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Post by wynken on Sept 7, 2011 0:51:16 GMT -5
Last Nov .. somewhere else ... I followed a link to Ophra's website and a section on Peter Walshes methods inc lots of photos/stories of the clean out for several different families. It got me stared to haul everything (except bed and dresser) out of my bedroom and start over. The room got its first wall to wall vacuum in decades. OK. Some of the debris is still elsewhere waiting for me. And the walkin robe is not touched except for the floor. I did a somewhat similar thing in the LR. Now. I really need to. vacuum again and get rid of the outed stuff not wanted cluttering the carport. and look at the stash in south bedroom. ....................... that really wants to be a sewing room. a functional room
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Post by ClutterBlind on Oct 8, 2011 13:55:51 GMT -5
Thanks again for this thread. I've been focusing too much on the STUFF and not on what I want my rooms to be used for. I needed a reminder. I look at pictures of other people's places and they are so soothing and calming. There is space & serenity and empty table tops, free of clutter. I want that. I want to be able to breathe and relax.
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Post by TML on Oct 9, 2011 9:43:12 GMT -5
I have been using this approach which was also recommended in a class on organization I am taking to redo my house.
The first room I have finished is the kitchen. I was always so worried about stuffing all the kitchen stuff I own into the kitchen that it was not functional. I stood back and worked to figure out what I needed for my kitchen to work for me. Then I put up a card table in the dining room and went through the kitchen drawer by drawer and cabinet by cabinet.
I have some fine tuning to do but my kitchen works. I had tons of extra stuff that I did not need or really want. My mother (who lives with me) does not want the extra to go anywhere so we are boxing it up. However, she has gotten used to a usable, clean, pretty, kitchen and has found she prefers eating well to chaos and trash.
We are slowly doing this to the rest of the house too. The living room is really starting to look nice and Mom actually had some good ideas about how to make it function better.
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Post by TML on Oct 9, 2011 9:53:21 GMT -5
Why this has really been helping me is that when I focus on the stuff. When I pick up an item to decide what to do with it (looking at stuff rather than the big picture), each item screams keep me really loudly. Each item says I am good, you might need me, you bought me so I am yours, etc, on and on. So then I put it back down and move to the next item which also says the same things. So nothing gets done. Like I said in the first post - I was shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic and wondering why the ship was still going down (i.e. just moving junk from place to place focused on finding space for it all even when it was way to much for the space I had).
When I look at my vision and how I want to live and I focus on what I am going to use the room for and how it needs to function - I have an anchor. I see the vision and imagine how it would feel to live in the space the way I want it to be. Then I can go around the room and look at the stuff. In this case the question becomes are you part of that vision - do you have a place in my functional ideal room. The answer most of the time is a huge "NO". Then I think do you have a place in any of the rooms and the answer is usually still a big "NO".
So in that case I have been tossing items in the good will pile because it may be a part of someone elses vision or if it is too far gone I let it go with dignity and thanks. In some cases Mom still wants to keep some of it even though it fits no where and in those cases we are boxing it up.
Slowly but surely we are recovering the house and our lives.
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Post by mouseanne on Oct 9, 2011 15:25:46 GMT -5
Thanks for reviving this thread. my stuff screams at me, too, transformingmylife. I did some visualization on coming home yesterday morning. Pull up in the car, see the tidy yard & porch, the clean front door, do a house walk thru...visualizing each room. It was moderately successful...cept I kept "doing the cleanup" in the visualization. Had to keep saying, no, self, see the "nest".
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Post by crazycatlady on Oct 9, 2011 17:54:14 GMT -5
This thread helped me today. I planned to clear out half of a bathroom closet shelf for my adult daughter (who is living with us.) I opened the closet door planning to start pulling things out one at a time.
Instead I took it all out, and what a dirty shelf! It needed a good scrub. I only put items back that I wanted to be there, threw away a lot, and moved some items.
Thanks for this thread, and thanks to chat!
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Post by 60isolderthanithot on Oct 20, 2011 11:11:39 GMT -5
If I take that notion to closets, does it mean I should look at what I wear in an average week and just flat get rid of every other thing? It's like sunset laws - there's a limit built in and you have to work to extend it? For, say, clothing, that would mean you have to justify any item you add to that closet or dresser.
How would that work? Would it work?
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