Not quite a horder - decluttering
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Wren - how funny - well really not, but a perfect snapshot of the place & time. I never got along with that Houston social strata and certainly did not fit in either. When we first moved here I was coming from a CA and NM background. and we knew no one. I went to an AAUW meeting, hoping to meet some like-minded friends. Nope - receptions with silver tea sets & designer clothes. The local NOW group wasn't much better. Times do change - just not fast enough in the South.
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With Christmas over, how are y'all doing with the "stuff"? Are you looking at your home again and wondering how it will all fit back where it's supposed to? Are you planning big purges in 2022?
I read an article in NYT about decluttering, and skimmed through dozens of comments. I guess I was looking for inspiration. It's hard for me to motivate for decluttering right now. My home is neat, has plenty of storage space, and doesn't have a lot of stuff we don't use at least now and then. Which HAHA isn't really true. For instance, I just looked in the kitchen cupboard and saw a bundt cake pan, an angel food cake pan, and a springform pan for cheesecakes. I HAVE made those things in the past!! Honestly, though, wow, when's the last time I made an angel food cake? And don't I remember now that I don't love cheesecake? If I got rid of any or all of them, how compelled would I ever feel to replace them, and then actually USE the replacement?
Hmm. Things to think about. Right now, though, I'm going to take a nap.
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I have been putting all newly washed tops on the right side of the rod, and trying to pick something on the left side. I have discovered that dark colors are grouping on the left side. I just ordered a turquoise, a hot pink and a purple long sleeve t-shirts. Now to decide which of the dark shirts will go to Goodwill.
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I'm already wanting the tree down because it's covered with silver icicles, which I hate. We're waiting to see if our house sale will happen. It's a builder and he has a feasibility clause. If he can't do what he wants, he can back out at that point. It's some time in Jan toward the end. We've lived here since 1984 and the house is full of crap. It needs to go whether it sells or not, but more motivation if we have an actual deadline (June 30). I think I'll join the buy nothing group and just start offering stuff. We have lots of big stuff for cooking. DH used to make feasts for family and friends and we used it all. Now it's just taking up space. I also joined Ridwell, a local group that picks up hard to recycle items and has contracts with people who can recycle them. They'll take crinkly plastic, styrofoam, batteries and light bulbs along with other stuff. There's a Goodwill close, but if they want the clothes and will give them to Goodwill, it saves me a trip.
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GoKale - I had read in an article several years ago to take photos as well. I have done this with some items and been very happy that I did.
DivineMrsM - Huge difference with the closet update.
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wrenn, that Ridwell sounds like a handy service.
Dh and I have learned not to overload on Christmas buying. He needed new tires for his vehicle, my car needed all new brakes. I said they were Christmas gifts. Dh hates that kind of idea but I have no problem with it. I got knee socks and some shirts, and I found the perfect jacket for dh that he's been wanting for several years.
My Christmas decorations don't take over the whole house. It's festive here but not claustrophobic. I'm ready for the tree to come down which I'll do this weekend.
We are buying a smart tv soon, and will sell the old one. I don't think I'll need a new tv stand. I have plans to update a spare room upstairs with paint and new carpet. The room is sparse, just a vanity, chair and dresser. It's where I do my hair in the morning and needs some tlc. There's just always some turn-over from the old to the new going on. I realize you have to stay on top of it or things can really pile up.
Here's my new tree this year. Of course it has white lights, but it looks nice even when they're not on. I love the that the tree tucks tidily in the corner. Dh made those wooden stars for me years ago.
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25 months (nov. 2019) into our home restoration (predicted as 3-6 months in January 2020), the basement floor is finally being installed. It suffered slight damage initially but they took off the gutters when they were replacing the roof and hurricane Isaisas did massive damage when the basement flooded. So then walls and the entire floor needed replacement. DH is a packrat and a lot of his "stuff" was out of sight until he had to remove it from the basement. Most is currently in the garage and he will have to go through each storage box (lots of them) before they can go back in the basement as we agreed. He's a "what if" guy and it is hard to explain that if we can get a replacement locally, why are we keeping 12 of something that he hasn't had the need for one in the last 10 years! I did my purging of my basement "stuff" as I was cleaning it out and sent boxes of excess fabric, binders, etc to a local charity that collects items for area schools. What I kept has a designated future use once I can reclaim my sewing area. I did the same for items stored in the attic on removal and then when they were returned.
