2015 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[busymom]

The snow is melting so quickly, that we didn't realize some water was pooling up in our garage, & got 3 boxes wet. DH & I spent this evening emptying out boxes, to save whatever was in them. One box had games & toys in them. 2 games had to go in the garbage (they were soaked), but it looks like the rest of the toys were o.k. The 2nd box had books, but that box had just barely begun to get wet, so everything was saved. The 3rd box had an old set of dishes. One plate broke, but everything else is saved, & we've decided to try & sell what is left. Maybe through Replacements, or one of those companies. Otherwise, if they give a lowball offer, we'll probably donate them.

The house is pretty clean, thanks to the motivation of some unexpected company. (At least they called us ahead.) Which is good, because tomorrow is a holiday, & DS's therapy time got moved up.

[startsmart]

works4sarah - I hear ya on the useful kitchen stuff. Probably too nice to donate and not valuable enough to sell online? Have you considered selling a lot on Craigslist or using a consignment store? Good knives and pyrex are hard to find in my neck of the woods (Sacramento). 

Well, I got the leaves blown out to the grass, I'll get it to the curb for street sweeping this week. The idiots next door have had a truck parked in front of my house for 2 months now, I'm so sick of seeing it. 

I also brought in the table plants which need some TLC - hopefully they'll survive this week with the dogs. 

My mom is leaving tomorrow for a family funeral which means I get to dog sit (yay...) and have 5 pups here for the week. Considering that I am teaching live several times this week I'm not so excited to have them all underfoot. 

The kitchen is looking good and dishes are just about put away. I need to finish folding the laundry and then put away blankets. It will help to have several doggy zones set up this week because all the dogs fight over the best spot. Thankfully I have big comfy beds so they can stay out of my way. Last thing I need is to trip and someone to get hurt. 

The pegboard is painted! Next I need to install it and use the jigsaw to cut out a section for the garage door opener but first I have to get my new brad nailer to work. Followed all the directions and it simply won't shoot the nails. I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow and if they can't get it to operate then I'm returning it. I don't have time to waste on nonsense. 

Also, super excited because I talked to a friend today and we're going to book a trip together! Details are still in the works but I am thrilled to get to travel to a new part of the US and hang out. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Weekly Goal
for the week of January 18
Big Goal List
Kitchen
Office
Living Rooms (should be done on Monday!)
Laundry Room
Master Bedroom
Garage
Girls' rooms
Linen Closet
Organize Camping Trailer

---

For this week, 
1. Label cords in living rooms; purge any no-longer used cords
2. Clean and label bench seat in laundry room
3. Clean, purge, label, reorganize white cabinet in laundry room
4. Clean, purge, label, reorganize cupboards above washer and dryer
5. Clean, purge, label, reorganize open cupboard in laundry room
6. Clean, purge, label, reorganize water heater storage area
7. Finish detail cleaning in laundry room. 

(This is mildly cheating on my part as the laundry room is the room I would detail clean this week anyway.)

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

@debthaven2, I hope you feel better quickly. I came down with bronchitis on Jan 1st. I spent five straight days in bed, though partly because we were on break and I could. It still took a second week before I could work a full day. I still have a bit of a deep cough. You have my sympathies!

[kjto1]

Jan 18, 2015 20:42:26 GMT -5 Malarky said:

Jan 18, 2015 1:05:07 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

I bought a label maker today!!!

LOL.  I have decided that will be my reward when I'm done decluttering and organizing.  
I'm keeping up with the daily papers, but saving the serious purging and shredding of the file cabinet for last.  When I get to it, it will have pretty, new, neatly labeled files.  

I'm picking away at things.  I've tossed another 50 or so items, large and small.  The kitchen still has a few small piles I haven't quite figured out what to do with.  I'm rethinking where things "belong."   

We have been consistently using the dining room for (gasp) dining whenever all or most of us are home. Meals are plated in the kitchen, carried to the dining room-a matter of a few steps-and dirty dishes and condiments returned to the dishwasher or fridge.  It used to be easy to "forget" stuff on the kitchen table.  Since the dining room is essentially pristine, anything not put away is glaringly obvious.  

