Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Share your decluttering activities and ideas.
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Nancy
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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby Nancy » Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:16 pm

H. is working on his office today.
I need to work on mine but it's become the stash & dash room.

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby Harriet » Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:50 pm

Wow, so much progress to admire here.

BookSaver, you will have a gorgeous dining space! Gook luck with more blocks of time.

So great to get the donations accomplished, Harmony - big space-takers from you and now they will bless someone else.

You'll master the stash-and-dash spaces, Nancy. You and dh are really powering through so much.

I'd better give a HOTSPOT REPORT. The top of dryer is pristine :) and easy to keep that way IF we stay vigilant around here. What happens is, that coming in with an armload of things we just naturally dump there! The dining table is much better, and if anything right now is a sorting station as Nancy mentioned hers had been. When the rest of the room is spiffed, I'll put a bouquet of silk flowers back there as a warning!! :lol: My desk is still not ready for prime time. No comment. ;) Soon, soon.

Question: do you consider organizing stuff the same as decluttering, or is decluttering totally getting rid of stuff?


Harmony, decluttering is any type of decision that clears or streamlines our spaces or lives, I think. The same amount of items might remain on my desk through my decluttering, for instance, but if they are organized into the cubbies, supply-holders and standing files I will have decluttered it.

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby blessedw2 » Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:32 pm

i know have so many hot spots...I know that to get my house clean again and feeling free it's time to go closet to closet again.

I may be overwhelmed but I think I am looking at it all wrong. Now I am looking at it as too overwhelming to tackle but I think I will start to look at it like an easter hunt (finding treasures I had forgotten about that I can share with other people) :D
it is always a joy to be here with you!

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby Harmony » Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:43 pm

Oh blessed, you can do this! Pick one spot and do that. It will look so good you will want to do another..and then another.... and then another.

Just think of all the blessings you give others when you let go of things. Others get new-to-them things and are happy with new treasures.

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby blessedw2 » Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:54 am

Thank you sweet Harmony! I think it's that beast you don't want to face because it seems so big and daunting, I am sure once I start I will get into it. It seems soooooooooooooo big. lol.
it is always a joy to be here with you!

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Nancy
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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby Nancy » Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:47 am

You can't organize clutter. Flylady

To answer the q. do you consider orgnaizing stuff the same as decluttering, or is decluttering totally getting rid of stuff?

De cluttering to me is totally different than organizing, de-cluttering is actually getting rid of stuff like when I put it into the car trunk and get rid of it by donating it to the thrift shop or tossing it in to the trash and getting it out of the house to me that is de-cluttering. Just moving it from one room to another does not really help at all it just moves the choas to another spot in the house. That's my take on it.

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby Harmony » Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:36 pm

Well, do you think if one moves a pile of junk or unneeded or used-up stuff to another that is not considered decluttering since the mess is just moved. But perhaps sorting that pile, washing the dirty pieces, filing the papers, etc. etc. actually gets rid of the mess and the original spot is considered decluttered?

I just wondered what you guys thought about that. I've noticed that sometimes when I clean out, declutter, organize, some portion of the stuff is simply moved somewhere else. I can remember thinking I was just chasing stuff from one place to another. All food for thought.

Today I stopped at thrift store which was in a different town, and though I tried on all kinds of clothes, I came out with nothing. I could have used some dressy tops, but decided anything I bought would have to be stunning, primo, etc., and nothing fit the bill. I did find a pair of shoes, new unused for 4.97 that I'd bought an identical pair for $40.00 earlier this year. Those came home with me!

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby Nancy » Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:12 am

Harmony I'd say that counts for cleaning!

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby Harriet » Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:27 pm

Harmony, since we know the things in an organized closet or drawer could be tossed about and made to look like clutter, then we have to admit that a bunch of cluttery looking stuff may all be "keepers" that are just disorganized. Teenagers swear that is true all the time! LOL! You don't know what you have until you SORT.

I don't think we can deny that cleaning and decluttering overlap a LOT. How can we clean without sorting, really, unless we have the power of levitation like Jeannie or Mary Poppins! LOL If we had a fabulous piece of china but never put a hand to it to clean it so that the design could be seen, would it really be clutter as much as a paper plate is? Maybe so!

I found it funny you talked about chasing things from one place to another. My dmother used to get frustrated and call dusting "moving the dust around" ;) (hey, maybe that's why I love swiffer!) and used to talk about straightening up as moving the piles around. So I know what you mean.

It is so easy to say, "a place for everything", but the truth is it's very hard to find the right place for everything and there is actually a lot of the dreaded miscellaneous in all our homes. I hope you are not beating yourself up about not finding a place for everything that has value - that is universal, okay?

It is porch and entry week. My porch really does not get much clutter. The worst is Sammie's stuff :) and I have tidied that quickly. Our entry is cleared and things look good. Ready for next week cleaning, which means Sammie's fur/shedding which gets caught on our wire-cut type bricks that line the edge of the porch.

Next week for decluttering is bedroom week. This is always the week I sort of look forward to, since there is just so much room for improvement! :oops: I probably get more of that "before and after" feeling with master bedroom declutters than any other room.

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Re: Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

Postby bittersweet » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:57 am

Master bedroom? Oh boy! Mine is a disaster! There's just so much STUFF in there...most of it we don't want to get rid of, but haven't found appropriate homes for yet. And the filing....don't even get me started on the filing! Actually...maybe if I DID get started on it, it might get done one day? :oops: This could be a challenging week for me...dining room focus and master bedroom decluttering. :?
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Ralph Waldo Emerson


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