I am decluttering - This is war

LOL, so am I!

Remember, do it in baby steps. Don't burn yourself out.

Good luck with it,

I.

You GO Girl!!!

I started a similar project in May or June...whenever..and I'm still working my way to the finish line. We too needed to de-clutter like you wouldn't believe. Mostly mine is stuff I have no room for...yet! Plus things that should be put away where they belong. Like there is an eating bar in the kitchen...you do know that no one could ever eat there because it's always covered with JUNK! Newspapers, junk mail, lunch buckets, and other miscellaneous JUNK, none of which needs to be there. I had a talk with hubby and grandson ( who lives here...18 y/o) and both know better than to leave stuff laying around. So now that you get the condition...a lot of other areas are the same way.

My plan of attack was...take one room..only one and don't worry about the rest. I started with the laundry room because it was small and more manageable...and wouldn't be so depressing. I think I took a long 2 weeks to do one tiny room that is home to a washer, dryer, upright freezer and a 4' set of shelving plus the dog's dishes...that's it! and those are wall to wall. I would empty one area/shelf/drawer at a time, take care of everything that needed to be done there, wash and replace in good condition. I even had the old toothbrush ane q-tips out..lol Before I was done I had put a fresh coat of paint on the walls and painted a scene on one wall with the window in it. Did some birch trees with chickadees on a couple of the branches. Wow, that room looks good.

Then the 1st of April I began taking care of my grandson 4 or 5 days a week and everything stopped! Arrggggg.... I'd one with the baby sitting so it's time to return to the project. Now, what I need from you, Donnaeil, is some enthusiasm and encouragement to get back to it!

OK, I've babbled way too long and bored you all to tears...
Chutzie

I would love to do this, and need to do it!  The things I've accumulated drive me crazy, but I always think I'll "need" it later!  I used to watch a tv show called "Neat".  I loved it, and it always got me pumped up, but I guess not enough to do it.  I'm going to try now!  :)

I agree Marlee. I wish my mother had never thrown away my original Barbie's.

I kind of know what they want to keep so I am making separate boxes for each of them.

Got lots of help from here:

Take baby steps

One room at a time

Give Chutz lots of enthusiasm and ecouragement.

I want my living room and bedroom, including closets to be completed by the Fall. This will keep me working on my projects and proposals when the sun leaves Seattle.

Ditto

Donnaeil

Please Donnaeil could you convince my husband that we need to do this also? His idea of a home is a desk full of two years worth of paperwork and boxes and boxes of magazines. I think he has the first catalog he ever got. From my chair to his desk is a maze.

He wont let me throw anything away. He's terrified because 39 years ago when we had been married less than a couple of months I threw away something of importance and he found it in the trash. Since then life here has been a nightmare.

I want to unclutter too!! <sob>

I plead guilty to being a 'hoarder'. i throw nothing out. my life is organised chaos. its just too overwhelming, so i shove everything (except actual clothes) in the wardrobe or under the bed. the very same technique i used as a child. In my bedroom i have a queen sized bed, a huge tv & dvd with entertainment unit and a desk with all my work/school stuff- essay marking etc. i just cant GET to the desk. I have a built in robe packed full of junk and my clothes are hanging off an old camping rack.

cos i had my own home before moving back in with the parents, i have a whole house full of furniture sitting in their shed. I cannot throw stuff out. I always find a 'sentimental' excuse to keep something.

"Hi. My name's Maz and im addicted to hoarding. im not sure when i last saw my actual carpet or a bathroom surface."

Maz XX

I have tried flylady over and over again. I just can't get into the routines. Not sure if I'm just lazy, or if there is something wrong with my head!! I want a clean home so badly, but I feel overwhelmed when looking at it, and can't seem to find where to start.
I need someone to come in and say "Okay, let's get rid of this and this and this, and let's put this here, and let's give this away"
I just don't make decisions very well.

ivy6 said...
(look at moi, Maz, look at moi) I have one word to say to you all :

FLYlady.

You have a wonderful sense of "'umour!" lol and where did you hide my Dippity Bix?

Maz XX

We did this last August.  We were going to move to Ca. from St. Louis area and already had a place in Ca. that had been our get away place.  We already had everything we needed there.  Soooooooooooo we called up all of the relatives and told them to come over and take whatever they wanted!  We gave everything-furniture, books, dishes etc. away.  We filled a trailer with the things we wanted and hauled that to Ca.  Now I think we still have too much stuff.  I made a vow to only get books through the library from now on.

 

Puppylover

I just spent the past few days getting rid of 'stuff'. During my yrs of teaching in public school and for my church, I have collected so many books, art supplies, etc. I finally had to tell my super at the church that I wouldn't be able to return this yr. Physically and mentally, I just can't do it anymore. So, now I have all these 'things' and nowhere to go w/ them.

I had planned to go thru everything at the end of the school yr and toss. My plans met a roadblock. So finally I was going to be ruthless and throw stuff out and see if any schools wanted some of the things. I have 2 p/u a wk from garbage for the summer. My can runneth over, lol.

I have several bags of books and supplies in excellent shape, so I will try to get one of the schools interested in these items. It goes against my grain to throw out books. My porch looks so MUCH bigger now. Can't wait to reclaim my living room, that is where the bags are sitting for now.

In the midst of all this fun, my stove/oven decided to die. Naturally, I had just put the dinner in the oven to cook. I had to tear my kitchen apart b/c I had to get a new stove/oven. I have been cleaning and moving things and right now I hurt so bad and have a miserable headache, but I do have my stove/oven in and my garbage can filled to capacity. I hope I'm hitting the right keys, since I had to remove my glasses due to this head blasting pain.

I will wait a few days, at least, till I start my next project. I want to savor the fun, make it last.   I hate being under the gun.

I need a lottery win so I can pay someone to come in and get rid of this stuff and get some order in my life, w/o my body paying the price. Nice dream, huh?

God bless.  Alice.

Donnaeil, it's all getting to you, you called Sherrine Marlee, hehehe. I started back in the spring to declutter my house and didn't get very far with it. I have a toy box which is a deacon's bench sitting in my living room now waiting for my GD to make up her mind whether she wants it or not. We do recycle stuff in our family. It took me 6 mos to declutter the old house before we sold it. We have only lived here a little over 4 yrs and I can't believe how it has multiplied again. Our garage is a disaster cause that is as far as things seem to get. Energy is the problem, I don't have enough to make a big difference in here. I have a room which started out to be my office and personal space at the other end of the house that looks like a tornado went through it, everything seems to end up in there that I don't know what to do with. I look in there sometimes and just shake my head, don't know where to begin. I'm not doing anything now til fall and the weather starts to get cooler cause I want to enjoy the rest of the summer.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

I do research for my writing. Right now I am working on two books one about exercise for people who are not the jock type and the other about educating children without the use of curriculum.

I research thousands of studies and interview hundreds of people before I narrow my scope down to one book.

I agree that Flylady does to much in one day. I could not muster up the energy to begin her program.

I have to declutter. We lived in an 11 room house and moved to a 5 room apartment. Even though we got rid of a lot of stuff we keep adding on. Our next home will be larger but I am determined to not fill it up.

A woman gave me a bit of advice, for everything you bring in to your home you should get rid of two others. Sigh, I wish I listened. Even better, I wish one of my children had.

Oh, speaking of my offspring, my sons collect computers and gaming equipment. We have software that should have been buried years ago. Every once in a while they stop by and pick one item up. Sigh.

Donnaeil