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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: AS: Decluttering support
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Are you going to keep it multi-functional, or go with it being primarily a study?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
I'd like it to be a combined study / spare bed, but not a glory hole.
Ideally, I'd like one wall (the wall the bed's against) wallpapered with a restrained pattern and the other three a co-ordinating self-colour, with self-coloured curtains. Then a dark self-coloured duvet cover / pillows on the single bed, so that it would look more "sofa-ish" Perhaps a soft sage green, with some dark green might be a good colour scheme for a study / bedroom?
At the moment the floral wallpaper and curtains just add to the "busyness" of the room, and the current duvet cover is one we bought 20 years ago to go with the decor of a room in our previous flat.
Basically, I need to
a) stop letting clutter built up elsewhere, only to be swept into a plastic crate and dumped in the study when we have visitors
b) declutter the study
before I can even think of redecorating.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
When we have guests using the single bed, we transfer the stacking plastic crates into our bedroom, complete with the teetering piles. This swamps our room temporarily, till we shove the lot back. It's a reasonably efficient system.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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QLib
Bad Example
# 43
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Posted
I've also been clearing a bedroom for guests to stay. Younger daughter is sleeping in it at the moment (well, not literally), and quite a bit of the clutter is hers, but at the new year I'll have a couple of friends staying for a fortnight after an unexpectedly early return from volunteer work abroad. Hate clearing stuff when kids aren't here because it reminds me how I miss them, and hate clearing stuff when they are here,in case it seems unwelcoming, but this went well. "We" (mostly I) have cleared a whole wardrobe ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
OK, admittedly, there are new piles elsewhere - my newly insulated loft, my bedroom, etc, but we have also separated stuff for charity shop, ragbank & tip. And there are still a couple of things in the wardrobe - but only legitimate stuff (sleeping bags). But still feeling very pleased with myself.
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Tradition is the handing down of the flame, not the worship of the ashes Gustav Mahler.
Posts: 8913 | From: Page 28 | Registered: May 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
I'd like it to be a combined study / spare bed, but not a glory hole.
How often do you need it for a visitor?
I gave up keeping a bed some time ago: now I have one of those motorised air mattresses.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
It's in fairly regular use. The headboard fixing bit broke when we moved (almost 10 years ago!) so it doesn't have a headboard and it looks a bit less bed like than it might. I have a notion that with a plain duvet cover and several pillows/cushions, it would look a bit like a settee and enhance the study. But there's no point in buying a new duvet cover, when the whole room is such a tip. Plus the plastic underbed storage drawers are handy.
I've spent an hour going through a couple of teetering piles and have put several magazines / newspapers/ old intimation sheets / shopping lists into the recycling bin. It's going to take ages.
It's potentially a nice room - 10ft 6 square, plus the wardrobe which we use as a big bookcase / dump. The window looks out over our back garden, and over two neighbouring gardens, so it's quite bright for a west-facing room. But it's very cluttered, incoherent and still decorated with the previous owners choice of floral wallpaper / curtains.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
OK, well definitely go for the decor you outlined. In the days when I had a bedsit, I made a sort of giant bolster case into which I could roll the duvet, plus a number of cushions, which made the bed into a passable imitation of a sofa.
There's an IKEA stack of drawers which I've found very useful, though getting a joiner to build a customised wardrobe/blanket storage also worked. Joiners are good: it's worth looking at the space, both floor area and vertically (platform bed?) and thinking what might structure it.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
My desk is a solid pine one we bought 20+ years ago, largely because it had an over-desk storage unit thing. It's got two shelves, 6 cubby-holes and four drawers. So I'm going to start with decluttering that, because each bit is a bite-sized bit to do.
The top shelf has a photo I love, a shoebox full of Sunday School stuff, a wooden whisky box full of coloured pencils and felt-tip pens and a top hat. How do I declutter that? ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Pitch all the pens which have dried up. That's a start. The pencil which has lead broken inside so it will never sharpen properly can go too. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Cat'n splel this morning. Possibly related to large bowl of punch yesterda.
