I have a small house and some things I can't seem to part with, and I don't have the cash to get things to store my things in. My house is becoming cluttered and just walking in the door and looking around the room makes me sick, but yet I don't want to part with my things!!
I don't know what I should do. I've thought about just going through the house with a trash bag and whiping everything off the tables and shelves into it without looking at it. I've wanted to do that for the past few weeks but can't seem to do it. It bothers me to have so much junk, but it bothers me more to through it away.
My kids are really good about keeping their toys and things in their own rooms, so they are a lot better at it than I am. I go through their toys with them about every 4 or 6 months to make room for the birthday and christmas toys to come, and they can through things away easily. My 4 year old got rid of about 60% of her toys one day, but I can't seem to let go of any of my 'nik-naks'!
2007-05-02 05:44:24 · 7 answers · asked by *♥Mrs. Morrow♥* 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Cleaning & Laundry
i can totally relate, i used to be a serious pack rat and we live in a two bedroom apartment so our space is very limited too!
this may require a little bit of time and a lot of space, but it will change your life TOTALLY in the long run. you should end up with about 75% less stuff when you're done. you can even recruit the kids to help you if you want:
1. seperate all the items into piles by category (ie: furniture, knick-nacks, photos, plants, clothes, shoes, sports equipment, etc.)
2. get some big boxes (you can get them free if you're willing to dumpster dive behind a strip mall or ask stores for spare boxes. label three boxes (or piles for big stuff) for each category: keep, trash, sell/give
3. set a timer for 15 or 30 minutes and make immediate decisions to keep, trash, or sell/give away. sort stuff appropriately into their boxes.
4. take the trash out to the curb or dump immediately
5. go through your keep items and decide if you REALLY want to keep it and WHY. don't keep stuff for sentimental reasons unless it is SUPER important. don't keep stuff that you haven't used in at least a year.
6. get the stuff you want to sell/give out of your house immediately. take it to a consignment shop or to a donation point. don't try ebay or craigslist...this may tempt you to keep an item you've already decided to get rid of
7. rearrange your furniture (that's always a source of renewal). and then find a specific place for every item you have decided to keep.
8. whenever you purchase something new, sell or give away what you are replacing. for example, if you purchase a new knick nack to put on the shelf, get rid of one you don't really like as much. if you can't think of anything you want to get rid of, DON'T buy the new item!! and never purchase a new item without having already decided specifically where it will go!!
here are two websites i recommend for tips:
Clean Sweep: http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/cleansweep/tips/tips_index.html
FlyLady:
http://www.flylady.net
2007-05-02 06:25:44 · answer #1 · answered by G is for Grover 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get honest with yourself. Pick the items you REALLY want and take the rest to Goodwill. You can then pat yourself on the back that you have made a nik-nak available to someone else at a good price. If you want to earn some cash and have the time, have a yard sale, and price the items so that they will sell. Let people barter with you, the objective is to get it gone! Good Luck! (I spent 4 years slowly getting rid of "stuff" I really thought I wanted when I purchased it. I realized it's just clutter.) Choose an item or two and only get things that are part of that scheme. I collect oil lamps and glass or ceramic frogs, small ones.
2007-05-02 07:26:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some suggestions - try & identify what you like to collect the MOST - my favs are tea cups and salt & pepper shakers. I have display areas - shelves on the wall - for each collection. My husband & I also collect cookbooks and we store those on top of our kitchen cabinets - fortunately the way our cabinets are arranged we can do that. I use my collections also - the S&P shakers & tea cups for "special occasions" so they don't just sit there, and of course we use the cook books.
Other types of clutter - if it isn't an heirloom, and sometimes even if it is, or does not have special meaning to you & your family, or you don't use it - get rid of it.
If you are able to pare down what you want to keep perhaps donate the remaining & take the tax deduction or have a garage sale - more work, but you will get the cash.
2007-05-02 05:59:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
go throught and get rid of things somewhat selectivly ....then tonight if you are still thinking about anything in paticular go back and get the one or two things and ditch the rest....i always do it that way it works great you will find out what you really care about. a clean house makes you feel better because the energy is so much better clutter is just negative energy floating around.....
2007-05-02 05:51:03 · answer #4 · answered by rubawaytheday 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should be going through your house with trash bags and tossing but since you have a compulsive disorder, you won't be able to. Seek help from a therapist to help you find out why keeping trash is so important to you. If you don't this will definitely get away from you.
2007-05-02 06:41:34 · answer #5 · answered by dawnb 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Go through your house and ask yourself these two questions:
1. Have I used this in the last 6 months?
2. Will I use this in the next 6 months?
If you answered 'no' to either question, toss it.
Keep anything with sentimental value.
2007-05-02 06:26:00 · answer #6 · answered by missmcpretty 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
go to the fly lady's web site she has lots of good tips.
2007-05-02 05:51:45 · answer #7 · answered by just me #1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