I realize I need to update my numbers even more.  I sent a dozen or so items to MIL.  Instead of taking her Christmas presents home with her, she expects us to mail them to her.      If you recall, I took her to a musical so I wouldn't have to do that this year!  I couldn't believe it when DH brought them from SIL's house, we didn't even host the family brunch.  Anyway...they were also cluttering up the kitchen.  

I keep looking for a card from one of the charities that pick up, but I haven't seen any.  I have lots of items and clothing to donate, but I'm not adding them until they have been physically removed from the premises.  If I don't hear from them soon, I'll either contact one of them, or drop the stuff at the Salvation Army.  I'm not fond of that neighborhood, though.

 DH is out of town for all of next week.  I'm hoping to make a lot of progress in his absence.  I find it a lot easier to focus on these projects without distraction.  Other than really loud music.  

It seems like everyone is getting things accomplished.  Way to go!  Seeing everyone else progress keeps me motivated.  Thanks, all.  

Why did your DH bring the things home from SIL's?  He should have told her to ship them!

[Martivir]

I am so not getting anything done anytime soon. My friend let me borrow her baby carrier( it's like one of the Ergo carriers you strap the kid in to wear it around) and is letting me use it to experiment with stuff. There was so much stuff I wanted to try but needed one for measurements. And she is letting me do whatever I want with a hood that snaps onto a rather expensive carrier. Like some go for a few hundred unmodified. The modified ones have been known for go for a grand or more. So I shall be buried in the basement with my fabrics and playing around.  

And anyone else have periods of stuff leaving the house rather easily and other times it just sits and sits till you get the time to drop it off or someone pipes up that they want it? I seem to be in a sitting around time after a good time of stuff leaving. Makes me wonder if I really am just keeping crap if I list it and no one wants it even on the free board. 

[megaptera]

My current problem: I need to quit perusing "organized pantry" ideas on Pinterest, and actually ORGANIZE MY PANTRY.

[Sam_2.0]

Just wanted to share - since I did the "Great Toy Purge" in the family room it now takes less than 5 minutes for DD to pick up on her own, and even faster for us to help her pick up. Now that my closet & dresser are cleaned out it is really easy to put clothes away. And it's cut down on Mt. Laundry because I have fewer clothes to wash and can't let it pile up like I did before.

So simplifying is working Now I want to keep going!

[startsmart]

yay! finally got the bag of stuff to Goodwill and out of my house! Updated my total so for 122 items in January I'm definitely on track. 

Of course I temporarily added 2 more dogs for the week (mom is traveling) and that's been hectic today. 

Trash goes out tomorrow so I'm hoping to make it a full of recycling + trash + green waste. 

The electrician would like to come and work this week which would be nice since my kitchen light is dying and takes about 30 minutes to fully come on. I'm most excited about the new light in the shower stall so it's not so dark and dreary in there. 

Work is kicking my butt and keeping me busy so I'm off to do a little computer work and then I have appointments all afternoon. 

My goal this week is to survive to Saturday 

[Waffle]

Darn - I just lost my post!

Good things from this past weekend: I did 4 loads of laundry, I took two boxes of things to Goodwill and I cleaned off the top of the dressing table in the bathroom (it looks so nice. Now, if I can just keep it that way).

Bad thing - I didn't do anything with the top of the dresser in my bedroom.

Tonight's plan - pick up meds at pharmacy

                        1 load of laundry

                         Ebay stuff (have 3 items to pack and hopefully will list a few more items)

                         Spend at least 15 minutes working on taking things off the top of the dresser

                         and putting them where they belong.  15 minutes may not be enough time

                         to finish it - but it will at least make a dent in the clutter.

[busymom]

In spite of my body STILL being stiff from all of that driving last week, DS & I drove down to spend some time working on Mom's house.  I've got 3 garbage bags of clothing to donate in her name to charity.  I'll try & get those dropped off later this week.

