January, 2022 Decluttering by Design

[Nancy]

My goal is to get the bag of items to declutter that is in the basement upstairs in one of the rig and to the donation center this next week.

Oh just had a great thought the oil etc. stuff I will ask dgd if she needs wants it if not if she will take it away for me, maybe the auto mech. schoolplace can use it where she attends, for her welding classes.

[blessedw2]

that is a great idea d Nancy - I know our county has a recycling day a couple times a year where they take oil.
yay on your decluttering!!!

[blessedw2]

I have 4 bags in the back of the car and a nice camera bag that was dd Youngers (like brand new)
more things from closet also donated.

I did something that dh doesn't know about
my husband is a keeper of multiple things but really doesn't know what is on the shelves that I separated years and years ago. The things sit there and haven't been used.

IE: measuring tapes - he has 4 on his work bench and a couple inside the house. (so I got rid of the ones that were in the box that hadn't been in there for years. 5 are gone to donation.

safety glasses - he uses only one as he has glasses. I found out he kept 6 others for me - he just didn't want to get rid of it. So I kept one for the house and put his on his work bench for hanging. Most were scratched and I had to toss them. I donated one.
today he wanted to put his in the bedroom - nope - I automatically hung it on his peg board.

my dh has one thing that can't be touched - he has a huge collection of flashlights - about 40 big, little etc. I touched a broken one the other day without saying anything to him - it was from a drawer in the family room.

[Nancy]

Blessed with two! So proud of you for your progress!
I had to do that in the beginning had to put Lh warn out old boots / shoes with holes in em in a bag you could not see through
And then in a diff bag, that was why I started doing donations mid week on my errand day while he was at work too now that I think of it.
It is so freeing to let go of stuff. Talked with my dsis today she does not seem to get it either re: mom's stuff.
Like cookbooks for example, they are old school, people use the web nowadays.

[blessedw2]

I am so truly proud of you too d Nancy!!! thank you also for making me feel better! The stuff drains me and I think the black bag method is a wonder!

I am proud of all of us! We work well together!

[blessedw2]

I dropped off all the donations today - it filled my back deck.

I found 2 more china pieces that I wrapped in bubble wrap and will be donated tomorrow

[blessedw2]

tickled pink:
got a bag of clutter yesterday and two bags of garbage out today:
dd older had binders filled with papers from her work from 2016 - I asked her if she needed to still keep it - NO - yes!!! I was only able to donate 1 binder - the rest were not good enough
had to toss my small watering can bc pup ate the handle
tossed my boot from my ankle
tossed the blanket dh used as I couldn't get the dirt out - asked him first
put more into donation - a little bit at a time - the extra stapler as dd older has one in her room
dd gave away her hand hole punch
all this little stuff takes time.

[Nancy]

Blessed so proud of you and all the progress you and your family are making to have a home
That is more streamlined and free of clutter!

[Harmony]

I remember how Harriet used to recommend that we declutter the week before the focus rooms come up. When I declutter I usually wipe out the shelf or drawer or whatever so I figured I could do it at once. Well, for a lot of my spaces she was right. It takes so much more time to declutter and clean at the same time. Especially if there is a LOT to go through, sort, move, throw out. I did that in the master bath, tidying up the vanity drawers while cleaning them and I'm doing that in the office as I go through. It's so much work.
But I've been making progress. My desk is in better shape now and the office room is getting there. I am happy this week to see all the papers getting tossed.

And a few days ago I went through the bin of clothes in my closet...the ones too small... and a few of those are in the donate bin. Probably when I fit in those I'll decide to toss more of them.

Great reading what y'all are doing!

[blessedw2]

d harmony
yes I still follow d Harriets advice! Right now is my big decluttering and repair the house time (January through April) but as soon as gardening time comes back then I try to go back to our sweet Harriet's methods. (lol it just shows how much we ACTUALLY had)

It does take so much time to clean and declutter at the same time! Peeling of the onion (stuff) takes time! I am so done with moving clutter from place to place. I think I must have had an onion field to go through all these years.

tickled by your work d harmony!!! great work as well!