then I can go antiquing for a couple hours. Whatever it takes. When I do this, not only do I get my "promised reward" but I also find a sense of peace and pleasure that only comes from having a life of order. I really think orderliness is kind of a spiritual thing. If your life is out of order in the physical sense, it usually is in most other areas of life too. If it is orderly in the physical sense, I find that my entire outlook and thought process is much more orderly and I find life peaceful. I guess that old saying "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" might have some truth to it!

I have a long way to go, but it has definitely been a forward battle. It is so worth the effort!!

Your might also want to check out the decorating forum and old house forum. They could give you some great ideas for your home!!

Welcome and best of luck with your organizing endeavors!!

Brenda

Thanks ladies.

This house is sitting on a 152 acre farm. Unfortunately I only rent 1/2 of this house...it is now a duplex. I could never afford to buy this place as it was valued at almost a million a few years ago. It has been completly redone inside since then. It was gutted by a fire about two years ago and sat vacent for about a year, hence the unkept yard and smoke damage on the outside. On the bright side I'm the one who designed the way the house would be divided up. Don't worry if you are a history buff, I designed this place to easily be converted back. This house was standing here during the battle of Gettysburg, had troups camped on the property and most likely was used as a hospital. Okay, enough of the history lesson.lol Since those pictures I have painted the wood addition, the porch's and summer kitchen and did some other cosmetic outside work. My plans for the summer kitchen are to use it as storage for yard tools, some automotive items, potting mixes, pots and other plant related items(if you look in the plant section of my album you will see where a good bit of my time has been spent,lol). The summer kitchen also is a shelter for the wild barn cats. It could never be used as a craft room or other form's of a living space since it doesn't have electricty, heat and in some areas it really doesn't have much of a floor. It still has the rigging from when it was used for some of the more disturbing parts of farm work. It is destined to be a storage space and a home for the barn cats.

The concept of piles is wonderful except that both rooms are one great big pile.lol I think my plan of attack is to keep pulling stuff to get rid of out of there. I will make a garbage bag pile next to the SK and that way I can take bags down to the road on garbage day. Once the truck comes back I can pile bags up in it and make runs to the dump. The other thing I can do is set up the stainless steel rack/table (I have no idea what you would call the thing) in the basement and start putting the tools from the SK in the basement. I plan on the basement being used to house all of our home improvement tools. I now at least have the beginning of a plan. All I have to do is keep from getting side tracked by the basement, the attic, creative ideas for crafts, DH and my cats.

One game that works on me is to see how fast I can complete a set task. This keeps me focused while I'm working on that task. Another thing that gets me through a task is to tell someone that I'm going to get it done that day. So I'm telling you all that tomorrow I'm going to set up that table in the basement and bring in at least 5 home improvement items from the SK to put on it. I have a box of garbage bags out there so I will also bag up any trash I find while completing this task.

BTW, here is the genuine Foxykitten with his twin sister in a half-nelson.lol
{{!gwi}}

Foxy.

The main thing that kept me going when I finally organized my house was letting everybody know on this site of my plans for the day. I felt too guilty not doing the work and wouldn't let myself even read this forum unless I had some progress to report.

So, keep us informed and know that it's okay to post your plans and progress here.

Ok, Foxy, let us know when that table-thing is set up!

I find that I get overwhelmed by de-cluttering and cleaning as well. I think I get a little anxiety. I want to do the job, but the idea of starting the job always makes me crazy! When I finally start the job, I always feel so much better. I use a little mantra that my MIL taught me that seems to work. When struggling with whether or not to throw something away, I think, "will I ever think about this thing again?" Once it's gone, I never do.

Off topic: enmhip, I do a similar thing when shopping. I make my decision on whether or not to purchase something that I wasn't looking for but noticed in a store by saying "Will I regret not buying this today and be thinking about it tomorrow?" There have been times that I didn't buy something (like a Hungarian down comforter for $150.00 with a high fill count and high thread count) that I have regretted ever since. I wish I had used that question then.

Emmhip,

Most times, once I get it in my mind that something needs to be done, it causes more anxiety NOT to do it than it does to start the project.

For example, once I decided I needed to declutter that Tupperware cabinet (totally out of sight!) it bothered me to death just KNOWING it needed to be done.

Shopping, like Marie said, is tricky. I have to decide if it's a true want/need, or if I just want it because it was too good a deal to pass up. I was just shopping with DH, who assumed I wanted to stock up on Christmas wrapping paper on clearance. I told him no... 3 times.

Well, I ran into a little snag in my plan. I can't set up the table thingy by myself. I did find out it is a stainless steel rolling buffet table. I think I will stick to calling it the table thingy, it is easier.lol I have to wait for DH to wake up so he can help with the assembly. I did venture into the SK. I gathered up tools, took them into the basement, started grouping my plant related items, bagged up more stuff to throw away and put more stuff in the burn pile. The good news is I HAVE STRUCK FLOOR! I actually now have a walk way that leads to the back room. I no longer have to walk on junk when I go in there. I have run across a few interesting finds along the way...two dead air conditioner window units, a stroller, a plastic toy horse, a wrist brace and streemers. None of this stuff is mine or DH's so out it goes. It is so much easier to throw away someone elses abandoned junk.lol

Foxy.