One way to determine if you are wearing items is to reverse the direction of the hanger when returning them to the closet. So the curved part faces in when I hang them initially and then gets reversed when I have worn them. If after a year the hanger has never been reversed, the item gets donated.
Divine, your closet doors look great and I love your tree.
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Please be ready to bow down in awe and appreciation:
I have an old laptop that's no longer used, but it still has photos, documents, and files on it that I might -- or might not -- want! Or I should say, it still HAD, as this morning I sorted the last of them. All I need to do now is move the few remaining things onto a thumb drive and transfer to my newer machine.
See??? Pretty amazing, huh?
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Mia - that's a significant accomplishment. Congrats.
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Thanks, MinusTwo. Of course, now I need to sort them through my current machine. Then there is the google drive and google photos, my phone, and I'm sure other storage sets, too!
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I don't know which is worse. I have 10 storage boxes of physical photos that need to be culled & then... I have one son who has no children so there isn't much interest in all these photos. And since he was an only child, there are tons of photos from every angle at every chance. Some are from the turn of the last century (my Dad was born in 1911 and my Mom in 1914). It will be my job to sort these into just a couple of photo albums - then they might actually look at them. And maybe scan a few into the computer.
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MinusTwo - Would a service like Legacy Box maybe be a good option for you?
One Easter Season, I heard about keeping a box and every day of Lent putting something in it to give away. If you did more than one thing a day that was fine too. That was several years ago and I now keep a box in a spare bedroom and anytime I think that I should give something away, I immediately put it in that box and when I get a full enough box, I donate it and start another box.
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I'm pretty good at getting rid of things, but I still often hesitate with things that were gifts to me, regardless of how much I care about the things themselves. A school mate and friend (not very close) gave me something a couple of years ago. It was thoughtful of her, but not to my taste. I still have it, and it's out but not prominent. When I see it, it reminds me of her with affection. Which I guess is the point. But if I get rid of it, will I love her less? I don't think so. And as she lives across the country from me, likely she'll never know if I get rid of it. So... I guess that decides it.
Also my daughter gave us a very weird Christmas present this year, which I think reflects on how little capacity she had for managing the holiday and nothing to do with us. Actually, nothing to do with us at all!!
It was a small tin bucket with 2 kinds of scented dish soap, a soap dispenser bottle, and a sponge-wand. ??? And I really can't stand scented products, so I won't use the dish soaps, and I won't use the bucket, but I'll use the sponge-wand I guess to scrub the bathroom sinks. So odd. Anyway, the bucket is already in the bag to go away, but I don't know what to do with the soaps. They stink. 0 -
cowgal - I've been really successful at radically eliminating most all the "stuff" in my life - except books & pictures. I've even given jewelry inherited from my Mom to my niece & niece in law so they can have & wear now. I keep a big basket in the back of my closet for the same purpose as your box, but I've purged so thoroughly, it's only got a few things.
MountainMia - funny about the gifts. I even managed to get rid of most of those. But I do have problems with the things my BFF gives me. She rarely comes to town, but might be likely to ask how I liked something when she's here. They are carefully chosen & lovely - but "stuff". My nephew & niece both gave me gift cards this year - one for an indie book store & one for Amazon. Hooray. And I love disposable gifts. My son sent a box of See's candy that he knows I adore and is only available for 3 weeks in December. My 'other son' ( the only child of my BF who died several years ago - so I'm his alternate mom) sent a food basket from Harry & David. Looks like January will be for "disposing" of unwanted pounds....
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Love hearing the successes and continued efforts here! This week will bring a renewed focus on a new area for me -- the dreaded basement. I actually think I'll need to sit down first and map out (get my thoughts organized as to how to attack it, on paper). We both have tons of crap down there that are somewhat co-mingled- but orderly because DH likes to organize. Not terribly helpful since I just want to pitch a lot of it. My office was the 2021 focus and I'm happy with it.
A helpful thing I did recently was pay money to have a stack of "to shred" documents shredded for me. It had been looking at me for a year(!) So that was the best small expenditure I've made in a long time. Off the floor!
