Not quite a horder - decluttering
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Hi Brookside - I heard that. I wanted to list this year but there were issues. I really need to get rid of most of it but there are a lot of donations I have to wait on. My family reunion will get most of my ceramics to auction in August. Can not believe I had all this stuff in a 2 bedroom apt out in Cali.
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Hi - I just found this post - what a great idea. Decluttering is something I've been thinking about doing for a long time, so I hope to get some inspiration here!
I have 2 guest bedrooms that are no longer that. My house is small with no really good closets, so one bedroom has become a walk in closet. The stuff that's there is stuff I no longer use or want. Mostly clothes. I started filling large trash bags and hauling them downstairs and into the truck. Shoes, purses, belts, linen and towels to follow. Problem is, I got distracted midstream by the basement - we've had lots of rain and while our basement isn't flooded, it's a constant trickle. All the stuff down there is piled in the middle and I'm thinking that should go first so I can at least clean up the floor. Now I'm debating if I shouldn't just get a large dumpster. I wanted to recycle some of this to the Goodwill but it's too overwhelming. Wish I could just call in a crew...!! Yuck!!!
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Hi BC 101, Welcome aboard. Just want to let you know that animal shelters need towels constantly, so any you don't want would be a welcome donation. Know what you mean about the crew. I wouldn't mind one myself.
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Bunkie - re: the tree pictures - we went to Colorado just about every summer from 1973 to 1993. And we have tons of pictures of the exact same mountains & trees from every year!! Ex-husband didn't take pictures w/people.
Today my front door is being refinished w/new hardware. I haven't been able to close it correctly for a number of years due to subsidence in the Houston gumbo. Really a problem w/the neuropathy from chemo. Hooray I'll be able to answer the doorbell. Also side of the garage has some rotten wood since there's no overhang. They're replacing that wood & putting in new hardware that will be the same key as the front door. I can go through the key box & safely throw away a ton of keys that don't work anywhere.
bc101 - check w/Salvation Army. They pick up two days a week at my zip code so I've been scheduling 15 boxes or bags every other week. I know they're coming so I have to get the bags & boxes out. And it's nice to have them disappear as I go instead of sorting everything first.
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bc101 - You and I have the same basement. It is frustrating to say the least. Not a full flood but areas that need the wet vac and the dehumidifier runs constant. I have everything down there in platic bins. Planning to take it all to a storage unit. This is what is left after last years downsize. You really do want to get it up off the floor if you can.
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Great work, Ladies!!!
I'm in big trouble. My cousin's daughter (whom I love) will be attending college four nights a week here in the fall. She lives an hour south, which doesn't sound like much of a commute, but in the winter, we have KILLER fog. Seriously. You can't see the white line, nor can you see your hand in front of your face.
I've told her dad that I don't want her on the road in those conditions, and that she can stay with us on bad nights.
BUT WHERE???? My guest room is packed to the hilt with junk. Oh, it's doable... mostly extra linens, and I just have to find a home for the rest...(maybe the travel trailer?) and really, the fog doesn't start for months and months...
But now I have a motive and a deadline! I want to make it a nice little haven for her to sleep and study on the nights she does stay. Hmmm.... maybe a cute desk and a chair to go with the twin beds...
If it were anyone else, I'd just say "Good luck out there!"
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Oh yes, there's nothing like a deadline for motivation. My goal is to clear out my guest bedroom so I can sleep there! My hubby snores and I can't sleep in the same room. I've been sleeping on the couch and the hide-a-bed downstairs, but would love a nice, comfortable mattress. Sure I know what you're thinking - make him sleep there, but I stay up later than he does.
I got some bags packed with clothes and ready to haul out, but I've go a frozen shoulder and the beginning stages of LE, so can't lug around too much. I know ....enlist hubby's help, right? I will! Just gotta get going - too many distractions right now. I'm a part time caregiver for my mom who lives some distance from me - she has Alzheimer's and this week she's moving to memory care, so after that, there will be lots of time and no more excuses!
Happy decluttering all!
