Updating ... it was bulk trash pickup, so we were doing outdoor stuff.

Next up is the garden shed ...

I haven't been here in a while. Decluttering is a permanent job for me and I am not a hoarder -- yet I recognize the tendency. My motto is "Notice Stagnation" There are things that add nothing to your life, they are just there. Like the old cute little china cabinet I hauled home 40 years ago and have moved from one house to the next!!! I'm an artist. I thought I'd mmake a puppet theatre out of it. Or put lights inside and display things. I've never done a thing. I finally faced it and it goes out the next time I pay somebody to move stuff. Meanwhile I think it's good to just make a date with your local charity pickup. I stack stuff in the garage and have a pile now. We don't have a car so there's room in there! I think I'll make a date and aim for that. And nothing stops me for making a date a couple of months after that.

Bleusblue, I'm in the same boat. Too many projects. Today I'm trying to complete some sewing projects. I have too much clothes that I'm trying to refashion! Then theres all my dishes for mosaic and glassware for other crafts.
I too have furniture that needs a makeover and I've not done it.
Good work everyone! I think I'll take a break from sewing and go through the closet shelf above my clothes rack and hopefully get rid of stuff!
Kathy

Went through old magazines and got rid of a bunch. Got some odds and ends clothes into bags/boxes ready to be donated.

I also have a lot of items for projects. I'm trying to be very conscious now when I buy things for projects and really make sure that I'm actually going to follow through with the project in a reasonable time.

getting rid of the boxes of tile and adhesive anbd grout cluttering the garage by a radical process ... I'm installing the backsplash

getting rid of the boxes of tile and adhesive anbd grout cluttering the garage by a radical process ... I'm installing the backsplash

This is an awfully drastic step! Are you sure that you want to go through with it?

lazygardens, love your decluttering strategy!

I posted about that same sort of thing once.

It's, like, a triple payoff

*supplies gone (win!)
*backsplash in and functional/beautiful (win!)
*guilt gone (win!)
*sense of accomplishment (win!)

Oh, wait, that's four...

Out the door:
Bag of stuff too decrepit to donate
A heap* of cardboard and paper for recycling. (It is unusual here for it not to rain on recycling day.)

Boxed to donate:
Clothing not quite so decrepit
Tablecloth and mixing bowl that I will never use
Weird folding briefcase

*Heap is a precise scientific measurement

Oooh, this is really neat! It needs to go on our list of useful slogans:

My motto is "Notice Stagnation"

I sometimes call those things that are stagnating "squatters"--they're occupying real estate they have no right to, and they're pushing out the legitimate "owners" of the storage space.

Forced progress, not so much influenced by this challenge as by something else, but still...

The building needs to break through a wall in my kids' big closet to replace some pipes.

In the first picture on this thread, the wall they're breaking through is that corner on the right; it's a chase w/ the gas pipes for the stove in it.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organ/msg0920581916114.html

(a lot of this stuff was still there; others of it have moved out and been replaced by something else, and of course it was much messier w/ tons of crap on the floor, but this is about the volume.)

So *all* this stuff needed to go completely out of the closet.
And we took advantage of that to get rid of tons of kid stuff.
We also rounded up lots of other stuff that's sitting around sort of doing nothing (like jeans my 16yo outgrew before he could possibly wear the out, or even wear them at all!).

And the dessert-decorating kit I received for a Mother's Day about 6 years ago and never, ever even opened.

So we put everything in a shopping bag, and took 8 bags and one Rubbermaid storage box to the thrift shop connected to my son's school.

It'll be interesting to see if the place feels lighter. We were in the car to go there, a block away from home, and I remembered one thing I should have brought along. Oh, well--we'll get it there another time.

It took a huge chunk of Saturday and half of Sunday to box it up.
And I don't remember what happened to the clock! i don't remember putting it in a box. Hmmmm...

getting rid of the boxes of tile and adhesive anbd grout cluttering the garage by a radical process ... I'm installing the backsplash

This is an awfully drastic step! Are you sure that you want to go through with it?

Oh yeah!

And I got all unused stuff out of BOTH garden sheds, and the pots are up for grabs to the GWebbers in Phoenix. Some of the tools will be a freebie on CL real soon.

Nice!
are you going to tile around the corner toward the window, or leave it as is? (Is that a row of tiles along the bottom?)

I've been packing up the china cabinet (same "installing pipes in the walls" project the bldg is doing), and am thinking I need to get rid of some of that stuff. It'll be hard--I've already culled a couple of times, and I'm emotionally attached.

But one other thing I'm doing is, there are pieces that wouldn't fit into the boxes I have. So I went to the buffet to see if I could fit them in there. And took out some never-used stuff (a root-beer kit, a funnel-cake kit).

So now I'm going to decide what to do with those kits.

