Cleaning & Organizing
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
First time posting here, Need to do major decluttering.....
i have popped on this board on and off to get your great tips adn ideas for cleaning and organizing. So now i I have decided that for 2012 my goal is to reduce the amount of CRAP in my house by 25-30%. Papers, toys, clothes, misc housewares that are rarely used.
Where do you start and where do you find places to donate the stuff???
also how do you get your kids on board that all of the stuff is to much, they are 5, 4 and 2 ( not that the 2 yr old would notice)
thanks!!!!!
Re: First time posting here, Need to do major decluttering.....
You don't need most papers. I scan many things in, most product manuals are available to download, enroll in paperless billing and autopay. Take care of mail as soon as it comes in the house.
I have the hardest time getting rid of toys because I always think "they might want to play with that sometime". That's one of the only things I can't get rid of.
I have a bin in the basement with kitchen stuff that's never or rarely used, eventually I go through it and get rid of most of it.
For clothes, if you don't feel good in it, it's too big, uncomfortable, too small (unless you're actively working on losing weight), outdated, no longer age appropriate then get rid of it.
I'm addicted to bins and baskets for keeping things contained.
*edited for spelling
i don't have kids, so i can't answer that part of your question, but let me just give you this piece of advice: start small. i clean out my entire house every year after i'm done teaching for the summer, but i only do one room at a time. if you try to tackle too big of a chunk at a time, you're going to overwhelm yourself.
i would start by making a list, then checking off each finished project. one part of one room at a time. i would walk through the whole house with a notebook and write down everything you'd like to clean out: for example, don't write/try to tackle "the bathroom." break it down into "bathroom closet," "bathroom drawers," "bathroom vanity." then when you start emptying to go through/sort/throw out, you will have emptied only a small section of a room and not made yourself a huge, overwhelming mess. and you will be able to check things off your list more quickly, which feels awesome and will make you want to continue.
then again, i have obsessive-compulsive disorder, so this may just sound neurotic. hahaha
We have a bin in the attic for "donating." We donate everything that is reuseable and donate every textile, even if it's not re-useable as-is because our Goodwill will send unuseable textiles off for recycling into insulation, rags, etc. Check with your local Goodwill and they'll tell you whether they participate in textile recycling or not. We don't list those as deductible donations, but feel good about them because it's diverting things from a landfill and saving other resources. Every time our donating bin is full, we haul it in and get a charity receipt for the things that are in good shape.
I have no experience with kids, because I'm child-free, but I don't remember being that attached to stuff as a kid. I had a few toys I would have been mad about, but other than that, I think starting them out early with a less-is-better lifestyle is probably doing them a favor. I certainly wouldn't throw out their existing things without discussing it with them, but I'd clamp down on the flow of things into the house (e.g. if we buy a new toy, we're going to have to decide which old toy goes in the donation bin).
I think finding the sources of junk coming into the house and shutting them down are a big part of decluttering. I've almost convinced my family that we prefer experience type gifts or, from my mom, things she's made as a seamstress (un-paper towels, washable Swiffer pads, hemmed curtains, etc.) as gifts, rather than stuff. If you could maybe tell family members that your kid would prefer a trip to the zoo with said family member rather than a new toy, or a donation to his college fund rather than a toy or outfit, that's also a good way to stem the tide.
For bills, I'm mostly signed up with e-delivery that cuts down on the flow into the house.
Edited: I said I have "no advice" about kids, but I obviously do, haha.
oh, and i should add: my sister and i have a yard sale together every summer to get rid of all the junk. you'd be amazed at what people will buy. and it's great bonding time.
we pack the unpurchased junk up at the end of the day and drop it off at the goodwill.
I agree with all of this. For clothing, I donate anything that is still wearable. There are multiple organizations that will come to your home and pick things up off your front step, so it couldn't be easier.
Donating toys is tougher because most organizations only want new or very gently used toys. I can't speak for others, but my kids can do some serious damage to a toy after a few years of use. If your goal is to donate, you may find that only a small portion is donation-worthy. I have donated the rest to my kids' pre-school.
Huge ditto to being addicted to bins and baskets. I am a bit compulsive about organizing things in plastic bins and putting labels on them for quick reference. Sometimes I worry that my house is going to start looking like a container store!
I do this too. Trying to tackle just one room at a time isn't so bad. It is always amazing to me how much I throw out, or what stuff I thought was important enough to keep a year ago, but now I can toss. If a room is too much, just do a dresser or a closet at a time.
I really try to think to myself: "Do I need this any time soon?" and "If I get rid of this and need it at a later date is it replaceable/can I afford to replace it?"
In terms of starting, it can be helpful to make lists of goals of what you'd like to see done, with an end vision:
1) I want all the papers I have to be organized and fit into the file cabinet I have
2) I want to be able to close the kitchen cabinets and know that I have room for all of my appliances that I need to reach on a daily basis
3) I want my kids to be able to choose from 20 (?) of their favorite toys whenever they like.
4) I want to come home from work and know that whatever I dump on the table where my purse and keys and mail goes will not be a bottomless pit of ignored "to-do's"
5) I want to spend less than 2 minutes every morning finding a great outfit for me to wear, that looks good, fits, and makes me feel good about myself
Setting vision can help motivate you to get to where you want to go.
