2013 Declutter & Organize Thread[{locked}]

[redruby]

Startsmart I am trying to update a bathroom in my home. 70 s blue fixtures, ugh. I don't have money for new fixtures so I'm looking at color. I am starting with the cabinet too.

Tomorrow
Mail baby shower gift
Mail daughters remotes
Finish grocery list
Bank for cash
10 minute outside cleaning
Crib to Craigslist pictures

[Apple]

Wow! My son vacuumed upstairs this afternoon!

We were trying to set up the spinning bike so that we'd have two bikes up there, and when I went to move a chair there was his crap all over. Told him to clean it up and when he came down he said "we really need to vacuum up there". Pointed at the vacuum cleaner and said "have at it, I'll go do a few dishes". And he did! The upstairs room is the first full room I want to tackle, then the utility room, then the rest of the house (but during that time, I'm doing little spots at a time).

Constanz--I know the feeling! I get so overwhelmed and don't do anything. What's helped me is "just this one drawer". Then I find I do that drawer and the one next to it. Or a shelf, or a medicine cabinet (my bathroom has two small ones). It doesn't look like much everywhere else, but I know I did it. And I know that part looks good. So that keeps motivation going (and the fact that it only takes less than an hour is a huge bonus).

[teachermom]

Ugh! I didn't accomplish anything around this house this weekend as I had to drive my son back to college and just got back. So....I guess I will have to start tackling the list tomorrow.

Great job to those of you that have tackled your list or at least worked on it! Feels great when you do, huh?

Teachermom

[moosmommy]

Got the hall closet cleaned, my living room cleaned and put two loads of laundry put away. Plan to put the other two loads away and start another load before bed.

[Saving4Norway]

Rock on, JenPen! Way to set some goals and get to them super quick. I give you a Karma for a job well done!

[acemom]

I haven't done much this weekend. I had my son this weekend and spent time with him. Last night I took him to his first semi-pro hockey game. He absolutely loved it. Today we went to church, then to OrangeLeaf for some fat free yogurt

Does anyone have any idea where I can sell my old wedding dress? It has been professionally cleaned and stored in a dry cleaners bag, and I just need to get rid of it. I have it stored in my sisters closet and she would like the space back!

[moosmommy]

Laundry all put away. I am ready to crash for the night.

[Apple]

Do you have any consignment or rental stores in your town? You might be able to sell it that way.

[startsmart]

jenpen - karma from me too! Great job

redruby - so far in this bathroom I've added a curtain rod for the bathtub, replaced the toilet, replaced the towel bars, replaced the mirror and painted. Can't help much with fixtures but I do plan on getting a new light, faucet and shower head for the bathtub. Oh and replacing the floor tiles soon!

I finished one of the bathroom cabinets, the ugliest one under the sink. Let's see if I can link the image here:



Success! Full story and pricing breakdown is on my blog www.myfriendkelly.wordpress.com

In addition to labeling one more basket tonight I need to start on the dishes!

[Saving4Norway]

Today's List:
* Put tabs on bike and truck
* Do some desperation cleaning to find checkbook
* Pay utility bill[s/]
* Puppy proof next step - move shoes by back door
* Watch Seahawks game @ 1:30 Woohoo! They won!
* Clean bathroom

Ooops, I forgot to go put the tabs on during halftime. I'll go do that now so I can finish my list!

[Ombud]

I'm exhausted. 2 sister's and I spent all Saturday and Sunday clearing out Mom's house. 6 Carloads to goodwill. Trash can full, recycling can full, & a 2x2x4' extra box of recycling. Plus another carful of clothes to Wardrobe 4 Opportunity! Still have my car filled with books for sale or donation. AND we have more books on the bookcase to deal with 1/20 when we are supposed to paint the place. Hope the other siblings show up then ~~ they said they would. Maybe we can do a run as well as painting?

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sat. didn't do much. Got sucked into Tangled with the kids and then took DS to the library and grocery shopping. Paid for book DS tore apart and made him apologize. Discovered I have 4 more library books out. Checked out 5 picture books for kids. Watched Packers! Woohoo!