It made me think that, for the stemware, etc., I don't want to box them up bcs I'm afraid they'll break. So my plan is to go to the kitchen and take stuff off the very top shelves. That's stuff we almost never use. I'll put the glasses there, where they'll be stable and safe.

and I'll figure out whether I can ditch the stuff that's there. It's not been touched in a LONG time.

Single row around the window wall, just to protect the paint. It's in and grouted already. need to let it dry, polish off the haze, and seal it tomorrow.

Then I'll pose a few things, take a cute pic for the for-sale album and then put it back to normal.

Great job everyone! I wish I could have a yard sale. I have to get the stuff off the property or I'll just bring it back in.
Clear plastic garbage bag of bedding shoes and clothes from the shelf in my closet goes to the thrift store tomorrow. Several hand bags to the little girls down the street for play, and a too small bathing suit that I never wore to their mother. Worn out junk went to the dump yesterday.
Now I love looking in that closet.
Today after work cleaning up the gardens :)

Kathy

Today I dropped the bag off at a thrift store. it was hard to give up a alpaca blanket with a llama on it, but I just never never used it! Hopefully the store, which supports a women's shelter and agency, will get some money from it!
Kathy

This thread popped up about the time I was finishing my spring cleaning and deciding to jump into cleaning out our "junk room" so I have been thinking of you other motivated posters as my decluttering comrades. Kudos to everyone, particularly lazygardens who found a way to declutter, improve, and beautify all in one fell swoop with that backsplash installation.

For my part, progress has come from an unexpected direction. Cleaning out our junk room consists largely of dealing with Mister's gaming accoutrements. He is a bit of a pack rat and games, from video, to board, to strategy miniatures, are his hobby. We have three sets of shelves in our living room for his various games and the overflow, and there is a lot of overflow, is packed willy-nilly in the storage room. Cleaning out that room needed to start with reorganizing his living room shelves which I am pleased to say is almost done.

Let me just add that Mister hated every moment of me clearing off those shelves, pawing through stacks, bins, and open boxes of dice, miniatures, crafting tools, and the like, then sorting, and replacing or rehoming items. Now that the shelves and contents are cleaned and organized, he has not only acknowledged that he has more stuff than he'll ever get around to playing with, he has decided to get rid of whole game systems that were previously, "too precious to part with." Some of his collection, particularly the miniatures, were quite an investment over the years, so this is a big step for someone who has a hard time throwing away anything let alone something "valuable" and "useful". Next week should see one entire, reorganized shelving unit completely empty as some other gaming geek enjoys playing with and storing a bunch of Mister's old miniatures.

grandmamaloy, hang in there and continue to lead by example. It has taken me years to get Mister to even acknowledge that his system was not working, let alone that he might need to pare down a bit. He used to get outwardly upset when I organized our communal spaces because he said he thought I was blaming him. He resented my attempts at making us more organized as a personal attack. He gets that from his mother. Once I got him hooked on knowing where he left that thing because that thing has a home that is easy to access, it was like a key slipping into its lock. Bonus since that thing is clean, intact, and ready to use because it was put away that way.

Now if I can just figure out how to get him to part with twenty-year old jackets he'll never wear again.

Ha Ha Mercy! We have similar Misters in terms of saving habits! I got rid of my dh's tather's tuxedo (which will never fit dh who is much taller) when dh was in the hospital 17 years ago and he still hasn't noticed.
Keep up the good work.
Kathy

Out: the styrofoam inserts from numerous electronics boxes. I had been saving the boxes for possible moving, but I realized that, if I move house, those devices won't be going with me.

The boxes will be recycled when it's not so likely to rain before the pickup time. This frees up closet space for the vacuum cleaners (the ones that work).

As part of her Mothers Day gift to me, my younger daughter decided to help me de-clutter the house. She says she'll come over once a week and declutter one room. Sunday (Mothers Day) she pulled everything out of my basement closet. It's where I keep cleaning products, rags, etc. She filled a huge black garbage bag and re-organized the closet. The only "useful" item she has thrown out was my box of Swiffer mopping pads. Easily replaced for about ten bucks. I really appreciate her offer. I felt like I was living an episode of the Hoarders TV show!

A VERY successful week :)

1 - heirloom china cabinet to little sisters
2 - back of Subaru Outback full of stuff for charity ... much "cubage" gone
3 - almost done with new cabinets for kitchen peninsula which will mean STORAGE! And tools can be sorted out
4 - laundry basket of mending MENDED, putting things back into the wardrobe and out of my way
4 - various stuff went to a Craigslist curbside freebie

Gone: 7 deceased compact-fluorescent light bulbs, to recycling.

