2016 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[debthaven]

We were at a birthday party today but I did drop the 3 bags of DD's / my clothes into the donation bin on the way there. (I added 2 pairs of pants to my bag.) My shelves look much better! 

I still have 1 bag in the car for my work friend's sons.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Routine stuff here. Laundry, food prep and dishes.

My biggest problems are:
DH and the kids,
lack of time and inclination

I sort and organize and they destroy. I feel like I spend all my time repeating the exact same tasks over and over. I ask for help, get told we'll help and it doesn't happen until I'm so pissed at them all that I'm yelling and often swearing.

[Jaguar]

I went to the dollar store and got two more expandable plastic holders, to hold all the excess medical card stuff that I have all stuffed into where ever. There is stuff that I have to keep, so it's getting organized so it's just functional. It's just insane how stuff and crap blocks energy.

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2016 15:07:34 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Routine stuff here. Laundry, food prep and dishes.

My biggest problems are:
DH and the kids,
lack of time and inclination

I sort and organize and they destroy. I feel like I spend all my time repeating the exact same tasks over and over. I ask for help, get told we'll help and it doesn't happen until I'm so pissed at them all that I'm yelling and often swearing.

That is one of the biggest blessings I appreciate of living alone, no one to mess up what I've tidied up except me. My father and brother were brutal for going behind you into a newly cleaned room and totalling it, especially the bathroom. They liked to go into a freshly cleaned bathroom for their shower then cover the place in baby powder and wet towels...30 years later and I'm still bitter lol

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 3, 2016 15:07:34 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Routine stuff here. Laundry, food prep and dishes.

My biggest problems are:
DH and the kids,
lack of time and inclination

I sort and organize and they destroy. I feel like I spend all my time repeating the exact same tasks over and over. I ask for help, get told we'll help and it doesn't happen until I'm so pissed at them all that I'm yelling and often swearing.

Hugs

[debthaven]

Beth aren't your kids old enough to clear up after themselves? Even if you have to stand over them? I don't mean deep cleaning but putting things away after they take them out?

(This said DH is lousy at that ... I either have to stand over him or do it for him. But he's gotten much better over time.)

ETA: The other thing is, where do they play? Maybe they are old enough to play in their rooms or in a play area but not in the rest of the house (unless they pick up their things afterwards). Since they're getting older maybe it's time to get tougher on them? Hugs from me too, I know how thankless it can be.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

My plan for the remainder of the day:

• Fix green skirt
• Put away laundry
• done deposit two checks
• dinner menus for the week 
• Done pantry straightening/clean out
• Pay girls/have them pay their bills
• done Set table for dinner guests tonight
• Sub Plans for Tuesday afternoon
• Done make dinner
• TEST #4 for school
• Finalize two assignments for Tuesday's lessons
• Finalize paperwork for Project Graduation Meeting on Wednesday
• done Evening List: straighten up whole house, clothes for tomorrow, wash face
• done Watch Downton Abbey!!!

[Deleted]

Chloe makes me feel bad every time I see her list!  Stop it now! 

• Cleaned out the refrigerator, even pulling the bins out to wash them.
• Emptied all the trash cans and took the big trash can up the hill.
• Washed clothes for DH because he's not feeling well.
• Reviewed and tweaked tomorrow's lesson plans.
• Set the alarm.  Lol, but I was scared I would forget.  I'm spoiled.
• Researched prepaid cell phone plans.

The list of what I didn't do is much more impressive.

[debthaven]

DH spent about 1-1.5h tidying his night table and "overflow basket".

His night table looks great. His basket is still full, but at least it's not overflowing anymore. DH says he's done for tonight but he has agreed to do the basket later in the week. 

ETA: My friend asked me for candles (she's still not leaving the house at all). I'm planning to go to Ikea to stock up for her cheaply. She's sort of halfway to Ikea. I'm going to see her Mon and Thurs, and working Wed.

My semester starts up for real next Mon. I'm trying to figure out how often I can visit her and still work / do everything I need to do. I'm going to aim for 3 times a week but I'm not sure I'll be able to manage that once the marking starts.

