I've been thinking about revisiting the Cut the Crap challenge again as we hope to find a place of our own and move sometime within the next few months. As we've worked to prepare for the harder times that may be coming, it seems more difficult to let go of anything. The result is a messy cluttered house that is, once again, feeling out of control.
I mentioned in my food log blog, McDougalling with Chile, that I've started Operation Clean-Out in the kitchen. That project involves using up foods that aren't the best for my healthy diet and trying to clean out the refrigerator and freezers in anticipation of our move. We decided this week to empty out the small 5 cubic foot upright freezer I bought last year on craigslist and sell it. It frosts up rapidly and uses a fair amount of energy. If we decide after moving that we need the storage space for frozen goods, we'll find a chest freezer.
So, would anyone be interested in joining Operation Clean-Out for their whole house? It would involve getting rid of those things that don't either enhance your life, help you prepare for a tougher economic future, enable you to use less resources (and yes, that stash of mending supplies does save resources in the long run!), or that you must keep for other reasons (such as an IRS audit).
My schedule is pretty busy these days, but I really need to get on this myself. I can't guarantee frequent posting, or regular check-ins, but I will try to post about it occasionally if there's some interest. Just leave a comment if you're interested, along with a link to your blog. I may do a list in the sidebar again.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
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22 comments:
I would love to join you!
I would, but I'm at that funny point where I wonder "all these clothes I'm taking to goodwill... should I be making them into quilts or something?". So I'm kind of at a stopping point.
But I will commit to getting rid of the stuff in the room that is being turned into a guest room. :)
I have been thinking for the last two days about de-cluttering, after having visited a friend's house for the first time and seeing how spare and clean and appealing it felt. Most people would say that I have no clutter, but I definitely feel like we always have too much stuff around. My husband is currently out of work, and so our basement is full of all his work stuff as well as all the regular stuff, so that's making me feel a bit crazy down there, but I can't do anything about that stuff. I would like to try to clean out the rest of the house some. I don't blog, but I'll comment as to how I'm doing when you post about it.
I'm still working on the decluttering from the last challenge. With two small children, it has been slow going. However, I'm excited about the progress that we have made but know we have a fair bit to go. The best part was getting rid of the cheap and not very stable particle board bookcase from my husband's bachelor days.
--Ave
Chile,
I'm definitely interested as long as it's not gather and toss in the trash. Whatever excess stuff we have needs to be put to use somewhere by someone else, right? This should be challenging (and rewarding).
I'd definitely be in! I actually made a start Saturday so this would be good timing!
Sure- I'll join you (he said with sudden hesitation) I need to again visit my garage- all summer long of just putting things in there has taken it's toll!
I'm in. We did a lot of household organizing before my mom came to visit, but in the end, it devolved to shoving stuff in boxes that could be stacked somewhere out of the way (plus a lot of eyeballing of boxes we never unpacked -- as in wow, I've been looking for that, I wonder what else is still packed away). My kitchen cupboards are first up -- I really need to make better use of the space and triage the stuff shoved to the back. A close second will be all the garden stuff as I clean that up for winter.
Okay, Chile, I'm in. I need to start with the bags of baking supplies (annual neighborhood grocery store sale) from yesterday, move to the rest of the kitchen BEFORE the holiday baking starts, then definitely get to the 'spare' room where I have all my craft/sewing/knitting/etc supplies. How's that for starters?
I'm in! I'm super busy right now, but this is something I really, really need to do.
Thanks, folks, for signing up. Decluttering seems to be a never-ending task. I totally disagree with the folks that tear through a house throwing away stuff left and right. I think decluttering needs thoughtful consideration, both to whether to keep or get rid of something, and then what to do with it. I promote reuse, re-purposing, and recycling (through donation, yard sales and craigslist).
Logo is up now. :)
I'm in. I'm moving into a teenytiny apartment in a little over a month and I need to get rid of some major piles of stuff I no longer need.
I'm in too. I've got boxes and boxes of stuff, mostly files that were in storage, that need sorting and shredding.
I have a book on how to make handmade paper. I hope to use the shredded paper to make the handmade paper.
Also need to organize the "keep" stuff in proper file folders. Been meaning to do all this since it arrived from long-distance storage back in April. So, nows the time!
Thanks, Chile!
Last Christesmas, we could barely use the sitting room due to things piled everywhere & the floor being buckled. This year it should be usable ~ friend & father lifted worst section of floor & replaced it, so I could move furniture & use that area. It helped that we now have ALL the cushions for the sofa & armchairs, so they can be used fully. I do have piles of things that I'm not sure what to do with, mainly vinyl records that can't go back where they were due to that bit of furniture being too close to a radiator (it rarely works, but I'm not taking a chance!). Someone left a small TV in my yard, which they couldn't make receive programmes. I was going to ditch it as they never returned to collect it, but the idea of a DVD player combined with this screen, comfy sofa or chair, roaring fire & chocolate/wine is proving a lovely thought! especially with my childer & their partners arriving for part of the Christesmas/New Year season. We can watch in comfort instead of being crowded under the sloping roof around my pc. Now to finish scrubbing the floor & finishing that room...
PS, there is a large wardrobe still to be moved into the sitting room which will take the collection of musical instruments littering the place, but dry weather & male bodies are neded for that task
Making handmade paper is fun; I've also made shaped paper things using moulds, including Angels that can be made to stand up. The moulds came from a Scandinavian craft catalogue that a UK friend had, but I can't remember its name after all these years
Chile -
I'm in, but I know I have to pick one room and just start...but...which one to choose?
Hhhmmmm...the kitchen is too daunting and everything has a home already, so - on to the guest room...but everything so loves where it has been set down and left. The craft items like being stuffed in dark boxes and crammed between the bed and the wall...why wake them from their slumber? And the three years' worth of wrapping paper remains silently waiting...under the bed. The cats crawl under there and keep it company. They're fine...
The present inhabitants of the garage are living happily as a peer group...we'll leave them be, too...for now.
But I'm still in... ;^)
LadyBanksia
Welcome to the new folks.
LadyBanksia, your hoarding tactics are not going to fly here. You must confront your dark corners and hidden stashes sooner or later.
i saw a link on monicas blog and hope i'm not too late to join in the fun!
we've just moved from a 4bed big semi to a huge 7 bed house that we're renting until our purchase of a small but perfectly formed 3 bed bungalow goes through! My boxes are in then out, up then down and there is a lot of stuff that just needs to lose the sentimentality and the 'might need it in the future' crap and jsut be thrown out/donated.
ok. deep breaths here. pass me a black sack to start this going...
Nope, not too late. And rather than a black plastic bag, donate to a thrift store or hold a yard sale.
Check also out Flylady.net for some cheering.
So, I'm definitely joining as well. Better late than never :)
I'm a bit late, but I'm definitely in! I'm desperate to declutter and finding it tricky. This could really help with my motivation :)
Thank you!
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