[tcu2003]

Updates to include the latest Peter Walsh #31Days2GetOrganized Challenge items:

DAY 1 - FOLD YOUR LAUNDRY!
DAY 2 - GET RID OF ANYTHING THAT DOESN'T BELONG IN YOUR MASTER BEDROOM!
DAY 3 - SET UP A DONATION BIN!
DAY 4 - TACKLE YOUR PLACEMATS AND TABLE LINEN!
DAY 5 - INSPECT THE LOWER THIRD!
DAY 6 - DEMOLISH JUST ONE STACK ANYWHERE IN YOUR HOME!
DAY 7 - CONQUER PLASTIC FOOD STORAGE CONTAINERS!
DAY 8 - CLEAR OUT THE SPACE UNDER A SINK!
DAY 9 - TACKLE KIDS' ARTWORK OR YOUR PETS' CLUTTER!
DAY 10 - TODAY'S THE DAY TO TAME YOUR MAGAZINES!
DAY 11 - EXAMINE YOUR MAIL ROUTINES!

DAY 12 - TACKLE THE TOP OF YOUR BATHROOM VANITY! Bathroom countertops are magnets for clutter! Today’s challenge is all about getting a little more order in your bathroom. The first step is to arrange like items together, then it’s time to reduce the amount of stuff that’s there. Anything that’s expired is easy – that has to go. Then duplicates or things that you no longer use are the next items to get rid of. Finally, make sure that the things you use regularly are the only things that are left out. Everything else should be put away neatly in a drawer or into the medicine cabinet.

DAY 13 - DECLUTTER FOR GOOD! “Decluttering for good” is one of my favorite expressions. The idea is that there are times when getting organized will not only benefit you, your discarded items can really do some ‘good’ for someone else who may need them more. Today, I challenge you to find at least one item in your home that is mostly just taking up space and figure out who you may know who could benefit from it more than you. If you can’t think of anyone, give it to a charity. Getting rid of something (even something you may love) can be very powerful for both you and for them.

DAY 14 - FIND FIVE ITEMS IN YOUR GARAGE OR WORKSHED! They say you can’t do much in 10 minutes to get your garage or workshed organized. I think you can! All you need to do for today’s challenge is just go into either your garage or workshed and find just five items that you can get rid of. And, if finding those five items ends up being too easy, I won’t complain if you want to spend a little more time getting that garage or workshed back under control!

DAY 15 - GET IN TOUCH WITH SOMEONE YOU'VE FALLEN OUT OF TOUCH WITH!



 

[Wisconsin Beth]

I'm replacing the kids twin mattresses today.  Delivery is mid to late morning.  Mom agreed to hang out there until I can get there.  We're replacing box springs and top mattresses.  Both box springs are in the 10-20 year range and Cabe's top mattress is in that range too.  Keira's top mattress is a low profile one my sister had to buy for her MIL's nursing home care.  It's about 5 years old now.  So all 4 parts were inherited from family because everyone knew the kids were going to have accidents in the bed as toddlers.  We are finally past that point and Cabe's bed creaks like crazy so it was time.  DH and I'd been talking about it and yesterday just was the day.  Kids and I walked into a store and about 15 minutes later, I was paying and the kids were more than likely jumping on the mattresses in the other room. 

I may keep K's low profile mattress and the futon mattress in it's place.  It's still 1 in and 1 out, even if it's not the exact replacement right?    The futon frame died and I'm afraid the futon mattress will have absorbed dampness from the basement.  It's not in plastic covering stuff.  I'm thinking that if I that, and put the low profile one in plastic, it will be ok.  And it's got to be easier to manhandle a twin upstairs than the futon (full size mattress, I think, with NO handles to yank with)  We're starting sleepovers.  Or am I just making excuses to keep it? 