The BEST news is that you hit a snag, but KEPT GOING! You've found the floor, and you have a pile of things ready to go.

How long until your truck is available?!

Good for you! Imagine what you'll be able to accomplish once the table thingy is up.

Todays update.........STILL waiting for DH to decide to help me put the table thingy up. I attempted to assemble it myself, but after getting the bottom shelf on I have no clue how the other shelves go on without sliding down the poles. The hard ware is odd looking and I just don't know how it works from this point on. After a year of nicely asking DH to do this I think I'm going to resourt to nagging the crap out of him. I ventured out into the SK again today. Didn't spend too much time out there because it is raining and dark here and without electric out there it is not easy to see what I'm digging through. I did throw something away, put some more plant related items in the proper pile and slid some left over building items into the SK's attic. I didn't get a lot done, but at least I did something. Hopefully the rain will be done tomorrow and I can pull out more stuff to burn...that will make a big difference.

I'm not sure when the truck will be finnished. It is getting a new engine and the shop we go to is down on staff so it could be a couple of weeks.

Foxy.

Foxy,

As long as you keep moving forward, the room will be ready as soon as the truck is finished.

And if you think nagging will work, GO FOR IT! LOL

Foxy,

Nagging never worked with my DH. He was raised by a champion nagger and therefore never heard me. I had to resort to hiring someone to do what needed doing. He would get so upset at wasting money on something he could do!!! "So do it, already".

I still hire someone to do things that I can't. We're both in the 'Golden Years' so he's more willing now that he's physically incapable of doing some stuff.

shirley

Nagging wouldn't work here either, but it does help if I mention I'm going to go get a neighbor to help me... the guys are always more willing to do stuff for other wives than their own! Us wives think this is hysterical, but it works.

"I didn't get a lot done, but at least I did something."

That sentence you wrote struck me because it's so important to keep the project in the forefront of your thoughts, even if you only go to the project and do actual work for a few minutes.

Today, I have xmas decorations on each step of the staircase leading to the upstairs storage room. I'm going forward, that's what counts.

Good luck to you, you seem to be on your way to recovery of a sk, lol.....

I so rarely nag that when it does happen DH is so stunned that I can usually get him moving before he knows what hit him.lol Going to a neighbor isn't easy around here. The closest one is a woman, the next closest passed away recently and the house is vacant. As for the rest, well let's just say it is hard meeting your neighbors out here in farm country.

As for today...it was another baby step day. I had some running to do so I wasn't home much during the daylight hours. I did manage to get some items into the burn pile and actually burnt them. Now I have a nice open space for more burn items to go. I didn't get the chance to nag DH today, but he will be coming home to notes reminding him to set up the table thingy.

Foxy.

I was thinking of you this evening. I saw Debbie Travis' decorating show on HGTV and she redid a summer kitchen. I have to admit that I wasn't sure what that room was until I saw the show. It was off of the kitchen and she turned it into a large dining room.

just thinking the same thing--what is a summer kitchen?

Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I keep forgetting most areas don't have summer kitchens. Most homes that have a summer kitchen are old. This house was built in 1850. Back in those days, without the luxury of moderen heating and AC, some homes would have two kitchens. In the winter they would use the kitchen that was located in the house so the heat from cooking would help keep the house warm. In the summer to help keep the house cool they would use the summer kitchen. Some are attached off the back of the house and others are seperated by a breeze way. Now days they seem to become junk magnets.lol Mine is seperate from the house as you can see in this photo.

BTW that is a before picture. I have since cleaned up that area and painted the summer kitchen.

Foxy.

I see such possibilities! Replace the floor, run an electrical line out there for a franklin stove or something, and use it as a 3-season party room!

Oh, and get rid of the rigging stuff. LOL I'm pretty sure if I ever lived on a farm I would be a vegetarian.

Julie, I know someone who was raised on a farm that raised cattle. She has never eaten any meat.

Julie, the SK is in much worse shape then that.lol There are broken windows out there, a door that is too short so animals get in there and I still haven't been able to get a good look at the interior walls. I have a few wood stoves I could use out there and an opening to run the pipe, but I don't think I'm ready to get into all the work necessary to make it a usable living space and I would hate to take it away from the wild barn cats.

I do find that I eat a lot less meat since living here. There is nothing worse then biting into a hamburger and hearing a moo at the same time. Talk about loosing your appitite real quick.

Foxy.

OK, no party room (at this time). LOL

So how goes the rest of the de-junking??

Progress has been slow lately:( Okay, I confess the past couple of days I haven't done anything on the SK. I was hit with a virus and haven't been feeling well. Thank you for keeping me focused. I have a tendency to not get back to the task I was working on after being sick. Not this time, I'm determined to get the junk out of my storage places.

Foxy.