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I am so glad to find this thread! I've fluttering with FlyBaby for years, the routines work, but it doesn't have the accountability I need. Like someone said in the last couple of page, a deadline and motivation! The best things around for pushing me to get things done!
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Fluttering with Flybaby for years . . . that's me too! Starting on our storeroom today. Wish me luck.
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Good Luck!
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Good luck, Oncowarrior!
Today I need to tackle the kitchen. Either get the dished done by hand or get the dishwaher unclogged so I can get the dishes done that way. Can anyone tell I have a procrastination problem?
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Oh oh. I've scheduled Salvation Army for Tuesday and procrastinated all weekend. Well I sort of got one thing done. I was 2 months behind on my magazines & some come weekly, so that's a huge pile. I attacked those instead. Going to a concert shortly so will have to sort & box tonight.
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Tomorrow 92 year old FIL is out of town for the day, and we are sneaking over to his house to look inside each room and figure out ways to organize. (It's o.k. with him, he is grateful for our help.)
But with him gone, it will go faster, and we can make more comments without scaring him like we're removing all his "prized possessions"....
I'll take a camera and a notebook....
DH says there is an extra shed out back with some shelves... we can pack boxes of crap to "sort" and after Dad passes, all of that can go to the SIL who wants the house! That should make things a LOT easier!
We'll also remove all the important papers, and set aside items that need to be appraised. The papers will come to our house to the safe, and the "to be appraised" boxes stay in the house; some are fragile. We'll make it easier for the appraisers to do their job. (When Dad passes, we'll change all the locks on all the doors.)
He has already given us permission to remove any of Mom's (MIL's) stuff - she passed in January.
This just might be doable.
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OcoWarrior--Yes, I
would have more storage, just what I do NOT need!I have too much junk as it is!Blessing--Wow, what
a project!Sounds like you have a good
plan, though.Good Luck!Well, I did get the
dishwasher taken apart, cleaned out, and reassembled, but still not
working.Fills with water but
doesn'tget to the washer arms, for some
reason.Did get the dishes washed up,
AND got the bedroomand bathroom cleaned
up.Now for the kitchen, living room,
laundry room, spare bedroom and sewing room.Goal for this week
is to do 15 minutes of housework when I get home from work.That's my downfall, don’t have a lot of
energy when I get home from work, tend to be lazy and hit the recliner with a
book and veg out.Got to get out of the
habit of coming home and changing into PJs.0 -
Thanks for the reminder, Native Mainer. If I just do 10 minutes of housework/day, I'll keep on top of things. Like you, I tend to come home and sit, sit, sit. Nothing good about that!
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Good gracious, guys. I tried the 10-minute pickup (notice I specified 10, not 15 minutes), and wound up cleaning for two hours. House looks presentable, especially the entry,which was still full of winter boots and hats and scarves and gloves and so forth. I was able to vacuum the entire rug!
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15 boxes & bags loaded and sitting on the front porch for Salvation Army in the morning. There are 3 old suitcases and those are stuffed too. Also 4 straight back oak kitchen table chairs that were my grandmothers. I know, I know - but I don't need them and my son doesn't want them, so... Haven't had a boat since 1985 so the life jackets are going. Ditto 'off shore' fishing tackle. Three boxes of old Christmas decorations. Four cushions for outdoor chairs I no longer own. I've started on the framed pictures (not photos) but that won't be done for this pickup. Anyway, I can walk in my garage (staging area) so I'm ready to start on the next batch.
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Teka - they're in pretty bad shape. My ex put them in the attic 30 years ago. I have no desire or energy to refinish them at this point. Do you still think it's worth trying to sell?
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Thanks Teka.
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MinusTwo - you are on fire, Woman!
My stepson begged me for the vintage maple chairs a friend's mother had given me years ago. I had stripped them, but didn't like the style, and mentioned that I probably wouldn't use them with the table she also gave me (matching set.) So I gave him the chairs, hearing all about how he and DIL were going to refinish them, etc.