[Sam_2.0]

Beth - I would get rid of the mattress. Sleepovers don't happen that often, and kids are fine sleeping on the floor for a night anyway. But I am in a ruthless purging mindset right now

Found 13 bottles/pump accessories to give to a friend. Those should be leaving the house tomorrow night. And I threw away 2 bottles of sunscreen in a quick glance under the bathroom counter. I want to clean out under out sinks and under DD's sink this weekend if possible. I need a basket for the tub toys - right now they are all in the bottom drawer, but it's messy. I really wish the baby tub would fit under the sink. Just a couple more months of it sitting out and then it can get put away again once he's sitting up.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I would not keep the mattress either. That said, we have one in our garage because we need to make a run. And by "need", I mean since June.   There's a BBQ that needs to go also. 

[startsmart]

5 dogs. 

Yes, that's how many "needed" to snuggle last night in my queen sized bed. Beth, I'm so tempted to follow your example and get a bigger mattress today except my room won't fit a King. 

Thankfully the dogs are getting along so far and no accidents in the house, even though I had to be out for 6 hours yesterday and they were very unhappy with me. 

I am continuing to clean out the fridge and next will be the freezer. Filling up the trash cans today and it would be great to get my nail gun working so I can install the pegboard too. Hopefully.

[Deleted]

Beth could you get one of those roll-up camping mattresses instead? It would take up less room, since it's only for occasional use. Our two younger kids have trundle beds with mattresses underneath, that worked really well. (Now they both want double beds but their rooms are too small, plus there has to be some advantage to growing up, right?)

How funny, it seems to be "mattress season" lol. My colleague just replaced her kids' mattresses and DH and I ordered a new one (for us) this month. 

The last two days at work have been hard going because of being sick. I am very glad to be off tomorrow. (Chloe I stayed in bed for 2.5 days over the weekend but had to go back Monday.)

DS3 was home sick today, so DH worked from home. He picked me up from the train station after work and we went grocery shopping. I also ran the dishwasher, did a load of laundry and caught up on work emails. All of that was on tomorrow's list but it's done. I meant to bring two binders home from work but I forgot. I have two free periods on Thurs morning so I can do that prep then.

Wed
- dentist 11 am (appt N° 32 since April) 
- ATM
- DS3 school meeting 6 pm

Fri
- bake carrot cake for DS3's school evening (I did not do this on Wed)  

I thought I'd be done with the dentist in Dec, and then in Jan ... I've already got an appt scheduled in Feb. 

[Sam_2.0]

Forget bathroom cabinets. Next up needs to be all of our financial paperwork to get ready for taxes. Since we moved, it's all spread out throughout the house in various places. Collect, consolidate, and shred old things will be the name of the game this weekend

[Waffle]

Last night's plan - pick up meds at pharmacy  done

1 load of laundry

Ebay stuff (have 3 items to pack and hopefully will list a few more items) Packing, done.  Listing, not done.
Spend at least 15 minutes working on taking things off the top of the dresser  and putting them where they belong. 15 minutes may not be enough time  to finish it - but it will at least make a dent in the clutter. 15 minutes was not long enough, but at least I got a start

I'm out of practice, I listed two plans and have fallen short on both of them.

My biggest priority tonight - go to bed early!.  I am exhausted; felt like I was about to nod off a couple of times today (at work).

But before that, I do hope to get that load of laundry done and list a few things on Ebay.  I'm down to the "hard part" of the dresser - sorting through some paperwork - so that will have to wait for another more wakeful day.

SAM - did you have to mention taxes?  I am terribly behind with my bookkeeping.

Debt, - Sorry you've been feeling bad, hope you get better soon.

Megaptera - LOL about looking at organizing ideas instead of actually doing it.

[Malarky]

I got a boatload of stuff accomplished yesterday!

I started by trying to order a new drawer for my refrigerator/freezer.  I've been putting it off because I'm afraid I'll invest the money in the drawer and the then the damn thing will die.  Its the middle drawer of the freezer, so I really need it.  $175.00!

*Cleaned out the fridge because it was too heavy to move.  (Finally called DS to help.)
*Cleaned behind and on top of the fridge.
*Cleaned and organized all the cabinets in that section of the kitchen.  Including choosing new organized home   for some of my baking pans.  
*Cleaned off every freaking counter in the kitchen!!!   And the kitchen table as well!!
*Filed all the stray papers.  Bills to be paid corralled with the checkbook in it's proper spot.
*Filled another grocery bag with newspapers and other papers to recycle.
*Did some limited shredding.  
*Started cleaning up the mudroom-lots left to do there.
*Two loads of laundry.

