I kind of live by the principal that if I don't use something a few times in the course of a years time, I really don't need it. My wife, on the other hand, still has stuff her kids had as tots and they are 30 and 25 now.
She did surprise me recently when she got into our closet and the spare closet where she keeps more clothes and actually filled 3 large bags of clothes that will NEVER fit again, or are so out of date that we may not live long enough for them to come back in style. It would be like me keeping a polyester leisure suit--------if I ever owned one in the first place.
Last summer I built all new raised panel doors and drawer fronts to refaced all my kitchen cabinets and painted the interiors. Everything came out of them and that was my cue to toss several boxes of stuff. In my younger days we would refer to the extra stuff as "Camp Goods" meaning they went to someone's fishing/hunting camp for duty.
My utility/storage room is in dire need of a good housecleaning, but that is my wife's sanctuary for the most part and every time I mention taking a day to sort through things, she gets all defensive---so, it remains, for now.
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ElizabethB
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2105
- Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:53 am
- Location: Lafayette, LA
I am pleased and amazed by all of the responses. RBG your house is so nice. I hope you sell it soon. In Lafayette that house would go for 50K more just because of the decking. Love it.
I am kind of at a stand still. I need to get into G's office. Paper is one of the biggest clutter offenders. He has check books from the 1970's.
My Love keeps bills and other paperwork that have never been opened because he does his business on line.
His office is also the repository for his hunting gear. A complete nightmare. At least 3/4s of his hunting clothes are never worn. He collects ball caps and duffle bags.
I have read a lot about hoarding. It is usually based on feelings of insecurity or a compensation for loss. Hoarders need to be treated with gentle, loving care. Just the suggestion of cleaning out the office can cause my Love to have an anxiety attack.
RBG any PM advice would be appreciated.
Since G is not co-operating on office cleaning I am tackling "my room". The spare bedroom is where I keep all of my clothes. I have a 5' x 5' closet and a double dresser for all of my clothes. Since my space is over full "The Sally" will be getting a very nice donation of clothes and shoes.
It hurts me to think of the issues G has with junk. I understand some of the reasons for his hoarding and it hurts my heart. I just wish I could help him understand the freedom and joy of an uncluttered house.
I don't know which is more depressing - living with the junk or going through the process of getting rid of it. While de-cluttering the kitchen, pantry and laundry room there were days that I could only tackle one drawer or one cabinet because I was overwhelmed by the junk.
RBG I actually envy you in a way. Moving forces you to make those hard decisions about keep, toss or donate.
G wants to have a garage sale. NOT going to happen. Much TOO much work - the work would be on me. I have done garage sales twice. 2 x too many. Never again.
There will lots of donations to the Sally.
I do not donate to Goodwill because they are a "for profit" organization. Their overhead and salaries are huge.
Only a few pennies of every dollar donated actually goes to charity. I do give them credit for work training programs.
I used to donate to Faith House - a women and children's shelter. I quit because they limit their donation sites and times and they do not issue receipts for donations.
Another donation option is St. Joseph's Men's Shelter - a shelter for homeless men. Unfortunately men are often forgotten about and ignored. There is also a local thrift shop called Hand Up Thrift - HUT. They support local charities.
I am kind of at a stand still. I need to get into G's office. Paper is one of the biggest clutter offenders. He has check books from the 1970's.
My Love keeps bills and other paperwork that have never been opened because he does his business on line.
His office is also the repository for his hunting gear. A complete nightmare. At least 3/4s of his hunting clothes are never worn. He collects ball caps and duffle bags.
I have read a lot about hoarding. It is usually based on feelings of insecurity or a compensation for loss. Hoarders need to be treated with gentle, loving care. Just the suggestion of cleaning out the office can cause my Love to have an anxiety attack.
RBG any PM advice would be appreciated.
Since G is not co-operating on office cleaning I am tackling "my room". The spare bedroom is where I keep all of my clothes. I have a 5' x 5' closet and a double dresser for all of my clothes. Since my space is over full "The Sally" will be getting a very nice donation of clothes and shoes.