Then you can start with really small things with clearly obvious outcomes at the end of each round:
1) I have too many shoes and only wear 5 pairs regularly, but I probably need 2 or 3 "special pairs". Time to whittle down the collection
2) I have too many pieces of tupperware that I could never possibly use at once, and half the bottoms don't have lids, half the lids don't match bottoms. I probably only need 12 sets of matching bottoms and tops total. Time to prioritize the keepers get rid of the rest.
3) I save every bill. I don't NEED to save every bill. I'm going to purge what i don't need at all any more, scan what i do need to save but can do electronically, and organize my "must keep in paper" files neatly, and make sure I have an "inbox" for dealing with incoming paper in the future.
etc...
As for the kids toys, and getting them to let go or see they have too much stuff, maybe you can go about it by appealing to their notion of sharing with others -- "let's pick 5 toys each that we think that another little boy or girl who isn't as lucky to have the toys you have might like to have." Honestly, whether or not their in donatable condition is not the point; you want them to be in a position to be able to review what they have, prioritize, let go, and encourage sharing. It's up to you to go through the final bin to determine what can be donated, and what should be discarded.
My favorite tip overall: Set the clock for 15 minutes. See how much you can do on ONE task in 15 minutes. Don't let yourself have distractions (i know it's tough with kids to find even 15 minutes a day, so, make it 5 if you have to!). Attach the tupperware stash, the junk drawer, the mail pile, the gloves/mittens/hats in the front closet, the cleaning supplies under the sink, the spice drawer, the sheets in the linen closet, anything that it small, has a really limited space, and can be tackled in one focused spurt of attention.
Good luck! Set small goals for each week and you'll see them add up before you know it!
These are all such great ideas!!!! thank you all so much. i am going to do the checklist tonight after the kids go to sleep and start making donate/ throw away bins in the basement to put the stuff i want to get rid of, thank you all for getting me going!
I don't know where you are in NJ, but being able to find a great charity really helps to get rid of things.
Where I am, we are ALWAYS getting packaged bags from Lupus or the United War Veterans Council. You can just throw your old clothes and even stuffed animals in the bag.
There are also many thrift stores where we live. They are run by the Jr. League, Jr. Women's club, Service League, etc. of many towns/counties.
I am not always a fly-lady follower, but for decluttering she says to donate 15 minutes a day. Set your timer, then get to work on a small area. When the timer goes off, stop. She also says to throw away (23? 22?) things, and give away 23 things. Put the "give away" things in one bag so you can get rid of them right away.
Ooh, this makes me so excited for you! You'll feel great once you release some of your clutter. I always like to think about the good the item could do for someone else vs. it sitting in my closet.
I like to donate to Goodwill, the women's shelter, the women's shelter thrift store, dress for success (business wear), mr holland's opus (musical instruments), the glass slipper project (used prom and bridesmaid dresses), habitat for humanity restore, the local recycling center which has a swap table (for all kinds of things like half a can of paint, cleaning agents you no longer need, etc), the animal shelter (old blankets, towels), books to the local library, and also post things on Craigslist.
I put everything that needs to leave my home in a big bin (I keep an empty one under my bed) and when it's full, then I decide where each item should be donated, but under no circumstance does it go back into circulation in my home.
We're getting ready to downsize to 400-600 square feet in LA, so I've become a master de-clutterer.
You can do it!
i second this. since i don't have kids, i can do more than 15 minutes, but setting a timer for a certain length of time is so awesome to help you focus and really get something done.
one more trick, if you can call it that. i used to watch the show "Clean Sweep" all the time, and i learned this trick from peter walsh (love him): once you touch something, you have to figure out what to do with it. you can't put it back down to figure it out later. this has helped me when sorting through piles of papers or whatever--i only have to deal with each item once instead of sorting through things over and over.
One thing that can help me sometimes is actually an idea from flylady. You just grab a trash bag, maybe when you are about to change the trash bag anyway, just grab a fresh bag and run around a room grabbing any trash that you see. Then if it's nearly empty still, use it when you empty your kitchen trash.
It's a good way to find the trash that's cluttering up your house that you don't really see - old mail you've set aside that you think you'll get to, but never will, and just need to get rid of for example. I expect you'll be able to get the kids involved with that project fairly often. It can take very little time, and if you only get halfway through the room, so be it.
I'm am learning the 'take it slow' advice - I tend to ttake on too much when it comes to decluttering, lol. Every little bit adds up over time, even though you'll have to re-do it periodically (esp with little kids).
I am moving in 2-3months and this post has really helped me out.
I do not have kids but my sister gets my niece to pick out 2-3 toys every November to donate to a local Shelter. (My sister used the shelter when she left her X and she was to ashamed to tell our parents about him abusing her.)
I agree on the taking things slow end. I always take on more cleaning then I can handle and I end up giving up.
One way to stay motivated that has held me accountable is that I take a photo of the before & after ... then every once in awhile, I'll go back & look at them. I find it very inspirational to see how clean & organized everything can be.
ETA: I also use the timer on the oven in the kitchen. If I have 15 mins or more where I am cooking something, I use that time to clean/straighten either the living room or the kitchen.
I know I'm probably jumping in late, but here are three things I always ask myself and tell my clients to ask themselves when I/we come across something:
1) Do you love it?
2) Do you need it?
3) Do you use it?
If the answer isn't yes to at least one of those, then whatever it is should be donated/purged/thrown away. There really isn't much that doesn't fall into at least ONE of those three categories. Those should help you quickly purge stuff.