Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?
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I am now finished setting up my art room that was being used by everyone as a store room back into a art room/home office. I start back to work remotely in a week from today. Basically there is not much different from a desk for work and a desk for my art room. This job is for a limited time so when I am done with it or start back into the office I will have a place to do my art.
I had already taken a small load to good will earlier but after going through it all and recycling and throwing away stuff I had 5 boxes of kids art supplies from teaching art during the last economic downturn. I contacted a local art organization that has classes for adults and kids and asked them if they wanted my supplies. They did and Friday I set up an appointment to deliver them. They took it all even the straws. I had a project where the kids made looms from straws. They were happy to get them and I was happy to get rid of them. I had colored pencils, paints, brushes, crayons, construction paper, palettes, beading supplies.
Then I started decluttering the basement hallway so I could get into my art room easier and the bathroom. I sorted towels and linens. We remodeled our main bathroom upstairs and I got new towels so the old ones went to the basement. We had over the toilet shelves we took out of there too. I had my husband put them in the basement bathroom. I rearrange the shelved in there and was able to put all the old towels in the basement bathroom. Then all the linens that don't go to beds upstairs I put in some hall shelves which I had my husband move away from the art room door so I could get in it easier. He also set up the desk in there. I put all the art stuff away and then I had office supplies which I organized and put away ready to use. We vacuumed. So now the basement is decluttered for the most part and I have a home office/art studio now. I have a corner of the living room that I have been using as a home office. I can now put the office supplies etc. from there downstairs thereby decluttering the living room even more. However I will still be using my home laptop there a lot. Yay! my living room will actually function as a living room. All of us have space to do work so we don't need to use the living room as a project work space.
Basically we are finished with decluttering our whole house except for our garage/converted to a storeroom and 1 small basement room. My husband needs to do a few things in the office upstairs. So this feels good.14 -
We still have the garage to do, but I still have the guest room to finish. We have the bed ordered, and a good mattress from a local store, but I have to wait on those. All the bed furnishings are here.7
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AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »What I have found is that once you've had an area cleared for a while, not having it cleared off will bug you.
I really like order, and it's SO nice to be in a household where the other people in it also like order and, even though I'm the main housekeeper, they aid and abet the creation of order. (I'm not talking about the cats. The younger one is named Nyx, Daughter of Chaos for a reason.)
I like order too. I used to be the one to put things away. I hate how people leave things on the kitchen table. At some point though I gave up the fight. So then we needed to declutter everything. It was really my daughter who got us going. Now we need to have an agreement where everyone puts things where they belong. Or every Saturday morning we set aside a time and all do it together.9 -
Basically we are finished with decluttering our whole house except for our garage/converted to a storeroom and 1 small basement room. My husband needs to do a few things in the office upstairs. So this feels good.
I'll bet it does! That's great progress. I love reading about your progress and that of everyone else on here. Right now I'm decluttering to make more room for winter stores. I have some shelves that are kind of haphazardly stocked, and could use some reorganization. Already did a bit of that and have more room for dry goods. It fools good to look at things when they used to be chaotic and now are orderly. Besides, it's another excuse to move around.
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WildColonialGirl wrote: »I have found that when I declutter, it’s very freeing. I’m a huge fan of Freecycle and also belong to a trading group on FB.
A friend of mine just told me about Freecycle. Can I ask where you do your trades or have others pick up? I wouldn't want to give someone my home address.
You can arrange to do pickup in public places if you prefer, or you can deliver to the person’s home. I’ve done deliveries for people who didn’t have transportation.
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I have an excel workout sheet with 4 columns labeled:
1) Category (organizing, de-cluttering, cleaning, etc)
2) Chore (could be a room, a drawer, boxes, garage, cars, etc.)
3) Status: on going/started, pending, etc
4) Completion/Date: The date that the chore was all done (bolded and in red)
It helps me to keep track of what needs to be done, register the completed task(s), and to add notes if the cleaning or whatever, was delayed/pending (reason). For me it is another way to be more organized, and to start with the easier task that can be done quickly. It is a morale boost.
This is good! I’m going to try that.1 -
WildColonialGirl wrote: »I have an excel workout sheet with 4 columns labeled:
1) Category (organizing, de-cluttering, cleaning, etc)
2) Chore (could be a room, a drawer, boxes, garage, cars, etc.)
3) Status: on going/started, pending, etc
4) Completion/Date: The date that the chore was all done (bolded and in red)
It helps me to keep track of what needs to be done, register the completed task(s), and to add notes if the cleaning or whatever, was delayed/pending (reason). For me it is another way to be more organized, and to start with the easier task that can be done quickly. It is a morale boost.
This is good! I’m going to try that.
Good for you, but I warn you that if you don't check the list and complete the tasks nothing will get done. Been there and done that!2 -
I got a lot of decluttering done in the guest room. It serves a lot of purposes; it's my sewing room, it's my crafting room where I play with faux flowers and make arrangements, it's where I wrap presents, and it's where I keep out of season items. I still need to do more on the closet once we get the bed in (We're waiting on the frame and mattress) and I know what I'm keeping where, finally. But all the pillows and blankets and mattress cover and all that stuff is now all corralled in one laundry basket so that I can find it all and keep it clean in the meantime, and I got a lot of the boxes I'm saving for Christmas cut down and stored tidily, and that solves that nicely.3
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Two-year-old son shattered a television from the inside today, shocked it lasted this long. Anyway I didn't know that Best Buy will recycle old TV'S, DVD players,chargers, laptop, keyboards, batteries...and so much more. In some places it's now illegal to throw it out.
I'm relieved to have this option. I just wanted to share this with you.