It hurts me to think of the issues G has with junk. I understand some of the reasons for his hoarding and it hurts my heart. I just wish I could help him understand the freedom and joy of an uncluttered house.
I don't know which is more depressing - living with the junk or going through the process of getting rid of it. While de-cluttering the kitchen, pantry and laundry room there were days that I could only tackle one drawer or one cabinet because I was overwhelmed by the junk.
RBG I actually envy you in a way. Moving forces you to make those hard decisions about keep, toss or donate.
G wants to have a garage sale. NOT going to happen. Much TOO much work - the work would be on me. I have done garage sales twice. 2 x too many. Never again.
There will lots of donations to the Sally.
I do not donate to Goodwill because they are a "for profit" organization. Their overhead and salaries are huge.
Only a few pennies of every dollar donated actually goes to charity. I do give them credit for work training programs.I used to donate to Faith House - a women and children's shelter. I quit because they limit their donation sites and times and they do not issue receipts for donations.
Another donation option is St. Joseph's Men's Shelter - a shelter for homeless men. Unfortunately men are often forgotten about and ignored. There is also a local thrift shop called Hand Up Thrift - HUT. They support local charities.
I've been following this with interest, guilt and a chuckle. I see the de-clutter abode and sense the person has NO interests, has storage, or far bigger house than me.
I tend to keep, given. I have a moderate sized bungalow, 1200 sq ft is main part, fortunate for 1/2 basement that does have laundry, heat/AC, freezer. Now, stuff my living including my room, bath, 2 home based businesses in the main part. There are layers. The smallish kitchen has it all, food, frig, cooking etc + seed starting, yarn dyeing, candle making stuff. Also I am a scratch cook, nothing fancy, but bake bread, have fresh produce etc.
Oh the activities, businesses. The herbs and plant starts. That takes some indoor space. Then the very long standing 18th c re-enacting, fibers including weaving, dyeing, sewing and more. Who else keeps canvas, tent poles and tent stakes on the front porch, along with the usual.
I have to ask, if you are in small quarters and garden at all, where are the tools and supplies? Storage sheds? Kitchen? For the weekly farmers market I just keep the tables and pop-up canopy in the mini van. Other items such as office box, bags and packing stuff box, fiber and candle inventory, both fan and heater all are in the liv room. Of course! (shared with 2 looms and the g-sons corner with toys) Yes the sofa and lo-fo TV and stereo in that area.
Sometimes it gets to me and I work back an area, and also realize I am living, have interests and skills and do. I am older than most of you FWIW. Won't change any time soon, I hope.
I tend to keep, given. I have a moderate sized bungalow, 1200 sq ft is main part, fortunate for 1/2 basement that does have laundry, heat/AC, freezer. Now, stuff my living including my room, bath, 2 home based businesses in the main part. There are layers. The smallish kitchen has it all, food, frig, cooking etc + seed starting, yarn dyeing, candle making stuff. Also I am a scratch cook, nothing fancy, but bake bread, have fresh produce etc.
Oh the activities, businesses. The herbs and plant starts. That takes some indoor space. Then the very long standing 18th c re-enacting, fibers including weaving, dyeing, sewing and more. Who else keeps canvas, tent poles and tent stakes on the front porch, along with the usual.
I have to ask, if you are in small quarters and garden at all, where are the tools and supplies? Storage sheds? Kitchen? For the weekly farmers market I just keep the tables and pop-up canopy in the mini van. Other items such as office box, bags and packing stuff box, fiber and candle inventory, both fan and heater all are in the liv room. Of course! (shared with 2 looms and the g-sons corner with toys) Yes the sofa and lo-fo TV and stereo in that area.
Sometimes it gets to me and I work back an area, and also realize I am living, have interests and skills and do. I am older than most of you FWIW. Won't change any time soon, I hope.
I had a 515 sq ft townhouse. It was the first place I bought. It had a little courtyard. It was basically 3 rooms. A bathroom that could hold two people as long as one was on the toilet and the other in the tub. The door barely cleared the toilet. The sink was is in the bedroom and it was only big enough for a twin or double bed and one lamp table. It had a 5 ft closet and I learned to use baskets in the closet because there was no space for a dresser. The living room/kitchen had the front door and sliding door out to a small courtyard which was roughly about 10ft by 20 ft.