Today:

*Balanced the checkbook.  Paid all the bills.
*Pulled the "tea towel" drawer out to figure out why it wouldn't close properly.  There were at least 15 plastic bags stuck behind it.  
*Organized the drawer, gave up a couple of towels and the cloth napkins that I could never get my family on board to use.
*Once DD finishes emptying the dishwasher, I'll spiff up the kitchen and plot my attack for tomorrow.

[busymom]

It must be mattress season. Working on Mom's house this week, I came across an old folding mattress that I'd completely forgotten about, that one of us kids used to have to sleep on when we had company. It is designated for the junk pile. But, because it's upstairs, I'll have to wait until the handyman comes over again, to help me get it down. (It's attached to a VERY heavy metal frame.)

I'm catching up on bills tonight, & tomorrow I'll try to get all of my filing caught up. With yesterday being a holiday, we got a LOT of bills in the mail today. Once the filing is done, I'm going to begin to organize our stuff, Mom's stuff, & DD's stuff for tax season.

[Sharon]

This weekend I also plan on start organizing things for taxes.

Lately I have been doing some heavy duty sewing and trying to finish up some projects.  That will help the sewing room.

I got my label maker when I was working on getting the sewing room organized aka building the great wall of fabric.  All my plastic slide out drawers are labeled.  It certainly has made sewing more enjoyable to have it fairly well organized instead of rooting around in this box and that sack.

[startsmart]

I finally got my nail gun working. I took it to the store and they couldn't get it to shoot so they replaced it. Came home and installed some door trim and hung up the pegboard in the garage. 

My friend finally got the keys to her new apartment so I'm hoping to get rid of my old couch this weekend. Which means I can sweep out the garage, paint the second half of the drywall and finish up the door trim. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Mom waited at our house for the mattress guy.  When I got there around 1115, he'd been and gone and taken all 4 mattress parts with it.  Per my instructions, the new mattresses were left in the living room.  Mom folded and put away the clean laundry and when she discovered more downstairs, she took care of that too.  I love my Mom.    She also started scrubbing the marker and stickers off DD's frame. 

She helped me take apart the frames.  We scrubbed most of the marker off and she swept like a demon every time a new patch of floor appeared.  DD now has the metal frame that DS had, with a different headboard.  This is one my Dad painted white like 3 years ago for us and it never got put into play.  DD wants to paint it purple.  I told her in summer, after school's out.  Then DS said he wanted to paint his purple too.    I've got the headboard DS had in the hallway for now.  I'm going to stash that in the basement for future musical bed frames as I'm about 95% positive we'll be playing that in the next couple of years.  I've got a metal queen frame down there too.   

DS now has the wooden frame that's 1/2 of a bunkbed set.  Possibility of getting the other 1/2 of the set, around 0.0005%.  My coworker who gave this one to me recently confirmed that the other 1/2 went with the stepkids.  And DH is loving the new mattresses so far.  They're taller/higher than the old ones and certainly more comfy.  They're memory foam and he thinks they're more comfy than our 10 year old Tempur Pedic.  Which we are NOT replacing any time soon as far as I'm concerned. 

Dad took the bag of crushed cans for me.  He's got a bag of his own and a guy that gives him the best possible price on alum. when he takes it in.

So, I'm updating my count to 45 things out.  Hopefully there will be more after the weekend - I still need to cull out DS's pjs and DD's dresses and t-shirts. 

Oh, DS agreed to part with his outgrown Minion slippers.  But not the dinosaur feet ones.  So I showed him the dresser of "stuff we can't part with yet" and asked if he wanted them in there.  He agreed.  I don't know if I'm teaching how to hoard or what but it did get them off his floor so I'm calling it a win. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jan 20, 2015 22:12:37 GMT -5 Sharon said:

This weekend I also plan on start organizing things for taxes.

