I tackled an outdoor mess today. We have an ugly corner of our side yard which became a dumping ground for odds and ends: bikes, outdoor decorations, scooters, bike racks, old hoses, flower pots, car parts. DH bought a shed which nicely fits the space. This morning I pulled everything out and tossed a lot of it; a few items will be donated and we plan to consign the bike racks. I raked up the old leaves and killed a few nasty spiders. Once the shed is assembled the bikes will have a home and the side yard will look great!
VH, our headboard is a bookcase kind of thing. We have books and magazines on it, and are always having things fall behind and under the bed. I found a few of my magazines under the bed, too. Clearly SOMEONE needs to look under the bed more often!
Hmmmm. I wonder whose job that will become.
Kiddo cleaned out her closet, and we took 6 bags of stuff to the local Goodwill donation station! I found three suitcases that were missing a wheel, so off to the dump they will go - when Mr, tears them apart to put them in the garbage bin.
Re: suitcases missing wheels
The suitcase repair guy in my town has a stash of old suitcases that he uses for spare parts. Heād love your old suitcases if the handles are good!
DH is returning to the āregularā work world, after consulting for the last 5 years. His wardrobe needs refreshing. I asked him to go through his closet and see what fits - toss whatās worn - make a pile for alterations so we could figure out what he really needs. He is thrifty and tends to hang on to things far too long. He tackled the job today and was aggressive about purging. 14 pairs of slacks and several jackets were tossed and there is a big pile ready for donations. Yay! I also weeded out a bunch of Halloween stuff we no longer need. Satisfying day!
We purged all of momās slacks that had elastic that had given up the stretchā30 pairs! Sheās down to about 3-4 that fit well. Iām relieved as the ones with busted elastic were a trip hazard and made me VERY nervous.
Cleaned out the closet some more. Hope for some stuff to get discounted at Saksā BF sales! 
I read that book about tidying in hopes of really streamlining my closet. The book was a quick read and enjoyable, if not a little āout thereā for my purposes. I did take all of my clothes out and handle them before sorting. Apparently I have a broad definition of joy because too many items spark joy for me. Some because of the style, some because of the feel of the fabric, some because they donāt make me too hot or too cold at a certain time of the year. I did end up with two large black bags to donate so some progress was made.
Painters come this week. They are doing the top two floors of my house; almost everywhere. Nowhere to hide excess.Tons of inherited art and glassware. It must be packed for the paint job, given away or tossed. I am now an honorary three year member of the bag a week club; we took out at least that much in the last month. Overwhelming. Yet illuminating. We are empty nesters, so it is a new phase. Much seems seems irrelevant, especially against a backdrop of our kidsā urban lifestyles and disinterest in stuff. I gave away 3/4s of my closet. Liberation. I crave simple and stink at creating it.
Take your progress where you find it.
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The amount of cleaning Iād have to do before I could even consider a cleaning service is beyond intimidatingā¦
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Itās not just me then.
Joining this thread for inspiration.
Our condo association is planning on having yard sales in our community center. I already have some things set aside hoping to make a little bit of money of the items. I would be happy to be getting rid of things I no longer need.
So I finally got every single item out of my closet, removed the bottom bars (those things you use to make a lower hanging bar), and packed up two more bags to donate. How many clothes does a normal person have? Jackets? T-shirts? Pants? Jeans? Long sleeved blouses? Summer shirts? I feel like I still have too much.
I am not a normal person. I have one pair of jeans, two pairs of slacks, 10 or so shirts, two pairs of shorts, two coats (a 15-year-old windbreaker and a 27-year-old leather jacket).
Was at home for a few days and took 2 days to clean out my closet. I decided to be ruthless. My deciding point was - if something happened to this garment (such as a permanent stain), how upset would I be? I didnāt have a goal in mind, but I think I easily cleared about over 50% of it ā polished shoes, re-hung / re-folded everything. It helped me realize that I buy duplicates of certain things - Iāve got multiple black cardigans, black turtlenecks, black t-shirts that I wasnāt even aware of. Iām simplifying down to very few patterns and mostly neutrals. I also have too many cute little dresses that donāt fit my lifestyle. Suggestions for transitioning to an at-home wardrobe from a business casual one? Iām hanging on to two great suits that I can wear as separates if need be. Want comfy pants, but donāt want to get so comfy that I get sloppy!
Cleaned out the trinkets collection and got rid of a bunch of travel artifacts. Lladro figurines, anyone? Clay donkeys and aqsaqals? Birch bark art? German beer mugs? Lol. Kept a few mementos. The shelves look so much nicer without the crap all over them.
Coats are my weakness. I must have at least a dozen - quilted, down, wool, trench, short, long, cape ā¦
Mine, too!!!
PGā¦coats are my issue too. Our front coat closet is actually filled with my coats. Some people love shoesā¦I love coats. And Iām not getting rid of any of themā¦because I like them all.
Iāve been taking my bag a week. My goal this week is to weed out black slacks. I think I have 20 pairs of black slacks. Everything from silk to denim. I donāt think I have any duplicatesā¦but reallyā¦do I need 20 pairs of black slacks? No!
I have a huge bag of summer stuff Iām donating this week. I decided not to store anything that I didnāt wear all of,this summer.
I know I could get rid of a third of my closet, but I keep thinking I may wear some of the stuff.
I still have my long navy Burberry coat, even though I havenāt worn it in 25 years.
Rosered555, how do you manage? I have work clothes, casual, gymā¦