Sun. I took the kids to the Domes (indoor botanical gardens), Culvers and Target so DH could work from home without interruption. Came home and collapsed. Did 3 loads of laundry, treadmilled and DH cleaned the kitchen while I was gone. He had to do work clothes laundry (he complained once too often on how I did it, so I won't touch them now.)

Tonight's goals:
1. keep up on laundry.
2. take ornaments off tree.
3. work on leftovers for dinner so I can get some space back in the fridge.
4. return 4 books to library.

[Waffle]

This past weekend's list - as usual I overestimated the time available - I was away from home quite a bit and I underestimated how much time it would take to get some things done.

3 load of laundry
Make sure everything that is listed in my Ebay store is where it is supposed to be! - that took longer than expected only about 1/4 way through.
Get rid of all of the junk on top of the desk in the master bedroom.
Organize all of the non-listed jewelry in my Ebay room.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Oh, I did off the kid crap at dcp. They took all of it, including the 15 bazillion baseball caps that DH decided he didn't need when I cleaned out the front closet, like 3 months back. Had to talk DD into a couple of them but I think she's forgotten all about them by now.

[WholeLottaNothin]

Didn't get as much done as I had hoped but had unexpected company both days. The cat is now gone to DH's grandparents . So we are now a one cat household. I bawled off and on all weekend but am feeling better this morning. Got the stuff already sorted down to the car but not to the rescue mission yet. Told DH we have to do bring it on Tuesday when I get out of work, because he doesn't work on Tuesdays. Which gives me tonite to get a little more stuff together. Thinking I will go through the cup cupboard tonite and weed out. I need to go thru stuff in our bedroom and in DS's bedroom, but since I will be home alone with DS tonite, I will focus on just getting the one thing done.

[bean29]

Jan 7, 2013 9:02:55 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Sat. didn't do much. Got sucked into Tangled with the kids and then took DS to the library and grocery shopping. Paid for book DS tore apart and made him apologize. Discovered I have 4 more library books out. Checked out 5 picture books for kids. Watched Packers! Woohoo!

Sun. I took the kids to the Domes (indoor botanical gardens), Culvers and Target so DH could work from home without interruption. Came home and collapsed. Did 3 loads of laundry, treadmilled and DH cleaned the kitchen while I was gone. He had to do work clothes laundry (he complained once too often on how I did it, so I won't touch them now.)

Tonight's goals:
1. keep up on laundry.
2. take ornaments off tree.
3. work on leftovers for dinner so I can get some space back in the fridge.
4. return 4 books to library.

Beth-- I was reading your thread about going to the library and I remembered I took out about 10 books for DD to do a research project on and they were due 1/3/13. I went on line and renewed them all - they were each showing a $.50 fine Not renewing them when I read my e-mail cost me $5.00 grr.

I need to take my Christmas tree down. Was going to do it yesterday but DH was not feeling well and he was hanging out in the living room.

I took some of my outdoor lights down, but DH has so much construction stuff packed in the garage that I can't get to my boxes to put the stuff away. 1/2 the floor is laid in the basement the other 1/2 is in the garage along with a dishwasher and two rolls of carpeting and various other stuff DH moved out of the basement. I was estimating 2 weeks for this stuff to be gone, but since DH did not work in the basement yesterday, I guess I will have to push back my expectation a week or two.

I need to file personal paperwork. My problem is my Office is now so tricked out with several computers, a 42" TV and a sofa that DD has taken it over as her bedroom. I can't get in there to do anything.

Post MIL's apartment on Craigslist. I tried to do this the otherday, but DH and MIL don't know if I should post the upper or the lower. They are asking BIL to move from Upper to Lower for various reasons the main one being that MIL feels the basement goes with the lower and tenants always seem to take advantage of the basement in bad ways. Last tenant had wall to wall boxes #1 fire hazard #2 risk it may be left behind for us to clean up. Another tenant had a 2nd family living in the basement overusing the 1 bathroom in the unit to say nothing of there not being legal sleeping quarters in the basement.

When I take down my tree it is going to goodwill. It is 7 years old and some lights burned out this year. I will get a new one next year. I swear I saw storage bags at Lowes for like $3.00 last week, but I ran back and they are all gone. I have a bag, but DH wanted me to donate it with the tree in it. A new bag is like $20 on line and some say they are not very sturdy.

