onebyone, great ideas from gardenerjoy! I ditto for moving from boxes to the items you knew you could deal with!

Regarding the purging of items, I found it so much easier to start with the things that would be the easiest AND would have the biggest impact in the reduction of "stuff". Clothes seem to fit that bill for me because they can more easily fit into specific catagories....
Catagories I can think of...
~sentimental (save)
~don't fit but will with continued weight loss AND are desirable(save)
~fit now and are desirable (save)
~don't fit (too big) (donate)
~don't fit..realistically never will (too small) (donate)
~fit now but are undesirable (donate or toss)
Seems with DH losing he may have stuff to go, too.

Boxes...it seems that moving art stuff to your studio (soon) will really help. Perhaps you will feel better once you move stuff to your studio.
You might consider just going through the boxes without any intention of purging stuff but think instead of
~repacking "like" items
or
~just marking the outside of boxes with the contents
~giving yourself permission to go ahead and remove certain items for donation or disposal "if" you find you are able to make a decision as you are looking through.

Best wishes! I echo gardenerjoy's feelings regarding the fact that we "are" here for you.

Even if you don't think anyone would notice a difference you will. Every little bit moves you forward!

Hi Decluttering Friends!

I woke up at 7:25am (it was dark ) and put the three bags of stuff out for the donation people to come get it, plus I added a suitcase I don't like and we don't need. It feels good to have done that today.

You guys were right about that.

Thaks for the help with how to approach those boxes. It did cross my mind to re-pack/condense the boxes that exist. I did that about a year ago, and I managed to get rid of about 8 boxes which meant I reclaimed that space.

I'll tell you about one thing I came across: a doll dressed in Russian clothing. My cousin bought it for my grandmother and she treasured it, keeping it in the cabinet at the end of the hall where all her special treasures were. That cabinet now stands in my dining room btw. I was never allowed to play with it. (I grew up with my grandparents). I grew up with this doll and it reminds me of my grandmother, my childhood, the way "it was", and I can hardly bear the thought of it going to a thrift store, cat off as if it is nothing. But I would never buy it, would never want it, don't even really like dolls, and this one is just a doll that sits there. And yet all this stuff is stirred by seeing it. That box was full of items that triggered me just like that. Suggestions?

Better go. I want to get into bed and snuggle in. It's such a stormy night!
Amazing. We even had lightning earlier. Weird.

Hello friends!

I was not sleeping so I got up and reclaimed the kitchen;
Easy tasks:
~washed the dehydrator and put it away
~washed/put away all other dishes/utensils
~washed/put away all my remaining veggies/fruits
Harder tasks:
~made a decision about two large liquid laundry soap bottles that have sat on my radiator for two weeks (I had been trying to make my own soap without success and these were the storage bottles). I kept one and recycled one.
~I went through my drawer which holds ziplock bags. I recently bought two new boxes and HAD to do something about the 1x/2x/3x/4x used bags. I am such a thrifty gal. Some I threw away, some I kept and all the ones from the CSA I removed to give them for recycling.

Big sigh....even with small stuff I have a hard time "decluttering". credit for doing it anyway.


onebyone, during this process I have come across many items, such as the doll with Russian clothing. You said, "But I would never buy it, would never want it, don't even really like dolls...
To me, (as in my own encounters) your statement says "REHOME".

~Is it an antique? I have a small box where I place items from my family that an antique store would resell. I just give the items to them. I found through trial and error I don't make money trying to sell them.
~Do you know anyone you could give it to?
My concern with lots of stuff is that the thrift store will "throw it away".
~Ouch, but realistically some things are just too worn to be saveable....(I had to take the couch from my childhood to the landfill last year) It was 60 years old. Everyone in the family kept saying, "it's trashed, but it was such a beautiful couch."

For me, I just can't keep KEEPING everything that was special to SOMEONE else. When I keep all those things I have no room to keep the things that are special to ME.

BTW-great job repacking those boxes last year and downsizing by 8. It would be interesting to find out if you repacked again if you would be able to downsize yet again. I find, personally, that as I continue on this path that I am willing to let go of things now that I wasn't able to a year ago.

Onebyone, thinking that if your grandma really treasured the doll, maybe its meaning would be important for another relative? Hate when someone gives a really obvious answer to a problem, so pardon me if I'm guilty!

It is an emotional avalanche sometimes. Just do a little, then stop. Seems like you already did that a year ago, condensing boxes. That's good.

Runthecontinent, great progress!

CyndiM, sounds like you're making progress on your sad chores. Regarding the bits & pieces, I think we all have a drawerful of mystery cords, chargers, electronic gizmos. No clue from this non-techie.

Lexxis, do you think we are all thrifty types or recylers? I bet we all re-use plastic bags! Or similar. I used to think being tidy & recyling were opposing ideas until I saw my obsessive neighbor's immaculately bundled recycling, grocery bags like origami. I thought, wow, even her garbage is clean!

