April 9 Weekly Challenge: Spring Declutterfest!
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I did it! The quilt that's been hanging around is no longer. I finished it today and it's now ON my bed instead of IN my studio. It's the first quilt I finished for our own bed.
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I did it! The quilt that's been hanging around is no longer. I finished it today and it's now ON my bed instead of IN my studio. It's the first quilt I finished for our own bed.
It’s beautiful, @bcTRA! Congrats on finishing something that’s taken you many hours, and I’m sure sweat and tears, to complete. ON your bed is much more satisfying than IN your studio.
CONGRATULATIONS!!3 -
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Thanks for the compliments guys. Today has been a little purge. Got rid of those three boxes plus some other things.
before and then, after.
Still more to do in that room but it's a start and now I'm babysitting my granddaughter.
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That is one beautiful quilt!1
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@themedalist
“I have a question for you. Declutterfest really is one of our most popular challenges. I find it very cathartic and calming. Losing extra fat made my body lighter. Losing extra stuff makes my life lighter. So.....is twice a year for Declutterfest the right frequency? Or 3 times a year? Or even quarterly? What would you prefer? Thanks!”
Hi! I’d do the declutterfest at least every other month. Doing this can help us to 1) reduce our stress, 2) organize & prioritize things that need our attention, 3) provides opportunities for purposeful movement, 4) helps our homes be more nourishing and peaceful, 5) helps others through our donations & gifting of things we no longer need/love, 6) makes it easier to cook, shop for food, get dressed in the morning, have guests and extended family over, find financial items, locate almost anything, 7) deal gradually with our past, and the biggest reason for me: the cleared spaces enable us to identify & foster new interests!!4 -
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I’ve really enjoyed your thoughtful comments. D
Here’s what I’ve been up to since April 6.
* emptied, cleaned, and re-Marie Kondo’d my bathroom drawers, re-using some small containers I saved (as she insightfully recommends doing until you are all done). Got rid of 20 items (Gave to a friend..nail polish) & Goodwill I always find this SO relaxing.
* Got rid of 6 articles of clothing & a bag (Goodwill) DONE
* Got rid of 8 VHS (Goodwill) and several CD storage units that no one wanted DONE
* Moved all yoga & exercise equipment to a room I cleared about 8 months ago. Added some decorative, calming touches. Love it! DONE
* (Best part is when I was working in garage I found the handles that work with the weights I found when clearing guest room hutch LOL)!
* Cleared decorative objects from a desk/hutch into bins, in preparation for creating a functioning, pleasant guest room. DONE
* Moved books that had gravitated to our bedroom & the ones that were in new Guest Room to main bookshelf. Went through all. Gave away 6 books. Re-organized shelves by themes, tallest to shortest. DONE
* Organized prescriptions and blood pressure cuff etc in re-used pretty boxes, so they are more hidden & not in bathroom. DONE
*Dusted, purged, minimized items on bedroom bookshelf & items spilling off of it! DONE
Marie Kondo top drawer of bedroom dresser. DONE 4/11
Spent over an hour removing cobwebs, deeply cleaning both utility sinks, 1/2 filled a large garbage bag & got hubby to “add a few items” DONE
Found & got hubby to go through a bag that was mostly trash. Tossed 98%. DONE
Went through my microns to pitch the dried out ones and sorted my sticker supply by type DONE
By 4/15:
1. Declutter a catch-all small bookshelf at front door.
2. Finish thorough Decluttering of our bedroom. Goal: a Zen-like Space! The biggest job: Finish all papers/office gear. 4/10: made a lot of progress 4/11 still working on them 4/12-4/13 working on old & current medical 4/14: finishing up
3. Figure out how to store what I need out of sight.
4. Clear dresser top.
1/2 DONE 4/11
I was never like this until I read her book. It’s so easy now to put things away & just do these little “revisits” now. I’ve grown to REALLY like having everything organized!
Thanks again!!5 -
@bcTRAI Nice job! I struggle with decluttering books because I don't want to part with any of them! You did a great job with that area
@MadisonMolly2017 Holy cow! What a list! You took this challenge to a whole new level! I'm going to have to read this Marie Kondo book you speak of.
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@OConnell5483 yes, it truly is life-altering!2
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@bcTRAI, what an amazing transformation in that room! The before and after difference is stunning. You’ve had quite the successful week with finishing your beautiful quilt and decluttering that room. Congrats....lots of hard work, but I bet you feel great!2
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@MadisonMolly2017....WOW, that is quite the list of accomplishments. I also like how you’ve listed “DONE” after each item. That’s a mini celebration for accomplishing that activity, and celebrations and rewards are important.
Regarding Marie’s book, you, @77tes, and @nebslp have been so enthusiastic that I’m purchasing the Kindle version this morning. My goal is to have read it and be implementing her strategies before our Summer Declutterfest. BTW, you gave some wonderfully compelling reasons for decluttering more often. I’d like to get a little more feedback before deciding on a schedule, but we will be having this challenge more often!3 -
I purposefully chose to rerun 3 of our previous challenges in April to give me some extra time to work on enhancing what will be our focus in May: Sit Less Boot Camp! If you are unfamiliar with Boot Camp, it’s a 21 day Challenge to help us make sitting less and moving more part of our daily routine: a habit! If you’ve participated in previous Boot Camps, I’ve added some new challenges and have strengthened the links to make sitting less truly a habit change. I am very excited about Version 2.0 of Sit Less Boot Camp!
Next week, on April 23, I will be publishing a blog post promoting Boot Camp here on MFP. I would really appreciate a quick 15 second help from you to get the word out. I can’t get the word out by myself...I need your help please.
But for now, check out our brand new video promo!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RHNAynWku9I 2 -
Great video! I will be happy to help get the word out! I'm looking forward to the May Sitting Less challenge. 1
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It isn’t perfect and there’s still a lot to do, but I made a lot of headway on the upstairs bedroom this week and that makes me very happy!
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@themedalist That looks really nice! Isn't it a good feeling?
I thought of another declutter I need to do one of these challenges...I need to clean up my laptop! Always say I'm going to but never do.4 -
My bedroom and closet are clutter pits. I'm going to declutter them as I have time, with the reward of allowing myself to buy a new bedding set. The current one is falling apart:)5
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@themedalist Looks great!! And yes the DONE is my motivator/reward!!
@OConnell5483 Yes, laptops are tough. One idea I’ve seen is an “Amnesty” concept. You put everything in a folder. And then go zero inbox, ie, all emails deleted or filed each day. (You can always go back in to the Amnesty folder if there is something important.)
@littlebear0121 I hear you! I like doing this in categories, but I also do Flylady.net’s 27 Fling Boogie, 15 minute clutterbust, and/or start at one point in the room and move clockwise...this insures that you don’t skip the same spot each time! Good to have a reward.2 -
Wow! You are all doing amazing work! @bcTRA, your quilt is beautiful!! I think my decluttering week starts today. I’m still a little overwhelmed from getting back from my trip last weekend, attending 2 days of bluebird convention, and then my granddaughter’s birthday party yesterday. I’m still searching for the items I took out of my wallet and purse before going to Paris. They have just disappeared and I’m beginning to think I’m going a bit daffy in the head. Seriously!!! I’ve looked everywhere I can think of. I’m sure I’ll run across it if I keep decluttering. I just hope it didn’t go to Goodwill4
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Beautiful quilt! Thanks for posting.1
