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Closet Editing & Household Decluttering

Theresa

(website)

Veteran

Do you think they go hand in hand?

Last week I went wild in my wardrobe and gave away 2 huge bags of clothes, regained 15 coathangers, 2 skirt hangers and a whole shelf in my wardrobe... (And still have 2 drawers to go through!)

Today, I have just been through my 5 large boxes of fabric and have condensed them into 3 boxes of useable, 1 box to sell (specific fabric for nappy making - which thankfully I no longer need!), and 2 huge bags to donate. (My nan gave me her entire fabric stash last year when she decided to stop sewing - some of it was so old it was tearing just with me handling it...)

And everywhere I look in my house I am seeing clutter that I just want to get rid of!!

But, I have my big girl home from school unwell today and am not feeling great again myself so a little worn out from this mornings effort and now its bugging me cos I just want to get in and do it!

So do you guys find one leads to the other, or do you go through phases of needing to get rid of everything?

I was reading this the other day and it really got me thinking about the *stuff* I have in my house...

http://www.guynameddave.com/10.....lenge.html

General

27 replies

Latest reply was from Theresa

Mac

Veteran

Oooooh, I am tickled pink just reading your post, Theresa. A few years ago, a dear friend needed money and - not one to just hand cash to people - I hired her to come 3 hours/ week and help me organize. The experience changed my life! I donated literally cars full of stuff to charity and my house felt more and more like a home and I felt more and more like myself.

I definitely find that decluttering in one area of my life/ home leads to the desire to declutter in another. However, major organizing - if done right- is pretty exhausting emotionally, mentally and physically. I find that trying to work in spurts - once/ week or once/ month for a few hours - works best for me. You'll find a system that works for you.

Kate

Veteran

I've read the 100 thing challenge before. For most people who have a family (or don't live with a lot of friends to bum off of) it's wildly impractical, but a good thing to think about.

I do think that cleaning comes with other cleaning, just like taking care of your body and looking good can go hand in hand.

Kate

Veteran

oops, double post

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Totally, Theresa! I am constantly editing our lives and striving to live in smaller homes without cars. I LOVE knowing exactly what I have and where it is. I am a complete organizational neat freak 365 days of the year. Get very stressed living in clutter.

Enjoy editing and organizing your house, Theresa. It's a fabulous feeling. Don't you think?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Oh no! Sorry to hear that the family is unwell again, T. Stop cleaning up and organizing at once! Must rest and feel better.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Well, I am constantly needing to get rid of things, but I blame a lot of that on my family. Along with closet editing and organizing, I have been going through my yarn. I have so many half completed projects! Every once in a while, I need to go through those and either finish or rip them out.

AJ

Veteran

I'm not a sentimental person, so I don't have a lot of memorabilia clutter but CLOTHES and outfit related items are my weakness. I have a problem implementing the one in / one out rule. I should edit my clothing orphans and I applaud your recent closet clean-out.

Yes, I think it's a natural tendency to want to start getting rid of clutter around your home as well. Isn't that why FlyLady says to start with your sink? Then when you see a shiny sink, you'll want shiny counters, then shiny tables, etc.

Theresa

(website)

Veteran

Mac your post made me very happy - I have this lingering feeling that if I finally get rid of all the clutter that is in my house at the moment, that my life will feel so much simpler! When my ex-H and I separated, he took just what he needed, and I kind of just got stuck with everything else - so there is a lot that is just not needed at all.

Kate I agree - 100 things for a single person may be remotely possible, but not for a family - the idea of it is intriguing though... I'd love to live with as little as possible...

Angie thank you - Miss E was quite unwell last week, and had some fevers again last night so I don't think she has quite recovered - and of course because I'm still run down, I have picked up her sniffles and it has sent the asthma wild again. I think I'm feeling so motivated to do this at the moment because we've been almost sitting around doing very little besides resting/recouperating for over a month now and its sending me a little batty!

But I have to agree - being able to live in an organised environment would just make my heart sing! I'm a neat freak but you wouldn't know it to look at my messy house!

Khris I have just gone through all my sewing UFO's and repair jobs etc... the girls have outgrown things I cut out for them ages ago but never actually finished! Your yarn/knitting sounds like my fabric/sewing!

AJ I wish I wasn't a sentimental person - I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to memorabillia LOL But I'm getting better and if I can get my scanner working again I'm going to scan a lot of stuff so I can throw out the originals...