Also some automotive stores will recycle automobile batteries and oil.
I think we should all help each other out where possible. I can't stand the thought of throwing this whole television in the dump.4 -
@LoveyChar
Thank you for the information about Best Buy recycling program. I didn't know, but maybe my husband does. It is helpful because I know that I have electronics parts to get rid of.
A word of advise to all of you, before you recycle/throw away phones, laptops, tablets, or PCS, make sure that they are really clean of all data. Hackers may steal sensitive and personal information.
Last week, I was happy to take a bag full of clothes and shoes to the donation center. I have been keeping them for several months because the center was closed or with minimal hours of operation.
Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!
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I'm all for ridding your life of toxic people, if they're not relatives, and limiting your contact as much as possible, if they are. I have no problem doing this.
On the other hand, while I'm not a hoarder, I have a problem getting rid of anything that I paid $ for and still think may be useful even if I haven't used it for years.
I occupy a 2900 sq ft house with 5 bdrms & a 3 car garage all by myself and every room and storage space is full. I also rent a 10x20 storage space that is the same. However, the house is still neat and looks uncluttered.
The fact that the house is already full is what prevents me from buying any more stuff. If it was empty again, like when I first bought it, I would just buy stuff to fill it up again. So, for me, it's best to leave well enough alone.
Not sure what decluttering "places" means unless you're talking about getting rid of excess houses, condos and/or time shares. Fortunately or not, I do not have any real property other than my house and have no need to rid my life of any excess places.
You remind me of my grandmother 😊. She could fill every square inch whatever the space might be. She was compelled to just give those spaces a purpose, even if no one would use those rooms.
Of course some people enjoy having more stuff than others. Personally I’m a minimalist. I believe younger generations are saving less and are generally more detached and clutter free, for one reason or another.1 -
I moved into my current flat almost 18months ago. This weekend I have finally taken out the last items of clothing from my big suitcase, and placed the last of it into the "almost fits" pile. I also rearranged my wardrobe for ease of finding things5
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Anyone want to really declutter? Adopt a couple of kittens! As they grow more independent and playful, the'll love to knock down any stacks of things you might have, so quickly said stacks will be at least put in cabinets or behind closed doors! I recently needed to move my work from home setup into another room of the house because of an employer requirement so out of the living room and into my studio I go. My part art studio/storeroom/ cat room is now a home office. Time to get rid of a bunch of old junk in my filing cabinet, get rid of massive amounts of dead pens and old mail, and set up a new workstation. I did some decluttering in the meantime. I left one of my old 8 pound dumbbells in there so I can do quick exercises during downtime.5
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Love reading your ideas! Sometimes, I just take one drawer or one cabinet in my kitchen. Empty it , declutter, and put things back in. Just one small task can make great differences in your mood.
My grandmother taught me another tip. When you clean a room, clean in order like go clockwise. Don't zig zag when you clean. Just clean in clockwise order.
One last tip, my friend says if you have an uncluttered home there is no excess money spent on those big containers to store things. So in the long run you save money too!
My biggest hurdle is I have no success selling things on Facebook marketplace. My friend sells things on there all the time and makes hundreds of dollars. I post a few things and they never sell. Any ideas?7 -
@RubyRed427
I don't do FB or sell things on line, so sorry that I can't be of help. What about asking your friend for tips on how to be successful as she is? Maybe she has a special trick under her sleeve. By the way, I like your grandmother's idea. Smart woman!4 -
It feels very intuitive to me that holding onto weight and holding onto excess stuff are related.9
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I’ve just swapped over my seasonal clothes, and discarded items I didn’t wear over the summer.
I put a marker in the wardrobe, and anything I have worn goes on the left of the marker. At the end of each season I donate anything that’s remains to the right of the marker. I have a similar system in my drawers.
I’ve become very fussy about not wearing clothes in which I don’t feel comfortable. Also find that I’m no longer self conscious about wearing tighter clothes.12 -
I clean each room once a week, and in the kitchen that means that I will take one drawer or cabinet, remove the items in it, wash the inside of the cabinet and polish the outside, and if the shelf paper needs renewed, I'll do that then too. It also gives me a chance to sort through the items in the cabinet and make sure that there's no junk in there, just useful items in a good useful order. By doing this week by week, I get through them all over a three month period, and it never becomes a huge burden to do it; it's just ONE drawer.
In the library/dining room, we have a large built in bookcase. Again, when it's that room's turn for weekly cleaning, I take one shelf, take the books out, and dust and polish the shelf and the books thoroughly. One shelf isn't terrible, and it lets me make sure nothing's misfiled, and I can see if I want to let any of them go. (If so, we have a bag those go in; when the bag is full, it's time to go to the used bookstore.) I do this with the drawers in the bedrooms, and it really makes keeping the clutter out of the corners easier, and I feel better knowing that things can never get too bad.13 -
jenniferc933 wrote: »I am ashamed of my hoarding of clothes and now that I've read everyones remarks - it makes me feel less isolated. I began getting rid of stuff about 2 years ago but IT is difficult - because every dress/piece of china etc etc etc., has a memory attached. But YOU are ALL correct - it does weigh you down - and now that I know I'm not alone in my tendancy to clutter, I will push forward faster and more quickly than I have been doing. Thank you all for the insight.
One suggestion I've heard is to take a picture of anything really special. Then you still have a memory jogger. And if you keep an electronic journal, you can paste the picture and describe the good memory there.
I'm planning to do that even with some family heirlooms I'm keeping, so when they go to the next generation, they know who sewed the quilt, and who made that piece of furniture.
I still need to do a massive declutter. (On top of my normal collecting, I recently had to combine parts of two households twice.)6
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