Regarding Swedish death cleaning

[haapai]

I want to get more organized.  In my case, I'll have to get rid of a whole lot of stuff in order to do that.  My dog is destroying the stuff that I need and use and love because every dog-proof storage space that I have is full.  I know that more plastic bins are not the answer.  I need to do a major purge. 

I do not have the patience to go through the decluttering thread to find what you have to say about how useful this method might be to someone who has way too much stuff -- like on the border of being a hoarder.  I also do not want to muck up the minimalist thread by asking the same question. 

My question is this.  Does Swedish death cleaning presume a certain level of organization and a much lower amount of stuff than I have?  I think that some of you on these threads might have tried this method and have something to say about it but I don't want to derail either of your threads. 

[laterbloomer]

What is Swedish Death Cleaning? It hasn't really been discussed on the Decluttering Thread. I don't think. If it has I missed it.

[Lizard Queen]

I understand it only as a concept, not a method. If you want a method, check out Marie Kondo.

[susana1954]

I agree that it is more a concept.  That said, I've done a little of it in the sense of getting rid of stuff that I know my kids won't value after I am gone.  I'm in the process of getting rid of my Pfaltzgraff Christmas dishes, for example, because I don't want it to be one more chore that they will have to deal with.  I always ask first if they want it.  Yes, for my dining room furniture when my daughter and her husband finally find a new house.  No for those dishes and my crystal.

It is less of what brings me joy because the dishes and crystal still do.  But we now eat all of our meals, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, at their houses.  So why hang on to it if it isn't being used and they have no desire for it.

I'm better in theory, though, than in practice.

[haapai]

Feb 10, 2022 17:31:27 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

What is Swedish Death Cleaning? It hasn't really been discussed on the Decluttering Thread. I don't think. If it has I missed it.

The Scandis have been doing it for a long time, but it didn't really make it into English translation until about five years ago.  It probably got translated because hygge was hot and so was Marie Kondo. 

The English-language hook is to get of your unwanted/unneeded stuff so that nobody else has to do it after you die.  The bonus for you is that you get to live with less stuff to take care of before you die and that further moves and downsizings are so much easier. 

I've gotten some hints that the true Swedish version is quite public and communal and includes some pretty frank discussions of mortality and aging but I just want to know if it works for folks who have way too much junk. 

[Tiny]

I, too, think Swedish Death Cleaning is more of a concept and not a specific set of steps but a way to change how one thinks/feels about all the stuff one has acquired over a life time and how to let some of it go.


In the past when I was in the "right frame of mind" to go thru stuff I haven't looked at in years and years I use to go at it from the stand point of "If I was dead would who ever was cleaning this out - trash it? Sell it? or Keep it? "

I've found that most stuff that's been stored away - is just straight out "trash". It's hard to emotionally deal with idea that the stuff you bought and saved and packaged up neatly (or not) and that fills your closets, attic, basement, garage, shed to overflowing is now "trash" - but hey odds are that's what who ever is cleaning out your house when you are dead is most likely gonna do with it - haul it out to the rented dumpster.

I think that is part of what "Swedish Death Cleaning" is all about - getting rid of the stuff you have that will just be thrown away by your loved ones after you are gone.

That frame of mind also helps with the urge to "save" something now - because it's still 'good' - like say a TV or some computer equipment or some something that just gets older and more worthless the longer it sits in storage. If you don't need something that will become worthless and trash after a few years in storage - maybe it doesn't need to go to storage - but should be sold or donated. Because the longer something stays in storage the more likely it is to become trash.

It feels cold and heartless - but really it's not.

[Tiny]

Feb 10, 2022 17:11:02 GMT -5 haapai said:

My question is this.  Does Swedish death cleaning presume a certain level of organization and a much lower amount of stuff than I have?  I think that some of you on these threads might have tried this method and have something to say about it but I don't want to derail either of your threads. 