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We have lived in our home for 27 years raising 4 children along the way. Our youngest is a junior living away in NOLA at college for most of the time so we are essentially empty nesters with 2 dogs who are 21 month old brothers and high energy. Our house is really no longer feasible for us - a 114yo American four square with multiple levels and our real estate taxes have skyrocketed unlike our income. I use to skip down the staircase and now have to take the stairs one at a time due to joint pain from the AI I take. I have decluttered to the best of my very tired ability and we have been having work done to make the house more sellable. I am still filled with anxiety and dread at the thought of listing and showing and then moving.
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Reader - I think some of us have gotten better at the decluttering than others. I have been really good in some areas and really lacking in others!
MountainMia - I think that you could donate the unopened soap either to a women's shelter or to Goodwill or something similar. Several of the local churches/religions where I live will take about anything.
Piano owners - I think where I live (rural) you could give pianos away easily. I am not sure how much you could sell them for but pretty sure you could give them away. I wonder if any senior centers or nursing homes would want them?
MinusTwo - You impress me. I am not nearly as far along on the decluttering achievements as you are!
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bitchonwheels - I can definitely see why you want to get to a more livable home! Old houses and multiple levels can be pretty tough. Our house is a ranch style but it was built in the 1960s and it the bedrooms are pretty small, small closets, etc. We live in tornado alley and in a small unincorporated town so our best escape from a tornado is to go in the crawl space under the house. I have had two knee replacements, a bad lymphedema arm and a "good" arm that probably needs the shoulder replaced so getting up and down in the crawl space doesn't work for me anymore. We have been wanting to move outside of the town when something might come available close as our farm ground is close by. Building a new house would be pretty expensive, especially when you figure drilling a water well, running electric and other utilities to the house. There are other things that our current house just won't accommodate...like a craft room or a bedroom big enough to hold a king size bed and master bedroom suite furniture. It doesn't make sense to try to reno our current house as we don't want to live in town forever and the cost would be prohibitive to try to get what the costs would be when we sold it. There is a house that is a long shot at this point but I am using it to inspire me to get really serious about purging things now.
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Cowgal - The timing was not really my choice, but I had attic pipes leak last year so 3 ceilings had to come down. Needless to say - rooms had to be cleared. And then all the rest cleared for carpet. My vow was to leave all boxes in the garage until I'd gone through them. The contractors finished in July. I still have boxes stacked in the garage. But I had 4 or 5 massive loads picked up by Salvation Army and took lots of things to the Battered Women's Home - either to be used by the women or sold in their resale shop.
Both my friend and I tried to donate our pianos maybe 10 years ago. No takers. Not churches, not nursing homes, not for "free" if you pick it up. Very sad.
I've been in this house for 47 years. Honestly - if the ceilings hadn't caved, I'd probably still be just talking about getting rid of things. Of course there's always more to do, but I'm here for the duration until they carry me out feet first.
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Minus, I heard something on the local news recently about a place accepting piano donations. I’m not sure which one but googling “piano donation Houston” brought up a few options, if your still looking.
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Now that the holidays have come to a close, any Christmas decor and decorations I didn’t use that are still in the closet are getting pulled out and put in a box. I’ll mark the date on the box and whatever isn’t used by next Christmas, out it goes. Some stuff may even go now. I have Santa hats, stockings, garland and ornaments, wreaths, etc., I no longer use, piddly little stuff that adds up and takes up space. I’ve been wanting to do this for a few years; now is the time.
The tree came down today but I leave snowman decor up until Valentine’s Day. I usually shove them haphazardly into the closet after that. This year after Valentine’s Day, I plan to gather them up and pack them neatly in boxes before storing them until next Christmas.
I tidied up my sewing box today. On my list is to tidy my “cookbook” which is a three-ring binder of all my handwritten recipes and ones I’ve printed from the internet. Lots of recipes are just stuffed in there, and they need hole-punched and put in order, plus any old recipes I don’t use need pitched. I may go do that now.
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Happy New Year!
I love to purge(my home). My dad passed this past October and my mom has been on a kick going through and getting rid of things. Anyone sell on Ebay? Is it easy? I've looked into it but the whole how to figure out how much shipping to charge when you list an item, just goes over my head. If you don't know who is buying it yet and where the live, how do you figure it out. They buyer could be in your next town or across the country.
