Decluttering Continues: Maybe I am More of a Hoarder Than I Thought

I haven't stopped decluttering since last November when I did my concentrated thirty-one day declutter.  I still look around and see stuff everywhere.  It is not in boxes and does not cover floors (except and area about 5 feet by 12 feet in the basement, that has boxes of supplies from my former career) but it is tucked in everywhere.  The dressers, bookshelves, cabinets, and closets have too much stuff in them. Most flat surfaces have stuff on them that shouldn't be there. 

I have continued to add things to a give-a-way pile/bags and weed out stuff as I come across it in daily life and also through a focused effort on a particular area.  One bag turns into two, turns into four and then to six and so the donation pile grows.  Thinking back, I have taken 3-4 large yard sized black trash bags full of stuff and then some additional items that were not bagable, at least once a month for the last year.  Still I see too much stuff in many areas of my house.  Maybe I'm more of a hoarder than I thought.

I wouldn't be labeled a hoarder clinically as every room functions as it should, we have no problems navigating any part of the house (okay, my craft room is a little iffy), and we have guests over frequently.  Still, I can definitely say that we still have too much stuff and many items are not used or needed and some things I have too much of (eye shadow comes to mind).  I can do better.

This is the pile that we took to the donation center this past Saturday.  Six brown grocery sacks full and a box with breakable items.  There were some books, clothes, knickknacks, jewelry, stuffed toys, and miscellaneous most from the master bedroom except for a boogie board and inflatable from the swimming bag.

 I still have a rolling drawer unit with beading supplies and misc. to go through in the M.B.  After that, the remainder belongs to my D.H. and I'm not touching it.  It is best to let each person make decisions about their own stuff.   

I would think after taking all of this stuff out of the M.B., there would be nothing left in view.  There is.  Don't get me wrong; it looks so much better.  I still have a few stuffed toys that belonged to my children when they were little that I am not ready to let go of but I did get rid of at least a half dozen.  Isn't it funny, but I couldn't make a list for you if I wanted to.  Out of sight, out of mind.  I have a lot of costume jewelry to go through and I have kept several framed pictures of original art (I knew the artist) that were hung in my children's' rooms when they were small.  I have quite a few pillows, some decorative, some bed pillows that I need to do something with.  I have a lot as I keep trying to find the perfect one or combination.

Once I have decluttered the basement, the toys and pictures may go down there if I decide to hang onto them at that time.  Until then, I really am enjoying the openness and relaxed feeling of spaciousness in the M.B.  I am also limiting myself to just my Bible and two other books in the rack by my bed rather than the enormous stack of reading material that I had there.  Some of it was donated but most was put back in the areas they belong.  Interesting how things migrate throughout a house.  

I would encourage you to also add a few things each day to your donation pile.  It didn't arrive in your house all in one day so it is reasonable that it depart a little at a time also.  Everyday do something, no matter how small, to move toward your goal.  The time will pass no matter what so it is best we keeping inching toward our best life.

A Bit Closer to Minimalism; A Long Way to Go

This post should have been published in November 2018, but I just noticed that I had never hit publish and it was still in draft form.

It is interesting how something can become a habit, good or bad.  If you start sitting down with a bag of chips every time you watch television, soon you will feel like you need a snack every time the tube comes on.  If you start eating an apple every morning for breakfast, soon you don't feel right unless you have your apple.  Well, I find the same is true for decluttering.  For the past six weeks, minus time for illness, the thought would pass through my mind, "Have I purged five items today?". Now I find that thought still passing through my mind even though my month of decluttering five items per day is officially over.

I am seeing a bit more open space here and there and that space is very motivating.  Therefore, even though I'm not being rigid about it, I find myself still adding a few items to the donation area before I go to bed.  If I haven't reached my five item goal, I quickly zoom around the house and grab a few things.  My mindset has changed and letting go of things is much easier.  Being able to quickly decide about something is a very freeing feeling; exhilarating really.

Saturday will be donation day and so far I have three large black trash bags full, a lamp, and a brown grocery sack full.  I also have a box of teaching posters to donate along with two boxes of teaching supplies to donate.  I recycled three brown bags of teaching curriculum and lesson plan files.  I still have a lot of teaching related stuff to go through but that's a start.

My daughter even went through a bunch of stuff in her closet and came up with quite a few things to donate.  I always go through her donation bags and usually pick out a thing or two to set aside.  I know she gets caught up in the moment and sometimes goes overboard.  Several times she has seen something I 'saved' and asks, "Why do you have my ______?".  When I say she had it in the give-a-way bag, she'll reply, " Why would I get rid of that?"  Then she reclaims the item.

Of course dealing with the stuff in the house every day means that I know where progress has been made.  Sometimes other family members will notice something is different but basically they don't notice specifics.  Our house is not a hoarder situation but rather just areas of clutter in each room, such as the desk and surrounding area, the area next to my reading chair in the living room, the top of the pool table (mostly scrapbook stuff I categorized but haven't moved yet), the reading area downstairs, some shelves in the laundry room, and basically every flat surface except the breakfast table and dining table and kitchen island. They are contributors and thus are clutter-blind.

