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 Post subject: Decluttering
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:54 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:28 pm
Posts: 46
Location: The O.C. -- 7 miles from D'land, 7 miles from the beach
As a professional declutterer (in other words, people pay me to help them), I have seen it all. And what I've seen is that people hang on to the most amazing things thinking they're going to need it "some day".

That day is here, my friends. If you have clutter in your home, get out your kitchen timer for a fun new game! Pick out one section to declutter: make it small, like a desk drawer, one shelf of your pantry, just the shirts in your closet, etc. Set the timer for 15 minutes and start decluttering. Take everything out and only put back in the things you truly need. When the timer goes off, you are DONE. Even if the area isn't clean, put it all back, close the door/drawer and walk away.

The point of doing this is to A: Show you that you're lingering too much over your tasks. B: To encourage you to MOVE IT! C: To keep your decluttering time to a minimum so that you can enjoy your friends, family, job, or whatever you have to do that is important. When you get good at the 15-minute challenge you'll be able to take out all your towels from the linen closet, refold them neatly, and put them back (ideally with some scented shelf paper). Your junk drawer will become more orderly. All the brushes in your bathroom drawer will be "de-haired", as will the bottom of the drawer :roll:

Whenever you start decluttering, create a "memory" pile or box for all those letters, pictures, tokens, etc. that you tend to re-visit and coo over. Save that box for later on when you're not busy decluttering. Do not get side-tracked, or the timer will ring and you will have lost.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that objects are memories. A client of mine was hanging onto the make-up bag his wife used, even though she has passed on, he doesn't use make-up, and no one else wants it. He remembered that she used to tote it around everywhere with all her toiletries in it. I worked for them for a year before she died and never saw her use it once, so he was clinging to the past. I told him to remember the way she looked when she'd used the items in the bag, and let the bag go, which he did (and he was fine with it). True memories can be saved neatly in scrapbooks and bins so that they're available. If you "come across" something special on the floor of your closet (or wherever), it wasn't special enough to store well, so pitch it.

You really only need one of anything. If you have two bundt pans, two mixers, etc., start paring down. If one was your mom's, and you love it (like I love my 70's beige Crockpot with the mushrooms all over it), then relinquish your newer one so that you only have one. I do like having Crockpots in two different sizes, though.

Are you getting motivated? If you'd like more tips and hints, let me know and I'll post. At some point I'll have to figure out how to post pictures of the befores/afters that I have. Some are truly frightening! Of course, the afters are all amazing :D

_________________
I am a retired homeschooler with brilliant beautiful Godly boys who please and surprise me every day. I live with my sweet hubby of 22 years. Life changes all the time, but God has blessed us with the ability to keep our eyes on His prize.


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:00 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:58 pm
Posts: 1095
Pam, any tips you have to share will be welcome. I must disagree with one thing - I have to have more than one measuring cup!!! I have 2 1-cups (one is great for scooping, the other for pouring), 1 2 cup, 1 4 cup, 1 8 cup. I use them all and would be hard pressed to part with it. That said, I think the idea of one is great, and helps clear out the cupboards! I love reading your posts with how you have helped others get that items are not memories.

It is also good to have you back with us.


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:51 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:28 pm
Posts: 46
Location: The O.C. -- 7 miles from D'land, 7 miles from the beach
Pam, I think most of us have a multiple of kitchen gadgets. I've got three sets of measuring cups, two sets of spoons, and two vegetable peelers, among other things. The point is that I have a place to put them. Most of my clients experience what we call "clutter" when their belongings are spilling out of their assigned spots and too much time is being spent moving things around to get to others. That's when we look at what they've got and say, "Do you really need three apple peeler/corer/slicers?" The answer is NO. Free up some space and store some more measuring cups, LOL!

One client had 12 trays. Really? How often do you use trays? She used them once a year when she had a tea, so the logical place for them was the attic as opposed to the most convenient spot in her pantry.

Another client has something like 25 bath towels for two bathrooms and three people. That's a place to pare down. Sheets that don't fit any beds in the house, two juicers (when no one is juicing), etc. Seen it all!

_________________
I am a retired homeschooler with brilliant beautiful Godly boys who please and surprise me every day. I live with my sweet hubby of 22 years. Life changes all the time, but God has blessed us with the ability to keep our eyes on His prize.


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:10 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm
Posts: 8115
Any great suggestions for dealing with MOUNTAINS of paper from multiple generations- family letters, newspaper articles, photographs, diplomas, recipes, etc?

I have probably 50 bankers boxes of this description to go thru.