[ 26. December 2012, 23:15: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Chuck everything bar the photo, which you can pin to the corkboard which you are about to put up the better to collect such memorabilia plus current reminders.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Not decluttering as such but Mrs E having just retired I have the task of clearing her room, which is a complete tip! I did several hours this morning and will do more hours each day for a while but I'm not taking it on as a full time job!
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
Well, I checked every pen, binned those that didn't work, and relocated the rest round various existing pen-pots.
Then my husband happened upon the now-empty whisky box, on its way out and said "Is this going spare? I could use this to store pens!"
![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
The Sunday School shoebox can't be binned. I'm the Sunday School Birthday Fairy; I deliver cards to our SS kids on their birthdays. The shoebox contains the cards, address book etc etc.
The photo-I-love is framed and measures 3ft by 1 ft, and should be hung on the wall. Once the fussy floral wallpaper goes, it will be hung. Meanwhile it sits on the shelf, behind the top hat and the Birthday Fairy shoebox.....but no longer behind the whisky box of pens!
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
A local theatre group would probably love to have the top hat.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
a big de-cluttering and organizing of my life this December. 8 years of files gone through (and a lot chucked!) and an obscene amount of paperwork caught up on which is going to make my life so much better!
Now I've started on clothes (again) and today plan to do a kitchen purge. I'm moving in May and I want to have us down to the slimmest move possible. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get rid of almost all furniture, try to have the books halved, have theater stuff down to two bins, and each of us down to one big bin of clothes each.
the toughest will be artwork. I really can't keep it all but all of it has some sort of sentiment attached.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
A local theatre group would probably love to have the top hat.
I'd love the top hat!
I've just done 20 mins tidying in the Glory Hole, our spare room that the Housemate inhabited whilst we had loads of damp in her room. I've now tagged Nalic and Jeeves to do another 20 mins, and told them to remove the caltrips from the floor and take the collapsed desk out.
I'm hoping that an hour or so of work will make it useable for viewing fireworks tomorrow evening.
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
My son wants to keep the top hat! I have now tidied two of the cubby holes (assorted printer paper, and various envelopes respectively) and am now contemplating the third cubby hole which contains Useful Stuff like sellotape dispensers (2) staplers(4), punches (2) a pot of pens, a paper-clip holder and... my notarial seal. I can't actually use my seal, since I don't have current professional indemnity insurance. I don't envisage ever using it again. But it's not the sort of thing you can chuck out or give away, either.
Dinner guests tonight, so we've done the usual, swept assorted clutter into a box and parked it in the study. Sigh.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
2013 is going to be my year for clearing my study (currently the Room of Doom, containing the Cupboard of Doom for good measure). It's partly that, like NEQ's, it's the room where stuff gets dumped if we need more space temporarily elsewhere, and partly because I have so many various study-related hats (PhD, nursing, Open Uni, etc) that I have amassed a ton of books, papers etc for all of them and there simply isn't the shelf-space for all of it. I am going to replace a small bookshelf with a larger one which will hopefully take all the nursing stuff and eliminate the overspill (currently on the floor), but I'm going to have to be more creative with the other stuff. I can whittle the OU stuff down a bit as I have stopped teaching one course and will stop another in the summer, but it's the PhD shelves which will be the most challenging.
Once that's done I can get going on the Cupboard of Doom (which ultimately will contain all the house-related stuff - which it currently does contain, but not in any useful order and is also full of stuff which can probably be chucked. Plus I can't currently open the door because of all the stuff on the floor).
My goal is to have a room I can actually work in, without having to climb the Matterhorn of stuff on the floor to get to the chair and desk. I reckon working a shelf or two at a time rather than thinking "Now I'll tidy the study" will be a bit less daunting.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
Given everyone else's ambitions, this seems a bit pathetic - but I have finally cleared out the floor area under the desk in Miss S's old room. The second telly has gone down to her house, some boxes of OU papers went in the recycling (mercifully I did check them before I flung them, and found a load of certificates in there ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif) ) also two big clip-frames. I never know what to do with those so they tend to get moved around till the glass breaks, at which point I can throw them away!