[megaptera]

Jan 3, 2016 16:06:33 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

My plan for the remainder of the day:

• Fix green skirt
• Put away laundry
• deposit two checks
• dinner menus for the week 
• Pantry straightening/clean out
• Pay girls/have them pay their bills
• Set table for dinner guests tonight
• Make dinner
• TEST #4 for school
• Finalize two assignments for Wednesday's lessons
• Finalize paperwork for Project Graduation Meeting on Wednesday
• Evening List: straighten up whole house, clothes for tomorrow, wash face
• Watch Downton Abbey!!!

I'm so excited for this. And I can watch without guilt, since I got my planned weekend stuff done (Christmas stuff away and learning plans)!

[plugginaway22]

Got most of Christmas put away, did some laundry, changed bed sheets, made a cake, organized all my tea towels and pot holders (pitched nasty ones) in a nice basket.
Need to review finances and pay some bills.  This coming week will be crazy at work!

Beth I was the same way many years ago, before you know it the mess will be all from you or your DH!

[Ombud]

Working through but not in order:

1. Contractor: starts Tuesday
2. Coit: estimate Wednesday
3. GS1's new room: bed, linens, lamp, nightstands
4. 1/2 bath: decorative mirror
5. Family room (find new sofa - flooring - accent wall)
6. Landscape front yard

Cleared hall BR, office, DD's bedroom for contractor. Still need to clear kids room but that's just got posters, lamp, tv & 2 beds now

Scheduled 1/15/16 Goodwill pick up of:
6 bags misc, 3 beds, lamps, tables, 1/2 garage storage LOL

[spartan7886]

OK, with the new year started and a new baby coming in May, I need to get better at organizing - I've got a whole room I need to clear out! So, I'm hoping I will do better if I'm accountable to someone else in addition to DH, who is nice and lets me slide.

Done list this weekend:
-Fix wifi card on desktop so it can be moved to new office
-Fund IRAs for the year
-Recycle Christmas tree (recycle program ends today)
-Assemble bookcase for new office

To Do list for the work week:
-Take down remaining Christmas decorations (post-Epiphany)
-Assemble new desk (34 steps)
-Rebalance investment accounts after IRA funds and employee stock purchase program hit (probably also later in the week)

A short list this week, but that desk is going to be a major project.

[Jaguar]

Okay I cleaned out one whole under bed storage container that had my craft crap in it, and I'm going to put something else in there to make room in my drawers. I did keep some crafts but I threw others out, it's a start.

I have to go to another dollar store to see if I can find folders to hold my most important medical papers and such, cause that drawer is a freaking mess.

[moneysquirrel]

Weekly

School:



Update class web site once projects are assigned
Set up binder for new semester


House:



Maintain the cleared off flat areas 
Put away Christmas Items -- Nutcrackers, Nativity, Linens (after the 6th)

Keep up with the routine chores

Crafts: I think I will keep the same goals as last week.

Crochet at least 4 rows on afghan
Finish one stringing project

Try to finish the one new beading project that was started -- making progress

I did okay this weekend.  Managed to get almost every thing done on the list.  Once I'm back at school things have a habit of backsliding so I am hoping that being here will encourage me to stay on task.  Need to get to sleep as 5 am will be here very soon.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

One of my biggest challenges around the house is simple home maintenance.  I can do it, but I already feel like I do the lion's share of house stuff and I want/need DH to get involved.  I also sometimes just need another pair of hands to help.  So, I have been working with DH to get some really ridiculously easy things done.  It turns out, he is nervous/scared to screw the projects up.  He's an accountant.  Doing hands-on stuff is not his forte.  I've tried to get him to watch Youtube videos online to see that some of this stuff is very simple.  Well, he's had 4-day weekends the past two weeks, so I used the time to make him take some baby steps.  

1.  I have needed to change a toilet seat forever (some enthusiastic Ajax/Comet use when we moved back in stripped the paint off several areas).  It's a fairly simple task, but I couldn't get the plastic screws to turn and was even stripping the slots.  I needed someone to hold the nut underneath the seat with a monkey wrench, or to even loosen the nut, so I could remove the plastic screws.  I FINALLY got DH to help on Friday and he changed the seat all by himself in about 10 minutes.  He was so proud of himself, LOL.

