@swimcatsmom - But is the damage only cosmetic? We had flooding that ended up with ceiling repair, new bathroom floor, and drying fans running in the hose for days. The estimate was truly shocking, and the settlement (after our $1000 deductible) was enough to cover our repair costs with a bit left over because I chose the repair teams carefully.
We've been renting two as part of emptying late MIL's house, and today an upholsterer came to pick up three pieces we're having done. They were the last contents, except for the broom and dust pan I brought home with me. We can take our time with the remaining one, but two felt really bloated to both of us. Huge sigh of relief.
D1 is moving across the country and, in an effort to help her, I stopped by her apartment that she's vacating at the end of the month and took 4 big bags of clothes, accessories, etc. from her and dropped them off at Good Will today. She also told me how much she's thrown away. I'm proud of her!
“For hoarders, objects can represent comfort and security,” says James Gregory, a clinical psychologist and expert on hoarding at the University of Bath. In the most extreme cases, hoarding is recognised as a medical disorder that can rob people of their quality of life. One study by researchers at Yale University used brain scans to show that for people with the disorder, throwing out objects activates a part of the brain that’s also responsible for processing pain.
I needed my "work in the garden" clothes yesterday so I opened the appropriate drawer, anticipating having to paw through the crowded bunch in order to find what I needed. I had forgotten I Kondo'd that drawer. What a delight as I opened it and could immediately see what I needed and grab it easily!
It sparked joy.
(Yes, I lead a sad little life, but I'll take what I can get!!)
Make that three of us! Trips to unload stuff spark joy. I also can't stand flat surfaces covered with stuff, so two tables with nothing but an orchid in the middle spark joy to me. Mister knows better than leaving his crap on them.
^^makes 4 of us. I LOVE getting things out of the house, into my trunk and dropped off at GW. My D is moving and had 4 bags for GW. I was visiting with her and near her house and offered to take them. She works f/t and lives in a city w/o a car and was thrilled to pass them off and I experienced joy when I dropped off HER bags at GW the next day!
Our 30 yard dumpster is mostly full. I kept it 3 weeks overdue (I know from experience they don't usually charge the full rate). I wanted it FULL! S1 added some remodel junk from his house and ours included a barn, shed, everything we could get from the house, and storage units.
Had a contractor out to see about building a small loft in the barn for storage. I can move totes home and go through them more leisurely. I know I can pitch/donate more, as I was in a rapid downsize from 6000 SF, a fast forced sale, and going through 55 years of emotional weight. Yes, my mom had not thrown out *anything* from my childhood, and I had done the same with my kids. I tell my kids, "Do NOT do this." It doesn't matter if you have the room. Purge along the way.
Another Goodwill run -- here come those jumpy claps! -- MIL had tens of linear feet of magazines she kept in those magazine file things. The periodicals are going to recycling, but the holders are a very tough vinyl-covered cardboard. I swear I feel like a lottery winner every time the donation center takes something like that ("Are you SURE?") but they swear they can both use and sell them.
Many bags ready to go. Cleaned out the hall closet. H contributed 1 pair of shoes and one decades old jacket that I have hated for years. My closet is quite reduced (in my case not such a good thing--I hate shopping and clothes in general)
and some to go. I simply love to purge. Still swear it all procreates overnight.
LOL H worked on the foot high of magazines and reduced by two magazines in over 1.5 hours. He leaves for 10 days soon and he will have 5 inches left of his stack when he returns. He was warned.
OMG, the magazines. DH has thousands of them. Literally thousands. I completely understand your husband taking 1 1/2 hours to get rid of two magazines. He had to read them both cover to cover, didn't he. DH has an entire dormer closet (very very deep) filled with magazines. When I suggest he go through them, he takes out the piles and then leaves them out for months while doing nothing with them.
Every once in a while I'll just make some of them disappear, and of course he has no idea, because he has no idea what he has in the first place.
I have pointed out that any article in any of those magazines can be found on-line, but he's still ridiculously anal about keeping them.
