I Have A Lot Of Crap!!!
I really do. Having been inspired by What's Her Name and her FUNNER THAN FUN posts on "Quick! What's in/on your" spots. I have decided that it is time to simplify. Time to clean up the clutter in my life.
I have a room in the basement. It was supposed to be a craft room. Nary has a craft been done in this room. I have nick-named it the "room where things go to die."
The sole purpose of this room is to throw all of the junk in that we don't want people to see. We moved into this house in December of 2004. Its piles have been around since then. Things from this room will travel throughout my house and once captured, thrown captive into this room, never to see the light of day again.
I am not as crafty as I once was. Children and the lack of time and cleaning a house that is three times as big as the last one we were in has sucked most of the craftiness out of me. Sad, but true.
So my challenge to myself is to rid my life of all of the craft baggage. I will prevail!!! No more guilt when I walk into the room and see all of those unfinished crafts. My goal...to have a garage sale SOON.
There are a lot of things that I have kept out of guilt. That panoramic picture of my graduating class...Why? I haven't looked at it since I received it right after I graduated. All of those trinkets of my trips. Haven't looked at them in years. My cedar chest sits filled with junk that I have hauled around from house to house. I need to go through it. I need to also go through our storage room.
I am on the tail end of a "drawer dump", a dreaded but necessary day in our home. We go through all of the drawers in the kiddie’s dresser and try on everything to see what fits and what doesn't. We pull out all of the hand-me-downs and do the same thing. I don't have to worry about clothes again until the next season change. Ahhhh. In doing it this time, I realized that there are a lot of clothes that I just "pass over" and don't pull out because I HATE them. So I am going to get rid of all of those ones.
In my kitchen I have MANY cupboards FULL of stuff that never gets used. Those plastic deviled egg trays--gone! The candles that haven't been burned since our first apartment--gone! I also know it is cliché to be an old lady with tons of crystal that has been around forever, but do I seriously need four crystal bowls that I have never used because I prefer painted pottery? Should I keep them around "Just because". Help me out on that one.
Don’t even get me started on my closets.
Every couple of years I do this. I reevaluate my life and everything in it. I try to cut out the excess, organize and come to a conclusion about what is really important to me and what I need to let go of...in every aspect. If I am sparse in the next couple of weeks, you will know why.
I am giddy.
25 comments:
Throwing stuff away/organizing is like my favorite thing EVER. I even spent Pioneer Day at BC's office decluttering that mess.
The best part of this move was the de-junking. It was freeing and wonderful. The crystal bowls that have never been used? DITCH THEM.
We recently moved. Before the Big Day my husband, God love him, MADE us go through every tote 3 times start to finish and get rid of anything we didn't absolutely want, need anymore. To be fair, he scrubbed through 9 bicycle parts totes that we have hauled for 17 years, several states.
Oh- the wailing and gnashing of teeth! Then a month of so ago, we had the Great Fire Evac of 2006. I realized what was really important.
That said, he knows me well enough that I'm on notice- lol- no new storage totes. If I want it that bad, there is something else in an existing tote that can go to make room.
(Frankly, I'm eyeing the remaining 7 totes of his bike parts).
We moved 3 years ago, and I loved getting rid of the junk. But the closet in my guest room is filled with 5 moving boxes filled with stuff that I didn't have the heart to get rid of. I don't know if I'll ever get to it. Perhaps after the next move.;)
You go girl! It is such a lovely feeling to let go of the excess. And, um, can I have the crystal bowls?
Wow, Char needs to come to my house.
"The place where food goes to die" is what I used to call my fridge. I'm not as bad now. ;)
Small steps. I love my new name! LOL
I'm in the process of deep cleaning the house right now. I spent 4 hours in the kitchen today and threw out an entire black garbage bag full of stuff. It's hard work, but purging feels so good!
Declutter! I love it. I wish I could come help you, nothing makes me happier than tossing crap and organizing. That's why I enjoy moving every 2 years.
