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Post by metamorpha on May 21, 2008 11:45:22 GMT -5
This is my problem ... I clean and I save, so even after I'm done cleaning I have a HUUUUGE pile of things that need to be "put in their place" but I don't have a place for them. We don't have any tables, no shelves, no bookcases except the ones wedged into storage in our garage. Honestly, I'm afraid when I go in to get them I'll be attacked by rabbid squirrels, or brown recluses or something else that's taken up residence.
What do I do with all this "stuff"? I bag it in trash bags and put them in various hiding places around the house ... in the closet, behind the couch, in the closets.
Maybe that's why I'm so hesitant to even try these days? Because even when it IS clean ... it's still messy.
Having a bad morning folks, but I do have some plans in the works.
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Post by angelinahedgehog on May 21, 2008 12:19:46 GMT -5
metamorpha, have you ever read Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out? If you haven't, you may want to. I can't quite tell from your message what's going on, but "Items have no home" springs to mind.
Also... "I clean and I save"... Are you saving everything you see? Is there anything that can be tossed out?
If some of the bookcases were brought in (by someone who checks for the presence of spiders and squirrels first), would there be room for them?
One of FlyLady's mantras is that you can't organize clutter. While this is true enough, I suppose, you *can* reach a point where you've decluttered but are still disorganized because your storage isn't working for you. And trash bags full of stuff in closets are pretty non-functional.
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Post by suchamess on May 21, 2008 16:47:43 GMT -5
My husband often says we should just light a match and start over  . I'm in the same boat. We have a small older house that does not have closets. Even when things ARE clean, I still have corners cluttered with things, or under the bed clutter. I'm doing better with throwing things away or if it's clothes or useful things, donate them to the local thrift store. |
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Post by metamorpha on May 21, 2008 23:38:28 GMT -5
I've heard other good things about that book. Finally put it on my swap list. I really Do Not want to buy anything new. Last time I splurged on cleaning books all but one were worthless to me, and the rest are sitting around in a clothes basket somewhere. We definitely need more furniture to adequately put things away, but I'm afraid that given more furniture, we'll just use it to create bigger messes. I guess we have to start somewhere though.  Thanks. |
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Post by Mystic Pegasus on May 22, 2008 4:10:10 GMT -5
We borrowed a copy from the library, so you may be able to do that too, if you want it faster.
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Post by angelinahedgehog on May 22, 2008 4:28:12 GMT -5
Well, one of the things that Julie Morgenstern goes over is how to identify technical errors (items have no home, more stuff than storage space), and separate them from external realities (limited space).
From your description, I'd say that the first two apply. I'm not sure about the third.
Anyway, she outlines a plan of action:
1. Analyze: figure out what the current status is, and what you want it to be (this is where you learned about technical errors, external realities, and psychological obstacles)
2. Strategize: make a plan, including reasonable time estimates, and
3. Attack: dive in - methodically - and get it done.
And the Attack phase is in five parts:
1. Sort: this is a fairly quick sort, just to get like things together, and to toss out the obvious trash
2. Purge: get rid of what you don't need. The analysis of the first phase should make this easier. And sometimes, you just don't know how much you have until it's all together.
3. Assign a home: *this* is where you start figuring out what furniture you'll need for this
4. Containerize: and this is where you'll buy the bookshelves
5. Equalize: which is her semi-synonym for "maintain". Keep things up, and every so often, do a quick check to see if the new system needs to be tweaked.
I think it's worth looking at the book to see if you can glean any ideas from it. At the very least... During the analysis phase, she makes the startling announcement that there is at least one system that is working for you, even when it feels that nothing is.
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hollymaid
New Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 99
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Post by hollymaid on May 22, 2008 13:02:15 GMT -5
Yes I do!!!
Instead, I am not buying anything new. I am cleaning and purging. I am making a list of things That I would like to have or things I would like to replace.
Right now there is no point in spending the money and bringing this stuff to join the mess.
Systems that work for me~
Bill book (Keeps every bill organized) Tossing out mail that I do not need right at the post office. Never bringing junk mail in to my car or home.
