At the beginning of 2015 I decided that my goal was to de-clutter the house. I jumped in with both feet, and completed a large project in January, February, and March. Then spring came, I turned to outside tasks, lost momentum, and the decluttering project came to a halt.
With the start of another year I rededicated myself to the job, starting with the most ambitions and challenging project of all...the basement storage room.
The area is a real mess. Over the two decades we've lived in the house it has become a catchall for all the things we didn't need or want upstairs. There are sturdy wood shelves attached to the wall on two sides of the room, and three free-standing metal shelving units on a third wall. All are overflowing. The empty wall s have items stacked against them. In the center of the room there's a large table that many years ago held Son Brian's model train set. Now it's stacked with boxes of paper, photos, and miscellaneous stuff. An old chair and extra coffee table are pushed next to the furnace (and of course they have items piled on top of them).
Even with my good intentions it's taken me a while to get started on this project. Two weeks ago I got produce boxes from the grocery store to hold all the things I was going to get rid of. I put the boxes in the office, where I looked at them every time I walked outside to take something to the compost pile. On Wednesday I finally got motivated, and filled five boxes with home decoration nick-knacks that I thought I might reuse some day, old Boy Scout camping items, and several small appliances. That night Hubby Tony and I dropped the boxes off at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. Since then, I've tried to work in the room for an hour or so each day, and today I was able to drop off another seven boxes.
The recycling bin is brimming with discarded paper and cardboard, and the trash can is filled with items that weren't good enough to donate. Trash day is on Tuesday, and then I'll be able to start filling them again. Because I've only made a small dent in the room. There's a lot more to do!
You've done a great job! It will feel so good when you get it finished.
ReplyDeleteYes, it will :-)
DeleteIt will be very nice to have the room empty, ready to refill.
ReplyDeleteI hope that once the room is clean we'll think twice about throwing surplus items in it.
DeleteSo glad to know you are getting this task accomplished. It sounds out of control so you are to be congratulated on tackling it. I guess living in the small space that we do helps keep us under control.
ReplyDeleteThe room was messy, but nowhere NEAR hoarder level. You're right; because we had the surplus space there was no real incentive to purge as we went along.
DeleteKeep us posted Kathy. Any advice on what to to about old books. The problem is more on deciding which ones to part with even children books. Not to mention old disney vhs videos.
ReplyDeleteChildren's books can be given to schools. They would be very pleased to have them.
DeleteI like dkzody's suggestion, but I agree it's hard to get rid of something that has good memories.
DeleteSounds good. As a miltary family we were doing pretty good with the moves. But now retired and living in the same place going on 12 years there are things that have accumulated. I try the purge but my husband is the one who doesn’t throw stuff away. It feels good to declutter doesn’t it.
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're saying about the husband!
Deletesame problem with the husband here
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