October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Share your decluttering activities and ideas.
blessedw2
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby blessedw2 » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:41 pm

went to donation place with all the things (except 1 newer shorts) that were too small for me (most have been in the cleaners bags for 2 years) - actually feeling really good getting rid of so much. Why keep looking at something as something that makes me feel inadequate.
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby BookSaver » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:09 am

Blessedw2 ~ Great job, both with finding a solution to the laundry mountain and in decluttering clothes.

Harriet ~ Harmony mentioned the dorm-size bathroom storage. There is something to that, especially for your DD. Check in the makeup section of Target and places like that for travel cases, as well as in the luggage department.

Here is the set of cases that I recently bought to take to sewing retreats:
joy mangano ultimate better beauty case

Hmm, well it isn't exactly the same, because mine came with 2 extra clear pods instead of the velvet ones. I bought them because I thought it was a decent price compared to the time it would take me to sew that many zippered bags.

I've used them twice now and so far so good. The smaller one has my travel size personal care items, and the large one holds my sewing tools and threads. Yes, I realize that anyone else would switch those around. :)

I like the fact that they roll up for storage, but also roll out to either lie flat or hang on a hook.

I love the fact that it is separate pouches. Before I got these, I used a travel case and a sewing box, and in both cases I had to paw through everything to find the item I wanted. Now I have my toothbrush & toothpaste in one pod, and it's separate from my deodorant, which is separate from my earrings.

Since the shopping site has been selling these for awhile, I would guess there is a version sold in stores. I know I have seen this designer's (Joy Mangano) hangers in Target.

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Harriet
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby Harriet » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:36 am

BookSaver forgive me, I edited your post and just left the name of the product instead of the link. My computer virus detection went crazy on the HSN site so I figured it's better to just do a search. But I saw the storage pouch and see what you're saying.

Yes, that might be a help to have something that holds a bunch of little things but just looks like a textile purse/mini-luggage. Dd doesn't wear makeup, although she does have some acne meds, etc. It's her hair paraphernalia that goes on and on. Harmony, I wish she could set up in her room for some things, too, and I even have my late mother's antique vanity table to give her. But there is just zero extra space in the room and in fact what she needs is some kind of freestanding closet. Actually I've already bought 2 of those storage drawer cubes to see if they help, so, fingers crossed.

blessed, my ddad doesn't come into the master bedroom, no. So if I do have to place a piece of storage furniture, it should be okay. In theory he doesn't go into dd's room either, but he has been in there in confusion a few times - the door is nearest his. I've told dd that's one reason her room has to stay picked up. If there is clutter on the floor it's hard enough for the rest of us to navigate, so we sure can't have him trying to step over things.

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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby BookSaver » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:10 pm

Harriet, I'm sorry that site gave you problems. That type of travel case would be perfect for DD's hair stuff, again because the individual clear pouches would let her sort in a way that is convenient to her. Plus it is cute to carry if she ever spends the night at a friend's or sibling's house.

Another easy option, if you're talking hair accessories that are relatively small & flat, would be a 3-ring binder with clear zipper pouches.

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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby blessedw2 » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:24 pm

it's so sweet that your dd looks after your ddad by having her room picked up. I know you will find something that works perfectly for you d harriet
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby ellyphant » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:52 pm

Donated medicine cabinet to thrift store.
Recycling dropped off, too!
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blessedw2
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby blessedw2 » Fri Oct 19, 2012 1:11 pm

great job d elly to get rid of recycling AND medicine cabinet!!!!

I am finding (for me)
1. that I need to do a little dejunking each day (today I went into dh's office where we have what we call "the library" (sounds so fancy)
and donated 10 books and recycled one
2. when I do major dejunking I have to work in that area only and ask for help w dailies

also donating a cute pale yellow hoodie, sad to find the one pair of dress shorts that I have kept for over 2 years still had the tag on them but because of something had spots all over them - so I had to touch them
I think for me that tossing also reminds me of spending - how much i spent on stuff that I ended up tossing over the years.
also donated some things that are halloween type things. all my stuff.
Last edited by blessedw2 on Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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blessedw2
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby blessedw2 » Fri Oct 19, 2012 1:16 pm

I really feel and feel proud for the people on the hoarding shows that go through their whole house and dejunk every day that are finally able to have a livable space. I can't imagine how they handle touching all that stuff and have to make decisions on such a large amount of stuff all at once. I can also see how not hitting hot spots can make things invisible and the more it becomes invisible the higher the piles can become.

