Thirty for Thirty De-clutter

[tripperfunster]

So ... after reading schemingreader's recent posts about de-cluttering her house, I've been inspired to do the same. Except that, with a husband and two kids and my own business and gobs and gobs of art supplies and hoards of pets, it's kind of overwhelming.

So I thought ... I can do a little bit at a time! I'm hoping that thirty minutes a day, for thirty days will have a big impact on my house. I'll let you know. ;)

Sunday I cleaned off my little laptop desk. (Do I even need to say that I don't keep my laptop there? No?)
Monday I cleaned out two of our junk drawers which were primarily the kid's discarded art supplies and crap. Much of it went to the school's daycare, but much of it went in the garbage.

Today I'm going through the corner of the living room which has been unofficially designated PAPERWORK HELL. All the reciepts and papers and envelopes FULL of paperwork and reciepts that need to go to the accountant. (it's actually not quite as bad as I've made it sound, the stuff is mostly organized, but it's piling up, so it needs to GO to the accountant.)

I feel oddly ... accomplished! What I found overwhelming a week ago, now seems more do-able.

Anyone care to join me?

Comments

[sumsumlovesyou.livejournal.com]

Um..... In reality, my basement looks remarkably similar to an episode of 'Hoarders.' However, I am highly intimidated by it, and to wussy to clean it. You are a stronger and more motivated woman than I. I wish you all the luck!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Dude! I didn't say I was tackling the GARAGE, which yeah, totes a hoarder's episode (minus the hermit and the dead kittens), I'm just tackling things like the stairs, the top of the piano, the mangled mess beside my dresser. THAT kind of stuff. :D

[sumsumlovesyou.livejournal.com]

Call me lazy, but even that seems like a daunting task... Oh man, I AM lazy. What happened to me? I have an incredibly spotless kitchen but the rest of my house... looks like a Babysitter's Club meeting threw up all over it.

That was a pretty far fetched metaphor. But, there is definitely accuracy in my being lazy. I really should make effort, because Ivy is so close to walking. How do you negotiate 3 other peoples stuff and not go crazy?? I'm struggling with just 2!

... I think I should start making Babysitter's Club metaphors in my daily life. I would like the increase the weird looks I get exponentially, if at all possible.

[joanwilder.livejournal.com]

No.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Chicken.

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is cool! I'm like, a leader. Except that my house was way more squalid to start, and some of the sorting turned out to be easier than it should have been. You know how there are some things you know you just don't need? I had a lot of those.

I'm getting to some of the harder to decide items now, but I'm enjoying walking through the living room, dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms swinging my arms.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

:D Well, I could always swing my arms, but honestly, ANY empty surface, be it chairs, tables and/or countertops instantly get covered in stuff.

We have a reasonably spacious house, but the clutter is sometimes overwhelming.

[drcjsnider.livejournal.com]

Good for you!! I went and organized some papers/etc. a couple of weeks ago and it felt so good. I also went through the kids toys and got rid of the broken crap and boxed up the stuff that we can keep for when they have kids. I still have some areas that need work, but just doing those bits felt good.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

yeah. I do that like, twice a year, and think; I'M DONE!

Sadly, there is sooooo much more to do. :D

[demicus.livejournal.com]

A vote of 'No thanks' here. *casts a wary eye toward my office upstairs* When I moved back home to take care of my folks I made one room upstairs into an office. I put my very large desk in there & piled all of my university stuff into the bookshelves & stacked the papers I was working on into the desk drawers. Strangely enough, some (lots) of them migrated (on their own) to the desktop. That was ... oh ... 2009. I rarely go in there now, & when I do, I tend to run right back out of that room screaming.
*shudders* Yes, that's a vote of 'No!' ಠ_ಠ

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we have a garage that I am NOT tackling. I'm talking more like the little corners and chairs and closets. Nothing too big.

[demicus.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. The garage here is pretty good. On the other hand, the basement could use some work. It's not Hoarders-worthy, & I think the Woman In Black could survive there (snirk), but ... yeah ... it does need work. I've actually started doing a few rooms down there. I think I'll be done, oh, around 2015 or so. *beams*

[sabrebabe.livejournal.com]

I think my art and crafting supplies are breeding. I'm thinning out the herd of Stuff I'm Not Doing anymore (because it hurts my hands), but there's a lot CRAP back in that pile and just looking at it makes me tired.

On the other hand, my living room is still a living room and is easily recognised as a living room. Ditto the kitchen and dining room, although the dining table is in danger of being piled upon again.

But all my junk upstairs is bleeding into the bedroom. I *did* plow through my end table (I was looking for some graph paper) and found a small cache of things I had thought lost forever! Woot!

THe basement will require a powerwasher and bleach. Preferably sometime n the spring or early summer when I can leave the hatch open to air out. And the boys will have to come over and haul out the bags of trash before the powerwashing. THe basement is only about 4 feet high, no windows, and has a horrible case of mold, mildew and small things with lots of legs burrowing about in the debris. Hence the powerwasher and bleach. I have delusions of putting an indoor garden down there, since it really isn't good for anything other than the furnace and water heater. Wasted space is what it is. :P

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

That basement sounds perfect for hiding dead bodies! :D We used to have a 100 year old house that had an ... area that we dubbed 'The Burial Ground'.

Needless to say, I never dug too deep over there. I didn't want to know what I might find. ;)

[glockgal.livejournal.com]

I want to try!! Fortunately I'm moving to a new place and that means I can start from a blank slate. Getting rid of/packing stuff is daunting. It always SEEMS like a reasonable amount of stuff, until you actually start to tackle it!

Good luck! I like this idea, a lot. <3

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Moving is a WHOLE nuther issue.

I STILL have boxes that I haven't unpacked from ... 7 years ago? They're labeled, but they're like ... books and stuff. Things I don't really want to get rid of, but things I obviously don't need, if I haven't bothered in the last few years.

Good luck hon!