June Clutter Control

[Harriet]

We hope you'll join us here in this monthly thread, where we encourage each other to commit to 15 minutes of clutter control time per day, OR the equivalent on other schedules.

Does anyone have a deadline they'd like to share here, or a plan/schedule toward a particular date?

Have you had a success you'd like to share? It helps all of us to find out when one has made progress!


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If you’d like some partners while working:

One scheduling suggestion has been a weekly room/area rotation together. During each current week, those who choose to can declutter "together" in the upcoming week's Focus Cleaning room as a first step toward lovely spaces. We know cleaning is efficient if clutter is not in the way - we can almost have fun with it. But clutter can discourage or stop us if we can't find the surfaces in the first place. Decluttering is a preceding step that can (literally) make cleaning a glide instead of a stumble.

You’ll find some June declutter partners in these rooms:

Week of 6/1 porch/entry
Week of 6/8 bedrooms
Week of 6/15 bathrooms
Week of 6/22 office/other room
Week of 6/29 closets

Substitute a different room or area whenever it will match your home’s needs best, and change back and forth from this plan to your own anytime.

[blessedw2]

everyone has been doing great on decluttering... yeah for all of you!!!
dharriet you are my Godsend... I keep in the area you set up and slowly I am accomplishing things.

Wish my dmom luck this week as she is going to very dcousins house to help her declutter at least her garage which is filled from top to bottom. she is the sweetest nicest person and has become a horder of family things. both her parents died tragically and fast so I think much of the hording is from that. but she is very clean in her house and is one fantastic person. So dmom is flying out tomorrow to give her a hand.

today is dejunking day at my home:

put both dog houses on curb... neighbors complained that dogs shouldn't be outside, we live in the suburbs now. dogs loved the snow but now are getting used to be in the house all the time... I thought they were less loco when they spent 1/2 their day outside. also got rid of a couple more books, water filter (camping) gone, old boots gone, laundry cart gone. my garden chair gone.

next cloths run. didn't do.
feeling lighter.

[blessedw2]

christmas reindeer (without ears. yes with out ears have been in the attic over the garage for years and are now on the curb for garbage) I now have room for the kids wooden (very nice) kitchen set in that space... I don't have anything in there but Christmas lights.

putting the kids old kitchen set they want to keep in case they have kids will give me room for my small set of hobbie crafts in the basement closet.. giving me a nicer 3 season room.

another goal: dh has a habit of collecting cans of paint (we are back up to 10 cans... not sure where they come from so I am going to start putting cat litter in them as they ask and tossing them)

I am finding that the more I have donated things over the years the less I purchase.
I find myself thinking of landfills and is it worth it. I really never thought I would say that years ago.
I also don't take on a hobby or project until the last one is done. I really really never thought I would say that at 20 because I love handwork so much and had too big of dreams that I never tackled because I was bogged down with the stuff. what a waste.

neighbors went through stuff again which is going to the families that lost their apartments because of the fire.

[blessedw2]

June 5 another large shopping bag of books gone... I probably could do 2 or 3 more books but I think right now we are doing very well. we only have books (except dd13's room) in library or what we are reading currently (one (me) one dd13 coffee table and one in car). so feeling very good about that.

it's funny I really thought I had cleaned out most of the things in my house but I realized I still feel like I have clutter. I am now seeing that because of having so much stuff in the first place that I got used to it. my dining room is completely free of clutter now. my front room...it is empty of my stuff but I have noticed dfamily is sneaking their things in there.

ran to donation place with the last of my too small cloths. kept next size down only. I am proud I did it.
the rest of my books are now in the library,

my goal is to have a home like my dsis in law that lives near by. the live so much life, have a beautiful home, and everything is warm and inviting. no clutter but really warm and enjoyable.

[sherinjoy]

Hi Blessed - I didn't want you to feel lonely here - big cheers for all your hard work!! I have been working in the garage this week, purging old boxes of papers. It is gratifying to let it go, but slow going because there could be treasures in each box, so have to go through carefully. My DH found a $25 gift check yesterday in 1 of his boxes. Unexpected surprise! And finding lots of old pictures amongst the useless papers.

Keep up the good work. I'm working with you.

[blessedw2]

sherinjoy... great work to you too!!! and what nice blessings along the way of your work... old pictures and $25 now thats nice!!!

finding my dear kids and dh like to keep things more then I thougt. we had 4 books of Tom Sawyer. dh has an older (good cover) that we are keeping. they want to keep them. mmmm but they are going .

[Harriet]

Hi to sherinjoy and blessed! "slow going" - btdt, sherinjoy! Oh, doesn't blessed's dining room look lovely?

My declutter stories right now center around the continuing astonishment at clutter at my parents' house. I'd gotten so much done at the first of the year (very helpful, as that one bedroom in which I worked is now "my" bedroom each night since May 12). But I am amazed at how much there is still to declutter. Have worked in the laundry room and tossed a couple tall kitchen garbage bags full. Sounds impossible from a small room, maybe 10x6, but my parents save everything. I tossed 20-30 paper grocery bags, for instance, saving only 10 or so vertically inside one that has handles, and reduced the space that was taking up by so much, not to mention simplifying the visual clutter. Also amazed at discovery of some cleaning/laundry products saved - honestly, I think some have been discontinued for a decade.

[Nancy]

This spring we've been working on cleaning up
the yard porch patio deck and carport this spring
it's looking a lot better.
Have 4 bags ready for trash day.

Next week hubby is going to work on getting
to the gutters.

Last week I've been working on rounding up things for a yard sale as
neighbors are having one towards the end of the mo.
so thought we could set up a table.
Got one container filled this week to for that.

Storage rotation: I put some winter things away
and sorted out too small shorts
and got out summer things.

[blessedw2]

Yeah for Nancy!!!

[blessedw2]

today is donation day and find garbage day.
2 bags of things donated,
- 1 suit case,
-put light outside as we will never use it and has been sitting in the corner of our family room for 5 years, someone picked it up, plus an old bicycle
- I finally got rid of the mismatched sheets of... why I hold on to things because they look good but don't have matching fitted etc.
-donated a christmas table cloth I never used. I was able to make more room in garage again for dh. makes me happy and him too.
-dropped off oak bench too! we don't have the room for it and have moved it to different places consistenly. donation place was thrilled again. I found this one difficult to let go of as I liked it but I don't have space in this house for it and God willing I will be here another 10 years. I have to try to remember that someone else will feel very blessed to have it and the money that is made from it goes to battered women and children. right now I see the loss but know it is the right thing.

realized my girls have way too many cloths. they fit them now but I think I have to make sure to keep on top of the laundry
with them.

LIVING IN THE MOMENT AND STOPPING LIVING IN THE PAST. that's my goal. I keep certain things that remind me of those passed but not so much it over whelms me. who I was in the past has also changed so living currently rather then having a thousand projects I will never be able to finish.