Clean Sweep challenge
 

Well darn it! :mad: I couldn't find the old thread - guess it must have got swept up by someone and tossed out :shrug: so here is a new one.

I spent the weekend purging the bedroom closets and drawers, tossed or donated 5 black garbage bags worth of stuff. Broke down the extra wardrobe we had since it was in bad shape anyway and lugged it down to the garbage room by myself. Miraculously all of our stuff fits in one closet and the drawers we have. We thought we needed more storage when we just needed less junk :lol:

I actually mannaged to toss some handbags and some shoes - tough given my Imelda Marcos shoe hoarding tendencies ;)

It is much more spacious in the bedroom now and I can open the curtains wide to the wall to let the sun in -Yippeee!!!!! :cb:

Now I just have to finish vacuming, dusting and decorating and I am all set!
:smug:

Mauvais, you must be almost DONE with all the clean sweeping you've been up to lately! Good job!

Although I've been dreadfully sick yesterday I HAD to get out of the house and the clutter was driving me mad, so I clean sweeped my desk area. Bought a CD tower for next to my monitor to store my fav music CDs I listen to while surfing. Since my CPU won't fit in the cupboard in my desk that is designed to hold a CPU it sits on top of my desk, leaving a wasted cupboard in the desk....but not anymore. I bought a neat storage bin that fits inside and has three drawers in it, so all my office supplies, papers, and WW info is neatly stashed away. I even got an in-basket for bills and mail, and one for stuff to be filed. I organized my candles (geez, I have a ton of Party Lite candles!) in plastic bins, filed three year's worth of pay stubs and miscellaneous stuff I brought home when I moved out of my office at work in September, and threw out four years worth of Canadian Living magazines and Family Circle magazines. It was SO liberating!

And was it ever nice to come tonight and sit in my CLEAN, TIDY workspace while supper was cooking. :cb:

Next on my list is the front hall closet, and then our bedroom closet.

Sounds exciting! This weekend, I cleaned and organized the junk drawer in my kitchen. Next task will be to do the same to the junk chest of drawers in the hall :)

cleaned my desk, started on all my papers. clean sweeped thru my spices in kitchen, and went thru the kids toys, getting rid off all broken, bitty pieces and so forth..

:bravo: Sweepers!

We swept in November when we moved. We got rid of everything that we didn't need and didn't have special meaning. I would reccommend it to anyone. We even gave away our kitchen table- kids ate on the floor in the kitchen until last weekend. (we got a new one) :)

Yes it is somehow liberating - as if all of the junk has been dragging you down and then a weight has suddenly been lifted :)

I put out a big box of stuff for the Canadian Diabetes Association to pick up this morning. Stuff I haven't used in 15 years, mostly.

The weekend before last we tore the house up looking for a receipt my husband needed, and in the process we decluttered all of the paperwork that had taken over our house, filed most of it in a file box, and the rest is in a box waiting to be filed when we have a place to put it. Oh, and we found the reciept on the book case between two books of all the places!!
Then this last weekend we did it again, only this time it was a missing DVD that my husband borrowed from a friend. We never found it and ordered it yesterday. And that is why it is imperitive to declutter and organize yourself. Because if you don't, the giant clutter monster will eat whatever important thing that you are looking for, only to be found 2 weeks later when it is no longer needed.

15 minutes a day for clutter
 

This is my first "official" post on the Alternachick forum. I usually hang out at my home forum but I am trying to broaden my forum horizons.

I came across a reference on one of the 3FC forums talking about a website called www.flylady.net

One of the tips the Fly Lady gives is to set your timer and deClutter just 15 minutes a day. I have tried it a couple of times and not only does it work but most of the time I go beyond the 15 minutes.

When I start off thinking it will only be 15 minutes it does not seem so overwhelming and I realize the hardest part is to get started.

I have declutter books and declutter tapes and declutter videos. I have watched every episode of "Clean Sweep" on TV. My big dream is to have one of those houses where you walk in and it looks like the people have no possessions! I always wonder where their stuff is? Especially those folks who even have just a few things neatly organized in their closets. Where is their stuff anyway? Does anybody know the secret?

Originally Posted by POOKIE88:
I have watched every episode of "Clean Sweep" on TV. My big dream is to have one of those houses where you walk in and it looks like the people have no possessions! I always wonder where their stuff is? Especially those folks who even have just a few things neatly organized in their closets. Where is their stuff anyway? Does anybody know the secret?

Under the bed. LOL!!! (I'm guilty of this!! But my closet looks spiffy!! ;) )

I think they hide everything in boxes in the basement, attic and garage :lol:

I will never have a minimilist house since I love my books, tchotchkies (sp?) that I have collected in my travels and my DH has 3 bookcases worth of hot sauces from around the world ( last count was 150+ different hot sauces) , oh well :shrug:

And yes, we do actually eat the hot sauces! :flame:

Hot Sauces...now that is definitely a different kinda collection...:) Interesting though!! I collect Miniature Gumball Machines... They're tiny and don't take up alot of room...but I still enjoy googling at them. :sunny:

Down the chute it goes!
 

I have been getting rid of clutter and I am determined to get rid of a lot more of it.
You know how frustrating it is when you get rid of something and then the next month you realize you could have used it.

I wish there was some magical way of knowing which items you will need it the future and which you won't.

I know when I look around and see less clutter I can actually BREATHE easier and I feel so much more happy and relaxed!

I actually get a "rush" when I push a bag full of clutter down our garbage chute. :bubbles:

:lol: Pookie that has happened to me a few times too!