If anyone has a solution to the Husband/Magazine problem, I'm all ears.
@VeryHappy not a solution, but perspective. DH is thrilled to have all these (genealogical) publications of his mother's gone, but he still likened it to an amputation. As in, traumatic but necessary to preserve life. Continuing on this theme, he also likened being burdened with hanging onto all this as a gangrenous infection. For my husband, he had to see that keeping things was more painful than letting them go. Purging is still wrenching for him, but he finally realized he can't breathe if he keeps everything.
If they're "geneological" publications, then they are probably of some value, and I hope he was able to donate them. My DH has Sports Illustrateds from the Year Zero and his alumni magazines from before the flood.
My neighborhood Goodwill became so high-end!! My furniture got denied at the donation center three times now!
One was a very heavy solid wood office bookshelf. It was in great condition except for the little water damage on the top. We covered it with a runner and it looked fabulous. The staff looked at it, thought about it, and said no.
Another one was a bookshelf without the back. You can see the other side. It's supposed to be like that. But the staff wouldn't take it saying it's missing the back. Grrrr.
The last one was a cute painted chair we got from Goodwill several years ago. My daughter used it in her room. The paint was chipped at one small area of the seat but it's still very bright-colored, sturdy, and serviceable. Now she's gone off to college, we decided to donate it back to Goodwill. They didn't take it!! The staff whispered, "My boss is behind me so I can't take it. Sorry."
My husband and I went in Goodwill after that and found very nice Ethan Allen furniture on display. No wonder they didn't take our furniture!
Replies to: The "Bag A Week" Club
We've been renting two as part of emptying late MIL's house, and today an upholsterer came to pick up three pieces we're having done. They were the last contents, except for the broom and dust pan I brought home with me. We can take our time with the remaining one, but two felt really bloated to both of us. Huge sigh of relief.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190515-can-decluttering-your-house-really-spark-joy
Wow:
I needed my "work in the garden" clothes yesterday so I opened the appropriate drawer, anticipating having to paw through the crowded bunch in order to find what I needed. I had forgotten I Kondo'd that drawer. What a delight as I opened it and could immediately see what I needed and grab it easily!
It sparked joy.
(Yes, I lead a sad little life, but I'll take what I can get!!)
Had a contractor out to see about building a small loft in the barn for storage. I can move totes home and go through them more leisurely. I know I can pitch/donate more, as I was in a rapid downsize from 6000 SF, a fast forced sale, and going through 55 years of emotional weight. Yes, my mom had not thrown out *anything* from my childhood, and I had done the same with my kids. I tell my kids, "Do NOT do this." It doesn't matter if you have the room. Purge along the way.
and some to go. I simply love to purge. Still swear it all procreates overnight.
LOL H worked on the foot high of magazines and reduced by two magazines in over 1.5 hours. He leaves for 10 days soon and he will have 5 inches left of his stack when he returns. He was warned.
Every once in a while I'll just make some of them disappear, and of course he has no idea, because he has no idea what he has in the first place.
I have pointed out that any article in any of those magazines can be found on-line, but he's still ridiculously anal about keeping them.
If anyone has a solution to the Husband/Magazine problem, I'm all ears.
One was a very heavy solid wood office bookshelf. It was in great condition except for the little water damage on the top. We covered it with a runner and it looked fabulous. The staff looked at it, thought about it, and said no.
Another one was a bookshelf without the back. You can see the other side. It's supposed to be like that. But the staff wouldn't take it saying it's missing the back. Grrrr.
The last one was a cute painted chair we got from Goodwill several years ago. My daughter used it in her room. The paint was chipped at one small area of the seat but it's still very bright-colored, sturdy, and serviceable. Now she's gone off to college, we decided to donate it back to Goodwill. They didn't take it!! The staff whispered, "My boss is behind me so I can't take it. Sorry."
My husband and I went in Goodwill after that and found very nice Ethan Allen furniture on display. No wonder they didn't take our furniture!