September Declutter and Organization, 2019

[Harriet]

The difference between "stash" and "store" is usually just minutes.

"Stashed" is not a bad word! Even when it's a Stash 'n Dash, (meaning, shoved out of sight temporarily without rhyme or reason, usually ahead of a company visit), doing a "stash" rather than a "store" can have it's purpose. Sometimes we get a good idea of space when we clear before sorting. It's that stash we NEGLECT that becomes the problem, because we never really ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY. Whether we leave the debris from a fast basket-run around house actually IN that basket until we wonder where it is or just keep jamming items into unplanned space until expiration dates get scary, we are cheating ourselves. (Wonder how I know? )

"Stored", however, is definitely a lovely, calming and meaningful word, isn't it, especially in the past tense!

We saw,
we accepted responsibility,
we figured out where our stuff was!

Very mature!

Have you got time for a few declutter appointments to start treating the stashes around your house with some nurturing in September, and turn them into storage?

So many of us have had great success in August - let's all look forward to holidays with a lot more confidence. Be sure to tell about your successes here.

[blessedw2]

thank you so so much for this site dearest Harriet!
I haven't been able to declutter a lot for summer but am hoping to get back on the bandwagon when d mom heads back to Florida.

[Harmony]

All the porcelain towel holder brackets and TP holders etc. have been boxed up. They've been sitting there for a couple weeks. Today as DH was heading out to auto parts store I suggested he take that stuff along because the resale place is just a block away...and we loaded and he is on his way. We tried to load a big piece of tempered amber glass he dragged home...but it wouldn't fit since he was using the car instead of his truck. He said he'd take that and a few other door parts (big) stacked up in the garage. Good parts, but things nobody seems to want any more. People just want a new door. This stuff has been there for a few years. I'm happy he's willing to let go of some stuff.

[blessedw2]

yay!

[Harmony]

My work in the shop today with DH was an eye-opener. I knew it would be difficult, and I surely did not expect to do so much in one day.

You know those hoarder shows some of us watch... I understand some of it a lot more. Think about how those people want to look in every box, every bag, and examine each and every piece and explain how they have a purpose for every single thing... well that's what we did today. His stash was a lot of screws and bolts and. and..and... Along the back wall of his workbench, which is about 10 feet long, he has multiple cabinets with those little tiny drawers where he separates different types of screws, fasteners, bolts etc. etc. and as we came across handfuls of these types of things they had to be sorted and put in these drawers..because someday ya' know they might be just the thing he needs...

Regardless if they are rusty or not...or the fact that he has enough of this stuff to go round the world a dozen times laid end to end. Very slow going. But it is all done. Of course while we were doing this, every piece had a story, what it was good for, where it came from etc. And I patiently listened.

At one point it appeared that he was just moving things from one spot to another and I had to explain the concept of 'churning' to him... So now we have like things in ice cream buckets and 1/2 gallon milk jugs labeled and stacked up. We sorted and stacked a bunch of random wood on the other side of the shop too, and stirred up a couple cans of paint to see if they were usable...and they weren't so they are sitting out of the way opened so they'll dry. Dried paint in cans can be put in the regular garbage here..

Random useless pieces of wood went out to the fire pit and stuff he decided to get rid of has filled up the rolley bin overflowing. Old cooler tossed along with a beloved empty metal tool box which no longer closed (was probably 40 years old). A couple metal buckets very banged and dented up were keepers because he used them with his DDad when he was young.

But I am very proud of him. There's still a lot left, but much is gone and the rest organized. I don't know what motivated him this time. I've just always told him I'd help when he was ready, and today he was.

[Harmony]

Well, another day of work out there. Yesterday DH called the fellow who worked with us for at least 10 years and told him he was cleaning out his shop and if he had anything he wanted he could come get it.

So today about 10:30 here he comes. When he left his pickup truck was packed full. A lot of this stuff was old old old, and they were laughing about some of it but he took bunches. Didn't know what he was going to do with most of it, but he said he'd just pile it in one of his outbuildings and use whatever...

I don't think we did this guy any favors...but we also didn't coax him to take it either.

I was shocked at how old some of this stuff was. Old tools we haven't used in 20 years... and all the accessories to go with them. Golly.

I did a lot of cleaning and scraping along the way... several buckets of stuff had leaked through... it was just a grand old mess out there. But most like things are together so that's good. There's one more corner to tackle, but with DH not wanting to help any more, I doubt that'll ever get done.

Adding to this post..Thursday's progress. We looked at one shelving unit and I put a handmade wood tool carrier in the donate box and a couple ping-pong nets with the brackets. Every little bit helps!

Monday's progress: All the bins are picked up and emptied. We had a bunch of stuff outside the bins like a big box fan that no longer works and the oval glass insert to a front door...and they took that stuff too. I got a bunch of big signs and cut them all up into smaller square pieces and they are ready for pickup next week.

[Harriet]

Thanks for your encouragement, blessed!

LOL I've got to get in here and POST so Harmony will make a new post for herself! She deserves several more pats on the back for all that's changed at her house!

Two things to report from here:

First is about organizing: The first of our 2 new pieces of bedroom storage furniture - a wide dresser - was built from the kit kind of delivery by dd, who's done this before for her room.
I made 3 homemade interior dividers for it to use the space well for small items. I'm close to getting all those drawers filled. Dd hopes to have time to build the matching tall dresser tomorrow (it takes hours) , so I'll continue to have organizing work cut out for me.

Second is about clutter: Still finishing up closet week project of Focus, so far:
2 tall-kitchen-garbage-size bags have left for throw-away and
1 large shopping bag of donations is headed for charity.

It is a joy, by the way, to have drawers for our clothes that roll so effortlessly. I have spent 40 years in this house and several years before - closing in on maybe 43 years? - with the old wide dresser. In theory, its drawers glided (rode) along on a metal rod down the middle. But over the years that became less of a glide and more of a tug and shove! Sturdy value, for sure, but not efficient.

[Twins' Mom]

I've been decluttering as I work and tracking the results, I've decluttered 90-something items this month. Of course, some were estimates and some were multiples, and some are still in my garage boxed up to go.

[Harmony]

BWTG Twins!

And Harriet too. What did you do with the old furniture you are replacing?

My neighbor has a nice chair out with a free sign. I was tempted to go look at it because it is just a wood frame with upholstered back and seat and appears nice. I have a bare corner still from our furniture arranging earlier and want a chair for out there... but when I remarked about it DH crossed his eyes... one part of me wants to go look, one part of me wants to just leave that odd bare corner.

I grabbed an old game console which we don't even know if it works... dragged home from a clean-out job somewhere... and put it out for garbage Sunday. Also grabbed an old plumbing fixture one of those long plastic hand held things...and that's out the door too. If we had a dog it'd be useful...

I just keep my eyes open around here. I got a letter from dfriend who moved up north last July 2018 and she said it was 4 dumpsters to clean out the garage her handy-man-type husband had left her with... she said she and her kids who helped had a contest going to guess how many peanut butter jars they'd find filled with nuts and bolts, etc. She is almost 80 and had to face this. I'm trying to avoid just this thing here.

[Harriet]

We haven't done anything with it yet, Harmony. I don't consider it worthy of pick-up by any organization or I would call a charity. I imagine dstepson will break it down. I'll look at the handles to make sure I don't see any value there. I'll let dstepson decide whether the wood of the drawers' sides and backs are nice enough to keep with his shop materials. (They are solid wood, heavy and old, and I think all those decades ago, the salesman said they were poplar. The drawer fronts are flimsy faux wood that's supposed to look Spanish or something. It sounds backwards, doesn't it? Fashionable once!)