Decorating & Renovating
katie4253
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Pep-talk about organizing and purging?
I need someone to give me a cleaning pep-talk. We are in the very last parts of unpacking. We have some things that we need to go through and get rid of.
Anyone have any great tips for little things (power cords, random Health and Beauty items?) And, any "get rid of the sh*t you don't need* would be welcomed! We have purged so much (since we've been here and before we moved). But, we still have a few things that we need to make some decisions about.
Born at 31w3d due to severe IUGR & Placental Insufficiency--2lbs 3ounces
We'll miss you sweet Debbie Girl (4.21.12) and sweet Cindy Girl (8.9.12)
Re: Pep-talk about organizing and purging?
Especially after a move, I think about if it's been X months since the move and I haven't needed the item, it's ripe for Goodwill. Last year I made a major purge of college crap in boxes that had been moved literally 3 or 4 times through the years without ever being opened.
DS1 born June 2008 | m/c at 9w March 2011 | DS2 born April 2012
I'm going through this process now so I totally hear you! I've been hard core cleaning out and organizing everything since Jan. 1st and it's very liberating! We've been in our house for 5 years and 3 kids now so we've accumulated A LOT....but it's gotten to the point where I just need to get rid of things I'm just holding onto "in case we might need it."
This is the deal I made with myself...I have a corner of our basement that is my designated Goodwill area. If it's something I don't really think I need, I put it in that corner and if 3 months goes by and I don't use it, it goes. DH has strict orders to take that pile to the Goodwill on Jan. 1, April 1, July 1st, and Oct. 1! So far it's worked really well. I've had a couple twinges of pain from giving away all the little baby stuff we won't need anymore and maternity clothes, but I know it's better there than sitting in a box in the basement for no good reason!
Katie!
Get rid of that sh*t ASAP!
How's that?
JK. In all honesty, I'd just donate it. If you haven't missed it or use it since the move, donate it. You'll never know the difference. And if it's smaller stuff definitely do it. It's always at Target later. You don't usually miss what you don't have either.
I toss all my random health and beauty items I like but don't always use are in a cute little basket in my bathroom closet. When I'm bored with my routine and need to shake stuff up I go digging through it. The stuff I don't love so much I put in the guest bath closet in a basket (Kranikan has pretty much cleaned house on that..lol). The stuff I really hate I donate to the church resale shop. They'll take even open stuff for families in desperate need.
Power cords I have in a hanging pocket shoe bag on the back of my office closet door. It's fabulous!
From someone who lives in a small 1000sq ft home: You will feel like your house is huge when you get rid of the shiz. Seriously. Less is more. If you haven't looked at it, used it, or thought of it in a year, it needs to go. No if's, and's or butt's. If you're not currently using it and can't think of anything to use it for in the next hour, it needs to go. If you love it, but can't think of a good reason to keep it, it needs to go. Live simply!
We have a drawer dedicated to power cords. Each one is rubber banded. We actually went through it and noticed that some of the cords work for multiple devices and tossed extras.
We're not very good at organizing health and beauty items, I will admit. We each have our own basket in the bathroom, and one big one for cottonballs, qtips, bar soap, etc. The big basket we have is out of control and needs a cleaning.
I can't help you with purging power cords (my H is in IT and I swear it's against his "religion" to get rid of a stinkin computer cable), but for the H&B items, if I haven't used it in at least 2 months, I toss it. I usually put things I want to get rid of in a box, out of sight, to see if I want them in a few weeks. I have 2 Goodwill boxes right now and I haven't thought about the items inside of them since I boxed them up, so I need to get them there soon.
TTC Baby #2 - BFP on 12/14/11 @ 10DPO - CP confirmed 12/18/11
BFP #2 on 1/13/12
I think Jen did a cord organization post on iheartorganizing last week.
As for clutter, I could use the same pep talk
I am no help with purging power cords. We have a whole drawer in our tv stands with cables, cords, extenders, etc.
But I agree if you haven't missed it since you moved...get rid of it.
We're in the pre-moving stage of purging right now, so I feel your pain. In the last 9 months, we have donated so many boxes and bags of things to Goodwill that I'm embarrassed to admit how many.
Health & Beauty Items: If it's expired (smells bad, looks weird, etc), throw that sh!t out. When was the last time you used it? Does it work? I have a lot of special makeup that I rarely use, but I pared it all down to the stuff that actually looks good.
Power Cords: We have so many random power cords. As we organize and pack, I'm going to put them into a bin. If we find something without a cord, I'll see if it's in the bin. If it goes with the item, I'll pack them away together, but chances are if something hasn't had a cord in a while, it probably just needs donated. Any cords left over will probably be moved in that bin, and I'll continue the process when we unpack. Once everything's unpacked, the extra power cords (and all the extra internet cables) will go in the trash.
We moved into our current home 4 years ago. Since we've began purging for this move, I've found many boxes that hadn't been open and things that hadn't been on the wall since the last house. That's not happening this time around. If it isn't unpacked within a year, it's going to be sold or donated.
And for the pep talk: You can do it! Keep up the good work! You're amazing! You're a real clutter buster! (Does that work?)
Haha. My DH has the same religion!
I'm about to purge our garage. We can be " throw this crap out" buddies!
Planning!.....Married!
Power cords - I got my label maker out, labeled every last one of those (#*%#$s, rubber banded them individually, and put them in a plastic tote in a seldom used closet. It took some time, but it was so worth it - I rarely need anything out of there, but if I do, it's easier to find.
That's about all the advice I've got... but if you wanna come purge my house next, come on over!