I moved here in October last year and STILL have boxes that I haven't even opened and its really starting to bug me - I obviously don't need anything that is in the boxes desperately, but I still need to go through them...

At the rate I'm going though I'm going to need to borrow a trailer or truck to do the donations and dump run!

Mac

Veteran

Just think how many people are going to feel incredibly lucky when they go to the thrift store and find all the things you've donated! Just think how amazing it will feel to walk into your home with so many memories of your ex-H gone... leaving room for your current life as well as for future happy memories! Just think how great it is for your daughter to see her mother taking charge of clutter and not getting too attached to "stuff!" Go, Theresa, go!

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Thank you for the motivation Theresa, Teah turns 3 next Wednesday so I'm in desperate need of decluttering the girls old toys, which leads to decluttering the play room, which is also used for laundry and as an occasional bedroom. OOOoooo....I'm off for a lie down first.

stringy

Veteran

I've been slowly decluttering my house this year. I've known for years that I was becoming a packrat with too much junk, but when I tried to get rid of it I'd be paralysed by indecision. And then late last year, it's like I got a fresh pair of eyes - I can look at any storage area in my house now and see exactly what to keep and wha needs to find a new home.

But it is tiring work, especially if like me you don't want to just throw things in the bin. I'm a bit of a greenie so I always try to find the best way to dispose of things - charity, recycling, etc (I never have the patience for eBay). And I'm not any less busy than I was before. So now I can see all this clutter for what it really is, and yet haven't had time to do anything about it!

So I keep plugging away at it, one shelf at a time. It's an addictive feeling to see all the space and to feel a burden lift from my shoulders each time I take a bunch of stuff to the op-shop!

You might like the blog http://www.unclutterer.com Theresa - lots of inspiring stuff there.

Louise

Veteran

I'm a total mess merchant Angie would have an apoplexy!!!! I'm tidy at the moment after a mammoth clean up last week. I think clearing does breed I only starting clearing stuff from the spare room then went onto my room, now mum has given Dad a major flea in his ear about his computer bits in the front room x

April

Veteran

Go, Theresa! Or rather, "Rest, Theresa, and plan for what you'll accomplish when you're feeling up to it!"

While you're resting, here are some guides to get you thinking:

http://flylady.net/pages/FLYin.....lutter.asp

http://flylady.net/pages/FLYin.....ertips.asp

You'll notice that the thing most emphasized is *not* to tackle an entire room, wing, floor, or house all at once. One drawer at a time, one shelf.

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

Here's another rec for Unclutterer! One of my favorite inspirational sites.

I am an organizational freak, so I frequently do closet cleanouts as well as decluttering my home. My husband grew up in a super-cluttered house and I have a phobia against dirty clutter, so it is a constant battle to clean up his piles that he isn't aware of. But once we get going on cleaning up, we tend to see it everywhere, including the closet.

Laura

(website)

Veteran

There is so much psychological baggage in clutter. And it feels SO good to get rid of it. Go, Theresa! I hope you find the energy.

I am in the horrible middle step of decluttering, when I've pulled all sorts of things (5 billion CDs, namely) from cabinets and am sorting them. Then I'm moving a bunch of furniture around and moving my husband's office into my library and turning his office into a guest room. My house looks like we're in the process of moving in ... or out ... when we're actually going nowhere. Horrible!

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

For me the two absolutely go hand-in-hand. In fact last weekend Corey and I embarked on a massive apartment perge, and closet-cleaning was a big part of it. We emptied every drawer and every cupboard, scrubbed every shelf,, basically decluttered our whole place...but for both of us, the closet reorganization was most satisfying.
Hope you feel better and can get back to it soon!

Mac

Veteran

Have any of you watched the TV show "Hoarders?" Wow. Any time I happen upon an episode of that, I'm overwhelmed by the desire to declutter the moment the show ends : )

Dawn

(website)

Oh yes, both closet organisation and apartment decluttering go hand in hand for me. My biggest mess is my university notes, articles and essays pile which keeps building up. The worst thing is that I generally go through it every second month and end up recycling most of the pile. This really should mean that I shouldn't print half the stuff I print or that I should just get rid of it when I'm finished with it.

Biking clutter has also overwhelmed my hallway but I'm trying to get Alan to put his stuff away after repairing his bike or cycling.