2.  The contractor never replaced things like towel bars and mirrors in the bathrooms.  It turns out that the bathroom mirrors that came with the house are solid wood and VERY heavy.  I can't hang them by myself and I am not sure if both DH and I can even do it.  The new contractor said he would do it, but we REALLY need a mirror in the family bathroom (we've been using a long door mirror leaning up against the bathroom window).  So, I bought a plastic mirror from Target on Friday and asked DH to follow the instructions and hang it.  He got out his stud finder, found the studs, marked where he wants the hooks to go, but discovered that we have no hooks.  He'll grab some tomorrow at lunch.  So, that job is halfway done.  

3.  We went a little crazy with outside lights this Christmas and had too many on one line and they blew the multi-plug extension cord.  DH figured out the problem, removed one set, bought a new extension cord, and we are back to "festive".  (These are the lights at the back door that we are using in lieu of the backdoor light that our former contractor never installed. So, we're festive and safe in the back yard, LOL.)

4.  I'd bought this huge farm table for $50 on Craigslist last Spring to use in the backyard for ODS' graduation party.  It is solid wood and very heavy.  We've kept it covered with a tarp, but with winter weather now here, it needed to be put away until Spring.  DH couldn't figure out where to put it and so was stuck getting this simple task done.  I finally directed him how to re-arrange the laundry/utility room a little and, voila, the table is now safe and sound for the winter.  

5.  DH never unpacks from trips.  He had 3 suitcases of various sizes on his side of the room.  One of them was from our vacation in Maine from last July!!!  I finally got him to unpack and put his clothes away.  (Yay me!)  The suitcases are now down in the basement where they belong.  

There are other little projects that I had to nudge him through, but I'll end the list here.  I am working really hard with him to see how much better we all feel when things are neat and in order.  But, he's the kind of guy who can't wrap his head around household stuff and figure out how to get it done.  His immediate response is usually a groan and a whiny "how are we going to do that?".  He's the textbook definition of "experiential learner".  Why I am just figuring this out now, I don't know.  Maybe because sending ODS off to college has given us the time to actually think about getting stuff done.  

And, of course, clutter is an issue.  I work really hard to keep the kitchen island and the sink and sink counters in the kitchen clean and uncluttered because then I am more likely to cook a decent meal.  Life just goes smoother when we can find things easily.  When we rebuilt the house, I had them put a large closet in the kitchen (we have always, always, needed a mud room and this was the closest I could get to one).  There was no closet at the back door previously, and shoes and jackets and back packs and sports bags and everything else would get dropped on the floor at the back door and it looked like hell.  We had wall hooks, but no one used them.  So, while the closet ate up some space in our kitchen, it has given us some much-needed storage space.  Coats, shoes, sports gear, recycling, re-usable grocery bags, bags for dog poop, etc. are all put away in there neatly and conveniently.  I just need to keep reminding everyone to put their stuff away in the closet, but we are getting better at it.  

I'm finally feeling some satisfaction with our home.  I'm feeling like I would not panic if someone stopped by to say hello.  It's not magazine beautiful yet because of the work that still needs to be done and the eclectic furniture we are using for the time-being, but it now has flow.  

I am scared as hell that we are going to slide back into clutter and materialism.  

[jenpen]

Jan 2, 2016 19:41:10 GMT -5 jenpen said:

To-do for today and Sunday:
WORK:
- finish 2 PRISM tasks

Gah. This is done as best as I can.  I spent >9 hours on it today, and got nothing much else done, except cleaning the downstairs bathroom, dry-swiffering the tile and vacuuming the carpets downstairs. I am still on a learning curve with this work -- switching to a new web development environment -- but I only work with the web development team <50% time, so it's tough to keep up with them, and I hate to let them down. Oh well, I suspect others also actually used their time off to do things besides work, so it may not matter that I'm so behind on stuff I wanted to do the past two weeks. 

WholeLottaNothin, I was sorry to read of your loss, and I hope you're feeling better.

