Help me begin to de-clutter
Twinkle
19 years ago
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talley_sue_nyc
19 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
X-post Can't hide from it any longer....time to de-clutter!
Comments (3)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...See MoreTip for easier clothing de-cluttering
Comments (5)I have a separate hamper in the closet for "garden work/paint projects only" clothes -- meaning, they are good for a dirty work only, not for donation. Once they get beyong use (large hole, too small size) - they go to trash. I tried donating them to pet shelter -- they told me they don't like giving dogs any human clothes items - in order not to let the pets develop a habit of ripping any human clothes. I sort my clothes on hangers by color and then by "worn recently" , "not worn in long time", "dressy/special occasion", "pregnancy". I go through the categories twice a year and put lots of items in "donate" bags. Right now I have two bags of donation clothes and am trying to find a local "dress for success" program to give them to. I also go through all shoes twice a year -when the season changes - spring and fall, and get rid of at least 2-3 pairs....See MoreFavorite saying or quote that keeps you motivated to de-clutter
Comments (6)dgmarie..Isn't it funny...even before I read your post I started to say that to myself...I think it was said for food items, but I like it for everything!...See MoreIt Was Bound to Happen: The Backlash Against Ruthless De-Cluttering
Comments (61)I usually hang out in Kitchens but just popped in here to find this. Interesting discussion. Personally, I think the author is a selfish witch to want to burden her children with all this. I'm on year 5 of attempting to curate the possessions my parents left me, determine what has sentimental value and actual value, which things to keep forever to pass down to my children (with their input of what they would want), and sell or donate the rest. My house is not my own due to all the boxes. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. It is taking me forever because it's emotionally overwhelming and the sheer huge number of items takes time. And all this is after two garage sales of all the items that were clearly not sentimental or valuable. And two family work days in which they have already taken the items they want or have room for now. As I go through these items, I'm photographing items and scanning photos/letters/documents with the idea of creating photo books full of the photos and family stories/history. I will leave these for my children. I am also trying to value items that I intend to keep and will leave my children a notebook with photos of the items so they know as much as possible about the specifics of the item (value, date/country of origin, history of why it's in the family, etc.). This will make it easier for them to make decisions when the time comes. My mom would periodically tell me these things but even though I requested she write it all down numerous times, she never did. I'm not sure how accurate my memory is so I'm struggling to do the best I can on this but it would have been so much more accurate had she done it herself. Due to having to deal with this mess, again, i would never burden my children with this. I bought my parent's home. I have the luxury of time and space to do this. It is highly likely my children won't. Neither live locally. My son works overseas and will likely remain an expatriate. They will probably need to make quick decisions that would result in the loss of family history if I don't get this done. In the end, my goal is to leave them with several different printed photobooks with as much family history and stories as I can gather and include. These will likely be divided into: maternal history from great-great grandparents to when my mom married my dad fraternal history from great-grandparents to when he married my mom my parents life together my life before marrying my husband my husband's life before he married me our life together up to the point where I actually complete this project and create the book I have also gathered up and organized all the school papers, art projects, and such I kept from their childhoods and will create a book of photos and stories about them from birth to high school graduation. I'm doing this more for their children's enjoyment (if either ever have any) than for their own but I'm sure they will enjoy that, too. Once these are done, I'll print three copies, one for each of my kids and one for me. I will also gift my nieces the books about their grandparents. My goal is that they will simply need to look in the book listing the items in the house to determine what they want to keep (and then they'll know everything possible about the item), and be able to make quicker decisions about what's worth trying to sell to collectors or eBay or whatever, what is garage sale, and what items should really be donated to a couple of our local museums. If they're not in a position to keep any or most of the actual items themselves, they'll have the books. That's the most important thing to me anyway. It's not the items themselves but, rather, the family stories and history behind them. I just hope I live long enough to complete these projects! So very time consuming....See MoreTwinkle
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