In other news, Mr. S has decided we need a new kitchen and the utility room refitted. Eeek. Since this also means closing off one door and making it into a window, and making another window into French doors - double eeek. In terms of a mammoth decluttering, I shall have to shepherd a whole herd of them out of the kitchen before we can start.
Mrs. S, looking for her mammoth-herding stick
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
a large box out of the kitchen, and I'm only about half way!
also, a large box of books! and I'm only about a quarter of the way through the collection. I'd have more than a box, but my boys are even more sentimental than I am.
New Year, new start!
now, if I can resist filling all of that shelf space with more books...
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
My Christmas present was a slide scanner - so my first job is to scan all Dad's slides. Then I will start on the photos.
A pleasant job I'm looking forward to.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
Firstly, I need to tidy the bomb site that is post-Christmas here. But then I want to do some clearing out of the craft room/conservatory where my kiln is and the sewing room/study where fabric mountains are encroaching on my leg room when marking essays.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Thyme
Shipmate
# 12360
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Posted
My plan to do a housework retreat during Advent didn't work out at all. Mainly due to illness, but despite my best efforts Advent got very busy.
So I am forming a plan for January. I keep on top of the basics reasonably well now. I want to deep clean and declutter each room.
The clothes are just about finished now, although I haven't counted. But I have lots of space in my wardrobes(closets)and feel I have achieved my objective. Next job in this area is the shoes. I bought some boxes and bags which have formed a heap in a corner near the wardrobe where most of the shoes are kept. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
I also need to update what Flylady calls a 'Control Journal' - based on the 'Slob Sisters' card index system. This is just a written schedule of jobs -daily, weekly, monthly, annually. I'm not very good at following it but do find it useful.
Especially for noting and remembering when I last did things, like the oven, or the net curtains, or the filters for various machines. It is always much longer than I think.
Like the shoes; I bought the cards, colour coded of course, some while ago, but never got round to doing the task.
[ 01. January 2013, 11:37: Message edited by: Thyme ]
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The Church in its own bubble has become, at best the guardian of the value system of the nation’s grandparents, and at worst a den of religious anoraks defined by defensiveness, esoteric logic and discrimination. Bishop of Buckingham's blog
Posts: 600 | From: Cloud Cuckoo Land | Registered: Feb 2007
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ecumaniac
Ship's whipping girl
# 376
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Posted
In advance of a new year's eve party (ie. about 20 minutes before everyone arrived) I moved a bit of furniture around in the living room to make more floor space. Amazingly, the room now looks huge!
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it's a secret club for people with a knitting addiction, hiding under the cloak of BDSM - Catrine
Posts: 2901 | From: Cambridge | Registered: Jun 2001
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
I started on my semi-outdoor storage room yesterday. Removing just a few large, bulky items made a huge difference. When I get to some of the smaller stuff it won't go as quickly.
This is the time of year to do it. Not only are the black widow spiders less active, but once summer comes and the temperatures top 100şF, one can't do that sort of work outdoors. So my goal is to have it done by the end of January. (I also need to get an exterminator in.)
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
My other half is fitting extra shelves in the kitchen cupboards and is de-cluttering the baking cupboard! I'll start on the big tidy tomorrow when he is back at work. Probably a superficial tidy of the kitchen first before tackling the other cupboards one a time.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
My other half is fitting extra shelves in the kitchen cupboards and is de-cluttering the baking cupboard!
Catching, isn't it? ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
My other half is fitting extra shelves in the kitchen cupboards and is de-cluttering the baking cupboard!
Catching, isn't it?