I don't think it does.  It just comes down to deciding what to do with the thing you have -

If you were dead  would someone in your family want it? 
    If yes - get it out of storage and give it to the person so they can start enjoying it NOW.     
    If no -  get it out of storage and give it away, sell it, trash it.  Why leave it in storage? No one wants it.  


No matter how you decide to "clean out" your stuff -  you will need to look at and evaluate your stuff - does someone in the family want it?  If it sits in storage for another 5 or 10 years will it become trash?  Is it trash now?  Is it sellable/donate-able now?    And this is the exhausting part of the process - all the emotions all the thousands of decisions to be made in a short period of time (the afternoon you dedicated to going thru stuff).  Be prepared for that. 

TLDR:   check out some of the "how I got started getting rid of stuff" videos.   HINT: they will almost all talk about designating a box or bin or area for the things you are getting rid of - so you don't put them back where they came from. 

They may also suggest once you've boxed/binned up the stuff you want to get rid off -  write a date on the box/bin when you will get take the stuff to the trash or donate it - say a month out into the future.   And then add the "take it to the trash" or "make a donation run" to your calender.  When the day comes DO NOT GO THRU THE boxes/bins - if you can't remember what's in them - they need to go.  If you haven't needed anything in them in a month - they need to go.  

This is for general household clutter/stuff - not for mementos/rememberances of the past.   Going thru actual rememberances/mementos  requires a different strategy.   You will have to find that on your own. 


And here's the too long:  

To even get started - I would do a couple of things. 
Acknowledge that you aren't going to accomplish it all in one afternoon. 
Acknowledge that you may experience some emotions you aren't comfortable with.  It's OK. It's normal.   

I would designate an area - where you will put the stuff you are getting rid of, where the "trash" stuff will go, where the Keeper stuff will go.    You will need large boxes or garbage bags or bins for all three of these.     If you have a 'designated' area - it makes it easier to end a 'session' - you don't have to touch the stuff again - they are already in a box or bag or bin (even if it's sloppily done).   

When I did a big clean out - in preparation for a garage sale - I cleared a large area of my basement floor and piled up all the "things to sell in the garage sale".   I did about 5 sessions of going thru stuff - and each time I hauled stuff I found that was out right trash immediately to the trash at the end of each session.   I had non-working toasters, clothes so old they crumbled, rusted tools, etc...    
The over all goal was to put anything that wasn't trash into the garage sale - anything left at the end of the garage sale - would go to the trash or get donated.   NOTHING was coming back in to my house after the garage sale.  

The concept of having a 'space' for the stuff as it moved thru the  process of leaving my house was very helpful - it meant I didn't have to find a "place for it" back in storage.   And it made it a little easier when I'd look at something in the pile and go "oh no! I can't get rid of that!"  I could stop take a breathe and ask myself "Why did you put it in the Sale Pile in the first place? "  the answer was usually enough to leave the thing in the "sale pile".  

And then just get started.   Clean out a single drawer.    Open and go thru a single bin. (use your donate, trash, keep it bins/boxes/bags).  

Realize you might need to make several passes over time to whittle down the stuff to a point where you can organize it.   Be kind to yourself.    Every little bit helps 

And one last note - from my big clean out  I discovered that having a permanent place to put stuff I would donate or give away (or if I couldn't decide if it was trash) was super helpful for everyday stuff.  I keep a large plastic bin in the basement - the lid lost long ago.   When I find something I dont know what to do with - and I acknowledge that I no longer want or need it - it goes to the Bin.   Every month I check the Bin and make a donation run (or I realize it truly is trash and so it goes to the trash).    That Bin has been a life saver - stuff I don't want has a place to go that's NOT where it came from and there is a way to get it out of my house in a timely fashion.  

[Deleted]

Feb 10, 2022 19:12:43 GMT -5 Tiny said:

<snip>
This [advice] is for general household clutter/stuff - not for mementos/remembrances of the past. Going thru actual remembrances/mementos requires a different strategy. You will have to find that on your own.