[sheilaincali]

I'm so embarrassed

I cleaned out the other half of the built in entertainment center, the bags of paperwork that accumulated during the year and the magazine collection.

I'm embarrassed because in addition to the $20 I found cleaning out my desk last week, I found $75 check to DS for his birthday, $50 in gift certificates from 2009 and $13 more in cash. I can't believe that in a week I found $158 worth of money that I basically had just lost.

Bonus though- DH listed some tv show dvd box sets on Ebay and we made like $60 on them. So that's a bonus. Plus everyone paid immediately so I just have to box them up tonight and ship them off tomorrow.

To do list for today:
Drop package off at UPS (DS' Thirty One backpack broke and they sent me a new one, have to return the old one)
Box up DVD's to mail out
Shred bag of papers
Finish last load of laundry
DS' youth in government meeting tonight at 6pm.
Start packing DS' stuff for his YIG convention this weekend.

[redwagon]

took down the tree but still have to do rest of holiday stuff. ended up at ILs all day yesterday so didnt get much else done besides laundry.

today i did get one car inspected/oil change, and dropped off paperwork at dcp. twins start in three weeks

[sbcalimom]

January Goals:
Finish with DVDs
Decide what books need to go - mine and the girls
Continue decluttering bedroom
Finish organizing kitchen cupboards
Keep kitchen neat and organized - got rid of all the extra stuff and organized, but now need to keep it that way
Start on the toys

We had a very productive weekend. We got all the Christmas decorations put away and did some major decluttering of the girls' toys. We got rid of an entire tub of stuffed animals and another tub of random toys. We got the majority of the living room figured out and managed to start the week with a clean living room and kitchen!

[jenpen]

Aw, thanks for the K, saving and start!

I'm so impressed with all the big projects people are working on and completing! I'll get there eventually, but for now, I need to keep up with regular housecleaning/decluttering until it becomes more of a habit, rather than something I have to stress about. I didn't make a list today (LOL, didn't take me long to fall off that wagon!), but here's a list of what I got done this evening:

I actually scoured the tub immediately after I got home from work -- I knew if I got comfortable first it'd never get done.
Put away some laundry I'd hung to finish drying last night, and washed a blanket (now in dryer).
Cleaned up/filed/threw away papers on my dining room table and desk.
Vacuumed downstairs. I'm glad I finally got up all the glitter from around where the tree was (that was the last of my Xmas "decorations" that needed cleaned up), but my downstairs is mostly hard flooring and desperately needs dust-mopped (living room area) and wet-mopped (kitchen and half bath). Not tonight. I'm starving and I'm pretty sure the floors will still be there tomorrow .

[Waffle]

jenpen - I'm impressed with all you got done this evening. All I did was one load of laundry. (I took and edited some picture for my Ebay business - but nothing else in the cleaning/decluttering line).

[startsmart]

jenpen - glitter is the herpes of the craft world. Good luck removing it from your carpet

Tonight I painted one more cabinet in the bathroom and when it dries I'll be measuring the bottom for the vinyl. I also need to caulk the seams so it's smooth. One shelf at a time!

Ug, there's so much crap lying around, I really need to get working....

Update: started painting bathroom cabinet #2 (out of 6 shelves) but it was killing my knees to be down on the floor so I stopped.

Has anyone ever used wood filler? I just got some and I'm working on filling in some problem spots on my foot rest (which is going to get sanded and painted soon). It's weird but I think I like it, especially if it covers up where my dog chewed the corner.

Also I finally remembered (4 days later) what project I bought the walnut stain for and tested it out on the ikea wood drawers I have. I love the effect so I think I'll do the whole thing (it's going to be stinky!).

Other than that I've given in to being absolutely lazy tonight. Not feeling 100% and I tried to put on some energizing music and get 'er done but it just wasn't happening. Now 2 of the dogs are snuggling with me and I can't be bothered to move.

Heading to the chiropractor tomorrow at 8am for an adjustment and then home for 3 hours of client calls.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I got the ornaments and lights off the tree last night. They're back in their bins and on their shelves in the basements. DH is fussy about how the tree gets packed in it's bins and agreed he'd take it down tonight.

