Inspiration? I think YOU might get me to get my on-again/off-again decluttering movement moving again. It's CAP inspiration! Thanks!

I've put the matches away and might try to clean out the sock drawer. It's a start.

Awesome!

Wow - I could have written this! I went through a crazy re-organizing spin a while ago, and yes, made a bigger mess than when I started. Considered hiring a professional organizer so that I wouldn't keep wasting $$$ at Container Store buying the wrong type of storage solution. I also have a scary storage room behind my house that needs a big purge. I want to move to a bigger/better place, but I'm scared to move all my crap that I've accumulated. You're the best, and I'm going home to organize!! XO

De-cluttering helps me think. It's hard to study in a messy bedroom or living space, since your eye just jumps from one dusty/out-of-place/excess thing to another. Good on you for attacking the mess - you've inspired me to tackle another round of cleaning!

Cool. The tip about one small thing to overcome inertia is probably the best one. I actually looked at my desk yesterday and thought "I need to sort out my filing". I do that a lot, actually, but yesterday I actually did it. I made it so that it would be easy to file stuff into the files right away instead of creating a "To Be Filed" pile that had over a year of stuff in it and towered menacingly over the rest of my desk. And my little rack for 'current' files now has current files in it. Amazing.

I go through the same cycle, as does one of my closest girlfriends. We live opposite lives - she has 3 kids and a husband, I have 3 cats and a commitment problem - but we are both hoarders from way back.

She copes with the FlyLady approach - I sort of pop in on that site every now and then. But the idea is the same as yours: small steps are better than no steps, and no one wants to be owned by their stuff :o)

Man, I need to go home and purge (clutter, not lunc ;o))

"I love to talk about decluttering way more than I love to do it"

Me too me too!

I am also an expert in theoretical-decluttering-from-a-distance; i.e., when I'm not home, I am way more inspired than when I am actually physically in the Clutter Zone. I make all these plans, set all these goals, then get home and think yeah, or I could lie on the couch with cats/knitting/a book and watch CSI/Grey's Anatomy/House.

In all those photos I sent you yesterday I forgot/refused to show you my scariest room: the dreaded garage. 20 boxes of Christmas decorations, sports junk, yarn, lawn equipment and boxes from when my mom died that I still can't open, paper work, outgrown kids clothes, cat food, dog food, freezer, pantry closet, etc. etc. etc.

I will go downstairs now and TRY to photograph it. If I don't have a stroke and/or panic attack I'll send it to you.

What a great post, but all I can think of is how much I love the way the mighty Sobatator wraps her arms tight around her boy Roy.

I personally started the ball rolling by buying all new unmentionables and tank tops (that actually fit well) in each main color - (start organizing by shopping? - hey it's so crazy it just might work!)
Now at least, I feel confident to box up and get rid of all my old rarely-if-ever-worn clothing items without the fear that I'll be forced to go naked. Which also means that post-purge I can actually put everything away in the drawers that currently resemble fabric fountains, and they may actually close for the first time in months (ahem, years).
I also use the 'yard sale box in garage method' for clothes I am somehow attached to but never wear. It's much easier to justify when you haven't even looked in the box in months (years).

Val-Pak!! Bwhahahahaha! I get those all the time! I hate those things. I never even open them. Straight to the trash they go!

You know what people say: if you haven't used/worn/needed something for over a year, get rid of it.

PLUS they also say that having too much (useless)stuff hanging around attracts negative energy. Or is it too much old stuff? Either way, it's at least a good excuse, nobody wants to have an extra amount of negativity under that pile of dusty books in the living-room. Right?

Can't give away the cats, though, They may be scary, but they're people(!) just like you. Good luck!

Brianne!!! Actually that is my EXACT strategy for the kitchen.

See, I have just a few crappy leftover pans and cooking pots, Mr. X took all the good stuff when he left.

(WHY? Like he ever even went into the kitchen???)

But anyway. For too long I have felt bad about my kitchen stuff, but I am not fiscally able to purchase all new stuff. So I started saving a teensy bit of money away and I, too, plan to buy a few perfect kitchen things and then give away/sell all the mismatched, desperate, ugly and bad cooking stuff.

