The Problem With Declutter is When That Turns to Misplaced

[ElizabethT]

I have been decluttering, which to me means getting rid of, not relocating, ever since we relocated to a, ironically, larger house five years ago. It feels great to walk into a room and know exactly where everything in it is. Or, conversely, to know exactly where what I'm looking for is located. This includes in our three car garage which holds not only our two cars, but also our folding travel trailer, in addition to the usual garage-stored items.

One thing that has helped tremendously is to keep like items with like. It prevents accidental duplicate purchases, and makes finding things easier and more efficient. And also in clear bins, which are the only way to go IMO.

When we moved five years ago, I was stunned and overwhelmed by how much stuff we had neatly put away in cupboards and closets. I'm pretty sure we donated or gave away 50% of it as we went through the moving-in process. Since then I've continued to declutter room by room, closet by closet, drawer by drawer. It is amazingly freeing, and each bundle we get rid of feels like we are opening the door wider with regard to enjoying our lives more fully, instead of being weighed down by having to keep track of and take care of our stuff.

I know, possibly a bit too zen, but that is how decluttering is affecting me.

 

[pacergal]

We declutter frequently, unwanted stuff goes to donation or garbage.
Things we want to keep, and need stored, we place in large bins with content labels on the outside--easy to see and find a "thing" if needed later. Bins placed in the shed or up in the garage with all labels facing the same way.

 

[Walt34]

But those Depression-era folks weren't buried in stuff the way we are today. They lived much simpler lifestyles and owned far fewer things.

All true, but they had to work a lot harder at stuff too. For example, I have a literal truckload of tools that either didn't exist at all when I was growing up or at least nowhere near the form that I own today. Each was bought for a specific job because it was cheaper to buy the tools than hire someone, and when I was done I still had the tools for the next time. An example is a jackhammer that runs on 120V house current. To my knowledge those didn't exist in the 1960's and if they did they certainly weren't a consumer item. At least I never saw one. I bought it at Home Depot for a specific job, it was a godsend for that, and no way am I going to get rid of it. To paraphrase Scarlett O'Hara "I'll never use a digging stick again!"

For those lucky enough to have never used a digging stick, it is a long heavy steel bar with pointed ends used to jam into hard ground to break it up into small enough chunks to shovel. It is, in essence, a muscle-powered jackhammer. It is a LOT of hard work.

 

[Katsmeow]

I did some decluttering. Put away some extra spray bottles a few months back.

Organizing and decluttering are not the same thing. One of my absolute favorite short articles about this:

https://gretchenrubin.com/2009/10/note-to-self-dont-get-organized/

Since we were starting fresh after our move, I've actually created a list of everything I store away in the attic (including boxes for things we might want to save for warranty or future move/giveaway/sell), with a copy kept in the garage near the pull down steps to the attic. If I put anything else up there, I add it to the list.

This is a great idea. We are hoping to sell our house and move and when we do, I want to do this even for the things we put in the closet and then can't find when we need them.

When we moved five years ago, I was stunned and overwhelmed by how much stuff we had neatly put away in cupboards and closets.

Yes, this. I am taking a break this minute from getting ready for our subdivision garage sale tomorrow. We are being particularly aggressive this year since we are hoping to sell our house and move somewhere much smaller than my current locale.

I was stunned to find in a drawer under the oven, a bunch of decorate stuff. Beautiful decorative plates, bowls, vase. All things we could display in the house before this one but we didn't have a good place for here. We had temporarily put them in this drawer and now I found all of this 4 years later...

Most of this is going in the garage sale.

 

[disneysteve]

I was stunned to find in a drawer under the oven, a bunch of decorate stuff. Beautiful decorative plates, bowls, vase. All things we could display in the house before this one but we didn't have a good place for here. We had temporarily put them in this drawer and now I found all of this 4 years later...

Most of this is going in the garage sale.

A few years ago, we got on the Marie Kondo kick. We both read the book and watched her Netflix series. We used her method on several areas of the house (and really need to do more).


One thing we attacked was glassware. One afternoon we gathered every single piece of drinking glassware in the house - the kitchen, the bar, the basement, wherever. We put them all out on the kitchen table and counters. We were shocked how much we had. We ended up boxing up over 100 items to get rid of, all of which we later sold at a yard sale. So we had over 100 glasses that we didn't need. It was ridiculous.

 

[Katsmeow]

A few years ago, we got on the Marie Kondo kick. We both read the book and watched her Netflix series. We used her method on several areas of the house (and really need to do more).

I did this same thing (well iit was before the series). I cleaned out my closet and got rid of a ton of clothes and same thing in the kitchen, etc. Yes, we got rid of tons of coffee cups.

Of course, that was some years ago and now we are needing to do it all again....

 

[CindyBlue]

For those lucky enough to have never used a digging stick, it is a long heavy steel bar with pointed ends used to jam into hard ground to break it up into small enough chunks to shovel. It is, in essence, a muscle-powered jackhammer. It is a LOT of hard work.

Oh, my...used mine last summer. And the summer before that. And...well, you get the idea (smile!)

A few summers ago, I used that iron digging bar and a pick-ax to break up an old, dirt covered packed gravel swale in front of the barn. The rains of the winter of 2017 had flooded the barn (what a mess!!) because the "new" swale we'd had put in 2015 wasn't deep enough because the fellow simply added gravel and shaped it rather than dug it out to the right depth, and we were at work all day while he did the job with his bulldozer. We suspected it wasn't going to be deep enough, but thought that since we'd paid for this, it would be done right...so we didn't realize it wasn't until the following winter (so much for paying someone else to do the job right...sigh...)

So I spent almost a whole summer slowly picking that 30 year old hard-packed gravel bed out to make a 3 foot wide, about 1 1/2 foot deep, 40 foot long trench in front of the barn to sluice the water around the side of the barn into the pasture. It worked, too...the rains of 2019 were pretty severe and yet the barn stayed dry.

But ohmygosh, what hard work that was...I could only do about a foot a day, it was so hard. But was I smart enough to think about finding a better tool to do the job (preferably electric or gas driven!)?? Noooo... (sheesh!)

 

[Morgan22]

From where I live, people give furniture away for free... china cabinets, dining room tables with chairs, couches, LEATHER couches and chairs, end tables. etc...
The list just goes on and on.

I think it's a baby boomer timing issue, when I set up an apt, I had to use cardboard boxes for furniture

We just downsized to a travel trailer a few months ago. We sold/gave away almost everything. We were lucky that we had some nice (originally expensive) furniture that we were able to sell. But there were some nice pieces we just gave away. Just didn't have the time to wait for a buyer. And we were lucky enough that we actually bought our furniture originally for pennies on the dollar from family/craigslist.

 

[Scuba]

It’s so frustrating to lose important things! We always put things away when the housekeeper comes. I had a bottle of Naproxen that I started taking to ease my shoulder pain. It was hard for me to open it, so I stashed it in a drawer or somewhere without the lid tightened, and now I can’t find it ANYWHERE!!

 

[Walt34]

But ohmygosh, what hard work that was...I could only do about a foot a day, it was so hard. But was I smart enough to think about finding a better tool to do the job (preferably electric or gas driven!)?? Noooo... (sheesh!)

This is the one I ended up with, works a charm!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Xtremep...t-with-Rubberized-Handle-61116-XPH1/317347247

The same company also makes one powered with a 2-stroke gasoline engine:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Xtremep...th-2-Chisel-Plastic-Handle-61128-H1/319467612

Of course Amazon and eBay have lots of both types offered as well.

 

[braumeister]

This is the one I ended up with, works a charm!

Even better, I rented a regular jackhammer from my local Home Depot. Still hard work but more economical.

 

[Walt34]

Even better, I rented a regular jackhammer from my local Home Depot. Still hard work but more economical.

I thought about renting but I wanted it over a period of a bit more than a week and even that was uncertain being weather and job dependent. That made buying the cheaper option. There's usually a lot of moving parts in decisions like that.

 

[Palmtree]

I grew up poor so I admit, I'm a bit of a hoarder. Over 25 years ago I saved a short section of 1 inch black pipe that had a set screw on one end. I just knew it would come in useful one day. When we moved out to another state, it somehow made the list and came too.
I finally found the perfect use for it last week. Don't know if I should be proud, shocked or somewhat embarressed.

 

[Teacher Terry]

People spend way more on storage units than they will ever get back when they sell items. Decluttering is actually getting rid of stuff. Anything else is simply moving stuff around. I have mastered the art of having just enough. When I moved into my 855 sq ft condo last year I had 33 plastic bins of items not counting my clothes. After unpacking I donated another 4 bins of items that I didn’t need. I love knowing where everything is located.

 

[ERhoosier]

C F S (Can't Find Stuff) is NOT just a problem with DEcluttering.



Clutter itself often is often the culprit......at least for me.

I get motivated to DEclutter when my usually functional mess leads to too much C F S.

 

[Chuckanut]

I consider getting rid of stuff I rarely use as another part of my charitable contributions for the year. Most of it is of good quality and in great condition. Let somebody else use it and profit from it.

 

[meleana]

If your storing stuff in crates or in attics or basements and can’t find what you need, you haven’t really de- cluttered.