It's done by appointment here, at the fairgrounds on a specified day. One of the workers yelled, "It's just some light bulbs in a friggin' box!" as if he was disappointed that I hadn't brought something larger, or more exciting. I had been accumulating them for seven years.

Wow! Mending done. I love it! I've got to keep gardening. Saving my major decluttering for a rainy day. But I will repair broken garden art today. Last week cleaned my screen porch and got rid of some junk from it.
Feels great.
Kathy

Out the door: another big heap of cardboard for recycling. Held back two boxes the right shape for recycling newspapers.

More stuff packed and MORE stuff out to curbside freebies!

And I'm decluttering my kitchen and DR the hard way: Building storage cabinets for the stuff.

Like, annkh, my kitchen reno has forced me to take a look at other areas, but I still have a long way to go! After next week, count me in! :)

And I'm decluttering my kitchen and DR the hard way: Building storage cabinets for the stuff.

That's not decluttering! That's infrastructure.

OK, maybe it's decluttering by using up lumber. But that's not the same as getting rid of stuff!

Good luck, though. It'll get the stuff out of the corners, so the room will be decluttered, even if the stuff isn't. (diff. meanings of "decluttering" bcs the object is a different class)

Clutter ... a large amount of things that are not arranged in a neat or orderly way : a crowded or disordered collection of things

==========
If you have a place to put it, and put it there, it is no longer clutter. That's my objective with the shelves. That and getting the last of the kitchen update off my plate.

The easiest way to clear the clutter is to get rid of things you no longer need, or that are no longer fit to use, which frees up room for the rest of your stuff.

But for the rest of it, you have to go Shaker: "A place for everything" comes before "and everything in its place."

I'm on a roll ...

1 - Finished the mending, packed up the sewing stuff and .... the ironing board and the clothes rack and some of the fabric is all out on the curb as a freeby.

2 - Finished cutting the shelves for the kitchen cabinet thingy, which means the saws, clamps, sander, sandpaper, and sawhorses can all get folded up and packed.

Having the cabinets done means a lot of stuff moves from the counter to the shelves, and the wine is now close to the dining table.

Good work on that cabinet.
Kathy

Four bags of clothes, one box of books, and one box of misc. electronics are ready to be donated.

4 boxes of books for the VNSA charity sale, a 33-gallon trashbag of old paperwork headed to trash, and several boxes of needlework and sewing supplies and books packed ready to move.

The more gets done the easier it gets ... clutter has fewer places to hide, I guess.

Nice, lazygardens!

I'm w/ you on the "infrastructure as a solution to clutter" thing, actually--and the idea that "a place" comes first.

The pre-decision is, do you really want/need it? But once that's a go, then you really have to create the place before you can ever put it there.

GReat job everyone. I've been concentrating on gardening. Next week I hope to get back to de cluttering.
Does getting rid of weeds count?
Kathy

Weeds count as garden clutter.

I took buncha stuff to charity, tossed about 2 banker's boxes worth of trash (the banker's box is out unit of measure for the move), and have the tools staged for packing.

I also have a nasty cold and a splitting headache

I'm so proud of everyone's achievements! I promised to be cheerleader, but I've been falling down on the job.

Our annual church rummage sale was a couple of weeks ago, and it was gratifying to see how much of the stuff I brought in was sold (from my house and my Mom's). I hope the globe, fish tank, and ceramic elephants all found good homes!

I still haven't gotten to the garage - we had crappy weather through April, and May completely got away from me. Now we're working in the yard, helping the neighbors open up their pool for the season, and going to high school graduation parties.

There are a bunch of things in our garage that need to be sold for scrap - they've been piling up for a while. When that's done, I will have room to work!

It has turned turned into one of those, "one step forward, two steps back", months around my place.

Our washer broke. We repaired it after a brief wait for the necessary part.. Promptly discovered it also needed its filter cleaned (was not rinsing clothing clean) and had to wait for the spanner wrench we needed to take the drum apart. Spanner wrench arrived, washer got a thorough cleaning, ran through one load, and something else broke. This happened on the same day we decided to buy a car so buying a new washer is out of the question for a couple more weeks. Meanwhile we already have a month's worth of laundry piled up in the spare room in addition to the winter wear and blankets waiting to be washed before storing. I have already been hand washing some necessary items but it looks like I will have to give in this weekend and take a couple of loads to a launderette.

Mister decided to sell a bunch of his wargaming miniatures which is a BIG step for him and a ray of sunshine for me. We sorted out the unwanted ones, creating a new, superfluous, albeit temporary, stack in our living room. The gentleman who is buying them needs until the end of the month (next weekend) to pick them up. No big deal, I can see the stack and know that they will be completely gone soon and Mister will have the satisfaction of knowing they go to an appreciative home rather than the tip.