I wind up donating my stuff but with my mom on a much more limited income now,(she's 87) I thought getting her a few bucks would be nice.
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I think there are people who will list your stuff and do all the shipping, etc. for a percentage of the price. It seems so complicated to me that I've never tried.
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We usually sell stuff locally. Dh and I each have a Facebook page and will occasionally post a picture of something with an asking price and tell interested buyers to private message us. That’s how we’ll sell our tv. There’s also Facebook Marketplace and we put stuff on there for local buyers. When my mother in law downsized to an apt, she had a fridge, washer and dryer, a tractor, her car and a few other large items like that which we were able to sell by putting them on FB. We didn’t put them all up for sale at once, just a few at a time.
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I love this thread!
Last summer we organized our garage, donating or tossing at least 1/3 of what was there. We hung several organizers on the walls and reclaimed the 2nd stall for a car.
Last week I organized my closet after finding moth holes in several sweaters (ugh!). I now have 4 bags of textiles to toss/donate, and a nicely thinned out and clean closet.
Today, I cleaned my office (after watching several episodes of Hoarders LOL) and have 3 bags of paper to shred.
Our kids' playroom is a bit of a sh**show; I get tired just thinking about decluttering it. Some day.
And the basement has been on our list for 2 years to purge. Maybe I'll get motivated enough to start on it this month...?
Thanks for the inspiration and a place to celebrate our decluttering accomplishments
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MinusTwo - yeah...your situation of forced decluttering is definitely not the preferred method.
This summer I went through all of my shoes and tried each pair on to see how they felt. If they weren't 100% comfortable and I still wanted to wear them, they were donated. I had several pairs of mostly Clark's that when I went to put them on and walk around, the sole just fell apart. They were made of some petroleum product I think and over time they just broke down. It was really gross. I ended up having to throw those out. I at lease feel pretty good about that I do have my shoes/boots decluttered.
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I had the same experience with a pair of Dansko clogs. I have no idea how old they were - but really old. I did the same with shoes that didn't feel good. I'm still looking for a pair of black shoes that can be worn with a skirt. I have sandals, but brrrr.
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Hello decluttering crew! I read some of the older posts but not many, so sorry if somebody already mentioned this...but during my decluttering over the last year or so I've been able to give away a lot of stuff through my neighborhood's Buy Nothing group. I don't have the time or patience to sell stuff so I just give it away. It's nice knowing things are going to neighbors or people who need them, and I've made lots of new local friends. I was even able to give away.....drumroll please.....a PIANO!
I originally got the piano from another neighbor who wanted it gone so badly they were willing to bring it to me themselves. I liked it a lot but I'm thinking about moving this year, and I was already dreading the thought of dealing with the piano because it's the only thing I own that can't be easily moved by me or one other person. Then a week before Christmas someone posted saying her son had asked for a real piano and she was putting his request out there in the Buy Nothing universe with no expectations. I didn't have any sentimental attachment to it and three different family members have pianos if I ever decide I want another one. So I told her she could take it and she did! Happy dance!
Now if I could just get rid of half of the rest of my stuff...
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Awesome about giving away the piano! I often scroll through facebook marketplace for entertainment, and there are pianos shown all the time. Many of them are marked free; some of them have significant $ pricing. I'm sure there is a wide range of quality and needed repairs/maintenance, too, which might account for some of the differences.
I keep moving things out of the house a bit at a time. Today I brought a globe upstairs to go away, purchased about 30 years ago. You might not think the maps have changed so much over that time that it is out of date, but it is. Either way, someone else might get use of it. I'm certainly not. Yesterday husband brought a very old baby gate up, also. Again, we aren't using it, so may as well pass it on.
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Interesting - the same things happened to my favorite pair of Clarks, only the 'rubber' sole fell apart in the airport on the way to boarding a plane. Took me awhile to figure out what was going on.
Oh globes & maps... It really hurt me to donate those but you are right Mia, they are no longer accurate.
Wren - I've found two that are semi-feminine for skirts but still flat. One is "Earth Originals" leather and the other is "Earth" - a suede sort of Mary Jane. Turns out although the boxes are different names, both say earthshoes.com on the bottom. Both have thin 'rubber' soles so I won't slip.
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