Tonight:
1. Fold laundry.
2. Treadmill.
3. Keep working on eating leftovers. (I finished off the wine last night, does that count?)
4. Vacuum living room and kitchen once tree is down.
5. Keep working on laundry - I forgot to strip DS's bed this morning, he peed though his pullup.
6. Find recipe for eggrolls and get ingredients on grocery list.

I have 5 sets of twin bedding for 2 kids in twin beds. WHY AM I CONSTANTLY DOING LAUNDRY TO GET SHEETS?!

[teachermom]

I got started last night but didn't make it far.

One of the most important things I want to get done is put up the new smoke detector.....well, got it out and put it up and it didn't work. So, back to HD today and try again tonight!!

Tonight:
1. Exchange smoke detector
2. Install smoke detector
3. Do laundry (3 loads)
4. Clean bathroom
5. Clean off top of desk
6. Clean out file drawers of last years bills (to be shredded)

That ought to keep me plenty busy!!

Teachermom

[sheilaincali]

To do list for today:
Drop package off at UPS (DS' Thirty One backpack broke and they sent me a new one, have to return the old one)
Box up DVD's to mail out
Shred bag of papers
Finish last load of laundry
DS' youth in government meeting tonight at 6pm.
Start packing DS' stuff for his YIG convention this weekend.

Did ok on my list. Ended up having to work a little late so we had just enough time to run home and let the dog out before we had to run back to DS' YIG meeting. Got home from that around 7pm just as DH was putting our dinner on plates.
After dinner DS was kind enough to inform us that he outgrew his dress shoes again. Since he has to dress in professional business attire for YIG this weekend we made a run to Kohl's for new dress shoes.
Also discovered that the replacement gym shoes I bought him in the middle of October (his ones from August were stolen out of his locker) are now too small.
Seriously? So next week it'll be another trip to buy him his third pair of gym shoes for the year.

Today I need to:
Work on getting the Boy packed for his trip
Drop the dvds off at the post office
Shred the papers that I didn't get done yesterday
Finish the last load of laundry

Plus DH's friends will likely come over for their weekly Beer and Bitch session tomorrow night so I'll have to run the vacuum after dinner tonight.

[redwagon]

Finished taking down Christmas last night! Of course I need to get another bin to store stuff because I accumulated more decorations this year... whoops.

[WholeLottaNothin]

I did go through the cup cupboard last night. Didn't find as much stuff to get rid of as I had thought but I do think that all of them will fit in there at once now, so that is progress. Baby steps lol. The 2013 things in 2013 sounds interesting, tho I'm not sure I'd have anything left in my apartment if I purged 2013 things. I'm probably grossly underestimating how much stuff we have. I do want to get rid of a lot of stuff so I'm gonna go for it anyway. I did purge the medicine cabinet last night. Does that count?

20/2013 things donated and/or gotten rid of so far.

[startsmart]

Sheila - can you add "tell boy to stop growing" to that list?

I'm feeling so much better after my visit to the chiropractor. Big adjustments to my neck, mid back, hips and shoulders. After that I decided to pick up coffee on my way home.

Updated January List:
Wed - drop off cinnamon rolls for A.M.
Watch Season 6 of the West Wing
Sort box of clothes in the guest room (donate/consign/keep)
Call consignment shop to find out what season they're taking
Go through hallway and consign 3 jackets/vests
Iron and hang up clothes going to consignment
Add 10 DVDs to trade-in on Amazon
Finish sanding and spray painting bench "arms"
Flip bench frame and sand/spray paint the bottom bars
Re-hang cabinet doors in the bathroom - halfway done
Paint 5 more cabinets in the bathroom and add vinyl
Pull everything from the cabinets and sort in the living room
Find all pictures (closets, baskets) and do a major sort
Send all family pictures home with Mom
Organize my photos into scanned/not scanned
Check my stock of paint leftover from projects and find a better way to store it in smaller cans
Replace the AC vent in the main bathroom
Trade in books in Sacramento

[Wisconsin Beth]

[WholeLottaNothin]

I did the math and I will have to get rid of 5-6 things every day for the rest of the year to get to 2013. I think I can handle that. I will check in here to stay accountable. This could get interesting.

Start - That is quite the list you have going!