Credit for completely unpacking when I got home last night. I realized that I am never more motivated to finish unpacking then right when I get home. Of course, that wars with the impulse of relaxing into being at home, but I decided I need to start pushing myself toward that motivation to get unpacked as quickly as possible.

It also helped that I knew, if I did it, I could take credit for my success here. Thanks!

onebyone: is that cousin still around who gave your grandmother the doll? That's the person to give it to, if possible. Since I don't have children, I've been slowly sending family heirloom pieces off to cousins with children. I don't really care what they do with them, and tell them so, but they have options that I don't.

Mountain Mamma, glad to know you're a ziploc reuser, too. (so is Oprah)

gardenerjoy, yay for immediate unpacking! I find it helps me so much!

Me, had a depressing day off yesterday yet put on my music and accomplished a project in the tv room. credit. I was anticipating getting a call for work today so I pulled myself out of the funk and took DH and pup to Denver where they walked while I rode my bike. Then we went to WFoods and had a "together" shop. He loves to push my basket (which kinda irks me) but I am trying to change my insides and we actually had an enjoyable time.credit

The clutter has accumulated this week...and cleanups have slacked, too. I woke up this am and DECIDED I would get everything done before work AND have a good time doing it. I found some ways to save time today as I sipped coffee. I knew I would not feel like doing this when I returned from work and I have to work tomorrow.credit

My planning ahead (Beck) will allow us to have a nice Sunday off.

I got coffee going while I picked up in the kitchen, including starting dishwasher. Sipped coffee w/DH. Went upstairs to turn off alarm...folded laundry while I was there and brought down dirty quilt and clean aprons. Started wash and washed veggies while DH made smoothies. Cleaned cat box while DH drank his....also took out compost and cleaned coffee station. Swiffed downstairs bathroom then drank smoothie. Took clean quilt upstairs and swiffed upstairs bathroom. Got dressed while listening to music. Posted on all my 3fc threads.
Writing this down so I can remember it's doable. To me, this is cognitive therapy in action. Plan and practice...then do it again and again. It seems to be getting easier.
I really noticed this morning how my persistence with all of this is affecting my food plan/ability to stay OP. I am excited to come home tonight and be able to prepare something a little different for dinner.

Hello Everyone.

This is my new mantra:

Studio Space Does Not Equal Storage Space
Studio Space Does Not Equal Storage Space
Studio Space Does Not Equal Storage Space
Studio Space Does Not Equal Storage Space
Studio Space Does Not Equal Storage Space
ohmmmmmmmmmmohmmmmmmmmmm

Got the keys to the new studio Thursday. Nice nice nice. I have an enclosed space; a simple box, to work in. I have a window on one side, which looks into the body of the garage, a door with a lock on it, one long wall made of concrete block painted white, one short end wall of concrete block, one wall of drywall (with the window in it) and the wall with the door is new and the framing and the insulaton is showing. No drywall on it and I guess they would have put that up (they extended and built 3 feet onto the existing space just for me, plus added the door so I could lock up my stuff and were still adding in a laundry tub - no plumbing but I have a pressurized hose right outside the wall with with the window for this and a giant drainage grate right outside the garage door to empty my dirty paint/clean up water into) but I said I could put some other material up that I can pin things into = coroplast/corrugated plastic sheeting.

All these thoughts of what I can bring to the studio possessed me. And then I thought OMG if I bring all this stuff, my studio WILL BE FULL! Yikes. I don't want a re-play of my apartment! So, for now, I am going to decide what I am working on, what I really cannot do here (printmaking) and only bring those tools/supplies there. My studio will be taken over in about 10 days by the potters' guild outdoor sign mosaic project so it has to stay pretty empty until that is complete at the end of the month. The landlord did promise to find me an accessible space outside my studio to store my canvases. He told me to just bring them over and then he can make a space for me.

How did I get so lucky? I don't even know but I can tell you I am grateful like you wouldn't believe.

BTW I have named my studio: Necessity Studios. I think I will be referring her as Nessie and may incorporate a sea monster design into my new logo/signature.

Also, tonight I bought a pair of tin snips. Why? To cut apart all of the pop cans we generate here and then I am going to attach them to the front of my studio on the wall and "tile" the wall with them.( I've attached two jpgs - one showing the door closed on my studio. It's this black wall I am going to tile. And the other shows the interior space.) heeheeheeheeeeeee.... I'm going to emboss something onto each of them and then put them up. I may even experiment, well, I will experiment, with anodizing the aluminum = giving it colour through electrical current passed through. But here I am, getting way ahead of myself. I will keep you posted and must reamin THOUGHTFUL and MINDFUL as I set up this new space. It must be created for MAXIMUM usefulness and workability. This is NOT the answer to my apartment's storage needs, ie. I am not moving my clutter from the apartment to my studio.

Bye for now.

onebyone, best wishes as you move into your new studio today! It's great that you really thought things out before doing a mass haul over. I look forward to seeing pictures as you progress.