What helped me was the advice to CURATE those piles. I saved boxes of DS' school papers for a long time. Now I have a few funny, cartoony things he drew and some primitive but cute sculptures from art classes. If you collected something- cookbooks, owl statues, etc.- save a few of the ones you really like for one reason or another and get rid of the rest.

A post from a friend on FB reminded me of how I manage to keep down the new clutter I bring in- look up all the details of China's human rights violations and choose not to buy things made in China where you cam avoid them. If you want an iPhone, yeah, they're made in China. But- buying Christmas cards and Easter decorations made in a country that persecutes its Uighur minority and won't recognize the Roman Catholic church? Oh, the irony. That will save you a ton of money otherwise spent at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Dollar Stores and Wal-Mart and you'll have less stuff to throw out.

[giramomma]

Not swedish death cleaning, but I find that setting parameters on the numbers of things we need to run our house efficiently is useful. Like. We have 5 beds, and like 2 sets of sheets per bed. DH and I also put winter sheets on our bed. So, this means we need 11-12 sets of sheets for our family. More than that, we purge and/or stop buying. Less than that, we buy.

The kids and I have 8 days worth of good school/work clothes, and two weeks worth of underthings.  Then we have a handful of meh/crap clothes.  If we have more clothes or less clothes, the  laundry runs amok.

When I went through our kitchen, I just went through a couple of drawers or cabinets at a time. I also only gave myself the keep or go option. Keep items got placed back where they came from (after I washed drawers out...still have to wash out cabinets). Go items were either saved for DS's first apartment, donated immediately, or thrown out. Limiting myself to that was enough to get rid of most of what we needed to. Boxing things up to get rid of at a later date won't work for us. Because it just won't leave the house. We have to plan on a donation run right after we declutter.

[cooper88]

I found getting rid of things is small batches is easier. Like go through one room throw away or donate, and move on. It's a great feeling of accomplishment to just get one area completely done.

I've been going through things lately because there is still just too much here. Some of it is just disorganized, mainly because I have a tiny kitchen and kitchen items have to be stored elsewhere. Once I get through it all, I'll organize what is left.

My family members will likely only want the old photos anyway. I'm mentally okay with the rest of my stuff going into a dumpster, but I want to enjoy what I really enjoy while I'm here. 

My 87 year old neighbor passed away last year. She was by no means a hoarder, but her daughter had a huge task separating what to keep, what to give away to family, what to donate, etc.

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 10, 2022 20:41:05 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Not swedish death cleaning, but I find that setting parameters on the numbers of things we need to run our house efficiently is useful. Like. We have 5 beds, and like 2 sets of sheets per bed. DH and I also put winter sheets on our bed. So, this means we need 11-12 sets of sheets for our family. More than that, we purge and/or stop buying. Less than that, we buy.

The kids and I have 8 days worth of good school/work clothes, and two weeks worth of underthings.  Then we have a handful of meh/crap clothes.  If we have more clothes or less clothes, the  laundry runs amok.

When I went through our kitchen, I just went through a couple of drawers or cabinets at a time. I also only gave myself the keep or go option. Keep items got placed back where they came from (after I washed drawers out...still have to wash out cabinets). Go items were either saved for DS's first apartment, donated immediately, or thrown out. Limiting myself to that was enough to get rid of most of what we needed to. Boxing things up to get rid of at a later date won't work for us. Because it just won't leave the house. We have to plan on a donation run right after we declutter.

I understand about the kids clothes. I don't have a specific amount, but there is the right amount, and then there's too much and chaos ensues.

[raeoflyte]

Feb 10, 2022 18:44:55 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I, too, think Swedish Death Cleaning is more of a concept and not a specific set of steps but a way to change how one thinks/feels about all the stuff one has acquired over a life time and how to let some of it go.