That's true, when I first started with Flylady he suddenly improved in his tidiness.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Taliesin
Shipmate
# 14017
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Posted
I am still processing everything slowly... I've been ill all blooming holiday, so we've mostly stayed home, and I am trying to sort the rooms like a giant rubics cube, or one of those picture squares - take stuff out of this room, put it away in that room, make space for this item, decide where that item needs to go...
does it ever end?? I seem to gather 2 bags for bin, a bag for recycling, a bag for charity shop every day or two.
Posts: 2138 | From: South, UK | Registered: Aug 2008
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Thyme
Shipmate
# 12360
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Posted
Take heart Taliesin. It does get easier. But it does sometimes feel like it gets worse before it gets better.
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The Church in its own bubble has become, at best the guardian of the value system of the nation’s grandparents, and at worst a den of religious anoraks defined by defensiveness, esoteric logic and discrimination. Bishop of Buckingham's blog
Posts: 600 | From: Cloud Cuckoo Land | Registered: Feb 2007
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
I think it always feels like it gets worse before it gets better - but it does get better.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Taliesin:
I am still processing everything slowly... I've been ill all blooming holiday, so we've mostly stayed home, and I am trying to sort the rooms like a giant rubics cube, or one of those picture squares - take stuff out of this room, put it away in that room, make space for this item, decide where that item needs to go...
does it ever end?? I seem to gather 2 bags for bin, a bag for recycling, a bag for charity shop every day or two.
I know - but just think of how long it took to accumulate all that Stuff! And yes, it does get better, because after a while you get a different mindset and actively resist acquiring Stuff because you just comprehend that after a while you'll be decluttering it just like all the rest!
Sometimes, I agree, you just wonder 'why did I ever START this?' but trust me, it's worth it!
Mrs. S, Not Going Shopping
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
To quote Flylady 'Your home did not get dirty in one day, and it will not get clean in a day either'. Every stage of decluttering is a step towards a clearer life. You are doing so well clearing out all those bags, it is a measurable difference.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
The new shelves dh fitted mean that he has sorted the crockery cupboard, the mug cupboard, the baking cupboard and the tin cupboard! A great load off my mind and he's planning more.
I'm attempting to kickstart the tidying this week as I've not Flyladied over the holiday. Today I spring cleaned the bathroom and tackled the mountainous laundry which threatens to engulf the kitchen. I'Ve also tidied the fridge and veg rack and am about to tackle some of the kitchen sides where were tend to dump clutter.
[ 02. January 2013, 12:24: Message edited by: Heavenly Anarchist ]
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
My shop
Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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Sighthound
Shipmate
# 15185
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Posted
My wife and I have decided that 2013 is to be a year of massive declutter.
The only thing is, 2012 was as well. I lost count of the boxes and bags we took to the charity shop/rubbish dump and our contribution to the local council's paper and card collection must have been outstanding.
And yet - so far - the house doesn't look much different. I must admit, I am an avid collector of books. I think that is one of the main problems. Buying a Kindle may help, but only with new fiction, not so much with factual history and railway tomes.
Ah well, we shall press on.
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Supporter of Tia Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue.http://tiagreyhounds.org/
Posts: 168 | From: England | Registered: Sep 2009
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Nenya
Shipmate
# 16427
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sighthound:
My wife and I have decided that 2013 is to be a year of massive declutter.
Mr Nen and I have decided the same. We're going about things rather differently but at least we have the same purpose in mind.
We cleared out my mum's house in the autumn and had to get rid of a huge number of books; that was the hardest thing. I'm the only person in this house who collects books and I'm trying hard to cut the numbers down. Having a Kindle does help but there are a number of books I really do want paper copies of as well as ones I want that haven't been Kindle-fied.
I'm also gradually clearing and sorting the kitchen cupboards. I need to get started on the smallest bedroom... that's been a dumping ground for quite a while now... ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Nen - trying hard not to get overwhelmed with the enormity of it all.
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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.
