Beth & Cory's Mom: clutter

Showing posts with label clutter. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

So Much Stuff

I finally got the laundry done! Washed, dried, folded, put away - except for the dresses hung in the basement because I didn't want to put them through the dryer and except for the shirts that need to be ironed. But, for now, I'm done, and I took some time today to start going through stuff in the back room.

The thing with having room for storage in the basement is that we tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. And we don't want to move any of that stuff that we don't really need, if we don't have to. That means we need to go through things and sort, toss, donate, and decide what things we really want to keep - hopefully a small fraction of everything we have. One day of going through boxes, and I'm already thinking it would be easier just to call junk removal edmonton, and have everything hauled away!

Of course, if you know me at all, you know I could never do that. I need to take the time to actually go through everything, so I can remember what we have and decide whether I want to keep it or not. I go through old magazines and pull out recipes I want to try and articles I want to read. I hold onto books I want to read someday. I hold onto old clothes I haven't worn in years, because I try them on, and they still fit - and I forgot how much I liked them. I hold onto old notebooks from my high school and college days, because you never know when I might need to refer to all those notes I took! (Yeah, I think it's time to toss those - better get to that box before I change my mind!)

It really would be easier to get rid of stuff if I didn't take the time to look at it first...

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Clear the Clutter

Clutter, clutter, clutter - I really am sick of the clutter around here. It doesn't help that Beth, Tim & Jason moved in with us with all their stuff. But it's not all their fault - we have more than enough stuff of our own around here. That's what happens when you live in the same place for 14 years - you collect a lot of stuff.

I keep looking around thinking that it would be nice if I could just clear some stuff out, not just for us living here, but what if - what if (when) - Jeffrey finds a new job and we have to move? How in the world is this place supposed to look good enough to sell? HOW? Yeah, I'm stressing a bit. And, yes, I do know that my house looks better on a bad day than some people's houses look on a good day, but still. There's too much stuff.

I found this article in a magazine I was going through yesterday. Maybe these tips will be helpful. Here's what they had to say:

Before you can organize anything, you need to toss what you don't use, don't need or don't want. Allow at least half a day per room. Pile everything from the room in the middle of the floor. Look at each item critically. Is this something you would buy? Is this something you would be happy with if someone gave it to you? If either answer is no, well, it needs to go. The strategy: Gather four trash bags and assign a category for each.

The first bag:
Use for items that are broken or missing their essential pieces. Once you have a pile of throwaways, recycle what you can, and discard the rest in the trash.

The second bag:
Designate for things that you don't want but someone else might be able to use. Neatly fold or place in bag to be donated or sold at a garage sale.

The third bag:
Collect things you haven't used in a long time but still want. Try moving them to a different part of your home where they may be used more often.

The fourth bag:
Store items you don't use now, but you might want one day. These are things that have sentimental value or would be too expensive to replace.

So I guess I need to buy some big trash bags... Or laundry baskets or tubs could work, too.

I am recycling a bunch of magazines. That I should have read before. That I can't just toss without first leafing through, just in case I find helpful articles like this. Or recipes I might want to try someday.