Lately I have been doing some heavy duty sewing and trying to finish up some projects.  That will help the sewing room.

I got my label maker when I was working on getting the sewing room organized aka building the great wall of fabric.  All my plastic slide out drawers are labeled.  It certainly has made sewing more enjoyable to have it fairly well organized instead of rooting around in this box and that sack.

I've toyed with doing this for the kids toys.  Except I don't have enough storage to do it right.  And I don't want to buy more storage, I want to get rid of stuff to make what we've got work. 

[Martivir]

Feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Ok more than a little. Not getting much help for DH on the day to day stuff right now. Not his fault since it's because he's working later than usual and has his second job is being more demanding as well. And when he gets home it's almost DS's bedtime and I don't blame him for wanting to spent time with the kid rather than cleaning. After bedtime is when he does the stuff for job #2. Should only last a couple of weeks since his second job is in the middle figuring things out since they just lost someone. The person who makes sure DH gets everything on time and in the format he needs( he's a webmaster). 

I went downstairs to pack up some old dishes. I thought that the dishes were the only thing that was in the old pantry that needed to be packed up and listed. I am up to my ears in Pyrex, old dishes, and other kitchen stuff I never even knew we had. I think the only thing I still use in that room is the waffle maker. And I still need to go through our cupboards up here because they are in attack mode from being crammed so full. We have a small kitchen with just 4 cupboards and two drawers. And quite a bit of it is cups and water bottles from me trying to figure out which one works for me since I carry my drink with me everywhere. Still haven't found one.

On the bright side someone picked up the jacket I listed. 

[startsmart]

Well I've been sleeping in way too much this week. Thankfully the dogs don't mind! Tomorrow though I have to teach early in the morning so I'm hoping they will all go to sleep and let me work in silence. 

Got the trash cans filled up and put out, it'll be nice to get those emptied so I can continue working around the house. The garage is coming along slowly, I might be changing my plan for the work table but need to get the couch out first.

Today I must get over to my gym and put in my cancellation. The newer gym that opened a mile from my house is so much nicer and a bit cheaper per month. The current one is just poorly planned - it has a tiny changing room and when the door to the hallway opens you can see most of the changing room back to the showers! So I'm going to switch over and, if I can get my bike running, I'll be able to cycle there and back for workouts. 

If I get a chance tonight I'd like to put all the dogs through the bath. They are all in need of some washing! I'm sure that will entirely depend on my energy levels after work and the gym. 

[Malarky]

I'm taking a break, but I've gotten quite a bit accomplished today.

Went through the dish cupboards and discarded some items we don't need/use.  

Cleaned the food pantry.  Reorganized it a bit.

Emptied the hall cabinet-tossed or put in donate pile more than half the stuff in there.  Reorganized and consolidated those items I am keeping.

Started a bag of artsy crafty stuff to donate.  There's a ton more in the basement and upstairs so I'm must gathering that stuff for now.  In an organized fashion, of course.  

Donated a dozen books to the library.  I haven't really purged books, those are just the ones that were hang in out in the dining room bookshelf.

I have finished filling my first "donate" box-112 items which I won't count until they actually leave the house.  It's sealed and marked for pick up.

Arranged to have Big Brother Big Sister pick up items next Tuesday.  

[busymom]

Ok, remember the 3 garbage bags of clothes from Mom's house? I wrote up a list of everything in those bags, took & developed pictures (my "proof"), & got everything dropped off at our local charity. I also added an older-style luggage carryon bag.

I got a healthy start on my filing, but I've got a lot more to do than I thought. That project will probably stretch into tomorrow...

You guys are rocking the house!  Is the warmer than average weather motivating all of you, too? 

[Saving4Norway]

Uggg, at school (work) I'm overwhelmed, at home I'm overwhelmed. Man, this is just sapping all the energy out of me. When I'm at school (now) all I can think of are the millions of things I need to do at home, BUT, when I'm at home all I can think of are the gazillions of things at school I need to do!

So, what do I do?... Check in at WIR - Declutter and whine about it. (Someone, please, kick me in the rear!)