PauletteG, you asked about the Marie Kondo system.  Have you already read her book?  If not, I can't recommend buying it, but if you can borrow it about half of it's worth reading.  My biggest take-away from it was this: rather than trying to declutter an area, go after a "category".  Just a random example, take cleaning tools and products.  You probably have these spread out in many areas of your home.  Gather them all from every corner of your house.  This will let you see if you're over-stocked on some items, get rid of any excess, and then determine the best home for everything.  It might make sense to still have some things spread through-out your house, but maybe everything else (elspecially if consolidated) can be more neatly organized in one central location.  E.g., dish soap and scouring pads can stay under the kitchen sink, and shower-cleaner in the bathroom, but window cleaner, dusters, etc that are used in all or most rooms could all be stored in one place where they're easy to find and keep track of.

debthaven, glad your husband followed through with his to-do list

[Jaguar]

I got rid of another garbage bag full, woo hoo ! Now of course there's absolutely no more room in the garbage containers, but I am really happy cause I'm finally cutting into this energy draining crap !

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I'm so excited for everyone.
I'll be back Monday evening with a list for the week.
I hope everyone has a great Monday!

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh's #31Days2GetOrganized Challenge:

1. Set up a donation center (bin, basket, garbage bag, etc.) in your home and add 5 things to it
2. Look in your closet for the pair(s) of shoes that is most covered in dust, and add it to your donation pile. (He also mentioned the 80/20 rule where you wear 20% of your shoes 80% of the time.)
3. Pick any single room in your house and tackle the floor. Get every single thing that doesn't belong on the floor of that room off the floor, whether it is toys, books, clutter, etc.
4. Unmentionables - go through your unmentionables drawer, and get rid of at least 5 items that you don't need/love/wear because they're stretched out, don't like them, etc.

[yogiii]

I was a de-clutter superstar!  I had 5 days with no kids around (the first time in over 5 years!), so I went through every single closet in our house. I also re-organized all of our kitchen cabinets and bookshelves (most of them have cubbies of toys comingled with books).   Got a lot of stuff out of the house for goodwill (mostly kids stuff) and also sent some things to do the trash.  It was great! 

[midjd]

I may be joining in at some point -- the house is in pretty good shape but I really want to make our unfinished basement less dungeon-y. Right now it is the repository for camping gear, the deep freeze, furniture we don't really want to get rid of, paint/extra flooring tiles, and some other random odds and ends that were here when we moved in. It's a big enough space that it doesn't look super cluttered, but is dusty and depressing, and I don't really ever feel compelled to clean down there since we don't use it (and we don't use it because it's dusty and depressing). 

I think installing some storage cabinets/shelves would go a long way toward improving the mood, but I should probably get rid of some of the useless crap first.

Any idea the best way to recycle/properly dispose of about 10 gallons of half-used paint? 

[yogiii]

Jan 4, 2016 11:09:32 GMT -5 midjd said:

Any idea the best way to recycle/properly dispose of about 10 gallons of half-used paint? 

Check your town website. We have a few days/year where we can bring stuff like that to the Fire Station.

[startsmart]

Not working today but have a lot of errands ahead of me. My goals are to a) stay within budget and b) keep all my receipts sorted in the chaos. 

I did get a lot accomplished with my book yesterday and am about 30% through editing the draft. 

[WholeLottaNothin]

Jan 4, 2016 10:55:27 GMT -5 yogiii said:

I was a de-clutter superstar!  I had 5 days with no kids around (the first time in over 5 years!), so I went through every single closet in our house. I also re-organized all of our kitchen cabinets and bookshelves (most of them have cubbies of toys comingled with books).   Got a lot of stuff out of the house for goodwill (mostly kids stuff) and also sent some things to do the trash.  It was great! 

 Good job, Yogiii!
 I can only imagine how much I could get done with 5 days with no kids!

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 2, 2016 12:05:06 GMT -5 @bamafan1954 said:

Dec 31, 2015 10:03:07 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Can some of the books go to your classroom? Or someone's classroom?

My sil teaches 5th grade and a couple of years ago she was scrounging for classroom books because her kids'reading levels varied from 2nd grade to college.

While reading level may be at post-high school level, the maturity level doesn't always match.  I have twelve of John Grisham's novels that I'm going to get rid of and probably that many of Stephen King's.  Those are definitely not appropriate for fifth graders.  Think how horrified you would be if your fifth-grader started reading A Time to Kill, which starts off with the brutal rape of a young girl about that age.

