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Sarah
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Posted: March 03 2008 at 12:27pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

I was going to host a decluttering carnival, but I didn't get enough posts, then I forgot.

It seems everyone is so busy decluttering that they forgot to send me their posts .

I thought it would be fun to look at what people are doing to further inspire spring cleaning/decluttering!

my laundry room

Sally's decluttering

Cay's decluttering

Colleen's post about stuff

Cheryl's purge

Rebecca's grateful to haul clutter

Anyone else? Its contagious!

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Cay Gibson
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Posted: March 03 2008 at 1:23pm | IP Logged Quote Cay Gibson

Sarah wrote:

It seems everyone is so busy decluttering that they forgot to send me their posts .

Its contagious!



It is indeed!

I think February sickness (ie: the need to clean and sanitize the house) and the hint of sprintime in the air gets people stirred up. It did me.

Btw, the picture of my hallway was taken after I began decluttering. My hallway doesn't normally look that bad. But I did have boxes and boxes of books and videos up and down the hallway and that is all now gone.

And...to clear the record...I did not , as one friend asked, hide all the boxes and clutter in my bedroom. Just one box...

I began writing on Radical Decluttering after the above post...or, rather, Colleen wrote it for me. Radical decluttering has been on my mind a lot lately and stemmed from my reading of Radical Hospitality which I have not gotten back to finishing (book or posts) but which I pray to wrap up one day. One day...

In the meantime, as I said before, it is "still okay if it doesn't get down on paper or screen. The most important part is that I do it. That I follow through with it. The reality of my home life is definitely more important than anything I project on the web...no matter how gossamer, airy, and light the web might seem. It's an illusion. This pile of papers, books and envelopes sitting on top of my computer desk at my left elbow is the reality."


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Posted: March 03 2008 at 1:48pm | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm

I have been decluttering like crazy, but just have not blogged about it lately. Just knowing that everything I own has to fit into one small utility trailer for our move is very inspiring.

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Posted: March 03 2008 at 2:05pm | IP Logged Quote juststartn

I'm decluttering when we have moved. Frankly, it will be easier to do it one or five boxes at a time, as I bring them to the house from one of the outbuildings, than to conquer it now, where it will only "rest" for another week.

Then I can declutter as I unload the boxes, and only bring into the house the things I *know* I want to have in there.

I am looking forward to it, even though it will be a long on-going process....

Rachel (the movers arrive a week from tomorrow)

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Posted: March 03 2008 at 2:07pm | IP Logged Quote missionfamily

Thanks for the one-stop inspiration Sarah ... I need to work on the two little ones' room and closet and have hit a bit of a wall...my spirit is willing, but my flesh wants to curl up with a cup of tea and a book...maybe reading these will get me going again...

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Posted: March 03 2008 at 3:30pm | IP Logged Quote Rebecca

I'm with Theresa. I've been working every day to declutter my home. I've wanted to blog it all but I find, like with so many other things, that I can either do it or I can blog it. I am not very good at both. Here are some of the of the rooms/projects that we've completed thus far. We have done more but haven't gotten it on the blog as of yet. As Cay said so well, "The most important part is that I do it."   

Thanks for posting the inspiration, Sarah!
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Posted: March 03 2008 at 4:03pm | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth

I'm not writing about it either but a big truck just came and hauled away FIFTEEN of those ginormous green trash bags...I did take a picture.

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Posted: March 03 2008 at 4:31pm | IP Logged Quote chicken lady

I have the bug as well! I caught it from Theresa and Rebecca! I don't blog about it, as I don;t want folks to see all this stuff.
I hauled away 15 boxes of books, all twaddle! And I thought I did not have twaddle
I just returned from Catholic Charities where we dropped off 10 bags of clothes and toys. Can you believe there is more to come???????
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Posted: March 03 2008 at 8:12pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

chicken lady wrote:
   Can you believe there is more to come???????


If you're like me. . .yes.

I never want it to get this bad again. How did it anyway? Now I see all these years that I have been just organizing this stuff and moving it around. Now that I'm clearing spaces I can see how debilitating that was and ridiculous.



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Posted: March 03 2008 at 8:41pm | IP Logged Quote stefoodie

Sarah wrote:
I have been just organizing this stuff and moving it around.


My dh always teases me about making it a science lesson... on conservation of mass.

-- stef, who's too busy decluttering to blog about it too

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Posted: March 03 2008 at 8:58pm | IP Logged Quote Matilda

Rebecca's post inspired this round of decluttering and we just did a huge clean out of the attic (two van loads with the seats folded down to Goodwill and an equal amount on the curb!) but like everyone else, I didn't blog about it. I didn't even take a picture. Wish I had...the garage floor was literally covered with boxes in junk and when we finished, we could pull both cars in!!!