The kitchen was a blind galley and the washer and dryer was in the kitchen (bad plan in Hawaii). All of the water heaters for the building was located on the side of the building. When the heater broke, I am glad, at least mine was accessible.
I had the same set of dishes for 30 years (I have finally replaced most of that) and I still have some of my original pots and tableware. I learned to Alton Brown my kitchen and have multi function tools. I built a slide out drawer myself for the cabinet to make it easier to get to the pots and pans. It worked, but it was not pretty. I have a hard time with square corners. (But since then I have discovered angle hardware, that makes that so much better. I had a modular couch, an entertainment stand and a rattan coffee table with a glass top in the living room.
I moved to this house which was originally 912 sq ft but had good storage for a 70's house but a very small galley kitchen.
I loved to bake so a lot of my extra baking equipment gets stored in the spare bedroom along with the holiday ornaments.
In 1991 after each morning having the four of us my husband, myself and our two cats cram into a half bath that was 29 inches wide and about 60 inches long with a pocket door and a 19 inch sink and a toilet and only room for half of a toilet rug set, we (I) decided we either look for a house with a better plan or build and extension. My husband did not want to move so we added a new master bedroom and bath above the garage. It also connected the previously separate carport to the house and added 200 sq ft there. It ended up doubling the 10x10 bedroom to 10x20 with another 10 ft long closet added to the existing 5 ft closet. The other bedroom became an internal room so it was converted to a small living room and foyer and the new master was a garage. 16ftx18ft, a computer room 8ftx10 ft
a bathroom about 10ftx10ft and a 10ftx8ft walk in closet. With a sliding door and balcony and mostly windows on two sides of the room and no windows behind the bed. We started with a 3Br 1-1/2 bath and ended up with a 3Br 2 1/2 bath, but the bedrooms are a lot bigger and the living room is a lot smaller.
I never got a dresser since I have gotten used to using baskets in the closet.
I love the spaces in the house but I have collected a lot of things since 1989.
My printer just broke and someone gave me an old one that was not compatible so I had to buy another new one. It was an opportunity for me to do a little decluttering since both printers had to go along with the cd's and papers that came with them and ink cartridges from 2 printers ago. Baby steps, one corner at a time.
The kitchen was a blind galley and the washer and dryer was in the kitchen (bad plan in Hawaii). All of the water heaters for the building was located on the side of the building. When the heater broke, I am glad, at least mine was accessible.
I had the same set of dishes for 30 years (I have finally replaced most of that) and I still have some of my original pots and tableware. I learned to Alton Brown my kitchen and have multi function tools. I built a slide out drawer myself for the cabinet to make it easier to get to the pots and pans. It worked, but it was not pretty. I have a hard time with square corners. (But since then I have discovered angle hardware, that makes that so much better. I had a modular couch, an entertainment stand and a rattan coffee table with a glass top in the living room.
I moved to this house which was originally 912 sq ft but had good storage for a 70's house but a very small galley kitchen.
I loved to bake so a lot of my extra baking equipment gets stored in the spare bedroom along with the holiday ornaments.
In 1991 after each morning having the four of us my husband, myself and our two cats cram into a half bath that was 29 inches wide and about 60 inches long with a pocket door and a 19 inch sink and a toilet and only room for half of a toilet rug set, we (I) decided we either look for a house with a better plan or build and extension. My husband did not want to move so we added a new master bedroom and bath above the garage. It also connected the previously separate carport to the house and added 200 sq ft there. It ended up doubling the 10x10 bedroom to 10x20 with another 10 ft long closet added to the existing 5 ft closet. The other bedroom became an internal room so it was converted to a small living room and foyer and the new master was a garage. 16ftx18ft, a computer room 8ftx10 ft
a bathroom about 10ftx10ft and a 10ftx8ft walk in closet. With a sliding door and balcony and mostly windows on two sides of the room and no windows behind the bed. We started with a 3Br 1-1/2 bath and ended up with a 3Br 2 1/2 bath, but the bedrooms are a lot bigger and the living room is a lot smaller.
