Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Two Areas Down, Dozens To Go

Last month I began cleaning out the basement by removing mildewed items from a cabinet.  This month I moved to the next room over, where I've been slowly emptying a large catch-all closet. I've spent one day each week removing things, cleaning anything that could be salvaged, and getting rid of the things we don't need any more.

Last week it was all about the board games.  Most of them hadn't been played in years.  I wiped all the cardboard down with a damp rag dipped in bleach water, made sure all the pieces were there, and taped the broken boxes back together. I took a large bag of things to the St. Vincent de Paul store and emailed a friend who volunteers at a school in the city, asking if she'd like to come look at what I had.  She would.  The next day she came and left with a banana box full of games, as well as a produce bag of small toys and trinkets that would be good for student incentives.

Yesterday I returned to the job and pulled more things out of the closet.  When I was finished I'd removed two boxes of mixed toy parts, a box of old video games, a bucket of cars and trucks, a stack of large baskets, and several sets of luggage.  This time I brought everything up to the kitchen sink to clean them, then I laid the things out to dry.  When I was done one entire corner of the kitchen floor had toys drying on top of beach towels.  A hard-sided train case (part of a matched set of luggage I got for a wedding present) was hanging upside down on the widow seat. The other two pieces of the set were standing on their sides in the laundry room.

The video games were piled on the kitchen table so Son Donald could go through them. He didn't want any of them, but called a friend to come get a nice big stack, and sent a text to a work associate to see if he wanted some of the others. My friend got another email asking if she wanted more trinkets.  This morning I nestled the pieces of luggage together and put them in my car, along with a box of miscellaneous items.  When I was out today I dropped them off at the thrift store.  If I keep donating things at this rate, they'll probably start calling me by name!

The only things left in the 10-foot long closet are the folding chairs we pull out at the holidays, and the luggage we use when we travel.  The rest of the area is bare.  I'm determined not to fill the closet up again, although we'll see what happens next time I have something I don't know what to do with.

16 comments:

  1. It's got to feel great getting that done!

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  2. Good for you! I can just imagine how wonderful it feels. We got the house pretty clean since we're having guests this month.

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    1. And I'm sure you'll be letting us know all about your guests :-)

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  3. great work Kathy! I guess this fits in with your word this year! Wasn't it 'organize?'

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  4. What a job! My friend who is selling her house had to do this to every corner of a 4800 square foot home they have lived in for thirty years. We only went to breakfast once in the three months she spent on the job.

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    1. I watched several friends go through the process of cleaning out a house they'd been in for a very long time in preparation for selling. Made me want to do the job on my own terms.

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  5. Way to go!! Today I start the sorting work in my 'studio'. It's going to take a bit as I'm working on it in spare time plus I'm creating my studio as I go.

    If your basement is damp, a free standing dehumidifier is a wonderful investment. It's amazing how much moisture they pull out of the air!

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    1. My next task is the office/sewing room/craft area. I'm NOT looking forward to it!

      We have a dehumidifier that I use sporadically. Maybe it's time to get it out again.

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  6. Well done, that woman! I have been trying to do this. I am a horrible hoarder and can't bear to throw things out if there's a chance that they might be useful, or the missing pieces might turn up.. but it's getting ridiculous and some has GOT to go. I'm doing OK, but I keep getting distracted, or as I'm honest enough to admit, using diversion tactics to avoid finishing the task.

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    1. I'm a little bit of a hoarder, too, and it was hard for me to get rid of some of the stuff. When it came to games with missing pieces, I set the offenders aside until I'd been through everything. Pleased to say 95% of pieces turned up.

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  7. I did this when we down sized to move here. I need to do it again. We want to live in a motor home when we retire. I don't know how I will be able to part with all my fabric, though!

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    1. Yep, I'm going to have to deal with my fabric stash soon. It will be quite a task.

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  8. I love spring cleaning! It feels so good when you can see the results of all your hard work. I've really been thinking that I should go through and get rid of stuff I don't need. I probably won't do it until summer though, because I'll have more time then.

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    1. I hadn't thought about what I'm doing as spring cleaning. Hopefully by time the weather is springlike and I can open up the windows I'll be finished with the basement and be decluttering upstairs.

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