Taking all stuff out of the car before we leave it for the night. I keep some plastic trash bags in the car so we can do it right away. It only takes a minute to do and then its done. Letting it build up cause me to use a whole Saturday afternoon cleaning it out. This method really only works well in the summer. Winter time we do not want to spend that much time in a cold car.
Thats about all that is working for me.
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Post by WestsideStory on May 22, 2008 13:11:31 GMT -5
Hollymaid, what a great idea to keep car clutter from multiplying! I already keep some bags in the trunk or back seat to use and reuse for shopping. Now all I have to do is to train myself to do a quick sweep of the car. With condo living my parking space is down stairs and not near my unit or an easily reachable trash can, so I tend to let things accumulate.
WestsideStory
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Post by chronic on May 22, 2008 19:44:32 GMT -5
I can sympathize as we have the same problem here. In my last ruthless decluttering due to our move into this house I decided we'd have this ultra-minimalist look about the house, and our living room is really small, so I tossed out shelves and tables and now I regret it. I have been pretty hardcore about getting rid of things but there are still things that we need that don't seem to have a "place".
We've been working on our bedroom which was a nightmare. I'm now able to see floor in about 50% of the room and we've removed about 15 big bags of trash and another 10 of clothes, BUT I also have five laundry baskets with "stuff" in there that needs to be "put away"... but where is "away"?! I do laugh at the odd assortment in the baskets; a garden grubbing tool, dog food bowl, box of band-aids, screwdriver, a nutcracker, musical jewelry box, box of latex gloves, usb cables, a bundle of dried sage (for smudging), a box of ziploc bags, a full bottle of Dr. Pepper, mortgage statements, a wall thing to hang keys on, a waffle iron (!)... it's crazy. And kinda funny. All this was in my BEDROOM!? Why???
I hate to suggest spending money (because I don't know anyone's financial situation) but if you *can*, maybe some basic wall shelves with brackets? I have vowed that every piece of furniture I buy from here on out WILL have double-duty as storage... like coffee tables with hidden storage, ottomans with lids that come off, beds for the kids with drawers under, etc.
What we have done when limited in funds is pick up some of those rubbermaid storage things, the bigger ones, and sort items into them and stack them up. Yeah, it looks kind of ugly but it's not messy.
I also live in an old house (95 years old) with very few closets and my plan is to just eventually buy/build storage solutions as well as getting rid of everything that's not necessary. My biggest problem is with vague, undefined closets... like the hallway one, since it has no clear purpose in my mind, EVERYTHING gets tossed in there. What a mishmash of junk!
We have tons of kitchen storage, and nowhere near enough kitchen stuff to fill it but I don't like to put 'non kitchen' items in there, because, well, they don't "belong" there... but that's perfectionist BS now isn't it? I mean really, if it's a good place I should just use it!