I'm noticing that the longer I work at keeping our home decluttered, organized and clean...the more DH seems to be participating. I feel we are starting to work more as a team.
~this morning we went out and raked the yard together and came up with a plan for dealing with all the pinecones. DH and I had different ideas about "how" we were going to accomplish our project. I found myself letting go of the control and doing it more the way he thought about it. The reality: it got done either way. credit.

I'm working again today and so "decided" to take care of several procrastinated home projects
~I cleaned out our essential oil diffuser and added the new oil
~fixed the bathroom doorknob
~washed the doors down inside that had been bugging me (4 total)
It looks nicer and I feel better.

I have an hour before I go to work and I'm going to work in my office. It has started to accumulate some clutter again. Last night I went through the magazines that were sitting around so I can take them to mom's eye clinic later this month. credit

Have a great day everyone!

I mentioned to my boss that I needed to get a DVD player for my TV. Yesterday his wife had one in the car that was going to thrift. They wanted to give it to me....ends up it wasn't working quite right so they got a new one. They really wanted to give it to me and I thanked them but indicated I'd probably want one that worked better, too.

CREDIT
I have been focusing on not bringing home other people's discards. When I am in a store that has them I will buy one and keep the receipt.

Progress....it usually takes two weeks for me to get all the clocks reset. I changed them all yesterday morning. A sign my brain is getting more organized with practice.

Progress....I needed to find the manual for my complicated watch. Opening the file drawer it was marked "watch/pedometer". I will put it back now since I'm finished using it.

Lexxis, LOL when you mentioned the clocks. Reason I have for putting off setting them back in fall is because I get a little rush when looking at a clock & then realizing it's an hour earlier (on the weekend than I thought . . . lasts only a day, then just confuses the h*** out of me!

I would like to join you all in the New Year's challenge. My home would definately do for a good declutter. I watch small portions of hoarders on youtube occassionally and don't want to all my possesions to become a hinderence to life.

What do you do about clothes from pre-weight gain? I lost ~50 pounds a few years back and hubby took me out clothes shopping as a reward. I bought 3 really nice suit sets for work and some great exercise clothes-but gained it all back and don't fit into them any longer.

I don't want to donate them, I want to get my weight down to fit into them again.

We did go through the storage closet recently, boxed up a bunch of stuff to donate. It actually looks nice.

Hi Sarah!

When I went through my closets I kept clothes that I WANT to fit into. It sounds like those clothes your husband bought you certainly fit into that catagory. I did choose to pass on clothes that were too small and "not" realistic. I also found that as I've been downsizing my body I could fit into things that are no longer my "style". Those have gone away, too.

We have traveled over to our second home and I would like to accomplish something while I am here for 3 days. I haven't figured it out but will do some looking around. Once again, I am able to notice my progress immediately when I walk in. I'd like to keep moving forward with that.

Hello sarahyu and welcome to our friendly decluttering group.

re:clothes I just donated three garbage bags of clothes. I did save the black suede button fly Levis that fit me, oh, once about 80lbs and ten years ago. I have them for a goal marker for myself. Of course I think they'll look amazing when I get into them once more -- but mostly I just want to get into them. Your suits remind me of my feelings toward those pants. There is no need to get rid of those items that are so tough first. Do the easier stuff; clothes you just hate, or are obviously worn out. At the very least removing some of these easier items will free up space for those suits that are tougher to think through.

As for what's up around here I haven't been to my studio since my birthday on Sunday when I moved five portfolios of prints there and some blank paper. No tools or ink yet. I haven't been feeling great. I was all queasy all weekend,and tired and finally today the actual symptoms of a cold have shown up. I just feel exhausted. I have made a list of the rest of the printmaking things I want to bring there and I hve even lined up a ride with a potters' guild friend who has a big SUV to haul my paintings over too. That will be a big help. I'm just not feeling up to doing anything right now though. And I am ok with that.

to everyone.

Onebyone, hope you are feeling better. Just chill out & recover.

Welcome Sara! re the clothes - I cleaned & stored my skinny clothes in another closet & issued an ultimatum to myself: get into them in a year or out they go. Okay, it's taking over 2.5 years, not one year, but better slow than no weight loss! Don't have much closet space but the separation helped mentally. And now the reward of slowly moving items back! Also, almost like a gift to go to the closet wondering what might fit. (For some reason, more skinny tops fit than skinny pants. )

Like many of us, all I could think of was the money invested in the clothes - esp those from before we'd gone to 'casual' dress at work. But now I find some stuff is just out of fashion, or I don't like it, or is not in as good a condition as I thought! Guess I was so focused on what fit I didn't pay attention & now discover stains or wear I hadn't noticed, should have tossed them long ago.

But if you have really nice items bought by your husband, you should save them as an incentive! I'll second Onebyone, get rid of the stuff you don't care about first!

Hi

Tonight I am gathering up the supplies I need to create a print in my new studio. I feel better after more than a week of feeling crummy, and I feel like it's time to start working again. Plus, working in the studio will help me to know what exactly I need in there and what would be clutter.

I have done nothing around the house and all the dishes are stacked up again. I feel like throwing them away truth be told.

Bye for now.