I really only need two cookie sheets and two pots and two pans. So I want them to be REALLY good ones, that I will love and they'll last and then all the junk (47 scratched/rusting/blackened/warped cookie sheets, ahem) can go away.

A friend of mine used to live in Gloucester, where we visited her once, but only once, because although Gloucester is beautiful and very, very cool (the quaintly charming downtown with all the photogenic red brick is located a very short walk from the docks, where something is always fishy, aromatically speaking), it is a good hour from our house if there is no traffic. (Also, she lived in a third-floor walkup, not convenient if you have a 70-pound child who can't walk.)

However, a day trip to her place was well within the realm of possibility, something that cannot be said for your house. PLEASE MOVE TO GLOUCESTER. If you do, I promise not to show up with a carload of my junk, er, lovely housewarming gifts. (What do you mean, you don't want a COBOL textbook? It might be valuable someday.)

And the Sobatator loves her Roy, and protects him :)

One place I am having a REALLY hard time paring down, and it is so stupid! but anyway. I have WAY too many home office supplies. Paper, envelopes, sticky notes, pens, binder clips (!!!) you name it. I am like the master hoarder of all things office supplyish.

I really want to move to Gloucester. I love fishing towns, I love ocean places that are cold and have boats. I am in fact somewhat obsessed with them!

Thanks for answering my ?, Laurie.

Here's my tried-and-true cleanup method: I set a timer for 15 minutes and clean until it rings. Fifteen minutes doesn't feel like forever (it's very similar to your small steps approach), but its long enough to change 2 litterboxes and vacuum everything that got kicked out. Or scrub the bathroom. Or unload the dishwasher and put in a new load of dishes. It gets the cleaning momentum going. If I don't finish the task (eg, clean the garage) in 15 minutes, no sweat. I'll come back later and do another 15 minutes of work. I usually do a series of 15-min tasks (different task every period), interspersed by 15 min breaks when I feel that I need a rest (usually 1 break for every hr of cleaning). Best of luck!

Ha! I'm with you with the office supplyish stuff. But, if you're like me, you hate to throw it away (& really it's not "worth" passing along to someone else, lest they think you might be a little nuts) because you MIGHT need it sometime in the next eleven-hundred years.

My problem(s) tend to be that I start decluttering and get tired just about the time I get everything OUT, so there it stays, OUT making me more tired and less motivated everytime I see it. I'm to the point now where I have literally empty dresser drawers but no room to walk in my bedroom.

My goal is to completely clutter my couch so it cannot suck me into it's comfy ways... I know this means I'll end up watching TV from the floor but I have to believe it'll work sometime.

We can do this...

Great topic. I too am in a decluttering phase right now. I find it useful to make a "stuff I'm thinking about getting rid of" pile. Most of the time I end up getting rid of all the "thinking of" pile anyways after about a week of staring at it all, but I find that to be a useful psychological trick when I find myself unusually attached to something I know I really don't need/want/can't stand cleaning/don't want to lug around to another apartment. A shelf in a closet can be reserved as a permanent "thinking of" holding place for those who are super organized to keep things uncluttered.

This comments to this post on Apartment Therapy also has some interesting thoughts on clutter and the debate on throwing out vs. giving away: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/at-book/the-eight-step-home-cure-excerpt-i-006640

Also, Laurie, I'm curious, do you really think about moving to Boston? I love it here so you don't have to convince me that it's great, but I'm curious why a Southern gal who loves LA would trade it in for the Northeast.

Best of luck with the decluttering!!! Long live Clean Sweep!

I hoard office supplies above all else. A few years ago, my husband made me get rid of two giant boxes full of notebooks from when I was in elementary and high school. I kept them because most were half-empty, and I could possibly use that paper sometime in the future.

Then, he made me get rid of the 1,000 pens I was keeping, most of which were half-full, again, because they were still good! He did let me keep about 20 that I was emotionally attached to.

Maybe because blizzards are much more fun than earthquakes?

I want to hear more about your love for Dyson. Personally, I have an old Hoover that I keep getting repaired that seems to pick up enough pet hair, but.... don't tell Mr. Hoover, but I really covet a Purple Dyson. I always go look at them when I'm in Target or Best Buy or Circuit city, etc.