In the past when I was in the "right frame of mind" to go thru stuff I haven't looked at in years and years I use to go at it from the stand point of "If I was dead would who ever was cleaning this out - trash it? Sell it? or Keep it? "

I've found that most stuff that's been stored away - is just straight out "trash". It's hard to emotionally deal with idea that the stuff you bought and saved and packaged up neatly (or not) and that fills your closets, attic, basement, garage, shed to overflowing is now "trash" - but hey odds are that's what who ever is cleaning out your house when you are dead is most likely gonna do with it - haul it out to the rented dumpster.

I think that is part of what "Swedish Death Cleaning" is all about - getting rid of the stuff you have that will just be thrown away by your loved ones after you are gone.

That frame of mind also helps with the urge to "save" something now - because it's still 'good' - like say a TV or some computer equipment or some something that just gets older and more worthless the longer it sits in storage. If you don't need something that will become worthless and trash after a few years in storage - maybe it doesn't need to go to storage - but should be sold or donated. Because the longer something stays in storage the more likely it is to become trash.

It feels cold and heartless - but really it's not.

Donating something while it's still good and can be used is so important. I saved a ton of our baby/kid things for sil. But by the time she had a kid, she had 1)plenty of money and 2)wanted new fancy things. Almost everything was still in good shape and was taken by a consignment store but it was ridiculous what we kept and how long we saved it - even moved with it!

I tried to remember that with baby clothes. Save a couple special outfits - maybe and donate the rest to be used while they're still in style. Mil had a couple of dh's baby outfits saved and we took the obligatory pictures, but gawd 70's and 80's baby clothes were ugly!

[raeoflyte]

The best system I've ever found is just a timer. 15 minutes spent decluttering a drawer or shelf. When it goes off, i usually wanted to keep going, but I could guilt free stop and go do something else.

Also track the stuff you get rid of. Either per object (which is way too much for) or per bag/box, or by weight (esp. For trash). It might be a while before you see a difference, but its motivating to know you took 5 boxes to goodwill and tossed 12 pounds of trash last weekend.

[happyhoix]

I think one of the most effective ways to get motivated to clear out your junk is to have to clean out someone else’s house after they died.

I’ve done that twice now - my older sister who lived in a tiny house with five cats and hoards of junk, and my mother, who accumulated things through her whole life and still had most of them when she died, including clothes she couldn’t have won for at least twenty years (too small).

It was a nightmare, both of them, and made me go home and start throwing out crap.

[TheOtherMe]

The organizer has helped me so much.  She has been worth every penny to me.  The best part is that she takes the donations with her when she leaves so I don't have to deal with that.  I know myself well enough that the donations would sit in the garage and clutter that up.

I am still working on the homework from our last session so I am not having her for inside the house until I get that done.  

I will have her come in early spring to get rid of so much accumulated Stuff in the garage.  It has to go.  I was having my nephew bring up boxes from the room in the basement and put them in the garage.  I went through some and the others are still there.  Now I know I don't need that stuff and will decide whether to donate or toss.  

The only sacred item in the garage is the porch swing my maternal grandfather made.  He made one for each of his 15 living children.  My mom sold hers when we moved to Des Moines.  My cousin gave me this one when she cleaned out her mom's house.  I was going to give it to my nephew because he has a house built in 1860.  He has a nice place for it but he says he and his fiance are going to sell the house.  I know they don't have a place to store it.  

He has no garage but he does have a falling down chicken coop.  He says the few things he put there have been stolen so I won't let him put it there.

My cousin and I both want the porch swing to stay in the family.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2022 6:51:22 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I think one of the most effective ways to get motivated to clear out your junk is to have to clean out someone else’s house after they died.

I’ve done that twice now - my older sister who lived in a tiny house with five cats and hoards of junk, and my mother, who accumulated things through her whole life and still had most of them when she died, including clothes she couldn’t have won for at least twenty years (too small).

It was a nightmare, both of them, and made me go home and start throwing out crap.

