November 2012 Declutter Strategies

[Harriet]

Welcome HOME, dear declutterers!

The holiday months are here, with special gatherings ahead!
We want our minds and hearts freed to celebrate and reflect. So we need visual calm that hides ... more calm underneath.

How can we focus our decluttering and organizing efforts to allow a relaxing and happy season?

As we pull out seasonal items - decor, correspondence, serving-ware, wrappings - let's see if we can take a moment and reorganize as we go! Declutter, simplify, order, straighten and align all those cheerful things to make this year (and next) a little easier!

[Harmony]

I have lots (almost all) of my inside Christmas decorations on the top shelves of my bedroom closet. That is a very challenging space for me as I keep all sorts of stuff in there, besides my hang-up clothes and shoes. I have all my gift wrapping stuff there, spare boxes, my vacuum cleaner, my bins of fabric, my jewelry armoire, my violin, a stack of unused picture frames, a bin with our blow-up mattresses, travel accessories. Ha! Reading all this I'm surprised that I have enough space for my clothes!

Several times a year I go through and straighten everything up. I always do a major clean-up after the holidays while I am putting all the decorations away. This year because of my non-stop sewing, I've done no straightening up. My fabric stash in there is a big mess. I have a couple sizes of clothes that I'm not wearing any more...my shoes are in huge disarray.

I don't have time enough to deal with it yet. It's first up on my list in January, after my tax chores are done. I can hardly look in there without cringing. AK!

[BookSaver]

Last weekend I posted about gathering trash from the yard, car, & shed. I almost filled the trash bin, leaving just enough room for the bag from the house that would go out Wednesday night.

Unfortunately, I did not remind DH about the stuff in the bin Wednesday night. He just took the bag from the house straight to the curb. So that's a setback in decluttering.

Goals for this weekend:

1) It's time again to get corrugated cardboard boxes out of the house. Where do they all come from? Will ask DH if he wants to burn them, or if there are enough to bundle I think they can go out with recycling.

2) Make sure Christmas decorations and wrapping supplies are all together.

3) Must figure out how to adjust the process of garbage removal! I need to ask DH about a metal trash can by the shed. I think he dislikes it because it's not on wheels, but if he doesn't need it for yard work then I can use it for excess trash. We are only allowed to set out 1 bin or bag per week, and most weeks we don't have a full bin. However, there are times like now when I have a block of time to declutter and could potentially fill a few cans at once.

[Nancy]

Yesterday on my walk I saw a gal putting away some thing under the deck storage and realized it was her Halloween decorations! Great strategy! Love that one.

Divide and conquer is my strategy. I am working on just half of the dining table. I had 4 containers of stuff to sort put away on trays, in baskets etc. so got two of those done yippie for progress!!

Yesterday did just the kitchen and waited on the dining room until today or later.

Problem: I tend to keep reusable containers that I might need some day and some times do use again but they do not need to be kept on the kitchen counter & dining table. So I've been trying to find spots for those and thin them out a bit. [Even 10% less is still progress.]

[blessedw2]

that's exactly what I want dharriet... for my family to feel like my house is a home at all times. What a great idea - peace and calmness underneath. Actually that's how my halloween was... I kept trying to find something I missed, I even cooked a nice dinner in a clean but not perfect kitchen as dh and dd gave trick and treaters. I love that peace - didn't know what to do with it at first lol - but really enjoyed the calmness and everyone loving halloween without strife.

dharriet thank you - I don't know what I would do without this thread to remind me to continue on dejunking and making my house a home for my family - part of my ADD

dharmony what a great idea dejunking before putting the Christmas things away. For your closet can you give 15 min maybe 2 times a week (no more - I have to force my self to quit) - working in only one area (I go left to right or right to left). my big dejunking over the years I did a 1' x 1' area (I do think our dharriet recommended it). It works for me.

dnancy... what a great idea - it's fun what we can learn from each other.

[blessedw2]

donated a crocheted blanket that my dmom made when I was 16 - I have had it hung up clean for so long. my dmom didn't mean to make me feel guilty about not using it (but I did feel guilty); she decorated my room the way she wanted when I was young and I didn't have a choice. I know she made it out of love but it reminded me that I didn't get a lot of choices as she was very strong willed. She has really changed so much but this large bed quilt didn't fit me then and didn't fit who I am today. So I need to let the guilt go; I do not have any doubts about letting go of this item as I feel lighter because it's gone.

my dmom has donated, back to me lol, many things that we have given her even hand made things. so I have to see it that way, even if she unintentionally asks why I gave things away. I feel like it's her dream that she doesn't want to keep and wants me to hold on to it.

also donated a recent purchase of a cookbook that sounded good on impulse but really too out there for real cooking. donated other books that i have read.

How do you deal with the guilt when someone well meaning gives you things that don't work with who you are, especially parents? I also am looking to see if I expect my children to do the same.

letting Go!!! Remembering what is important to me may not have the same meaning to my digress

[Nancy]

WTG everyone!

I loaded a couple things in the car trunk to be donated next time we are down town.

I really need to sort the gkids books as we still use them maybe just putting half of them down stairs would help when they get them all out will be less to pick up at one time. I could just do every other one not thinking about it! Now there's an idea! poofing to do that!

[blessedw2]

dnancy I had a card to switch out books once a week (keeping the ones they were involved in during play) and then add a couple new library books based on what they had been interested in - maybe you can do every 2 weeks (it helps with the clean up as dkiddo's will always take all out lol)

great work dnancy and everyone

[Nancy]

Love that idea Blessed!
Donations were delivered to the lib. & thrift shop in the past few days.

Saved my self from Chicken brick a brack at a yd. sale had to hold myself back from the dust catchers! LOL!

[Harriet]

I think the well-meaning gifts and the bric-a-brac/dustcatchers chats overlap!

I don't buy bric-a-brac that I myself like - which is a shame - because I have learned that a gracious plenty of it comes as gifts. Most of the "dustcatchers", as Nancy calls them, in my house remind me that another person gave them to me with all best intentions and that I decided to hang onto them as much because of the person as the thing. Right now, for the sake of this chat, I am trying, honestly, but can hardly think of a decorative object I dust (except photo frames) that I picked out myself. LOL. I remember when dfirstmil decided that dd-now-32 should have a new small rabbit figurine every year. I remember dd asking me quietly, "Why does she think I want these?" when she received the fourth or fifth. Little did she know she would end up with 20. I do like some of "my" dustcatchers, though perhaps I've grown attached to them because of familiarity as much as because they are what I would've liked. Time passes and eventually they become "The ducks that always sit on the vanity." instead of "Why did your aunt give me these ducks?"

My mother used to have a regular comment she made when gift-giving was talked about. She would say very clearly, "Don't give me anything to dust!" Maybe that helped her get fewer dustables through her life, I'm not sure.

One exception to that rule about my not having items I chose is tree ornaments. I have chosen some of those and love each one. That's one place/time of year when the more really is the merrier.

The rotating idea might work for gifts, blessed. Keep just one or two things a regular visitor gave you that you like, and alternate setting them out in an obvious place? I am only slightly ashamed to admit I do this with tabletop photos of people. If I know in advance we will have a visit from a certain family member, I make sure a photo of them is not hidden in a drawer right then, but suddenly makes an appearance!

Harmony, I too have Christmas decorations on the top shelves of my bedroom closet. And yes, that can be challenging. I too have all my gift wrapping stuff there, spare boxes, a stack of unused picture frames, and it is my "gift closet". Reading your post did not reform me. Instead it made me wonder if I could find a place in there for the vacuum cleaner.