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 12:47am | IP Logged Quote Cheryl

Keep posting yours Sarah. They are inspiring, as are the others too. I haven't done anything since the bathroom. I'm sure the urge will come again soon.

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 9:24am | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, so de-cluttering came to a standstill as we took off for the park. But today it is pouring rain so I am back at it again. I think I am going to tackle Superboy's room while he is away. Sneaky, I know, but he is such a packrat I can never get rid of anything when he is around!LOL!
Either that or I am going to dig into one of the school storage cabinets. Not sure which is the scariest!LOL!
So...what are you ladies de-cluttering right now?

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 9:54am | IP Logged Quote chicken lady

lapazfarm wrote:
So...what are you ladies de-cluttering right now?


I am working on our sunroom, which is a catch all for HS books people have given me, that I thought maybe someday I would look into     4 boxes of books and craft supplies loaded ready to go to Catholic Charities.

BTW we are having the same weather. Yesterday WAS gorgeous, pouring rain now
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Posted: March 04 2008 at 10:04am | IP Logged Quote amyable

I'm attacking things little by little whenever I get a moment - 5 minutes on the clothes here, 5 minutes on the bookshelves there, maybe a sprinkling of bathroom cabinet to spice things up!

This weekend we took a huge box of books (almost hurt my dh ) and 3-4 large bags of clothes to goodwill. Doesn't sound like much, but when you add it up with all the other things we've gotten rid of in the past year or two, I think we've cut our posessions by half! I'm still not satisfied. Things still look messy and cluttered.

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 10:07am | IP Logged Quote JennGM

Bravo to all of you for the great work. I've been doing some slowly. It's hard to find snatches of time. My problem right now is getting the bags out of the house!

So, my biggest clutter is my past life. All those craft supplies, projects not completed, projects that need to be done, hopes to be done. I'm definitely purging my photos, especially all those doubles, but what about the other stuff? What do you do?

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 12:05pm | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm

amyable wrote:
maybe a sprinkling of bathroom cabinet to spice things up!

LOL! It doesn't take much to entertain us Mom's does it?!LOL!

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 1:27pm | IP Logged Quote amyable

lapazfarm wrote:
amyable wrote:
maybe a sprinkling of bathroom cabinet to spice things up!

LOL! It doesn't take much to entertain us Mom's does it?!LOL!



Decluttering really gets me fired up!

Thanks to the inspiration of you find ladies, I *did* attack a bathroom cabinet while holding the baby and then the girls clothes, yet again, while he napped and the girls played outside (hooray for a little warm weather!).

I'm amazed how many times I can go through the girls' clothes and STILL find more to give away. I know we get hand me downs, but still, I think I'm giving away more than I'm getting, and the kids still have more than enough to wear. It must multiply in the night after eating the lost socks or something.

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 1:34pm | IP Logged Quote stefoodie

lapazfarm wrote:

So...what are you ladies de-cluttering right now?


The china cabinet and the buffet. I've got a bunch of stuff that were gifts but that I don't really use much/don't really love, so they have to go. And then some eBay mistakes from years ago that I've been too guilty to get rid of.

If I'm still feeling energetic this PM it will be the cookbook shelf (shudder -- hug me please!), and my desk.    I'm so not looking forward to the work, but when I imagine what I want to look like afterwards... it's like coffee in my system.

JennGM wrote:
So, my biggest clutter is my past life. All those craft supplies, projects not completed, projects that need to be done, hopes to be done. I'm definitely purging my photos, especially all those doubles, but what about the other stuff? What do you do?


Jenn, this is ME. No big advice except what my DH tells me -- one step at a time. One photo album at a time. One box at a time. One room at a time. Sigh...

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Posted: March 04 2008 at 3:18pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

It feels very good to give away.

And now when I enter a store and want to impulse buy clutter. . .I leave with a very small bag (only what I came for!). I can picture in my mind what a bunch of junk it all becomes!

Blogging it takes time. On the other hand, blogging it makes it happen for me. I have given myself an entire room per month. I see a deadline on this junk and I feel I HAVE to get a post up at the beginning of the month so I am inspired to go, go, go! It may seem dumb, but it is keeping me going.

Yesterday dh showed the ladies at work my photos on my blog. The "before" photos are utterly humiliating! However, feeling that I have people waiting for the next post helps. Even though in reality no one probably even gives a darn!

I know my sister and mother await the photos.


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