Regarding CDs and books, I went the MP3 route with music a few years ago and got rid of all my CDs. I would hope to go on a similar path with books soon by purchasing the Amazon Kindle or similar technology.

biscuitsmom

Veteran

Mac, lol! I get exactly the same feeling from that show....I just feel so overwhelmed by stuff I dont know where to start. I was a packrat who moved in with a worse packrat when we got engaged, then his mother had to move to a nursing home (for life) so we got so much of her stuff, which my DH doesnt want to part with) then my mom died and I took in most of her stuff (trying to go thru it and get rid of some)then everytime I get the house looking its best -such as it is- DH drags up several projects from the basement and dumps them either in our front room or very small kitchen table-aagghhh! Tried telling him it really bothers me, but he still does it....

Ele

(website)

Absolutely hand in hand for me, too. I'm a lot like Angie in this respect- decluttering and simplifying my life is like an obsession for me! I edit on a daily basis, but do cleaning blitzes several times a year, too. Unfortunately, my most recent one led me to misplace a favourite dress, which I'm suspicious might have been accidentally donated.

Right now I'm in the midst of a different kind of deep-clean- my hard drive. I've had my mac for 6 years and plan to replace it when I'm in Canada next month. Any advice on organizing 6+ years of digital photos? I'm finding it quite a daunting task!

Lisa

Veteran

Great job on the closet/declutter project. I find it motivating when I hear of others cleaning out their stuff. It's not always easy to do, but so liberating once done.

Sarah

(website)

Veteran

I'm always decluttering. I hate stuff. I think I inherited this from my Mum, who was a single parent (low income too) for most of my childhood. Less was always more to her, and now I understand why. I don't have little trinkets around my house and I don't rotate clothing seasonally through my closet.
My husband grew up very differently and he has come to appreciate a clutter-free home. I'm about ready to do another purge, though.
In general, we have a one thing in, one thing out rule, but we have been very busy lately and the clutter is starting to get ahead of me.
If I can't stay on top of it, it overwhelms me to the point where I let it get the best of me.
We're just two people in a tiny house (we love small!) and don't need nearly as much as we have. I was given so much when we were little and I like to donate almost everything to pass on the good I benefited from.

Carole

Veteran

This is inspiring me and I need it! I'm very sentimental, and I like to hang onto things I think can be repurposed, for crafts etc. I come by this naturally, my father was the same way, and I'm just like him. I think opposites attrack in this regard because my husband is the complete opposite. He threw away all the cute little baby outfits and handknitted booties and sweaters I had saved from my children's infancy and sold an antique vanity I had purchased with my very first paycheck when I was 16 because it had been in storage since we met. I regret that too! But I realize there is a balance and I need to find it. I'm planning to start with my clothes closet and buy all matching hangers!

biscuitsmom

Veteran

Carole, Im sorry you lost the antique vanity! I'd be heartbroken- I love antiques! May I recommend 'huggable hangers' if you are getting some new ones? They are fabulous! All the hype about them is actually true!

April

Veteran

I have never actually seen the Hoarders show -- just seeing a commercial for it sends me decluttering...

Anonymous

I've been on a decluttering journey the past 3 or 4 years. We've moved households 4 times in 3 years and each move has me decreasing our stuff more each time. We are now in a much smaller house than we started with and I'm working on the next layer of clutter now...it's like an onion! I live with a cluttery husband and 2 kids that each have kid clutter attached to them. Kids are the worst sort of clutter-attractors!

Every time I start with a closet, I can't stop. I just go from closet to closet to cupboard...editing and editing down. We are at the point where its one-in/one-out and everything is fitting nicely into my smaller, more efficient house! Next up...the garage.

Theresa

(website)

Veteran

Thanks for all the encouragement gals!! I will get there eventually - I already feel so much better, so can't wait til its all done!

It's so good to hear your stories of decluttering - its very motivational.

And thanks for the links - I'll definitely enjoy reading through them - Unclutter looks great!

I wish I could see that Hoarders show (don't think its in Aus?) - it sounds like it would be great incentive to prevent it getting out of hand!

The plan is:

Finish my wardrobe/bedroom
Attack the girls wardrobe (shuddering at the thought of this one!)
The 2 boxes in the living/dining area's
The Kitchen
The office/craft room (lots of paper clutter in here...)
The Garage
The girls play room - leaving this til last cos its the room I want to do least LOL How is it possible that two little people can accumulate so much *stuff*?!?!?!

I've been reading heaps about Evernote lately so decided to give it a whirl to see if it helps keep track of paper clutter and the little notes I have everywhere... will be interesting to see if its as useful as all the reviews suggest...

Wish me luck... once I'm up to it all that is!