October Clutter Control

Share your decluttering activities and ideas.
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Harriet
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October Clutter Control

Postby Harriet » Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:03 pm

Here we go, diving into October together!

Everybody, go look at your house! :shock:

Envision a clear, clutter-free home for your holidays. (After all, they are YOUR holidays in your home, right?) It starts way back here on the calendar - with our October declutter appointments!

Mentally work backwards from your vision a little, to see how you will accomplish it. :idea: Divide the clutter into chunks that you think will take about 15 minutes each. ("Pile on corner chair", "stack of magazines", "1/2 of the music/movies organized", "straighten under-stairs space to store those boxes", etc) We can do anything for 15 minutes! Actually write these down using your preferred method: cards, calendaring, etc. Then, get ready to refer to them for a 15-minute declutter appt with friends here each day, or your own time-arrangement of 15s (you might like an hour every few days with the last 15 of the hour posting how brilliantly you did!).


Choose your own path, or, if you'd like to be working in the same rooms with others this month, come find us in these rooms, preceding their Focus cleaning the following week:

Week of Sept. 28 - storage
week of Oct. 5 - outdoor
week of Oct. 12 - kitchen
week of Oct. 19 - living room
week of Oct. 26 - dining room

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Harmony
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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Harmony » Sat Oct 03, 2009 10:07 am

I went through my dresser yesterday, pared down the stuff. Some things went into trash, some got cut up for rags, one bag for donation, everything re-organized. We're going out in a little bit to do some errands and will take the bag to drop off.

How many clothes does one person need, anyway?!

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Harmony
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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Harmony » Sun Oct 04, 2009 5:09 pm

Harriet, never pictured you with much clutter to manage, cards or no cards!

I've been at it again. Today I went through the closet and it's looking a lot better. I had a small bag for the garbage. I also have one very large garbage bag for donation.

Unfortunately, I also have one little section of dessses/skirts I can't give up because I'm almost fitting into them and they're current styles. I also have a suitcase full (well, one side of it) of too small current style I can't give up, mostly things like jeans.

But I did give up a lot and my closet is very neat now. This was the hardest declutter session I have ever had. My clothes dilema is caused by the weight dilema I've been griping about in Healthy Habits thread. So all of the choices were very emotional ones, trying on things too tight, etc., not a happy thing. But it's done and as the hours go by I am happier that I've done it.

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Harriet
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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Harriet » Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:23 pm

My 15s in "storage" week:

Saturday 15 - skinny cupboard
Sunday 15 - dining room sideboard

(although I may also work on "outside" week next week, I'll continue 15s indoors)


Harmony, you had asked about the show about the man whose hoarding became a junkyard - he had been jailed for 7 days and let out of jail on a time limit to get his property cleaned up or he'd have to go back. I know you watched some of it - were you as struck as I was by the fact that the professional organizer assigned to him thought of dumpsters that could be transported back and forth fast to the scrap metal buyer to "save" his "savings".

My house - well, yes the planning is easy to envision here, because I've organized each area recently enough that I can see exactly what needs to be done. But there is a fast turnover here :shock: and the clutter is still real so the actual work isn't easy.

My parents' house - at a standstill with decluttering but keeping living room perfect, den nice, kitchen and both bathrooms decent and one change is that now all 3 bedrooms have clear, nicely made beds on view (2 have matching curtain sets, 1 to go but my dad is resisting). Clutter/hoarding there exists now in 2 of the bedrooms/closets and the dining room. The dining room just haunts me but there's no time. And, as always, not much help from floor plans since neither house has garage or basement!

Our closet - I am with you on this - emotion, yes. Okay, my LBryant things are outathere, except for the very newest. This is a bigger decision than someone who has always stayed the same size might think. Now if I gain the weight back - even one more size - I will have a financial outlay to make. Some of the dresses in the same sizes will be harder decisions because they are made of sensible woven fabric not poly, and I think to myself, could I alter. Yet, my mending is piling up otherwise - do I really think I will... ...

HRH mused about his tendency to hoard, after watching some programs. (He is really only responsible for decluttering the upstairs in our house.) He says he believes he may have been saved from a lifetime of hoarding by his lifetime tendency to claustrophobia. :( He thinks he remembers a wave of claustrophobic thoughts prior to some of his famous purge sessions, in which he ruthlessly straightens up and tosses so efficiently. Hmmm ... ... interesting.

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Harmony
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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Harmony » Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:10 pm

Harriet, I do remember when they took showed the jail area, but it was the empty jail cell. I missed the part where he was actually in there. I had no idea they could jail you for stuff like this. Yikes! Here they send reports, pictures, and give one a time limit to correct, then major fines. DH cannot leave his big truck outside even for a short time which is why we built the shop with such a large door.

I do think the dumpster was a good idea, however the recycle place wasn't keeping his stuff, they were paying him for it all, right? I've taken many a car load of old aluminum window frames, etc. to recycler and it does take up a lot of space.

I give you many pats on the back for keeping (or trying to keep in your DParent's case) 2 households cleared out, especially with no basements and garages. I know how that is with no storage spaces. Most of the people here have sheds in their back yards.

Even though my clothes de-clutter, though hard choices, has made me happy as the days/hours go by. I find myself stopping very often to just gaze at my cleared closet. I have claustrophobic tendencies myself and I love seeing the empty spaces.

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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby BookSaver » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:08 pm

I attempted to take a couple of large trash bags full of plastic pop bottles back for deposits, but only got through half before the machine at the store went out of service. The machines will only allow 1 bottle or can to be inserted at a time, and this one was making me put each bottle through 2 or 3 times before it finally gave up. I didn't have time to wait for the maintenance guy to come fix it, so I reported the outage and then brought the rest of my bottles back home. I'll add more to my trunk (DH has a pile of them in his work room) and try again Thursday.

I have a box of dishes to donate to Goodwill and will try to deliver those tomorrow. They've been sitting around long enough waiting for more to be added to the box. I don't care any more, if I can't fill the rest of the box tomorrow morning I'm taking it to the car anyway.

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Harriet
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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Harriet » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:26 pm

BookSaver, I'm right behind you with "trash work"! I called the waste pickup people and requested a new can to replace the one with the blown-away lid. I also requested a recyclables container. So my parents' house and ours will be up to par for the winter.

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Nancy
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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Nancy » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:29 pm

Did you happen to catch Oprah today on hoarders?

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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Nancy » Sat Oct 17, 2009 4:21 pm

Took books to the library this week
noticed they are having the semi-annual sale
so thought it was a great time to get
these to them.

Also took a box of donations in that had been
kicking around here
I finally got it to the trunk this week.
Plus a few cans of canned items for their food bank.

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Harriet
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Re: October Clutter Control

Postby Harriet » Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:29 pm

Somebody STOLE our new trash can!!!!!! Can you believe it? I'm going to call the waste people and tell them the number of the one still left here, but I believe it is the new one that was taken from the side of the road!!! How in the world would that help anyone? If they suddenly have an extra can they would be afraid someone would catch them, wouldn't they??? Wow.
If you don't believe in miracles, you're not being realistic.


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