I teach high school seniors, and the books might be appropriate there depending on the student and the student's parents. 

But really I just don't really want to move clutter around since eventually I would have to deal with getting rid of them, anyway.  Eventually is sooner than you may realize: I am retiring in three or four more years.

I'll donate them to the thrift store where someone will be delighted to find their favorite authors. 

I so wish I lived closer, I'd take them off your hands!  

[Malarky]

I've spent the last 24 hours making up for the last three months of slacking.

Yesterday I cleaned out the mudroom, tossing all kinds of things that I have no use for and other people probably won't miss.  I hope.

I finished off everyone's random laundry they left behind.  Everyone does their own in this house, but there's always stray things or someone "forgot" the clothes in the dryer.   Right before bed, I threw a load of towels in the dryer.  

I transplanted a couple of plants that needed it.  

I removed all the crap that didn't belong in the living room and dusted.  

I threw out a few things that had lived too long in the fridge.  

I made a nice beef stew for dinner and froze enough for 5 dinners if it's just DH and I, two dinners if the kids are home. 

Cleared the counters and scrubbed them down and sanitized them.

Filled the dishwasher and ran it at bedtime.

This morning I got up a 5 and drove DD to work.  Then:

I folded the towel and got them put away.

Scrubbed the stovetop grates and pans, scrubbed out the oven, and moved it to clean behind it and the sides where stuff falls through the cracks.

Emptied the dishwasher and sorted all dishes, pots and utensils to their proper place, not the random placed DH ant the kids have been putting them.  Every time I went to put something in it's place it was occupied by something else.

And then I   cleaned the dishwasher.  Took apart the filter  .  Threw away the cleaning rags when I was done!


Baked a cake (from a box) and dyed my hair. (Also from a box.)

Started to scrub out the litterbox, decided it was too nasty and went to PetCo to buy a new one.  I got home before the cat used an alternative potty.  

I started sweeping the kitchen floor but didn't finish before I had to go get DD.  Called DS to get the wreath off the door and onto the sidewalk since today turns out to be tree/wreath pickup day.  He ACTUALLY NOTICED the kitchen floor and finished it before I got home.

Had DD drag the recycle bin near the side stairs and dumped the indoor bin and the boxes from Christmas.  

Put a way the very few things that needed to go to the basement from Christmas. I didn't actually decorate this year.

Now I'm sitting down with a cup of coffee, a heating pad on my back.

I think I'm done.

I have to go back to work tomorrow.



 

[snapdragon]

I managed to vacuum the house and take the trash out. It's a good beginning.

[debthaven]

Wow some of you get   for everything you've done!

Today was the first day I was alone at home for part of the day so I got some things done. I went to Ikea, bought a bunch of candles for my friend, went over there. 

I also bought new Tupperware type containers at Ikea, so when I got home I emptied out the two main kitchen drawers and put all the damaged / mismatched containers into the recycling bin. I threw out some items and put a few into the basement. So the drawers are better organised (again) and less cluttered. I'm saving the old containers to bring food to my friend. I tried to get the others back but she refused to give them back dirty. 

I also went to the garden centre and they finally had the time to put the prices on the Yankee Candles. Wow they are pricey here! I bought one box of cinnamon-apple tea light candles. 

Mid, we got our basement shelving at Ikea and it's been holding strong for 18 years! We don't have a very big basement but we have 2 rooms down there. The bigger room used to be a kids'  playroom and then became DS1's bedroom once he left for college (it has a lightwell/window). The smaller room is for storage / tools / the boiler. Shelving sounds like a good idea!

ETA: I rearranged the kitchen cabinet with small appliances in order to fit the new mandolin slicer I just bought. :-)

[spartan7886]

Jan 4, 2016 11:09:32 GMT -5 midjd said:

Any idea the best way to recycle/properly dispose of about 10 gallons of half-used paint? 

We can haul it down to the hazardous waste facility open a few days a week if it's still wet. If it's completely dried out (and the lid is off to prove it) it can go in our regular trash. 

I've heard mixing it with kitty litter is a good way to dry it out, but I haven't tried it myself.