Happy New Year : )

Willow baskets and boxes have served me well for decades. Never go out of style and they work with all color schemes

Hah you are so right Jan, in other words shop your own place first. I forget to do that sometimes and do come home to find I already have an unused bin in the basement!

Have to admit I have that very basket in Bev's first photo...from HomeGoods a few years ago.

True just above, and then? Ask yourself WHAT are you putting in the ones you do find! Which of course is the point of the month of January : )

No matter you did it last year, my guess is every house could shed five lbs. Of WHATEVERS .. lol I just shed a lot more than that, and I am neurotic about it, I admit. The trash recycle folks are not in love with me this week. But the DONATION folks may be very happy.

Yesssss!! Love this post so much.

Instead of buying "storage" containers, go through each room and decide what you actually USE and what you don't.

Of what you don't, do you have a place for it where you don't need to dust it to keep it -- perhaps a curio cabinet for "decorative pieces" .

For what you don't use or don't have a really good place for it, put it in the "go" pile.

When you're finished creating your "go" pile, sort it:

decide if you want to give it to someone you know,

try to sell it at a consignment store or yard sale or

donate it to a charity thrift store such as Habitat for Humanity, Circle of Hope, Salvation Army or any of the many church sponsored stores or even GoodWill so someone/anyone can actually USE it.

Things I have learned with regards to this:

Killers:

Trying new things. Trying is best limited to new friends, foods, sports, exercise routines

and vacation destinations. ,

Why? Because 90 percent the trial isn't as great as what you have, or what "works" . If it is better? Unless you have the discipline of Mother Theresa, the old fave will languish, and YUP. hang there forever. Stay shelved or BASKET stored forever. Your make up, your linen closet...go look. Ditto the the office supply PEN addiction thing.

Jumbo size. That last third is pure annoyance. I do re bottle. But I've sworn off the extra

work

You're bored. OMG get UN bored. See original topic. Immediately.

You will begin a project you can not finish so you don't begin.Life is unfinished;Just begin.

Do NOT start another until you finish the one you began, unless it's general laundry, cleaning.

Don't start scrap booking while getting your tax info together. Please.

Variety packs at the big box. In a word? NO.

It looks " sort of " good, It "sort of " fits, It is "sort of" comfortable. You "sort of" don't wear it

It was "sort of" expensive.

One word for this category: OUT.

You will read it next,. Except you have been saying that since last January. No you won't.

You will use up that stuff in the freezer, way in back. Same thing. Make it or lose it. Dump

those frozen veggies in some soup, Two waffles and you're on a diet? Close your eyes.

................OUT.

Vases.The ones from floral delivery........O.U.T. Never have more than three.

True!

Happy New Year.

Jan, you are a riot! So true, unfortunately I keep extra stuff in plastic Rubbermaid containers and who wants to showcase those? I don’t buy pretty containers, baskets and such and I think that helps to cut down on the clutter. Example, I went for a facial for the first time in my life last June while I was on a short vacation with my cousins... it’s become our yearly “girls weekend”. After the facial they asked me “ what moisturizer do you use?”. I said “oil of Olay” then I realized I think they dropped the “oil of” a long time ago... anyway, after the eye rolls they sold me on a fantastic moisturizer that I really liked. Now I’m home, no more moisturizer so I’m saving the jar it came in so I don’t forget and I’m back to my “Oil of Olay” because I already have it and come Hell or high water I’m using it because I’ve already bought it and I’m not going to waste it or store it forever in a plastic bin! So, moral of the story... creams and make-up have a short shelf life, use them up, then switch to the fabulous new cream! BTW, I also have a fabulous man that gets dry in the winter... I’m not ashamed to say I give him my less than desirable lotions and he is thrilled with them. Another way to recycle! :)

Jan, you are so right and putting a smile on my face. You remind me of Erma Bombeck, there is probably a blog or column you should be writing regularly....