Girl - you are speaking to me!!! I often reevaluate things and decide to go on a "decluttering mission." Currently, I have one like your room in your basement.. though I HAVE to get it cleaned out - we are planning for it to be the bedroom to our 3rd (yet so far unconceived) child!! Also - we are working through the house, painting each room. In each room -I have been decluttering - next, my bedroom. I too have a collection of "craft" stuff that I NEVER use anymore - for the same reasons you stated! Clutter will take over your home and life if left along - FREE YOURSELF!!!!! :)
I'm a packrat who's trying to reform! When we moved last year I thought I had gotten a lot of stuff, but I'm looking at a couple of unpacked boxes of stuff I couldn't part with and I think why did I keep that junk?
I hope your cleansing of stuff goes well!
You are motivated...my little one! Go purge!! Then when you're done will you come and help me! :)
This was the best part about moving across the country we purged so much baggage! And then when we moved into our house here (its smaller than old house) we purged again. It's soooo clensing!
We are moving in a few weeks and I have been doing the same thing. Holy junk!! I don't throw things away for fear I'll need them once I do. But, I'm being brave and chunking the stuff before I start thinking about it too much.
Ooh, I love how decluttering makes me feel better, but I so don't do it enough. Good luck with your purge!
I need to do the same! It's a good feeling when it's done, but oh, the process of getting to the process is so painful for me! I have hauled so much junk from the basement over the years that you'd think it would be pristine down there - NOT! It seems to reproduce junk like rabbits. As for keeping crystal bowls you don't use or need, I would say get rid of them, I guess. I am good at throwing stuff away and then wishing I hadn't. But that's the risk you take. 28 years in the same house tends to make this problem worse!
This is what I've been saying over on my blog the whole year!!! I'm totally with you.
A great source of help is a book by Don Aslett called "Clutter's Last Stand" it's time to De-Junk your life.
Good luck! I've discovered burn-out. I plan to get going again when the girls are in school...less distractions
I started with my closets last week and I'm moving to my "craft room this week". It has a closet full of unfinish crafts, yarn and fabric I bought over 5 years ago thinking it would make smoething nice...guess what it's not going to make something with out my help!! So it's going to go someone who might use it!
I so need to work on this. I still have a box or two down in the basement that are still packed from when I moved out of the dorms to get married over 5 years ago.
Since we just moved, I got rid of a lot of CRAP too. It's amazing how fast you can accumulate everything. Good Luck!
Oh, Ity. My favorite phrase is "if you came to be impressed, make an appointment". You had an appointment! ;) A bomb went off after you came by!
Sounds fun.
I'm a real pack rat too when it comes to saving stuff that I really don't need. I'm always worried that one day I'll wish I had something, but threw it away.
Kids clothes for me are hard. I'm so sentimental about their little tiny clothes that I hate to get rid of them, but have no where to put them. I dread that job every single time seasons change.
GOOD LUCK ~ BEST WISHES ~ YOU GO, GIRL!!! Seriously, that is a great idea. I feel so much better when I go through that, plus I think it lines up with God's plan. This is not our home, and we are way too attached! Can't wait to hear how it goes!
hi stephanie... we sound too much alike.. i love to organize and de-junk and make something even more perfect than the perfection i thought it already had.... haha.. i am ALWAYS cleaning and organizing and finding a better and new way. Cute post!
BTW, my husband served in Japan the two years before yours got there. SO COOL.
You are doing good things! Best wishes in your decluttering bonanza! I wish I had a clone to do this kind of work for me. I can't even weed a garden with a baby on my hip.
I do this alot...usually when HH is out of the way for a few days because he really is a packrat(a gene passed on to him by his mother who still has ALL her children's clothes ALL OF THEM!!!) I agree with you that it is a freeing experience! (And there's the added pleasure of shopping for new stuff that I now have room for : ) Okay so I'm not totally reformed yet : )
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