I have found that taking pictures of these areas/rooms really allows me to see what I need to tackle.  There is something about taking a picture of someone or event and noticing the background as much as the subject.  I would suggest you try the photo technique off and on as you work through your stuff toward your goal of a more minimalism home.  It really helps me to focus on one area.

Here is  pic from the last week of decluttering:  

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping.  Among other things, I purchased 2 boxes of pasta and a box of spaghetti.  Since I had made spaghetti in the Instant Pot and minestrone in the Instant Pot in the last two weeks, I figured I needed to replace what I had used.

Today, I was putting the dry goods away.  For whatever reason, I find grocery shopping very draining so I usually put the cold things away and leave the rest for later.  While putting the pasta I had just purchased away in the pantry, I noticed a basket in there and could not really remember what was in it.  I took it down and found a few packages of pasta!  So I decided to go through the pantry and round up all the pasta products.

Surprise!  I had more pasta then I knew I had.  It only took about 10 minutes but at least now I know exactly what I have.  To be exact, I have:

• 5 boxes of lasagna noodles
• 6 boxes of thin spaghetti
• 1 pkg of whole grain spaghetti
• 1 box of supergrain elbows
• 1 pkg brown rice pasta
• 1 pkg Lomein
• 1 box rotini
• 1 box rigatoni
• 1 box medium shells
• 1 large pkg of rice noodles

Oh the reality of discovery.  Guess I won't need pasta for a while.  I would challenge any readers to pick a category and dive into your pantry or cupboard and gather all of that one category together.  You might be surprised at what you will find, and you just may be inspired to create something delicious.

A Place and a Space

I have been continuing on the journey toward minimalism and moving stuff out of the house.  I've gotten rid of at least 6 more black yard waste bags full of stuff.  I've given away another 10 books to a friend.  I've used some of my craft supplies to make kits for a class I'm teaching.  I've taken another large black bag of clothes to a high school clothes closet.  My son decluttered them from his closet here.  I have a new brown grocery sack started with some sidewalk chalk and bubble blowing supplies I removed from a coat closet.

Those brown grocery sacks are key to ongoing decluttering.  I keep one in an inconspicuous place in the living room.  I add to it as I come across things.  When it gets full I add another and when I have three full ones, I put them in one of the large black bags.  Having somewhere to put things as I come across them makes decluttering part of every day life.  Every member of the family knows the its location and its use.

I have slowed a bit this month and have been feeling quite lazy.  The main entertaining rooms are almost complete not counting shelves, drawers, and walls.  Almost all of the stuff in boxes, bags, etc. on the floor has been gone through and decluttered.  Those things staying have been put away.  This means that with a quick sweep/vacuum, I am ready for company.  That is a great feeling but I'm not done yet.

My goal is to have every room cleared.  Every surface decluttered: floors, walls, shelves, drawers, and closets.  The visual space is calming to my mind and it seems to satisfy something deep in my soul.  Space is good.

At this moment, I have gathered the extra supplies I had out on the dining room table and am getting ready to put them away in the craft room in their designated places.  When I walked in that room this morning, there was a moment of feeling overwhelmed.  That is how clutter always makes me feel.overwhelmed.  I realized it would just take five minutes or so to get the things organized and ready to go downstairs.  Five minutes later, they are.

Having a place to put your things makes a difference.  When I have things I don't need or more than I need, it is overwhelming as I have no where to put the stuff.  I notice it is the same for laundry.  After the big closet clean-out a couple years ago, ongoing purging has meant made putting away my laundry a five minute job.  Things have a place and space to go.

Keeping up what I have done so far is very doable.  However, I notice when I buy anything new, if I am not replacing a used up item, it takes a minute to figure out where the new item is going to go.  This is a part of my thought process whenever I buy new things now.

Recently, I purchased a countertop water filter.  We drink a lot of water and having purified water is important to me. However, I did not know where I was going to put it before it arrived.  First, I couldn't picture the exact size of the item and second, I wasn't sure how far the spout was from the bottom of the container.  I didn't know if I would need to purchase and additional stand.

The packaged arrived and it sat for several hours as I delayed unpacking it while I figured out where I would put it.  I determined that if it would fit under the upper cabinets, it could go one place, if not but it was not too wide, it could go in another.  If neither would work, it would have to stay on the island until I could purchase a floor stand.

Well it has found its home and we have been using it for two weeks.  I had to move an item somewhere else before I could place it.  Since I had been decluttering that pantry, there was room for the other item in there and all worked out.  I may still decide on a floor stand but for now, its place works.

I do find myself asking, "Where will I put this when I get it home?" whenever I am shopping.  I like that I am more mindful of my space and a thing's place before it comes into my home.  Still a ways to go but the progress I have made is noticeable and  appreciated each day.