What I'm Reading This Week #27
Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've got the day off to enjoy. I would really appreciate the weather dialing it back from Satan's taint to dryish heat please. I'm not even asking for much. Like 83 degrees would make me happy at this point but there's no end in sight to the 90's. The Mr and I have both been plagued with migraines this week. He had a two day event and I had an ocular migraine which is just so crappy to deal with since you can't read or do anything until your vision isn't screwed up. I got to wait on hold for an hour Tuesday with the state tax department so I decided to sand and prime the newel post while listening to hold music designed to make you hang up. To quote Bugs Bunny "he don't know me vewy well, do he?" I got that squared away and later went out between pop up storms to deadhead some zinnias which you may have seen in Wednesday's post. Speaking of Wednesday, it was a busy day in the ga...
I am looking for ideas myself. I started doing things over the past week. Now I am down to my last day of vacation and things are still upside down!
ReplyDeleteIt's just like those "little bits of fitness." 10 or 15 minutes a couple of times a day really add up and can go a long way.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to do the same thing today!!
While you're losing it may not be very helpful, but I always hang all my clothes one way at the beginning of the year, and when I wear it and wash it, I hang it back up the opposite way. After 3 months, anything that is still the original direction - gets tossed.
ReplyDeleteI also suffer from TMSS (too much stuff syndrome). I'm looking forward to the tips you get.
ReplyDeleteKerry - that's a fantastic idea. I'm going to do that today before I go back to work tomorrow. I'll have to figure out something similar for my folding clothes.
Not sure how helpful this is, but when I put stuff away (childhood, early marriage, etc) I usually forget what's stuffed away and therefore don't recall if there is something I never intended to keep forever. So this last time I made myself a master list of what was where and what was in it, so that I can keep track of things (like old winter items) that should be reviewed periodically. At least this way I am no longer pulling things out of closets and wondering what it is! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, my sister! I inherited my pack rat ways and am always decluttering something in my house, be it office stuff, closets, dressers, etc. I'm planning a post on Serentipity soon on my favorite decluttering blogs and resources. I hope it will help get me refocused as well as provide help to readers!
ReplyDeletehee-hee! The very next post up in my reader was from one of my fave blogs, Unclutterer.com . Here's a link: http://unclutterer.com/2012/01/02/get-organized-in-january/
ReplyDeleteI have a New Year's clean-out every year! Absolutely necessary!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you--I want to go through and get rid of a TON of stuff that we do not need. It's a necessity in our house!
ReplyDeleteWell, I could suggest a bunch of design magazines/sites that show some lovely built-ins and custom carpentry solutions to clutter.
ReplyDeleteBUT -- here's my #1 solution, which I employed freely during 2011, and worked through the emotional vomit that went with it: throw stuff out. Get rid of it. Let it go.
All the stuff I never wanted that my mom gave me and I felt to guilty to pitch? At one point, I photographed it, and took batches of it to the Thrift Store. Then I just started pitching stuff in the dumpster.
I've gotten rid of a TON of stuff, and it's pretty freeing.
I encourage you to give it a try and make room in your life for new things (or space!!).
Good luck!
Decluttering is a constant challenge in my life. I'm always cleaning out one drawer or closet, and seem to end up simply transferring that stuff to another closet or drawer that then needs cleaning out! It has always been my goal in life to "GET ORGANIZED." I have so many clothes over-filling all my closets that are too big--I gave away the REALLY BIG clothes (from 180 pounds ago), but am reluctant to throw away the ones I bought but then grew out of as I got closer to my goal weight. What if I regain a few? Plus, I hardly wore some of that stuff--it's like NEW!
ReplyDeleteGood luck in your quest to de-clutter. Really enjoyed some of the ideas here, might give some of them a try.
Don't have any great ideas but we did a major sort, dump and haul to Goodwill this past week. Felt good!
ReplyDelete"Simplify" is my word for 2012, I have been tossing stuff left and right and it's SO liberating!
ReplyDeleteTake it one room at a time. Start with an easy space - a hall closet, an armoire, a dresser. For clothes, the genereal rule is toss if you haven't worn in six months -with the exception of seasonal clothes (dupster - if you worry that you will gain weight back, you will! Get rid of it! Get rid of those clothes! Don't be afraid!)
ReplyDeleteEvery Christmas there are the same decorations that I don't get out but save because I might use them next year. I never do and neither will you! Cat is so right - you've got to throw it out. If there are truly questions, put them in a bag, stow in the garage for 6 months and if you don't need it in that time junk it.
Once you start to clear stuff out, then you can actually ORGANIZE. Start putting things together in one place.
I was going to do a series of posts on organization on my blog as well for the new year because it is the perfect time to start fresh and set yourself up for success. I have done some home organization for family and was going to do it as a business but had a little baby instead. I'll start working on those posts if you want to check-in once awhile on my blog. It seems daunting but once you do one or two spots you'll start to get the hang of it.