Chicks On Lit discussion
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I have decided that my stuff is owning me.
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'Stuff' or clutter can become quite overwhelming so I tend to purge through some area's of our home each season now.
Same here that and every time horders comes on I have a need to purge things from my house
Well after cleaning out my in-law's house of 65 years of "stuff" after their passing, I've decided something MUST be done about our house. I don't want my kids to have to go through all my junk. Some of the things we found were true treasures (mostly photos and letters) but probably about 1/2 of the stuff went to the trash dump or needed to be shredded.
I started actively purging throughout the seasons in 2008. Summer seems to be my book purging time and it's definitely getting to be that time again lol!
I'm getting married in a few weeks so I have been purging all of the stuff we don't need or want (meaning donating or trashing it) so that we have room for all of the "upgrades" we get.
Oh I clean out stuff throughout the year. I usually have donation box sitting out just to drop stuff into as I come across it.But this is super duper purge on steroids. It's unbelievable!
Have you heard of the 100 Things Challenge? There's no way I could pair down to 100 things, but it got me thinking about having only 100 things per room or something like that.
I'm definitely having a purge at the moment - house, garden, attic. My husband thinks if he stands still long enough I might put him in a bag and send him off to the charity shop!
There's an idea, Chris!Michelle, I had heard of that. The guy I saw who was doing it though had so many stipulations that I thought, "Well, shoot, even I could do that!" He didn't count things that his wife used as well towards the 100. So all the pans, dishes, silverware, etc. stayed. He didn't count personal grooming items or things like the lawn mower....
My husband just left for a short trip and before he left I told him to say goodbye to his stuff. :-) I plan on throwing away everything this weekend! I am feeling cluttered. And Chris - that is hilarious.
Megan wrote: "My husband just left for a short trip and before he left I told him to say goodbye to his stuff. :-) I plan on throwing away everything this weekend! I am feeling cluttered. And Chris - that i..."
Be very careful....what you think is trash might hold memories for him. :)
Michelle, I had heard of that. The guy I saw who was doing it though had so many stipulations that I thought, "Well, shoot, even I could do that!" He didn't count things that his wife used as well towards the 100. So all the pans, dishes, silverware, etc. stayed. He didn't count personal grooming items or things like the lawn mower....Lol. I know, right? I don't even limit myself to 100 things when I go camping! But I like the idea behind it. After following his blog, I really started to look at my house and wonder how much of the stuff that I owned I really needed.
Not a lot, that's for sure.
It's ok, I decided to keep the husband but some of his stuff has been "weeded" out nicely - nothing that holds too many memories Shirley, well only memories of his slimmer waistline anyway!!!
Chris wrote: "It's ok, I decided to keep the husband but some of his stuff has been "weeded" out nicely - nothing that holds too many memories Shirley, well only memories of his slimmer waistline anyway!!!"So glad to hear both objectives were achieved. I am sure you welcomed him home with open arms.
My daughters are I are *huge* fans of Project Runway, and so even though I'm not really into fashion, I bought Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and StyleThe strange part is that this book has completely inspired me to clean my house! Seriously. I've dragged about twenty bags of trash and at least that many bags of donations out of my house (which, I didn't think was that cluttered to begin with.)
So the point is, even if you are not into fashion, the book is very helpful. And you can learn how Kirkegard's philosophy ties into cleaning your house, lol.
Thanks Michelle. I just put a hold on that book at my library. all the reviews sound excellent
The rule of lose it if you don't use it is a good one. My house looks like two hoarders live here, and it's true maybe we have started to hoard by default by changing our current hobbies and interests often without clearing out the old hobby and interest leftovers, like yarn stashes and engine parts to cars sold. I'm seriously feeling smothered by stuff.
My house looks like two hoarders live here, and it's true maybe we have started to hoard by default by changing our current hobbies and interests often without clearing out the old hobby and interest leftovers, like yarn stashes and engine parts to cars sold.Yarn!!! I know exactly what you mean about that. I knit quite a bit, and whenever I finished I project, I have a hard time throwing out the extra yarn because I keep thinking I'll use it for something! But this time, I made myself get rid of it. Seriously, when am I ever going to use half a ball of sock yarn?
About a year ago, I cleared out all my cross stitch stuff. I had quite a few patterns that I hadn't even realized that I owned.
My new rule is that I don't buy anything unless I plan to use it within the next two weeks. (With the exception of books since my Kindle can hold hundreds of them without it showing, lol.)
I wish I could Kindle-ize the laundry and the dirty dishes.
I wish I could Kindle-ize the laundry and the dirty dishes....and one-click groceries...
Wouldn't that be great? A Kindle-izer for everything that clutters our house? All those hobbies? I have three hobbies that I love that I go back and forth to, painting (decorative), sewing/quilting, and gardening. I'm going to try getting rid of forty bags of stuff in forty days. Today, I'm making a list of the places to go through so I can break it down. Otherwise, I pick up stuff from the living room, move something to the bedroom, start picking up stuff in there, head out to the garage and yeah--five hours later I don't feel I've accomplished anything. This way I can do it a dresser or drawer at a time, whatever I have time for. (I'm not saying I'll have a HUGE bag every time, just something in a bag for trash, donations or freecycle.) Yeah, right now I feel like I'm one step away from hoarders. Hard to dust around all that stuff. My word for this year has been PURGE. I've purged a lot (from my in-laws house since they passed away) now it's time for mine. Sigh--the never ending job. When you don't want the cable guy to come and look at your modem because there's just too much stuff you have to move around--you know it's bad.
Great idea, Terri. I'm forever getting tips from Oprah and Good Housekeeping on organizing clutter but its everywhere- books, clothes, my kids' stuff which overflows into every room, my cat's toys....aargh!Who's going to organize my family?
There's also a website called FlyLady that I've used in the past. I like how it lays out a step-by-step cleaning schedule. I haven't used it in a while, but I just stopped over there, and their advice on how to clean and declutter is still very good.
Priya: That's the problem. See, if we lived by ourselves our houses would be well organized and spotless! But then life would not be as rich as it is--I'll stick with the family, clutter and all. :)
I've also heard the rule: "If you want to bring home something new you must get rid of something first." Unfortunately, for every new item I need to get rid of at least ten items. LOL
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.