You are right. I have bought bins for organizing projects, but of targeted size and purpose and after first purging. Ironically over and over on this forum I see comments about coordinated bins to "corral the clutter." In a dilemma I posted a year or two ago, I remember people commenting that items on a bathroom shelf were neat and tidy, but the urge to hide them from view was too much for Houzzers. There's also some truth to the saying "out of sight, out of mind," and bins can actually contribute to clutter for those that need visual reminders.

I read your post to my husband, otherwise known as the decorative-box despiser, and you are now his favorite person. :D

CC take a picture with your phone, I do it with wine labels all the time. I have some boxes I gave my husband to organize a bunch of stuff in his office so that dusting doesn’t take all day. I have never owned a wicker basket and never will but I do have all my Christmas decorations in plastic boxes in my store room color organized. I always use January to get rid of stuff I didn’t need for at least 2 yrs. So it begins today.

Everyone has items they DO need to keep, some items more "handy" than others.

In my case, a small wood box intended for recipes (BC - before computers) still holds index cards -- just blank ones for notes. Another holds a cell phone charger. Another box the same size but with a roll top holds the only prescription med I'm taking and that bottle of OC pain meds I sometimes need. A wood humidor my late husband never actually used for tobacco products (doesn't smell like tobacco) holds unpaid bills. A wood roll-top intended to hold three rows of small tapes (with dividers now removed) holds larger papers such as the current monthly bulletins (rural electric Sierra club, etc.) and sale circulars until they're read or get a brief glance.

In a home where windows are kept open from last frost pf spring to first frost of fall, to me, wood boxes are easier to dust than a basket ... even though I do like the look of the baskets used by BeverlyFLADeziner.

Why should we not buy it? You dont like it, fine, but some may want to use it or need it. I have photos collections in a picnic basket. I dont have the time to scan all of them, so I put them there and am happy to have them. So tired of people telling us what to do and what not to do.

Well for heaven sake! Someone woke up crabby? I think just as many folks who love them, have a ZILLION of them : ) already full of not needed stuff, or simply "hanging around".

If it doesn't apply to you? SUPER DUPER ! Happy New Year! Basket away !

I recently read this saying during a decluttering and sorting streak in my house...
“all that clutter, used to be money.”

I don’t ever want us to collect clutter again. I would rather we have that money for family experiences and travel together.

Well, I do also use baskets with flip tops for the children's toys. One has matchboxes, one Lincoln Logs, one play food and dishes, one for baby toys, one for animals, one for card games.........you get the idea. They keep the toys so much more organized on the bookcase, and it is stuff they play with, not clutter. Clutter I despise, but really struggle with. Looking forward to the day I can have closets to put stuff in. Stuff we use. I was just purging the garage and it felt so good.

The baskets, bins, and pretty boxes aren’t the problem, nor is having them, but rather how easy it is to pick them up at the store, when they are right there in front of you, in all your favorite colors and you think “ooh, I could use that . . . for . . . something . . . “ and it and its 17 brothers and sisters come home with you.

Oh my gosh this is on point. I walked into BB&B the other day... and OMG it was like a tractor beam pulling me in. They've replaced the seasonal section right up front with all of these clean and simple looking gray storage boxes and bins oh my. Luckily my son was with me, and all he was interested in was looking for a specific pug-theme calendar. So I avoided the pull …. and am so glad. I certainly don't need any of those!!

As an aside, during the holidays my Mom was showing off her marie kondo folding style for all her tee shirts, kitchen towels, etc. I told her it was beautiful, but I just got rid of all the tee shirts I don't wear and only have 4. So I don't have to spend time organizing them :)

Jan, you speak my language. I am in total agreement with your advice to avoid buying more cutesy storage boxes and baskets and bins.

When you begin to look for storage it is a signal that you really need to get rid of that excess. And, then, don't buy any more after that.

Storage should be for things that are worthy of being stored and very few things should be stored, at all. Most times putting something in a container to store it just means that you are going to have to get rid of it in five years or fifteen years after you have never needed it. Meantime, you have put wasted effort to store it all of those years.

Get rid of it!

ig22, you can always ignore those that you don't want to pay attention to. No one is actually addressing YOU, personally. You don't even have to read it, if you don't want to. You must want to since you did read it. These are your choices that you made for yourself, and by yourself. If you don't want to know opinions, don't read them.