Posts: 1289 | Registered: May 2011
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
My laundry room is next. Before putting away the Christmas decorations this weekend, I must clear away some of the clutter in there, and organize what remains.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Starbug
Shipmate
# 15917
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Posted
Mr Bug and I have just cleared out one of our kitchen cupboards - the one where we keep the chocolate! Embarrassingly, we had to chuck out a whole load of wasted bars that have long passed their expiry date.
On the plus side, I now have a large bag of in-date chocs to donate to the local foodbank, together with another bag of the unwanted individual Quality Street etc that I will take to work on Monday and share with colleagues. We also found a second hand mixer that we'd forgotten about, which we can sell as it's in very good condition and is hardly used (Mr Bug went out and bought one recently without checking to see if we already had one).
It's a good thing that one of my resolutions is to monitor my spending, as this exercise has made me feel quite sick and guilty.
Our next decluttering plan is to clear out the cupboards under the kitchen sink.
[ 02. January 2013, 16:22: Message edited by: Starbug ]
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“Oh the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?” ― The Day of the Doctor
Posts: 1189 | From: West of the New Forest | Registered: Sep 2010
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
I'm trying to get myself together to take a donation to a thrift store. Health is bumpy, so haven't gotten out yet.
(And, in case anyone suggests, it really isn't enough to have a thrift store truck stop by.)
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Nenya
Shipmate
# 16427
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Starbug:
Mr Bug and I have just cleared out one of our kitchen cupboards - the one where we keep the chocolate! Embarrassingly, we had to chuck out a whole load of wasted bars that have long passed their expiry date.
It wouldn't happen in my house. Not ever.
I quite like cleaning out kitchen cupboards - you go to them so often that you get that "Ooo, look how tidy that is!" fix on a regular basis.
I'm currently trying to decide where to declutter next, I think it might be my dressing table. There again...
Nen - indecisive.
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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.
Posts: 1289 | Registered: May 2011
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Percy B
Shipmate
# 17238
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Posted
My study desk is always cluttered and I don't like it. I keep stuff I have yet to deal with on it and the pile grows.
I can't seem to break the habit.
I will try this year, but not yet ready to make that wish a resolution!
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Mary, a priest??
Posts: 582 | From: Nudrug | Registered: Jul 2012
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Nenya
Shipmate
# 16427
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Percy B:
My study desk is always cluttered and I don't like it. I keep stuff I have yet to deal with on it and the pile grows.
Mr Nen's the same - he fights a constant battle with piles of paperwork on his study desk. Every so often he has a sort out and half of it ends up in a pile on the floor on its way to the recycling. It can stay there for weeks.
I don't touch stuff in the study - that's his department. Like the shed and the garage.
Nen - knows her boundaries.
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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.
Posts: 1289 | Registered: May 2011
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
I'm trying to get myself together to take a donation to a thrift store.
A lot of non-profit organizations around here have dumpsters in shopping center parking lots. It makes it so easy to drop things off, and you don't feel like you have to have a whole box or bag full. Yesterday, in a parking lot where I was going anyway, I dropped off two pairs of jeans and a top for the Child Crisis Center. (You do have to be careful that they are really charitable concerns; some used clothing for-profit businesses have been known to put their dumpsters in parking lots without the permission of the owners.)
Hope you feel better, Golden Key.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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moonfruit
Shipmate
# 15818
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Posted
One of my ongoing ambitions is to declutter my classroom at school - I'm terrible for keeping hold of bits and bobs, for not getting work put away in kids folders, for generally accumulating junk. It has got better, but I still look at other teacher's classrooms and think 'how do you do it? how does it look so clean and tidy and lovely?'.
Any hints/tips, or just keep plugging away at it?
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All I know is that you came and made beauty from my mess.
Posts: 180 | From: Just outside the M25 | Registered: Aug 2010
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by moonfruit:
Any hints/tips, or just keep plugging away at it?
Yes - keep plugging away at it! Get the kids involved. Choose those who are really good at it - not the ones who 'deserve' or 'need' the job! If your kids are too young borrow some older ones. Give them the job daily 'till it's done, then weekly to keep on top of it.
