September Clutter Control

Share your decluttering activities and ideas.
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Nancy
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Location: Washington state in the Pacific Northwestern part of the USA.
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Re: September Clutter Control

Postby Nancy » Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:29 am

I've decluttered tote bags this summer after the yard sale
I was glad to discover that again yesterday
thought I would use a handle off of one for a fanny pack
for h. that needed an extension
but was not able to after the stuff was gone
but it was a nice feeling none-the-less.

Went through some fall things and
found a dress that will no longer fit
and is set to go in the next donation bag fling.

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Harmony
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Re: September Clutter Control

Postby Harmony » Sun Sep 20, 2009 2:47 pm

Friday I took a very big lampshade to donation center. The lamp it belonged to had broken. A while ago I took another big lampshade to donation center, it was the match to this one, but I did not think I had 2 alike. They were nicer than the ones I'm using, but I'm not going to worry about my mistake, the extra shades are not taking up valuable closet space any more.

You do such a good job with your decuttering, Nancy. I need to go through my clothes next. My drawers are way too full and I wear the same things over and over so I need to pare down.

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Harmony
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Re: September Clutter Control

Postby Harmony » Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:50 pm

I'm back again with a huge accomplishment (for me anyway!).

I got rid of a TV. It's a 27" (I think that's how we measure them, diaganally across the glass, right?) tube TV and very heavy. I couldn't lift, so I got a board to use as a ramp, pushed it onto the end of the ramp and muscled it with my legs and arms up into the car. When I couldn't push it any farther I rolled it end over end.

Then I took it to the recycle/landfill place. The woman checking us in hid in her cubicle while I muscled it out onto my plastic covered tool bin (halfway to the ground) and was able to lift it down from there, pushed it over to the stack waiting for their fork lift to be fixed!

GONE! It's been sitting in my garage 10 months. About 7 months ago DH agreed to get rid of it, that thinking we could again use it by banging on the side to get the picture to come on, haha! was not going to happen. But he never got around to it and today I just got mad enough to take action!

Realized I needed to do something when it started bothering me that I was not wanting to wash sheets and hang out in the garage because of the mess out there. It's not worth keeping stuff when the space becomes unusable for any reason.

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Harriet
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Re: September Clutter Control

Postby Harriet » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:06 pm

Harmony, you think BIG! Great job. Loved this part of last post:

Realized I needed to do something when it started bothering me that I was not wanting to wash sheets and hang out in the garage because of the mess out there. It's not worth keeping stuff when the space becomes unusable for any reason.


Nancy, you are doing so well knowing what clothing/closet items to let go. That's an area that needs my attention. Dd11 and I have filled a large kitchen garbage bag for donation, but it's mostly from her closet.

I have been letting go of my Lane Bryant/Roaman's "comfort" tops. (Spent years somewhere between low LB/Bryant sizes and med to large Misses, where I am now.) Most are that poly-cotton blend that pills so badly, so that even though they are not stained they look old. And I certainly want to believe I won't need larger ones again. I hang almost everything, as you all know, so these, say, 10 tops gathered over time were taking up a lot of closet space.

It turned out dstepson actually liked the Hoarders shows. We watched some with him. One about a man whose scrap-metal selling had turned his property into a junkyard was so compelling - all of us said we felt like we knew that poor man, who was put in jail. Still, it's more about understanding people and being gentle with mental illness, than about clutter. It's interesting to see the names of the trucking companies in business to haul a lot away, etc., and how the pros use dumpsters (fill fast and send away).

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Harmony
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Re: September Clutter Control

Postby Harmony » Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:14 am

Harriet, I thought that man got an extention to clean up his place after they'd made so much progress. Was he originally put in jail for it? I must have missed that.

I think they missed a big opportunity with him. He was saving all that scrap metal as a way to save money for his grandchildren. I thought if the grandchildren said more about wanting to play in that reclaimed space, they could have set up something for them, a picnic table, chairs, swing set, etc., or made a plan to do so, a goal for which he could work, perhaps a playhouse, a garden for them to do together, something fun!

This month we get Style for free on dish and I get to watch Clean House again! Like Hoarders but much more fun and those people seem much more ready to accept help (though they are still resistant) and not so mentally ill, and they leave their places clean and redecorated. Motivates me!


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