Paying for a move will do that, too! When DH and I moved from NJ to KS my employer paid for it. We'd also just married and hadn't combined households so we didn't really have an idea of what duplicates we had. They paid to move a pool table and a 6-foot long desk that my Ex got after his employer remodeled the offices. When we downsized 12 years later and moving was on our own dime, we got rid of a lot. I went through boxes of books we'd moved from NJ and had never opened and sold some, donated, others, pitched the rest. We left the pool table in the house- the buyers, thank heaven, didn't object. A lot of things went as Free Stuff on Craigslist. One guy came to the house and disassembled the desk and took it- it had a beautiful wood top so was worth saving.

So, maybe a less-morbid approach would be "would I keep this if I were downsizing?"

[giramomma]

Feb 11, 2022 6:51:22 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I think one of the most effective ways to get motivated to clear out your junk is to have to clean out someone else’s house after they died.

Or in my case, read the tea leaves. The only reason why I'm taking this year off to focus on my home is that I don't want to be clearing out my home, and my mom's home at the same time.

Plus, when it's time for my mom, we're  just going to have to drop everything and go. Just like when dad died.

If I have to drop everything now and be absent for a while, my house is going to get to a point where it's going to be very hard to recover from.

And that's not a knock on DH.

It's an unrealistic expectation to expect him to basically be a single parent to three minor kids, declutter/deep clean/maintain a house, work part time, and possibly even take care of his parents as well.

Adulting as a child sucks, especially when your parents won't adult. So. The only thing I can do is make sure I literally clean up my side of the street so I'm prepared for when the inevitable happens.

[Deleted]

DDIL is about to embark on helping her mother clear out the family home- her Dad died last month and Mom plans to move near them.  (This had been a plan of her parents even before her Dad developed colon cancer- DDIL, the grandkids and DDIL's sister are all in Des Moines.)  I was up there for the funeral- a nice little house crowded with 30 years of photos, games, books, holiday decorations, etc.  Not hoarding by any means but it will be a hard job letting go.  I just ordered a copy of "Rightsizing Your Life" for DDIL's mother.  I may get drafted to go up there and hold down the fort with the kids and DS (who works from home) while DDIL helps her mother clear the place out.  

[happyhoix]

I was just ragging my DH about what will happen once my lovely MIL passes away. A wonderful woman but borderline hoarder with 55 of living in her ranch house.

It could be worse, she used to have five different storage lockers she cleaned out when she retired, so she wouldn’t have to pay rent on them, but I have a sneaky feeling she shoved all that crap up in the attic.

MIL likes to lecture me that food never expires, it just gets softer. So first to go - all the 1970 and 80s cans of food in her carport storage room.

I told DH I would help clean out the stuff (he helped me with DS) but it will be a nightmare.

[TheOtherMe]

Most of my rep payee clients were in nursing homes and they were on Medicaid by the time I was asked to handle their finances.  No family members wanted to do it after they were on Medicaid because they knew there would be no money.

I did have another woman who lived in the community.  She was a schizophrenic and had been for years.  She was in a locked mental facility until those were closed.  She truly has/had no business living on her own.  Her siblings and son could not deal with her and her spending.  

Another of her diagnoses was compulsive spending.  If that program had not taken control of her money, she would be living on the street.  

She would bring in ads from the Sunday paper and ask me to give her money to buy a $2000 couch.  She only had income of $750 or so a month so she couldn't have a $2000 couch.  Her spending wants for Christmas and birthdays was the same way.  One year she wanted about $2000 for Christmas.  So once again I had to show her on paper why she couldn't spend that much money.  

She would get mad at me for not giving her money and walk out.  With her temper, I'm sure she told her family off.  

The last straw for me was when she signed a lease for a new apartment that she couldn't afford.  She was on Section 8 for her housing.  This place didn't take Section 8.  That was when I was sick with an as yet bad gall bladder and I told the agency I couldn't do it any more.

She believed she was the Kmart heiress and was waiting for her money, which was never going to arrive.  Her sister told me that was one of her delusions.