On another note, one of my personal heros is a friend of mine that just moved to Spain. He packed a couple suitcases to take with him and only kept here what would fit in a small storage unit. My clutter freaks him out a little.

My clutter problem is my husband. When I met him, I was a packrat and he was a minimalist. All he owned was a bedroll, some clothes and a piece of sculpture. Flash forward 21 years. We've switched rolls. He is the packrat and I am the minimalist. All I really collect are books and knitting supplies. And I could toss those in a heartbeat to move to Paris, Rome, Canada. Because they sell books and knitting things in those places too, right?

Every day I make myself throw out one thing. If I go shopping I have to throw out one more thing than I brought home. I figure this way one day I'll look up and the pile o' crap will be gone.

Note: These are not things that can be reused - clothes, kitchenware, etc go to Goodwill once in a blue moon - this is really just trashy trash.

I have been thinking/fantasizing a lot about moving to Boston because:

1) I love to knit and a cold climate might come in handy what with my 47 scarves and all

2) Perhaps I am delusional, but maybe men on the east coast will not be so whatgrass/flaky/"I'm a screenwriter slash actor slash womanizer." Los Angeles dating is really scary.

3) I love the accent

4) I like baked beans. Hmmmm. :)

Truth, though -- I fantasize about moving when I am really stressed out and overworked. Right now is one of those times. I love me a good cut 'n run fantasy ;)

Leah, I also form emotional attachments to pens.

I am SO glad to know that I/you/we are not alone in our daunting piles of crap... and our creative ways of either justifying or dealing with it.
I'm currently deciding on a new bedroom configuration, in hopes that moving everything will make me more motivated to toss the unnecessary items and integrating storage I'll actually use will change my routine.

Heh. Perfect Storm Sandwich. I love it. Drop me a line if you're ever in the Boston area. We'll pick up some mayo and head over to Gloucester together. :)

Oh. My. Goodness.

This was just a 'I like to read what Raurie writes so I'll keep reading' post. UNTIL.

Purple. Dyson.

Did you say something after that? Sorry, can't hear you over the daydream of visiting all the yummy goodness that resides in your teetiny house--cats, you, yarn.....and Purple Dyson!!!!!

(Note to self: public declarations of stalker-dom are bad. Must stop. Must make new plan to trick Laurie into inviting me to live with her.....oops, forgot that whole public declarations thing again........)

Perfect Storm Sandwich as a Goal to be reached by Decluttering your house enough to invite them over!!!
Keep at it, little by little it will get done.

I think the "declutter" vibe is strong in the knitting world. Ann over at Mason-Dixon Knitting threw out 18 Hefty bags worth of cleaner this week.

Books are my clutter weakness, too.

Oh, Leah, I am *so* with you. I still have several boxes of notebooks and pens in the attic. I don't think my husband knows this.

Laurie, come visit! I will take you on a pub crawl. As advertised, I am 12 years older than you, don't wear makeup, have never had my nails done, and dress in the height of 5-year-old-LL-Bean-catalog fashion. How can you lose?

Laurie, you'e got to come to Boston at least for a visit--all of your Boston area stalkers (er, readers) would love to have a great big Stitch N Bitch with you. Oh, and I was in Gloucester 2 weeks ago...it's looking a bit, well, empty. Try Rockport instead...they have boats, galleries, and yarn stores!

I hear ya on the clutter. I'm the queen of shopping bags--I have tons of them (filled and unfilled) all over the place. Also, when I was younger and then in college I would use cleaning as a good way to procrastinate, because it was a justifiable reason for not writing a paper, etc. Now that I'm a grown up, there's nothing for me to have to procrastinate on when I'm at home because there's not much that I have to do that I don't want to do (except cleaning).

Laurie,
Try www.shesintouch.com Sidetracked home executives. It's helped me bunches! You can get books and read about it too!
T.

I thought I was the only one who fantasized about moving to Boston. In my dream, I am rich, and I own a brownstone in Back Bay, and I walk my yorkies on Newberry Street. Come to the East Coast, Laurie. We will make you feel welcomed!

Hmmmm... I have been eyeballing the Dysons for a while now...