Funny.... when we visited their house several years later, they were nowhere in sight. I asked, and he said they had just fallen apart. Well, they were SOLID WOOD when he took them, so what happened? He said they got "damp" sitting out on the deck during the snow and rainstorms. GRRRRR!
NativeMainer - sorry about the dishwasher, although using it as a storage cabinet is still an option. DANG! I'm retired, and I still can't set aside ten minutes a day to de-clutter!
Good for you, BrooksideVT!
Teka - how goes it?
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Well, the project at Dad's house didn't exactly go as planned. The minute we got there, I sprayed every inch of filthy old carpet with Lysol. That actually did help.
Then we headed out to the back yard to check out the THREE decrepit sheds. UGH! Filled to the rafters with filthy, dirty, spiderwebby crap. I told DH that it would take a year for him and Dad to make enough space out there to do any good, and in the meantime, the heat would kill them both. (108 this week....) So we revised our plan.
The sheds stay as they are. Filled. When Dad passes, we can haul the crap out on to the lawn, open up the boxes (just in case) and whatever we don't want (like ALL of it) call 1-800-GOT-JUNK like they do on Hoarders. Two big burly men will haul all of it away and leave the area clean. They donate and recycle as much as they can.
In the house, we decided to start with all Mom's stuff. Dad still has all her magazines and books on the floor in the living room, making it hard to walk. The dining room table is filled with her decorations from Christmas to Thanksgiving, along with just being a flat space to pile stuff. If we can box up Mom's stuff and get it out of there (donate to our local hospice thrift store) that will be a start.
Then the middle bedroom was her craft and sewing room. I think we'll have free reign in there, too.
I took pictures, made notes, looked for furniture to repurpose, and DH measured the windows to replace the ripped drapes and curtains.
Unfortunately, we'll have to pace ourselves. We have a huge pile to sort through in our own garage, and that's really bugging me. Fortunately, we have a portable air conditioner that we can roll out there.
And I watched more Hoarders today on TV... Dad's house, definitely. Our house, not so much. We're cluttery, but clean.
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BrooksideVT--I do
that sometimes, too.If I can just get
started, that seems to be the hard part.Yesterday I got home, had a hour of computer work to do, didn't do any
housework.Aiming for better today.MinusTwo--YEAH!Good for you!
Blessings--good for
you for recognizing a need to change the plan.A portable air conditioner?Wow,
sounds like a great thing to have.Do be
careful in the heat!0 -
NativeMainer - before we got married, DH lived in a house in the mountains. It looked like a cabin, but had most of the comforts of home.... MINUS the central heating and air conditioning!
I should have known something was up when the first time I went there, all the decorative candles had completely melted over into an inverted U shape.... I found out later that if it was 98 degrees outside, it was 98 degrees in the living room.
There was also no heat except for a fireplace in the living room (upstairs), and a wood stove downstairs. The place was like an igloo when it snowed.
The first thing we bought when we got together was the portable AC unit... it was on wheels, and could be placed in any room.
Later on, DH decided to put in central heating and AC. That required a lovely propane tank out below the deck, but I didn't care. I no longer got a heart attack from sitting on a freezing toilet seat in the winter time.
Ahhh... the simple pleasures!
Anyway, we brought the portable AC unit with us when we moved to our city house. It's a nice bonus when we want to work in the garage and it's a gazillion degrees outside.
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I am still in awe of the whole portable AC idea! Boy that cabin was, um, primitive? Sitting down onto a freezing cold toilet seat would definitely be heart attack time!
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I thought about that. Seriously.
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I purged 7 boxes of Christmas decorations down to 1 box. It was a KILLER - sitting on the LR floor crying over the history of every single ornament. However I have one son who is not sentimental. And he's an adult & hasn't been her for Christmas in 20 years. (although I have been there) There's a chance that he'll open one box & look at what's inside. With 6 boxes - they would have gone directly to the dumpster when I died. Saved some pieces to send to nieces & nephews this Christmas. Gave a bunch to a friend who makes wreaths for all seasons. Maybe I'll mail my son a few every year with little notes about their history.
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Great idea about sending a few ornaments with notes about the history.
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