[qofcc]

I'm not sure that method is the right fit for your situation. Do you have a lot of stuff you think your friends or relatives are going to want and want to involve them in the process or is this more about pet proofing your house and reversing a hoarding situation? Is your stuff valuable or mostly clutter? If you don't have the patience to read the other threads do you have the patience to touch every single thing in your house at least once and move it all around and make decisions or is this something where bringing in an organizer to sort and clean then have you make smaller batches of decisions would work better? The dogs destroying things makes it sound like it would be difficult to even find the space to spread everything out. Do you have a garage or other area you could have someone haul it all out one room at a time, thoroughly clean/paint that room then only bring back in what you need/love? Memento stuff is hard to sort so I would save that for last. Maybe starting with smaller rooms like the bathroom or mudroom or pantry would help you get motivated?

[bookkeeper]

My brother in law did this for his inlaws.  He showed up once a month to remove everything from one room in the house.  Once empty he painted the color of their choice and removed everything they didn't want anymore.  Did the whole house one room at a time that way.  What an awesome gift.  

[haapai]

I have discovered that most of what I own is trash.  I have also discovered that the Goodwill has moved to a location one block away from my workplace and that it is possible to get there from here by making only right turns. 

It's rather pitiful how much of the stuff that I am throwing out could have been donated years ago but is trash now.  Now that I know that, I will abandon any ideas of ever having a garage sale and just donate stuff. 

[TheOtherMe]

Sadly this is true for most of us. 

My mom was sure she owned valuable antiques.   She didn't.  There wasn't enough to sell to hold an auction.  The furniture was mostly taken by family members.  Everything else was trashed.

[raeoflyte]

Feb 24, 2022 6:05:42 GMT -5 haapai said:

I have discovered that most of what I own is trash.  I have also discovered that the Goodwill has moved to a location one block away from my workplace and that it is possible to get there from here by making only right turns. 

It's rather pitiful how much of the stuff that I am throwing out could have been donated years ago but is trash now.  Now that I know that, I will abandon any ideas of ever having a garage sale and just donate stuff. 

This is something I'm always trying to remember for myself. Just this week I was thinking I'd try my hand at refinishing a dresser to resell, and try to get the consignment store to take a desk. But there are so many other to-do projects that take priority that they could sit for weeks, months or years and still not get done. I decided to call the movers and have them take the dresser and desk to goodwill.

I'll spend money instead of possibly making any, but it'll be done and out of the house.

Seems like a theme I have to go through repeatedly.

[haapai]

Feb 24, 2022 8:17:25 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

<abbr title="Feb 24, 2022 5:17:25 GMT -8" class="o-timestamp time" data-timestamp="1645708645000">Feb 24, 2022 5:17:25 GMT -8</abbr> raeoflyte said:



This is something I'm always trying to remember for myself. Just this week I was thinking I'd try my hand at refinishing a dresser to resell, and try to get the consignment store to take a desk. But there are so many other to-do projects that take priority that they could sit for weeks, months or years and still not get done. I decided to call the movers and have them take the dresser and desk to goodwill.

I'll spend money instead of possibly making any, but it'll be done and out of the house.

Seems like a theme I have to go through repeatedly.

Pat yourself on the back instead of beating yourself up.  At least you had the sense to reclaim your space and your time.  I haven't been using that type of sense for years. 

My pride is preventing me from describing the conditions of my home, basement and garage in much detail.  About the only thing that I can say in my defense is that I was losing the battle slowly until I helped my parents move out of the house that they had occupied for almost 40 years.  They'd been de-cluttering for at least two years and had gotten rid of a tremendous amount of stuff but they ran into time pressure after it sold.  (They lived thirty miles from the closest Goodwill and the town was only open two days a week.)  So I filled my car with stuff that they did not have the time or the energy to dispose of properly.  It's all in the garage now and it is in piles instead of boxes.  It blocks access to the storage loft and the empty shelves on the edge of the garage.  There aren't even paths through it. 

[Lizard Queen]

For you and me both:

How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.