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Post by metamorpha on May 23, 2008 7:58:45 GMT -5
Thanks everybody for responding. I don't want to blame the whole thing on storage though because, well, we have several garbage cans that don't get used. We don't practice good habits when it comes to throwing things away, taking care of our pets' needs, and those are the biggest issues. Mixed in with the mess however are many things that should be someplace else but aren't, even when it is clean everywhere else. angelina, thank you for going over the different points in the book with me. (Unfortunately I do not trust my ability to return materials, so I don't go to the library anymore, but I've joined a few swapping lists online. They've made it a little easier to let my stuff go. ) Regardless the first stage of the plan of attack is quite doable. Now, I just have to do it.  chronic, this sounds like our situation, too. I know that half of it is not enforcing (or following) the rules, but we also have tons of stored mixie boxes that I have no idea where to begin with. Someone mentioned picking up 100 things a day and putting them somewhere they belong, and I believe I will try to start with that. It's something I can do (unfortunately or not ) from anywhere in the house. It's something I can get the kids to do, too. I know what you mean! While our house was prepped with some close space before we bought it, there are odd closets - 8 feet deep and 2 feet wide. We have a small closet inside a large closet inside a Really big closet downstairs?? It doesn't help sort things out but it helps clear rooms out (for me) to put things without a home in the spaces we do have available. I would use the kitchen space to get the doo dads out of your hair ... especially the waffle iron.  |
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Post by hurtnbroke on May 23, 2008 19:44:46 GMT -5
Yes I would! Starting about now! Especially dealing with clothes! I have moved (not sorted) and moved and moved a mount messmore of clothes (clean ones mostly) more times than I can count in my bedroom and I am more than sick of it.  They take up over a third of the room which is mighty small to begin with! I have one dinky little closet (typical 1960's house trailer size) about the width and depth of a foot locker. That's it. Several large plastic bins (full) as well. So it is definitely time to do a clothes purge and then some! I believe I will bag what I cannot wear and set it in my garage and NOT bring any of it back in unless it is clothes I wear regularly (jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, a few shirts). (I am NOT a dress up type person)! The basics. ALL of the extra shoes can go right into the garbage! Not so sure about the rest. I can barely get to my bed to sleep!  It is far easier to take the bags from the garage to donate and not let them back in! I know I am currently back to level three which I find quite discouraging since I have let a lot slip and I've also not overcome the utility shutoffs that have plagued me the past year plus. Since gasoline has gotten so expensive I have given up nearly all driving unless absolutely necessary so if I cancel my auto insurance and park the junker rust bucket I might be able to cover the past water bill (after repairing water lines yet again). A word of warning: if you think petroleum products have gone out of sight wait until you see what the cost of clean water is going to be in the very near future! Even in rural areas water and sewer rates are going nuts! |
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Post by onwardandupward on May 25, 2008 9:01:34 GMT -5
The Julie Morgenstern book is good, but I found the DVD to be much more helpful in getting me jump started. Maybe I am more of a visual learner?
As for the question about wanting to throw everything out, the answer is a resounding yes. I have thrown things out in a big way, several times. Especially in the kitchen. In the past, when all the dishes were dirty and piled up, or in the fridge growing fur, and the landlord put an "inspection coming" note on the door, I have been known to get out the trash bags and just throw it all out. Much faster than cleaning, and basic kitchen things can be replaced for a couple of hundred dollars if you don't have fancy china or expensive pots and pans. I have done this sort of purge, in full or in part, 3 or 4 times. (edited to add this note to Peppermint - the last time I had inspection trauma, the time I found chat and you helped me - I actually made it through cleaning everything and realized that I don't have to throw away my kitchen to get things cleaned up.) It is something I won't do on a grand scale anymore. The whole wastefulness of the world's resources is at the forefront of my mind now, so I am stymied by that guilt. But, if I come across some single item, a drinking glass that has nasty stuff built up in it from sitting with milk until it got dried on, that one might hit the garbage.
I have also thrown away clothing years ago that had sat in a pile for two years. I figured if I hadn't even looked at it in that time, there was nothing I needed, and anything belonging to the kids was outgrown.
What I have problems tossing? Papers...because there could be an important piece of paper in the big piles of mail that stack up.
Because I want to move, and because I am at level 2 in some rooms right now, I have to get going on getting the place manageable again, I just might resort to throwing some things out that could have been donated this weekend, green guilt be damned.
Onward
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Post by Alexandra on May 25, 2008 20:48:46 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind throwing everything out here...problem is it all belongs to hubby! I don't have a lot of stuff myself. If there's anything I collect, it's knitting and crocheting stuff--and I do use it. But we have several bookshelves in the living room...90% of it is hubby's stuff! If there's anything I do hoard it's our son's schoolwork...and that I put into a container. |
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Post by Meme on May 26, 2008 0:47:46 GMT -5
yes, I have now reached that point and would if I could.....
I am just sick of moving things from one place to another
on the bright side I now have 3 tubs plus doing the 4th
setting out side waiting for the girls to go through
and take the leftovers to a thrift shop- if I could drive
I would do it myself -
for me now enough is too much
so YES YES YES
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