For all those who are dejunking and trying to save your money by not bring more stuff in - I am VERY PROUD OF YOU. (no matter where you are in the process - I am so proud of you!!!!)

getting rid of SOMETHING even one thing a day (even if it's a piece of garbage) is a blessing.
it is always a joy to be here with you!

blessedw2
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby blessedw2 » Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:07 pm

at the donation place I met a really lovely woman. you could see she was creative, warm, loving and also loved the outdoors in her life time by her donations. She was 30 years my senior.

it could have been me - re: her donations 10 years ago. She had kept native prairie plants that she carefully, in her mind, dried. She gave a very large bag of these treasures. I understood her love of nature and what experiences she had while she picked those specimens. She could still see, in these fragile overly brown and broken branches and dried out flowers, the beauty of what they were when she first had found them. How she talked about her "finds" with such love and affection. The lady taking collections looked at me as if to say "why is she donating these, doesn't she know we are going to toss them?" You could see she was thinking "poor woman". She couldn't see what the woman saw - a space in time - the end of a summer day where Queen Anne's Lace opened themselves up for her pleasure, breezes gently caressing her hair and sun warming her as she saw "all that was right in the world" . I myself have saved treasures in the past, pieces of drift wood, a stone or two, flowers pressed, a deer horn found on my walks, a paper wasp hive with all the inhabitants gone and so much more that I shared for years with my children, the willing child in scouts or in school until I finally realized I needed to let them go.

Seeing this wonderful woman and "her" treasures I realized that sometimes, as a SHE,I and others can't see what we have is not a collection to other people and in truth, many many times, may need to be let go before its use has faded. I saw this over and over again when I collected items for those affected by Katrina. People donated things that were in "their" mind treasures; the items were "just too good to toss" and "here is someone I can help". I received 1/2 used bottles of cream and shampoo, too many to count, ripped sheets and blankets almost worn through and clothes with holes and spots in them; because these individuals were heartbroken to "just toss it out". It was done out of love for their fell human beings but not comprehending that their items were not good enough for them to keep and definitely not good enough for someone who had just lost their home. I kindly accepted these "treasures" and had to make numerous decisions to let them go in the trash.

I think seeing this again helps me let go so that my children do not have a memory of me keeping things beyond their use and not living in the moment. Letting go is a good thing and when something really doesn't have a use any more, tossing it, blesses yourself and others too. It's not the thing that was special, it was that moment in time and those that you love.
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Harriet
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Re: October 2012 Three-Quarter-Year Mark Declutter

Postby Harriet » Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:16 pm

That was beautifully stated about the woman who kept nature things, blessed, and your own appreciation for natural treasures. My mother kept nature items that others probably wouldn't understand, too, like displaying a leaf that insects had made look like a piece of lace, or a weathered turtle shell that had turned white in the sun. This was because she had been a teacher, and so I wonder if the lady you met may have been a teacher at one time. ( I know you are. )

One of the recent hoarding shows I saw was about a former teacher whose husband died suddenly in an accident, and ever since then, the nature things she kept made less and less sense. But as they cleaned they thought to leave one small room as a nature-collections room and display some of the things. I thought that was brilliant, because the woman was sort of making sense if she could still find someone to teach, it's just that she had lost her ability to find a stopping place. So leaving her one room of displays gave her her dignity back.

Also, on a very recent show the family of a lady (who, yes, was truly sick) brought their anger with her down to one either/or choice. That either she would throw away this one small polished rock she liked, or else they were deciding she was choosing her things over them. Although I agreed that she seemed to have been choosing her things over people for a long time and yes, it was tragic, it was sad, she was wrong of course. But to pressure her to throw away one specific tiny trinket (and they insisted that she literally throw it out away from the house so that it couldn't be found) seemed ridiculous to me. I looked at that polished rock and heard her saying, "But I have a plan for it", and I completely understood that thought! They kept saying, "It's a rock!" Well, duh. There were rocks in their jewelry, too, but they weren't about to throw those away, so that wasn't a valid comment.


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