I have gotten rid of so much that I now have empty plastic bins. Also, I have empty closets and cabinets. No one needs all that stuff. And, there is still a constant flow of stuff out the door. Life is much more simple when you are not catering to keeping stuff all the time

Jan Moyer ...wisest words I’ve seen in ages on Houzz. And so well said ... out, out, out!

“all that clutter, used to be money.”

Whoa! That should bring people up short. What a great way to think about it.

That's one reason we give shared experiences instead of things at Xmas.

So agree! I always FLIP when down in the not so great "down under" of someones home. "It was ONLY 12.99..........it was ONLY 24.99, and yada yada yada. This is best done with the phone calculator, and my tapping finger. Then I proudly show the tally and announce: "Well Babe, there's the sofa you wanted last year. ..............right here in this crapola melange of you didn't need it"

Go do it some dreary day. I guarantee you will barf.

You can carry that statement about how all of that clutter used to be money back even a little further.

You can also make the statement that all of that clutter used be the minutes, hours or days of your life that were spent in earning the money to buy that clutter and many more hours earning the money to buy storage for it and many more moving it around one place to another.

If we measured more things in terms of what it really cost us in real terms of the finite minutes of our lives, we might think differently about it.

I am still working toward empty storage boxes , slowly but surely. Declutter is my aim this winter. Do I really need 8 colors of Xmas stuff , I think not ,so here to 4 colors . Yeah, 4 empty storage boxes.

Several years ago we started buying quality, not quantity...and quality costs a lot more money! We don't flippantly buy anything because we have to fork over a lot more cash which REALLY makes you think about whether you really need it or not. It has helped us stay minimal. Other times, I look for second-hand since I have an affinity for vintage mid-century modern pieces. Again, waiting on the solid wood, quality pieces. Living with intentionality feels so good. Plus, our home looks very curated because the purchases we do make are beautiful, timeless, ethically made and solid.

We always have our family Christmas on New Year's weekend. This year, I set two tables with all matching Christmas dishes for 24 people. FOUR full loads for the dishwasher afterwards!

Afterwards, I decided NOT to put it back in the top cupboard - packed it in 4 boxes & dropped it off at the Goodwill!

Now if I just get my adult children to STOP buying me things!

LOL........ I think TWO Christmas colors are plenty :

Eh, bins are finally coming into my house. Didn't have the urge to organize before purging as there was so much crap. I did the work, my house has half the number of storage furniture and drawers it did before I started. Now I'm making things easier to access and bins and baskets are helpful.

I can reach the front edge of a 6.5' shelf and see to the back of the bottom shelves of my kitchen cabinets. Without bins stuff got lost. Christmas is finally in 6 small bins for safety after living in 3 heavy tattered boxes for years. Without bins the comforter and blankets I have to keep so my guests don't whine about being cold are a horrible mess on the linen closet shelf.

I do shop the stash. Any box, basket or jar in reasonably good shape is kept and I use them rather than buy new stuff if possible.

And my donation box is full. Time to get that stuff out of the house.

Mary, congratulations! You have crossed over! What freedom you have given yourself! I can feel it from here.

went thru the xmas stuff as well, getting rid of the big bushy fake garland that smells like dust when i put it out no matter how well its stored.. kids are older i did minimal this year, so much easier... pick-up-please is coming on tuesday, I can't wait. I admit working full time I do not have time nor will I use my time to go to consignment and worry about getting my little check.. as ive told my friend I don't care if its a dollar I;m not buying it unless I need it!

All that clutter used to be money.

Back in the olden days of Gardenweb, some of the forums had a saying under the name of the forum. This would be a perfect saying for this forum.

@Mary Elizabeth My brother used to love buying things, including gifts for our mother. She asked him and asked him not to, and he persisted. Finally, when he came with stuff, she made him take them back home with him. Those were uncomfortable conversations but finally he stopped.

This is the same brother who, when we all agreed to stop buying Christmas gifts for the nieces and nephews, still continued to buy for 2 years although we weren't buying anything for his kids in return.