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knowloveserve
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Joined: Jan 31 2007
Location: Washington
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Posts: 759
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| Posted: July 02 2007 at 4:53pm | IP Logged
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"It is OK to miss something you have gotten rid of. That is human nature. That DOESN'T mean you should have KEPT the item. Things can become "part of us" and there can be a grieving process when they are gone."
Get rid of the "maybe-some-days"... those things you save because you think someday you'll use it. (I need to dump an artificial Christmas tree, food dehydrator, Hawaiian dress, silver high heels from Prom! etc.,)
God will provide and life is so much more creative when you have to improvise!
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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Lori†
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Joined: April 21 2005
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| Posted: July 02 2007 at 6:18pm | IP Logged
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Tahoma2blue
This is what we are doing now!
I am literally going through every room and giving away or getting rid of STUFF!
We are having a yard sale in the Fall for the seminarians, so if I can find a place to store my STUFF until then, I will sell it there.
It is such a liberating experience!
God bless,
lori
Married to Mike for 17 years, 3 children: Kaleb 12, Anya 9, and Mark 3. 
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lapazfarm
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Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
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| Posted: July 03 2007 at 3:29am | IP Logged
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WOW!!!! Looks like I hit on a hot topic! Sorry I posted this and then vanished, but dh had the great idea to pack up and go camping, so I've been out in the woods (and the meadows and the seashore) for a couple of days and just got in.
I am loving all of these ideas!I'm making my list for when I get home! Funny the de-cluttering bug would strike me when I'm 4000 miles away from all of my stuff!LOL!
But actually it always strikes me when we go on vacation (or camping!) just how little we really do need to get by. A few clothes, something to cook on and a warm bed, right? Well, I won't go to those extremes, but I do seriously need to address the clothes, toys, books, and just general junk in my life (and my garage!Yikes!).
So, as I said, I am making my list:
First,I need to make a very clear area in the garage for donation items.
Next, I pick a room and get ruthless!
If I do a room a month I should be good to go in...
4 bedrooms
1 kitchen
2 baths
1 garage (dreading this one)
1 livingroom/hallway
1 school area (actually multiple areas, but I am lumping them together for this)
That's 10 months. PERFECT!!!Coincides with the school year if I start in Sept and go through June.
And since I doubt I'll need a month per bathroom, I can combine those in a month like December when I am busy with other things. December will be the greatest time for purging all those totes of excess Christmas decor as well, since I will have them all out anyway!
That gets me down to 9 months, which is even better, leaving me a month to pack for the move (which is actually in 10 months, not a full year).
If I get done with a room early in the month, I can tack on jobs like the outdoors areas (porch, yard, barn)or other seasonal items in storage.
Any advice on what order to do the rooms?
I'd like to assign a room for each month, Sept through May.
I already did some purging prior to leaving NC this summer, and I have the school areas pretty worked out for this year, so I am thinking I may want to save that for last, because I can see which things we use this year and want to keep for next, or not. So that's MAY's area.
Where shall we start in SEPT?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Kathryn UK
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Joined: Feb 27 2005
Location: England
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| Posted: July 03 2007 at 6:29am | IP Logged
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Theresa, I would leave the garage until you get close to the end. If it is awful, it would be easy to get bogged down there and get demoralised. Start somewhere that you will be able to see fairly quick success.
I spent several months last autumn and winter decluttering my mother's house so that she could move. I estimate we got rid of about half the contents (and the remainder still only just fitted comfortably into her new house!). I didn't even dare look closely at her garage and utility area in case I ran away and never came back  . I left it until a couple of weeks before the move, hired a skip (dumpster?), roped in dh, dd and a friend, left the baby with our neighbour, and we managed to do it between us in a day. I started with the bedrooms as they were where most of the hoarded stuff had landed. The living room and kitchen were not so bad as they had the stuff that was in regular use. Also I think it is easier to prevent new stuff coming into the bedrooms than the living areas, so once they were done I could forget about them.
Now I am trying to tackle my own clutter. I posted a list of my decluttering ambitions for the summer
here.
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Kathryn
Dh Michael,  Rachel(3/95) Hannah(8/98) Naomi(6/06)  (11/07)
The Bookworm
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: July 03 2007 at 2:34pm | IP Logged
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What a great thread!! Moving many times has really helped us with the stuff thing- the last few were out of province moves. Even with those we kept too much- each move I have realised more clearly what would have been the best to keep!!
What always stymies (sp??) me is all the books- I love to 'strew', end up with piles and piles everywhere. Whenever someone asks me questions such as,'What would you like for your birthday??' , BOOKSHELVES is always the first word out of my mouth (but people always think that sounds so dull- If only they knew  ). But then when the books are lying around people use them- so I have to be more on top of rotating them and having less piles.
Our computer zone is one of the worst areas, along with our walk in closet (basically the only closet in our house). Here it always seems one room really gets dumped at a time- right now it is our closet!! I would love to get on top of a better system in there this summer. I would also love to make a more organised book scene( ie. learn to make some bookshelves... or sweettalk wonderful hubbie into it).
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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happymama
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| Posted: July 03 2007 at 10:19pm | IP Logged
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i used to manage donations for a large CAtholic Charities organization, and i was daily appalled by what people brought to us - for the "tax exemption" - not for charity... truckloads of nasty things that nobody needed! So on the question of "charity or trash" - go ahead and make the judgment call, "does anyone really need this?" or call your favorite charity and ask them what kinds of items they really like or need.
We loved getting donations of men's jeans & t-shirts, good shoes, good basic clothing, extra religious items like crucifixes & rosaries, good books, basic cutlery & dishes. Please, no nick-nacks!! Please nothing broken like a jacket with a broken zipper... unless you fix it yourself first! And now that i'm a mom, i've also become pretty picky when it comes to toys. If my kids don't play with it, I'm much more likely to trash it than keep it in circulation.
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: July 03 2007 at 11:20pm | IP Logged
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I am de cluttering and re-organizing alll of my school things. I have had a shift in the way I teach. By way of ages and from watching everyone, I have a better idea of how to store, rotate and present things ...and what to keep, give away and get rid of. At this rate..I will never be done, but I am TRYING. I have a lot of drive to get this done...it is hard to pace myself so I don't get burnt out because I WANT it DONE! I wish I didn't have to do it alone. Another like-minded hands-on type homeschooler to help me out would be waaay better than a fairy godmother... 
I have NO garage, a basement that I can't stand (..a bit too damp and lots to get rid of), and a walk-up attic (1/2 of a story) that is 1/2 organized...and I am sporting this nifty looking mask to keep the dust allergy at bay. I rotate between an all out tough cleaning day, a day of maintenance and one of organization. So far, it is working out pretty well. I wonder if I have enough TIME to get this done before September....I am trying! By the way...it is GREAT to clean the house when you are trying to lose weight...ask me how I know
One of the worst areas to organize is my kitchen. We have a 1923 simple bungalow type home and it has a eating nook in it with a window smack in the center...too small for my family and a magnet for STUFF. I wish I knew how to utilize that space better!
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
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God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: One year to simplicity