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:20 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:28 pm
Posts: 46
Location: The O.C. -- 7 miles from D'land, 7 miles from the beach
Anna, my advice is to tell the story of your family through its documents. Some things will be more relevant than others, and that's where the editing takes place.

It would make sense to get a 3-ring binder (or several!), plastic page protectors, and a big glass of iced tea. Make room in a corner of your house and start putting things in chronological order. Do you need to keep everything? No. Don't beat yourself up for throwing things out! However, you have a real treasure trove there, and it would be a shame to throw things out without looking at them first.

Allot yourself a certain amount of time per day, say half an hour. If you start putting things in page protectors and sticking them in binders, you'll save yourself steps. Put a range of years on each binder (like "50's, 60's, etc.") and start adding your paper.

OR... you could make each binder one person's story with their newspaper clippings, diploma, favorite recipes, photos, etc.

Truthfully, I'm not a collector. I barely have photos, and what I have are in bins instead of scrapbooks. You'll have to decide if these boxes of paper are worth keeping and going through.

I'm curious: how did you get to be the keeper of the family history?

_________________
I am a retired homeschooler with brilliant beautiful Godly boys who please and surprise me every day. I live with my sweet hubby of 22 years. Life changes all the time, but God has blessed us with the ability to keep our eyes on His prize.


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:29 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm
Posts: 8115
Thanks for some GREAT ideas, Carol!

I lived closest to Mom. Mom was an only child who inherited all her parents' stuff. And, Mom herself was a hoarder (tho, thank goodness, not to the extent that I've heard about that are featured on the TV we don't have). My sisters came at a great distance and great expense to clean out the *stuff* - which they did a great, diligent job of. We gave away a LOT of stuff - and threw away two *construction* dumpsters full! The paper, they might have thrown out by the box without looking if I hadn't been interested. So, it fell to me.

So, I'm the most interested & the closest to the scene of the crime.

The difficult thing is that I can't throw away something when I don't know what it is. We have crates of old slides alone - I have to view them to even know if I can throw them away. And, that takes a lot of time! Mom kept them, but never even viewed them herself. So, something entitled "Family - 1971" well, you have to look at it - you can't just toss it!

I wish I could put all the slides on DVD, but prices I've found for that range from 19 to 40 cents per slide - WAY out of our budget!

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:28 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:58 pm
Posts: 5828
I inherited my mom's photos somehow.. as the only child that would bother??? care??
anyway, she lived with me for 2 years and most of her stuff stayed here after she left.
The photos are some of the few remaining things that I care to deal with. (I've thrown out a lot of thing she never realized and I just never told her about.. she hasn't missed any of it.)

Anyway as for the photos. I'm gathering addresses!! Next weekend I'm going to sit down with an envelope for each person on my list. Then I'm going to go through the photos and place each one in the envelope for the person that will want it most. Then I'm going to put stamps on the envelopes and mail them off. NO more photo issues for me!


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:22 am 
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Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:58 pm
Posts: 1095
Tory, I am doing the same thing. I was going to scrapbook photos for each of my dc. Now, I am giving their pictures to them to decide what to do with them. I have other pictures separated to give to other family members/friends. This summer they all go to other homes and I can put the few I've kept into a collage frame or two and have them all taken care of. It is great to accomplish something off the "to do" list isn't it. Less to worry about, less to store, less to cleam around or move. Life really does get better when there is less stuff to work around.


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 3:26 am 
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Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:28 pm
Posts: 46
Location: The O.C. -- 7 miles from D'land, 7 miles from the beach
I'm hoping my boys marry girls who like to scrapbook, LOL! I think giving the kids their photos is a great idea.

Anna, there is some sort of device you can get for your computer that will scan your slides into a file. A friend of mine had one, but I don't know how much it cost. Here's some info: http://robroy.dyndns.info/slidescanner/

You know, if you were feeling really into it, you could scan each piece of paper into the computer and make a digital file for each person in your family :o) Then donate all the paper to your local historical society and let THEM deal with it!

_________________
I am a retired homeschooler with brilliant beautiful Godly boys who please and surprise me every day. I live with my sweet hubby of 22 years. Life changes all the time, but God has blessed us with the ability to keep our eyes on His prize.


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 Post subject: Re: Decluttering
PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:27 am 
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Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm
Posts: 8115
What my grandmother did which was a real blessing to us was this: she made us each one photo album of old family pics with the *names* written right on the picture with a special white photograph pen. So, I know that that toddler in a pic was grandpa at age 3, or I know that another pic is grandma and her sister as preschoolers. If you're archiving, be sure to do that for your kids!

That means I still have piles of loose photos, but I know who I'm looking at in about 80% of them : )

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/


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