No one is going to rescue my house but me. I might get a hand from my kids ( well, big hands from DD1), but I need to be the driver. I didn't realize until I was an hour into the spare room how overwhelming it was. Was it really just six years ago that I tackled it before DD1 had a friend from England stay, followed by nearly 6 weeks of DD2's bestie? Years of crap just getting piled in corners and two years of DD2 haphazardly hauling stuff back from school, put in the room with no rhyme or reason took it's toll. Stuff crammed in dresser drawers that should have never come into the house. Subscription box clutter with an item or two in each box, the box itself saved because it was such a nice sturdy box for wrapping gifts (?(&^)(?). Art pieces DH bought with no plan for where to hang on walls. But I'm tackling the room like eating an elephant, a bite at a time.
Massive # of Boxes Combined for Home Shopping
I purged stuff not fit to donate and still filled sizeable boxes to donate. I tossed clutter from travel-do I really need print brochures of places we went? I salvaged unopened products DD2 never used and she'll either restock from a bin, or we'll donate if she doesn't need. I don't even want to know how much was spent on all these unused/ unopened items. It was lack of organization. Buying duplicates or triplicates because she didn't know what she already had.
I am wore out and sore, being overweight, arthritic, and having a bum knee is hard on a body when doing physical work. I still need to do the closet, other things needed attention too this weekend, so that will be another weekend. Another closed door. I have a better idea on what I can get done in an hour, so will challenge myself each night. I'll commit at least one of the two weekend days for the big jobs. It might take until spring but it's a plan. It's not just this room, but our bedroom, DD2's room, the kitchen cupboards, the closet under the stairs, and the linen closet that are all bursting with too much stuff. The bathrooms aren't cluttered, just need major work.
The next door neighbor must have done one of the house sells, sight unseen, packed what she or her boys wanted to keep, then walked away. For weeks people were hauling stuff, company employees, hauling stuff if resell able, filling a dumpster multiple times. Now they've been doing house clean up and repairs, not enough construction for an all out remodel. I thought at first a guy working outside was our new neighbor. Nope, he said, it's going on the market Monday. That was weeks ago and no for sale sign and still more of him in and out with a few others. Why am I sharing this? I guess I keep those dumpsters in my head as I fill a bag or box to get rid of. I don't want anyone pulling multiple dumpsters from my house when I move.
Yet, the thought of starting fresh, taking only what I really need or want to keep and just pitching the rest has a sort of appeal. Maybe I need to have in the back of my brain, would I want to take this stuff with me if I move? For most of the clutter, the answer is a whole hearted no. Wish me luck that that the thought is a good motivator to keep on going.
I love decluttering, and keep up on it regularly. That said, somehow we always still find new pockets that need attention. I'm not sure how that happens! Good luck with your project!
ReplyDeleteThat's my problem. I didn't keep up on it regularly and now am needing deep dives.
DeleteI understand how hard this is, having completed a move just 2 years ago in which I think I could have created a small landfill with the stuff just crammed in one closet. From that move, several in this house have learned that there is really no shame in getting rid of things. The best advice I can give, so you don't get overwhelmed, is have a plan to deal with the things being removed THAT DAY. By that, I mean, if it is clothing, put it in a bag, and get that bag in the car and to the bins, or, at least in the car, before you go to bed. Trash gets taken out. Also, do not feel guilt because you had to toss something rather than hanging on to it to find the right owner for it. I also do a "three things tossed" days, where I take an area and toss out three items--old papers, magazines, drying up pens.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great plan Meg!
DeleteI agree moving things to just a different place will not solve the issue of too much stuff. I need to clean then get it out of here.
DeleteThe thought of starting fresh is very appealing to me too - especially after my son bought a new apartment and all new furniture! When I can get my act together I really find setting a timer to 1 hour motivates me to get so much done. And of course it doesn't have to be every day but I'm sure you (we?) would make so much progress in just an hour every day. And I really don't have an excuse because I don't work! Still, cut yourself some slack, I think you are extremely industrious!
ReplyDeleteI see m daughters cute and clutter free bohemian space and it feels so good. That is what I hope to achieve.