Rather than wallow in self-pity over being stuck in limbo, I have been living vicariously through the achievements others have made here. lazygardens, your storage cabinets have inspired me to refinish the bottoms of my kitchen and bathroom sink cabinets. Both have their bottoms ripped out due to past leaky plumbing issues (long since repaired) and, out of sight, out of mind, we have put off actually replacing their bottoms. I want to repaint the bathroom this summer so it may be time for a whole new vanity.

I almost forgot..., I did part with a dozen old computer and digital media books and some equally old or older software. For the gardeners out there: old floppy disk file boxes make good storage for seed packets.

One small carload of stuff to goodwill, 2 trashbags into the trash

And ... I hit a stash of books where 90%+ of them can go to charity!!!!!

It's like mining for gold, in reverse. I'm looking for veins and pockets of dross.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dross

Wow ... 10 boxes of books for charity! And 2 more bags of trash.

If I can download an epub of an old book online, I'm donating the hard copy unless the book has other redeeming features, like being a first edition of a scarce book, or falling into a narrow range of my interests.

I wiped the hard drive in an old computer, re-installed Windows 7, and gave it to my brother. It is an upgrade over the computer he had, and I got a very large paperweight out of my house.

Good job annkh.
Lazygardener you are going to town!
I am using up some of my fabric stash by re-covering my porch wicker chair cushions. And still gardening. This is the time of year for me.
Kathy

Had to quit and get my bod to the NM house to supervise the repairs and stuff so we can maybe move over here sometime soonish.

My main way of decluttering around here is installing things. :)

But the final cleaning tally was 14 boxes fo books to charity, 4 huge bags of trash and non-reparables in the trash and the neighbor's trash, and a buncha stuff for HAZMAT collection.

We had our garage sale, made a decent amount, and cleared out the basement! (for our cabinets, ugh, full again, but I'll sell those or give them to my parents)

We had our garage sale, made a decent amount, and cleared out the basement! (for our cabinets, ugh, full again, but I'll sell those or give them to my parents)

We finally attacked the garage and shed!

I bit the bullet, and got rid of decades worth of National Geographic magazines. I inherited them from my Grandpa, so it was a tough call, but I'm glad it's over.

I spent the day going through kitchen cabinets and getting rid of stuff. That made room for all the gluten-free baking stuff and gluten-free buckwheat/rice/quinoa to find homes in the cabinets instead of on the counters.

And my son tossed some stuff and put other stuff in the thrift-shop pile.

Oh, and I discovered several tupperware boxes with the last part of a bag of rice, so the next challenge is to use those up.

Unfortunately, I found a couple of great books for my DD on the giveaway table, so I brought stuff into the house as well.

I .... "de-cluttered" a bedroom closet. All the way to the bare walls.

We went from this (2011 RE listing photo)

================

to this pile of battered drywall and studs

================

to this (dark gray/brown stuff is adobe mud bricks, remainder is plaster over the bricks)

=========

After the walls are re-plastered and new floor installed, we'll make some modular closet sections to go in the alcove and shelving to go in the shallow area in front of that bumpout in the wall.

The armoire will be repurposed somewhere, perhaps the hall bath for linen storage. It's nicely made.

One of the things I pulled out of a closet over the winter was my wedding gown (we were married in 1987). God knows why I kept it this long - out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

My Mom heard about a woman who makes American Girl dresses from old wedding gowns. I brought her my dress, and she's making an AG dress for my niece (she's 9). So fun to already have her Christmas present figured out!

I have a new decluttering challenge that has had to take priority. We had an unexpected offer on my dad's house (he is an assisted living facility with dementia and will never be able to return to it). DH and I spent all day last Sat. at his house working. This is 40 years of stuff, and there's the house, attic, garage and several sheds. My BIL has already made some progress. We will be going back this week and will continue for a while. A lot of this stuff will be going to Goodwill. Thankfully, the buyer also wants some of the furniture. We will put a very few of the nicer antiques into storage until we can contact an antiques dealer about them.

that's a terrific story about the wedding dress

Moving update ... after spending the summer getting the new house re-plastered it's back to packing and decluttering. So let's get this challenge under way again.

The criteria is "Do I want to pay to move and store this?" If the answer is no, it goes.

13 boxes (Trader Joes wine boxes are wonderful for this) to the local charity book sale, 2 boxes of bookends to the same source.

One antique, lovely, but rickety cupboard to a local charity boutique for display furniture. Chair to them too.

Clothing purged (again) with more donations.

One bathroom purged of outdated stuff and drawers and cabinets cleaned. I'm marking them with a tag of blue painter's tape as a signal that it's DONE and that I shouldn't use it.

Kitchen blind cabinets emptied and unused appliances and cookware from them to charity. Quick pass through garage for a couple of tools we don't need.

Still to go ... yet more books to purge/donate and pack.