[raeoflyte]

Feb 24, 2022 10:14:21 GMT -5 haapai said:

Feb 24, 2022 8:17:25 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

<abbr title="Feb 24, 2022 5:17:25 GMT -8" class="o-timestamp time" data-timestamp="1645708645000">Feb 24, 2022 5:17:25 GMT -8</abbr> raeoflyte said:



This is something I'm always trying to remember for myself. Just this week I was thinking I'd try my hand at refinishing a dresser to resell, and try to get the consignment store to take a desk. But there are so many other to-do projects that take priority that they could sit for weeks, months or years and still not get done. I decided to call the movers and have them take the dresser and desk to goodwill.

I'll spend money instead of possibly making any, but it'll be done and out of the house.

Seems like a theme I have to go through repeatedly.

Pat yourself on the back instead of beating yourself up.  At least you had the sense to reclaim your space and your time.  I haven't been using that type of sense for years. 

My pride is preventing me from describing the conditions of my home, basement and garage in much detail.  About the only thing that I can say in my defense is that I was losing the battle slowly until I helped my parents move out of the house that they had occupied for almost 40 years.  They'd been de-cluttering for at least two years and had gotten rid of a tremendous amount of stuff but they ran into time pressure after it sold.  (They lived thirty miles from the closest Goodwill and the town was only open two days a week.)  So I filled my car with stuff that they did not have the time or the energy to dispose of properly.  It's all in the garage now and it is in piles instead of boxes.  It blocks access to the storage loft and the empty shelves on the edge of the garage.  There aren't even paths through it. 

You shouldn't beat yourself up either. It happens to a lot of people and clutter is morally neutral. It's just stuff and you'll deal with it. It doesn't define you or mean you are or did anything wrong.

Work out a plan or just try a few different techniques of going through stuff and you'll get through it. Try to remember the stuff you get done and not just the stuff left to do.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I still got boxes of crap that belonged to my grandmother in my basement.  We just never got around to dealing with it.   I talked to my mom about it in light of the massive project my dad has handling both my GU and grandmother's houses.   

Now would be the time for us to go in on a dumpster and start cleaning out our own houses.  Not only to deal with inherited crap but we've accumulated a massive amount of kid crap and stuff down there that needs to go.

One of the things both of us struggle with is all my great aunt's oil paintings.  We don't want to just toss them but neither of us live in a house were we can properly display them all and it would cost a fortune to get them properly set up for long term storage.

I have my two favorites in the bedroom.  I might hang a couple in the girls' room if they are interested after we get done redoing it.  My mom said she can take a few back her walls are pretty bare.

That's partly why I limit how much Gwen paints.  I have the ones I really like on the wall, the rest either get repurposed or I stick them on the curb.  A guy came by and took two boxes worth of used canvas.  I love I live where I can just put stuff on the street and it disappears.

Then we have all her freaking tea sets.  My mom wants the one that was a wedding present, the rest I am considering taking to the antique shop if my mom doesn't want them.  I've also considered repurposing them as bird feeders I see pinterests of bird feeders made with tea cups and saucers.  I thought that would be a cute way to honor my grandma while getting shit out of the basement.   Cute bird feeders would be MUCH easier to give away than tea sets.

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I highly recommend the dumpster. They aren't super expensive here like $200-250. They have ones that fit in our parking spot. The guy drops off and we load up and he takes it away. We've done some remodeling and it is nice to get stuff out of the house in one swoop. We don't own a truck and it's difficult to coordinate to get the when it's open. Convenience wins.

I think I'm going to end up cleaning out my collections from my grandma's house soon. It's a very long story but I think additional people are moving in soon. I'm not sure about what to do with them. I don't really want them and have no room for all of them. I struggle with the idea of just dumping them at Goodwill. The struggle is that my grandma bought all these things and they were never high income. Sure they were cute when I was 10-11. If I could go back in time I wouldn't get as many.

I doubt there's much of a market for these things.