DeleteI packed up 20 years worth of stuff from our house,recovering from a massive pulmonary embolism, 3 months prior (that apparently I could have died from), except the basement and a few things in the single car garage and moved them to a house that was my dads, which was still full of his belongings, that I packed up and would help him load a few boxes every day for him to move. My husband loaded every box onto our truck (last memorable count was 35 truckloads, not including furniture) and brought it to the house and unloaded it and moved it to the basement to store until we actually got completely moved in. In between we hired a contractor to repaint the entire townhome, with some miscellaneous repairs, ordered a new dishwasher, refrigerator, and stove,and hired a service to replace the carpet and the flooring in the kitchen, which I also had to pick out. Once we got moved in, my husband would bring up about 6 boxes a day and I would empty a cupboard or whatever needed packing up, clean it and pack away some of our stuff. Yes, it was overwhelming - yes, I was sore (I also had/have degenerative disks in my back, osteoarthritis in my knees and a bum shoulder that hurts all the time)- yes, I wanted to give up so many times but I got to see my dad every day and I rarely saw him otherwise, and I was moving into an old house with coving, and original woodwork and solid wood doors and a fireplace and a gazebo in the back yard - well, it was totally worth it and I'm so glad we did it. We live in a small town now and my husband still commutes 45 miles, one way to work and has no regrets. You've got this girl. Yes, think about having to move, or downsize, as it will help you make decisions. I threw tons of stuff, donated tons of stuff and still had stuff that I marked and sold in a garage sale (2.5 month after we moved into the house) that also included stuff that I marked and sold for my dad. And, in true fashion of my previous success, had a successful sale and only 1 load of stuff to donate afterwards. In conclusion, probably my last move and more than likely, probably my last garage sale. You will feel 25 pounds lighter. I did.
ReplyDeleteI hope I feel 100 pound slighter! I need this done while my health is as good as it is. Plus, I think I'll mentally feel better wick should help me physically feel better.
DeleteHonestly, it is just so easy to accumulate crap. I swear it breeds. I was a failure last month on my declutter, but I guess I had some excuses.mostly who wants to do it? Yes we are the drivers of our homes. I think my car broke down some where along the line....
ReplyDeleteYes-it breeds, but then, I don't remove, I merely too often have just moved things. That is the spare bedroom situation.
DeleteI do not know how stuff accumulates. It just does. It is always overwhelming for me to clear it. I try attacking one area at a time but, I am too lazy even for that. My kitchen cupboards need a serious purge. I have been postponing that forever. I just promised myself to take care of them before the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteMy daughters room will be next since she can provide some oversight, but then the kitchen cupboards. If I don't cook or store with it, it has to go.
DeleteHello Sam, I love being surrounded by "friendly clutter" but even I have to admit that my store room is getting out of hand, so I am making that my project for the irregular future. However, right now because of Covid it is not the easiest time to give stuff away.
ReplyDelete--Jim
This is unfriendly clutter. It's not loved books on books helves, but piles of paperwork in envelopes that need filing. gifts given to people in my house that are not our style or thing and should have been donated straight off. My MIL has some interesting gift choices and it is hard to not smile, thank her, and keep way too long.
DeleteLast Monday I was having a particularly bad day and while making the 45 minute drive to my dad’s house I contemplated not stopping and just heading as far west as I could, with nothing but the clothes on my back. (I told you it was a bad day!) Obviously I didn’t and I don’t know if it’s a mid life crisis talking or what but the thought was so appealing. Having helped my in-laws pack the bare necessities to move their family hundreds of miles away was eye opening. They left so much behind. It really puts into perspective what we need versus what we want and the amount of money we waste on “stuff” especially with little kids. I wish we would have bought less and saved more but it’s so easy to look back on it now and think about how we could have done better
ReplyDeleteWhen I used to travel to DC, we stayed in one of the Residence Inns, that are basically an efficiency apartment, but with hotel symmetry. I used to pretend in my head it was my home and tat I could actually live there.
DeleteI just gave up on the idea of giving away patterns and threw three huge boxes of patterns in the trash. I just finished the fourth box. There I found patterns I wanted to keep, not many. And four I will try to give away. Tommy's clutter needs to go, not for my sake, but for his. He says it is not worth anything. So, why keep it.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad someone on like Facebook market place wouldn't have snatched the pattern sup, but better to just be done with them. What's the point of keeping a pattern that won't be made into anything.
DeleteI was swapping out winter clothes; thought I was done and found yet another bin. Too much! Made me think of the Afghanistans running to get on airplanes with nothing but maybe one bag of possessions.
ReplyDeleteThose images haunt me as well-and yet, they will persevere when they get to a new home.
DeleteWe have had many Afghan refugees here in Wisconsin at Fort McCoy as part of their re-location process. They were begging for donations of clothes for the people. What they did bring with them is not sufficient for cold weather. After the donations started coming in they had to ask for smaller sizes of clothes as it seems the donations were plentiful in much larger sizes than were needed. What an adjustment ahead for them.... chris
DeleteI am with you! Right now at the bottom of the stairs sits 3 boxes of stuff waiting for me to take it for donations. And there is much more to come!
ReplyDeleteYour tales of managing three homes is motivating. You can't get around furniture and art work, but my kids sure do not need to go through bric-a-brac, nonsense paperwork, and crafts from 1998.
Delete