Clear out cupboards completely - and only put back the stuff which is definitely going to live there. Take superfluous tat to the staffroom - it'll soon be snapped up!
Be ruthless. Only keep the stuff you genuinely will use again.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
I have to declutter my Christmas food stash - all those nibbles and treats that didn't get eaten simply are far too tempting and don't help with my plans to get back on the get fitter wagon.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
I have to declutter my Christmas food stash - all those nibbles and treats that didn't get eaten simply are far too tempting and don't help with my plans to get back on the get fitter wagon.
I took a trayful to Coffee Hour last Sunday, but I still have more here than I want. I might have to take some more this week.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Starbug
Shipmate
# 15917
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Posted
We are getting a Hippo bag tomorrow! Partly because we're getting a new stair carpet and we need to dispose of the old one. More importantly, this means that the Mess at the side of the house can finally be taken away. The Mess is a mish-mash of rubbish, including a wonky bird table, several bits of old chairs and a broken bathroom cabinet. I'll be so glad to wave goodbye to all of it!
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“Oh the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?” ― The Day of the Doctor
Posts: 1189 | From: West of the New Forest | Registered: Sep 2010
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
I have to declutter my Christmas food stash - all those nibbles and treats that didn't get eaten simply are far too tempting and don't help with my plans to get back on the get fitter wagon.
I've decluttered my Christmas food stash - but not in a good way
Fortunately I learned from last year and had a much smaller stash to start off with - but still far more than we needed.
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Thyme
Shipmate
# 12360
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Posted
I've been decluttering my filing cabinets while updating my computer and waiting for it to keep rebooting itself.
The room is a spare bedroom (fold up bed) and mainly used as an office cum sewing/ironing room. It has a built in wardrobe which is mainly used for my sewing patterns and fabrics. There is a growing pile of plastic boxes with other sewing/crafty stuff in them.
I feel that it's not very attractive to potential purchasers, but while we are waiting to sell I still want to use it, not just dress it up as a bedroom. Also I don't want to spend a lot of money on it.
The desk is a length of kitchen worktop placed over 3x2drawer filing cabinet positioned to create two kneeholes.
I've been thinking that I would like to get rid of the filing cabinets which give the room a rather utilitarian look*. I don't need an office as such, but it's difficult to get rid of all the paper files. I got some boxfiles with the idea of transferring the contents to boxfiles.
But I don't think I can winnow the contents down sufficiently to avoid creating a whole mountain of box files with nowhere to put them.
Maybe I could re-organise the wardrobe so it could contain most of the file contents in boxes? I will still need a worktop of some sort for the computer, printer, sewing machines, phone.
Any ideas? It is an attic room with restricted wall heights so I can't get another wardrobe.
*The drawers on one of them don't shut which makes the room look untidy all by itself. I lost the key and had to jemmy them open
[ 04. January 2013, 20:47: Message edited by: Thyme ]
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The Church in its own bubble has become, at best the guardian of the value system of the nation’s grandparents, and at worst a den of religious anoraks defined by defensiveness, esoteric logic and discrimination. Bishop of Buckingham's blog
Posts: 600 | From: Cloud Cuckoo Land | Registered: Feb 2007
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
I'm trying to get myself together to take a donation to a thrift store.
A lot of non-profit organizations around here have dumpsters in shopping center parking lots. It makes it so easy to drop things off, and you don't feel like you have to have a whole box or bag full. Yesterday, in a parking lot where I was going anyway, I dropped off two pairs of jeans and a top for the Child Crisis Center. (You do have to be careful that they are really charitable concerns; some used clothing for-profit businesses have been known to put their dumpsters in parking lots without the permission of the owners.)
Hope you feel better, Golden Key.
Thanks. I did finally make it to the thrift store.
Actually, there aren't any donation boxes around here, but there is a store in walking distance. It's a matter of being up to getting there, etc.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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