What works for me (also ratracing 9 hours a day plus a 2 hour commute) is to do an itty-bitty teeny-tiny bit of "clutter control" as I walk through my house to and from the mailbox. (I live in a 2 bedroom bungalow so it's all on the way.) You know, picking up ripped envelopes last week's bills came in, throwing dirty clothes in the hamper, etc.

Saturday is my fun play day.

On Sunday morning, after I've sat for a few minutes and enjoyed a GInormous bowl of Count Chocula and some CBS Sun. Morning (I know, it's geriatric TV), I put some really good bouncy music on and do "the big clean". Counters, sweeping, vacuuming.

And if this doesn't keep me up--I usually invite somebody I want to impress over to the house. It forces me to clean. It won't work for friends or family who watched you grow up cluttered--it's best to invite someone who would shun you socially if they knew the squalor in which you lived. :-) For me, that's my retired neighbor Lorna.

Lorna is hardcore. She sweeps the sidewalks every morning. She stencils the driveway. She makes water from scratch. Frankly, she scares me straight. :-)

Anyway. That may be the longest, most rambling comment I have ever left for you.

Kudos on the 'box in the garage' idea though--I'm definitely going to start doing that.

I often go to estate sales and think, "Sheesh! I REALLY don't want my place looking like this when I'm gone!"

But I think the George+Marky Mark motivation is _much_ more compelling!

Oh, come to Boston! That's not too far from where I am in SW-NH. And just think in a month or so the leaves will be soooooo pretty and the air will be crisp and smelling of wood smoke and you can wear your knits!!

I love Boston.. it used to be my dream to live right in the city for a year before I had kids. Life is funny with it's tricks though

You totally inspired me. I purged 2 bankers boxes of books from my shelves and am starting on the closets today.

Yay less clutter!

Hi Laurie! Your tips are dead-on. I also will start with a small thing, then move on to another, all the while the washing machine hums out my work rythm. I take it a step further, but this is because I have a man and a long hair cat to clean up after, and I will set the microwave timer for the time alotted to complete said task. If it's not done, I stop. But it's usually done my then and I have already started something else. Oh, except that today I am baking a decorating a cake for 140 PEOPLE DUE ON FRIDAY....Help, please, God, someone help me.....

What you've said has really hit home. I am a packrat who used to be perfectly okay with all my stuff. In fact, I thought I needed more stuff. But, recently, I'm finding my stuff intolerable. I go to visit family or stay in a hotel where there are clean lines and no piles of anything and I can feel myself start to unwind and breathe easy again. I'm attracted to pictures of rooms that are spartan. In short, I've grown out of my stuff. It's time for it to go. Conveniently, I'm moving to Pasadena in about a month, so I have great inspiration for getting rid of things ("Do I want to ship this empty shoe box halfway across the country? No.").

Boston is beautiful. I went to college there and my husband's from there and I always look forward to visiting. Not very many people have the accent, though (my husband barely has one at all).

After a long consultation with my therapist (aka Maddie the dog) I've shared the contents of my garage with you. Please be kind; I am very fragile right now.

hanging head in shame :o[

When my boyfriend of 15 years moved out, I had the immense joy of getting rid of our/his/my clutter. I actually had to hire a hauler to come take it all away to the junk yard (and that was just the junk!).

Something I could sell, but don't want to deal with? Screw it - I put it on the sidewalk and if someone takes it, great; if not, into the trash bin it goes on trash day. The "one-day I'll..." syndrome is finally gone. Chair needed fixing for 5 years? Out. Dishes I don't use? Out.

I loved the way my house felt after I started doing that so much that I started throwing things away almost at random. Pairs of socks I hated but kept washing and putting back into the drawer? I'll take them off after wearing them, remember why I hate them, and put them straight into the trash. Shoes that I used to love but don't wear? Make room in the shoe rack for the cute new leopard print slings. Take that and multiply it by everything I own and (with the exception of books and remote controls) I have a house I can actually move around in!

I am glad to know that there are at least 2 other people who are emotionally attached to pens. I think it's more that I am emotionally attached to writing, the old fashioned way, which doens't involve a keyboard. It's bizarrely theraputic for me. the prettier the pen, the better I feel.

And you have inspired me, along with many others I am sure. I emailed the sig. other suggesting we get started on the dreaded yard sale. