De-Cluttering Ideas

I have SO much clutter in my apt. and have been culling and culling and it just doesn't seem to go away! Part of our problem is storage, part space, and part too much junk. I really need to work on this. A few things that I think will help me are:

-buy a nice looking piece of furniture that I can use to store misc. things and cut down the cluttered look.
-I buy lots of books, so I'm going to start going to the library instead (will save $$ too)
-throw junk mail away immediately, set up a joint email and sign up for paperless bills whenever i can
-for a month, not buy any more pantry items and just use the stuff i already have
-get rid of things we haven't used in years like DH's air mattress which hasn't been used in the 5 yrs I've known him (and who knows when he actually used it before that)
-sort through my clothes - again - and get rid of those size 4's I haven't worn in 7 yrs (sigh)

What de-cluttering activities have worked for you?

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Have you heard of flylady.net???
Kind of a home organizing with a heart motivational site
I use bits and pieces of her decluttering program; not the whole thing unfortunately, but some of these ideas are super!!! I have a ton of "hot zones" in our apt so that's the one I tackle most often!!!

Declutter 15 Minutes a Day - 5 Great Tools That Make it Easy!
Your home is filled with clutter of all shapes and sizes. This is why you are unable to keep it clean. You have too much STUFF. All we ask is that you set a timer and spend 15 minutes a day decluttering. That's it. Anyone can do anything for only 15 minutes, even if you have to break it down into 5 minutes segments. These are the five tools we give you to help you declutter and also make it fun for you! When you get the e-mail reminders/checklists from FlyLady, try them yourself. What do you have to lose (besides clutter LOL!)?

The 27-Fling Boogie

We do this assignment as fast as we can. Take a garbage bag and walk through your home and throw away 27 items. Do not stop until you have collected all 27 items. Then close the garbage bag and pitch it. DO NOT LOOK IN IT!!! Just do it.

Next, take an empty box and go through your home collecting 27 items to give away. Suze Orman taught me this in her book, The Courage to be Rich. This will change the energy in your home and bring about good feelings. Every time I do this I feel better and my home is becoming decluttered in the process. As soon as you finish filling the box, take it to the car. You are less tempted to rescue the items.

Rule of thumb: if you have two of any item and you only need one, get rid of the least desirable.

I also sing a wonderful song as I am doing this fun job: "Please Release Me, Let Me Go" as sung from the stuff's point of view.


The Hot Spot Fire Drill

Here is a problem that we all have and continue to struggle with - Hot Spots. What is a hot spot?

A hot spot is an area, when left unattended will gradually take over. My favorite analogy is of a hot spot in a forest fire, if left alone, it will eventually get out of hand and burn up the whole forest. This is what happens in our homes. If left unattended, the hot spot will grow and take over the whole room as well as making the house look awful. When you walk into a room, this is the first thing you see.

CLUTTER ATTRACTS CLUTTER!

Do you have areas like this that continue to grow if left alone? Does the rest of the family see this as a place to put things when they do not want to put them where they belong? It is our job to nip this in the bud! Get rid of that pile, find the surface underneath and stop this Hot Spot from becoming a raging clutter inferno! Watch for the Hot Spot fire drill reminder - then try it - it works!


The 5 Minute Room Rescue

This is a reminder to spend just 5 minutes clearing a path in your worst room. You know this area of your home: the place you would never allow anyone to see. Just 5 minutes a day for the next 27 days and you will have a place that you can be proud to take anyone! You can sign up for free and you'll get a short daily email giving you the task for the day or week, it's not too rigid, just jump in where you can and don't worry if you can't do something on the appointed day!!!!




Kelly's Daily Missions

Each day (or almost each day) Kelly will e-mail a 5-minute mission for you to do. It will be in the area of the home that we are focusing on for that week (the zone). These missions will take you to places you may have never been before! Have fun with this! We will also be posting Kelly's missions for the week in the Flight Plan.


Work in your Zones

Each week FlyLady will tell you what zone we are working in. After a full month, you will have worked our way around the majority of the living areas of your home. Do not worry if you have not gotten to every room in your house the first month. As one area gets cleaned, it will become easier to do and you will have more time to face those areas that don't seem to fit in any zone. See the Flight Plan for more information. Remember: FlyLady wants you to take baby steps. Don't worry about zones until you have conquered the basics!

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Posted by colette

Have you heard of flylady.net???
Kind of a home organizing with a heart motivational site
I use bits and pieces of her decluttering program; not the whole thing unfortunately, but some of these ideas are super!!! I have a ton of "hot zones" in our apt so that's the one I tackle most often!!!

Declutter 15 Minutes a Day - 5 Great Tools That Make it Easy!
Your home is filled with clutter of all shapes and sizes. This is why you are unable to keep it clean. You have too much STUFF. All we ask is that you set a timer and spend 15 minutes a day decluttering. That's it. Anyone can do anything for only 15 minutes, even if you have to break it down into 5 minutes segments. These are the five tools we give you to help you declutter and also make it fun for you! When you get the e-mail reminders/checklists from FlyLady, try them yourself. What do you have to lose (besides clutter LOL!)?

The 27-Fling Boogie

We do this assignment as fast as we can. Take a garbage bag and walk through your home and throw away 27 items. Do not stop until you have collected all 27 items. Then close the garbage bag and pitch it. DO NOT LOOK IN IT!!! Just do it.

Next, take an empty box and go through your home collecting 27 items to give away. Suze Orman taught me this in her book, The Courage to be Rich. This will change the energy in your home and bring about good feelings. Every time I do this I feel better and my home is becoming decluttered in the process. As soon as you finish filling the box, take it to the car. You are less tempted to rescue the items.

Rule of thumb: if you have two of any item and you only need one, get rid of the least desirable.

I also sing a wonderful song as I am doing this fun job: "Please Release Me, Let Me Go" as sung from the stuff's point of view.


The Hot Spot Fire Drill

Here is a problem that we all have and continue to struggle with - Hot Spots. What is a hot spot?

A hot spot is an area, when left unattended will gradually take over. My favorite analogy is of a hot spot in a forest fire, if left alone, it will eventually get out of hand and burn up the whole forest. This is what happens in our homes. If left unattended, the hot spot will grow and take over the whole room as well as making the house look awful. When you walk into a room, this is the first thing you see.

CLUTTER ATTRACTS CLUTTER!

Do you have areas like this that continue to grow if left alone? Does the rest of the family see this as a place to put things when they do not want to put them where they belong? It is our job to nip this in the bud! Get rid of that pile, find the surface underneath and stop this Hot Spot from becoming a raging clutter inferno! Watch for the Hot Spot fire drill reminder - then try it - it works!


The 5 Minute Room Rescue

This is a reminder to spend just 5 minutes clearing a path in your worst room. You know this area of your home: the place you would never allow anyone to see. Just 5 minutes a day for the next 27 days and you will have a place that you can be proud to take anyone! You can sign up for free and you'll get a short daily email giving you the task for the day or week, it's not too rigid, just jump in where you can and don't worry if you can't do something on the appointed day!!!!




Kelly's Daily Missions

Each day (or almost each day) Kelly will e-mail a 5-minute mission for you to do. It will be in the area of the home that we are focusing on for that week (the zone). These missions will take you to places you may have never been before! Have fun with this! We will also be posting Kelly's missions for the week in the Flight Plan.


Work in your Zones

Each week FlyLady will tell you what zone we are working in. After a full month, you will have worked our way around the majority of the living areas of your home. Do not worry if you have not gotten to every room in your house the first month. As one area gets cleaned, it will become easier to do and you will have more time to face those areas that don't seem to fit in any zone. See the Flight Plan for more information. Remember: FlyLady wants you to take baby steps. Don't worry about zones until you have conquered the basics!

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

We brought a bigger house with a bunch of built-in storage units already in place

And I got a heavy duty shredder for taking care of papers we don't need

With kid on the way we stopped buying stuff a while ago, that helped

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

I watch Hoarders... scares me into cleaning up clutter more often!

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

I'll have to check out that website--my coffee table is a hot zone!
It's all Too Much by Peter Walsh is a good book to check out too.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

I am cluttered byt I throw out stuff I shouldn't sometimes.

I still am happy to throw out. DH is a pack rat.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

i just put together a business proposal for my son to help me clean up around the house. for extra items, he gets paid.

but i'm loving the ideas given in this thread. i'll be taking notes!

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

DH is the son of two hoarders (yes, the bad kind) and I am the daughter of two people raised in war-time Europe.
Everthing was used until it wore out, and 'good' stuff was never used.

What a perfect match we are !

Seriously, I try to declutter as much as possible, everthing has its place and I can't get lazy and put it away later.
Next project is to start throwing away stuff I don't need anymore instead of putting it in the attic.
Then I get to tackle the attic itself.

My mom used to buy jumbo packages of toilet paper and paper towels every time they went on sale, and put the packages up in the attic. She wasn't allowed to climb the ladder because of bad knees.
She died 5 years ago, and up until about a year ago, I didn't have to buy any paper products.
Thanks Mom !

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Posted by HelloThere

I watch Hoarders... scares me into cleaning up clutter more often!

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

We purchased purpose-driven items and furniture. We have a 'mailbox' by the front door from PB that houses our keys, dog leashes, mail, and other small misc items. A bench with 3 baskets from JCPenney; one basket for dog toys/items, one for hats/scarves/gloves/umbrellas, one for recyclable items. A bar/buffet that now houses all our wine, fancy glassware, linens, dishtowels, and wine accessories. Bookcases too, and I also only go to the library most of the time now. Donate the books you'll never read again and have no sentimental value for to your library.

I also have two folders on top of my desk. One is for filing and the other is to-do items. Each Saturday morning, I settle at my computer with my coffee and go through both folders.

I have two bins underneath my baker's rack for metal/glass recyclables and other large items like milk cartons that I don't want to clutter up our garbage can with until we take it out.

I also have a plastic bag holder that slides nicely next to my microwave for all the plastic bags we amass. And I recently brought a large bag of paper shopping bags with handles into work for a donation.

Message edited 1/5/2010 3:36:21 PM.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

wow you ladies have some great ideas that I have never thought of. List for the pantry and freezer. I think I will have to try this one. Thanks.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Posted by JldDolphin

wow you ladies have some great ideas that I have never thought of. List for the pantry and freezer. I think I will have to try this one. Thanks.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

I just got myself one of these and I LOVE it!



I got the cubed fabric "baskets" to go in it and you can store stuff in there and close the drawer and NOT see the stuff. I bought it as a toy box and it holds a lot more than I thought. Mine is acutllay 4x2 and the one shown is 3x3 so there are a few options.

Message edited 1/5/2010 7:53:21 PM.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

1. Cut down on magazine/newspaper subscriptions and read them on-line.

2. Open the mail as soon as you get home.
Junk mail, all extra mailing inserts- immediately to the recycling pile.

3. Sign up for paperless statements/on-line bill pay

4. "To be donated box"- for misc items or holiday gifts Box is located at the bottom of my hall closet.

5. Donate books/"swap books". We pass books around the family. We just donated a big box of books to a local senior center.

6. Kitchen- Clear out the drawers and empty all of your small appliances/gadgets in a large box. As you cook/prep, use the item and put it back in the drawer. After one month, seriously consider donating the rest.

7. Cut down on knick-knacks... pair down collections, reduce holiday decorations.

8. When you buy a new article of clothing/pair of shoes, donate another.

9. At the beginning of a season, hang up all of your clothes with the hanger in the opposite direction. After wearing an item, replace it with the hanger going in the correct direction. At the end of the season donate all items that are still hung in the wrong direction.

ETA: I find it helpful to add such "house chores" to my annual calendar. Years ago I made a comprehensive list and then assigned certain tasks to certain months/weeks. So every month, I have a to-do list for the house to keep on top of the clutter/organization/home improvement. I have certain spaces I decluttter weekly/monthy/yearly.

Message edited 1/5/2010 9:33:56 PM.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Posted by LSP2005

Posted by HelloThere

I watch Hoarders... scares me into cleaning up clutter more often!

I thought I was the only person who did this. I watch this show and it motivates me to tackle an area. The last episode I watched I tackled my underwear and sock drawer. I had undergarments from high school that were worn out, missing socks, etc. I got rid of 3 garbage bags full of old things. It was really cathartic.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

"organizing from the inside out". It's a great book.

My new approach is different though now. I am a huge pack rat and have been since I am a child. But I can't stand it anymore. Bottom line, I don't have time to wait another 6 months to do a yard sale when the weather will be nicer, you don't sell women's clothing or shoes unless they are new or high designer brands, I can't run around to give clothes to charities. All it does it keep collecting dust until I can do it "sometime".

Well, this Winter I had had it and trashed, trashed, trashed. It was liberating.

I did a yard sale in the Summer for things I wanted to get rid at the time. Like decorations. There is always too much stuff for home decorating. Old cushions, old prints, vases, that you really don't use. I am down to only the Holiday decorations I use. I got rid of books especially the paperback novels. I already read them. Why keep them for 15 years on a bookcase? I trashed magazines. Why do I need to keep issues from 2 years ago when DS was born? It does add up quickly.

Trust me! You should see my house. I keep trashing and I still have the biggest clutter you can imagine. I have a room filled up floor to celing with boxes. I have not clue what is in most of them. It's all thrown in boxes when I can't stand it and just showel in boxes.

I think trashing is MY only solution.

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

These are all awesome ideas! I've gotta check out flylady. I trashed about 2 yrs worth of dog fancy mags I'd been saving (hoarding??) "just in case" I was curious about a dog they were featuring. HUH? lol! Love the pantry list idea too. DH will kill me if I buy one more holiday item, so I'm sure he won't mind if I throw out the 3ft plastic santa and snowman heads with loops on the hats so I can hang them from the ceiling! (MIL gave that to me one year). So may great ideas! I'm printing this thread - oops no, i mean i'm notebooking it instead. I can do this!

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Posted by HelloThere

I watch Hoarders... scares me into cleaning up clutter more often!

Re: De-Cluttering Ideas

Every few months I go through the drawers and closets and throw everything away - DH and I each have one of those ginormous rubbermaid bins up in the attic for sentimental stuff (HS, college, pictures, whatever)
I reorganize and de clutter and just throw away 'stuff'

Books, I make DH go through them and get rid of what he doesn't want anymore -

I NEVER keep mail - the bills go directly in a little holder next to the computer - junk is tossed immediately -

I can't go to sleep at night if the house is a mess b/c I just can't relax that way - I know some people think I'm crazy, but I'm dusted, vacumed, mopped, dishes in the dishwasher, crap off the tables, blankets / piillows in the family room folded etc etc -

I can not function in a mess .........I literally get crazy anxiety -