I spent part of Sunday clean sweeping the bookshelves in my bedroom and rearranging the entertainment unit so that the stereo fits in with the t.v. I also threw out another large garbage bag full of trash :cb:

Our bedroom is getting decluttered and looks so much brighter and more spacious! Yay! :D

Whorlwinds
 

Wow...you guys are real whorlwinds of activity. Congrats to everyone! :cheer:

My hub and I spent 3 hours last weekend and 1 this weekend finally going through all the finances, getting them the computer (we use Quicken), paid all the bills, filed, shredded and I can't tell you what a load that is off our backs.

Pookie - unfortunately part of the purge is the always finding you need that one little thing that is now in the garbage in a far away land fill site. Never fails for me. :lol:

Yes I agree! I think the hardest part of deCluttering is not the physical work or even the time. The hardest part is trying to decide if you will ever need the object again. Of course it is impossible to know for sure.

I try standing over the object and wiggling my nose but it doesn't help :wizard:

For me the hardest part is actually getting started :lol:

For me the hardest part is actually realizing I threw something away that later I wanted. I do it a lot, because I get too carried away. heh. It can go either way.

Lizziness : lol I do the same thing. when i start to clean sweep i go on auto pilot. when i get done everything is nice organized, sparkly clean. :) then later bam i need something i needed, it never fails. don't need it til it is thrown away.

Yay! I bought a new teapot to replace the old grey one that I am tossing :cb:

Doesn't count if all I have done is move the stuff I am getting rid of to another part of the apartment does it?

That's correct, Squeak.

Damn. :D

I have cleaned out a few closets, and bagged what I want to donate, but actually taking the stuff to donate, that could take years. :p

Oh, I hear ya on THAT one, Squeak! I've always got bags of stuff sitting around waiting to go. :rolleyes:

Ha! Ha! ellis :lol: And here I decluttered my place by giving you a bag of stuff to clutter up your place! :devil:

Ellis! If you bring your BAGS over to my place I can get the "RUSH" of pushing them down the garbage chute in our building.
I feel so much LIGHTER afterwards. --Pookie :bubbles:

Oh, but your stuff isn't clutter, Mauvais! It's all treasure! :lol:

Pookie, we regularly bag stuff for the Sally Anne. They come and pick it up on a regular basis... I just don't know where to put it in the meantime! And then I forget to put it out. :rolleyes:

We have hauled my increasing collection of books from pillar to post, all over the world. I come by my book hoarding tendencies genetically, my mother surrounded my sister and me with books all the while we grew up. Many of my books were ones collected by Momma, wonderful series by Time-Life that I cherished yet rarely opened any more.

I finally made the decision to donate the books SOMEWHERE. My kids have graduated from high school, and we typically use the Internet for 99.9% of our research. Upon consulting my sister, she made the suggestion to donate the books to her children's school (it's a private Christian school). My dad even donated labels he printed from his computer, saying the donation is being made in the memory of my mother, who died five years ago.

Momma would be very pleased.


:cb:
~VOW

VOW, that is such a beautiful idea. Thank you for sharing it with us. :grouphug:

Ellis: Is the "Sally Anne" something like the Salvation Army? :chin:

I try to donate too, but some of the stuff I am afraid is not good enough --so down the chute it goes!! ;) --Pookie

Yes... it's the Salvation Army. :D Or whoever will pick it up.
And no... I don't donate my "junk", either. I shop in those second hand stores, and I have a great time finding bargains!

Originally Posted by ellis:
I shop in those second hand stores, and I have a great time finding bargains!

MY KINDA PERSON!! Canada, here I come! :tread:

I have been selling things on EbaY again. Sure, I sort & de-clutter slower, but I make more $$ than I would at a yard sale. It gets addicting when checks come in the mail! :yes:

lol, by the time we are done with something here it is good for nothing but the trash bin, plus i buy a lot of things second hand already.

yesterday i went over to good friend's and helped her CLEAN SWEEP the **** out of her kitchen. oh the mess before and during. but after what a sight to behold :dizzy: and i think the effort goes in the exercise thread because i was a sweating..

Heather, You are right about your effort belonging on the exercise thread. By the way that was very nice to help out your friend that way! :angel:

Yeah ellis, I was just telling my friend about the donation bin in the laundry room of our building. I keep seeing stuff in it that is so worn out that it can't be reused by someone else.

I always donate things that are in good shape and things that are not go in the trash. The stuff has to be wearable and sellable for the Sally Ann -you can't just donate crap with holes and wear marks in it or they won't be able to use it.

Now now, ladies, if you read flylady you'll see that if you have so much stuff you need to declutter, and all you do is bag it and wait for some magical day in the future when you know you'll donate it, but you never ever ever do....
then just toss it! it's better to have it out of your home then donating it all, even to charity. If you are so behind you get too overwhelmed. It's better to get it out then to worry about it going to a good home.

Now if only i could talk mom and mil into believing me... oh, and hubby because he has a box in the garage which i am frequently slipping things into the trash. i know he's not going to take them down there! *LOL*

:D I do FlyLady, too, Lizzi. I missed doing the 27 Fling Boogie yesterday...

yup! I am slowly implementing Flylady into my life - my shoes are on and my sink is shiny! :D

Originally Posted by POOKIE88:
Heather, You are right about your effort belonging on the exercise thread. By the way that was very nice to help out your friend that way! :angel:

Thanks Pookie, and it must worked ( scale stayed down today, lol) plus she is so happy when she sees her kitchen ( as a kitchen now, it was a utility room that was cooked in before.)
I am one of the ones, that love to clean, and organize. :)

What is this Flylady? sounds interesting.