Nearing the end of a mammoth task...

15 years ago

Hi everyone. Just thought I needed to tell you what hubby and I have been doing recently. We have lots of books. Half of them are in the house and the rest are stored in the attic. I made a comment about there being too many books on the book shelves. My husband decided that he wanted to catalog all of the books. So we started with the ones in the house. They we brought down all of the books from the attic. I was talking to a friend who had just had pull down attic stairs installed. Priced them up and decided that we should have done this years ago! Attic stairs were duly installed. At this point I decided that the rest of the 'stuff' in the attic needed sorting. We had been in the habit of just putting stuff in a box and up it went. My husband said that if I sorted it up there I would throw nothing out. It all needed to come out of the attic. After trying to sort a couple of boxes in that attic I agreed that he was right. So half of it came down. At this point we went into the attic and fixed the boards in the attic that had not been put back properly after the tree fell though the house. We have a 21 year old still at home so all his stuff was up there too! At this point we can just about walk through the sitting room, dining room and office. We sorted through each box and had three areas for things - keep, trash and Goodwill. I went out and purchased some rubber totes and as we sorted the thing we wanted to keep were put into a tote and marked - husband, son, me, memorabilia, fabric, Christmas etc. Well, we are now six weeks since we started this project !!! BUT, as totes go back into the attic they are put in different area depending upon how often they will be accessed. I also 'found' bills and receipts going back to 1992! The shredder has been working overtime. We are on the final leg of this task now. The book boxes have gone back up ( we have nearly 2500 in total) and seventy percent of the totes are back up there. We are hoping to finish the project by next weekend. I then have to take everything to Goodwill. After lurking on this forum for a long time, just thought I had something worthwhile to post about!

Comments (6)

jannie
15 years ago
Fanmtastic! You motivate me- my attic is crammed with stuff-craft books, clothes, wire hangers, holiday decorations, my kids old toys. Just reading about your progress makes me want to go up there.
ronbre
15 years ago
i have been debating the pull down stairs for my attic and a trap door for my crawl space..right now we have NO openings into our attic space from the house or outside..at all..can't get in there.

and there is only an outside opening to the crawl space which is 2040 square foot of unused dry space (but not tall enough to walk)..just enough to maybe store canned goods or produce.

anyway..want to do this..really want to..and hope to soon.
you have inspired me..but oh no..will i have totes in my attic to deal with in 20 years?
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donnawb
15 years ago
Wow, that must have been some job. I only have 3 big boxes in the attic. Don't know what is in there but when I get someone to get them I am sure they will go in the trash. If I haven't needed it in the 10 years it has been there I guess I will be OK.

Why do you need 2500 books in the attic?
bmmalone
Original Author
15 years ago
dd50, yes it was a huge job. We moved here from the UK 17 years ago and all our 'stuff' came with us....sons baby gifts, christening gifts (son was 4 when we moved here) etc etc. As we have been going through the stuff I asked our son if he wanted me to keep the stuff for him or get rid of it. He was adamant that he wanted it. His stuff is now down to about 8 large totes. My husband and I have about 8 too. As far as the books go, the whole family are avid readers and tend to re-read books every now and then. Not all of the 2500 are in the attic! Of those, we have about 1500 in our library area. Some of the books are old and fairly valuable. We have about 400 that are ready to be sold or go to Goodwill.Also going to Goodwill - 5 suitcases, wicker baskets, toys, clothes, shoes, etc. When we first came over we were told that we had to keep every receipt ( for immigration purposes). As we became citizens two years ago I think we can now shred all of that stuff. So far eleven large contractor sacks have gone out in the trash. It really has been a worthwhile job. Now I know where everything is and there is more space in the attic. And no, before anyone says anything, I will not be adding to what is up there!!
peggy555
15 years ago
Fantastic job! Just call Goodwill and they will come and pick it up!
kathleenca
15 years ago
bmmalone, what a great undertaking! I hope you are proud of yourself. Those stairs make a world of difference, don't they. We have them in the garage going to a storage loft. Congratulations!