I never got a dresser since I have gotten used to using baskets in the closet.
I love the spaces in the house but I have collected a lot of things since 1989.
My printer just broke and someone gave me an old one that was not compatible so I had to buy another new one. It was an opportunity for me to do a little decluttering since both printers had to go along with the cd's and papers that came with them and ink cartridges from 2 printers ago. Baby steps, one corner at a time.
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Allyn
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 480
- Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:38 pm
- Location: Mississippi Gulf Coast - zone 8b
Susan W wrote: ...I have to ask, if you are in small quarters and garden at all, where are the tools and supplies? Storage sheds? Kitchen?...
I cross-stitch and sew. My craft supplies are kept in storage tubs on shelves above the sleeping nook. My gardening supplies are kept in a little storage closet (3 ' x 4') attached to the house but the door is outside. I have a nice size covered porch that at the moment I can't get to the porch swing though the bags of peat moss, perlite, vermiculite and compost. Those supplies are in anticipation of fall planting, so once I get my tubs (I'm going to try a bunch of SIPs this fall) those supplies will go away.
This is a topic rather near and dear to my heart. I learned to declutter well over a decade ago, even though I was in a large space - but it was an awkward loft apartment with a weird layout and no storage space. I found myself on https://www.flylady.net and never looked back. I can't recommend her methods and her mailing list highly enough, especially for people who are finding themselves overwhelmed, depressed, feeling like a failure, etc with respect to getting their home in order. I find her 'tone' a little weird, and the web design is junk, but if you don't like it, ignore it and just do what she says to do. It sounds crazy but it works. And it's like gardening! You start out small, with baby steps, and let the process grow.
I thought I was just kinda learning some housekeeping tips, but what I didn't realize was what an impact it would have on my depression, anxiety and probable adult-onset ADHD. I never realized how subtly stressed-out I was over a disorganized apartment until it went away and I felt that peace in my home.
I've moved 14 times in my life, so I can't really relate to hoarding, either... but I can see how it's different for people who've been in one home for a long time. Nothing forces decluttering like moving! "Do I really need this enough to carry it to the truck? Can I just buy it at the dollar store or thrift store in the future if I really need it?" Ask yourself that 1000 times while you're packing and poof, you're decluttered. LOL.
Fiance and I bought our first home a year and a half ago and I'm determined to keep it 90% decluttered. I say 90% because the basement is the 'dumping ground'. My goal is to never fear answering the door, or having someone text me saying they're dropping by.
I thought I was just kinda learning some housekeeping tips, but what I didn't realize was what an impact it would have on my depression, anxiety and probable adult-onset ADHD. I never realized how subtly stressed-out I was over a disorganized apartment until it went away and I felt that peace in my home.
I've moved 14 times in my life, so I can't really relate to hoarding, either... but I can see how it's different for people who've been in one home for a long time. Nothing forces decluttering like moving! "Do I really need this enough to carry it to the truck? Can I just buy it at the dollar store or thrift store in the future if I really need it?" Ask yourself that 1000 times while you're packing and poof, you're decluttered. LOL.
Fiance and I bought our first home a year and a half ago and I'm determined to keep it 90% decluttered. I say 90% because the basement is the 'dumping ground'. My goal is to never fear answering the door, or having someone text me saying they're dropping by.
Right by the patio door. Notice there's no closet, no mudroom, no nothin'. I keep them on a little shelf in front of the window. I just try to keep it neat. The rake is outside on the patio leaning against the house. I thought of getting one of those stand-up lockers, but there's no point, really. I can bring the rake downstairs in fall. Our landscaping is done by the condo, so no lawnmower or weed whacker.Susan W wrote:I have to ask, if you are in small quarters and garden at all, where are the tools and supplies?
If that wasn't the case, we would have just gotten a weed whacker because the lawn is that small... and I'd keep it in the basement.
Same here. Our closets are actually quite big, but the rooms themselves small. The closets already had built-in organizer shelves.imafan26 wrote:I never got a dresser since I have gotten used to using baskets in the closet.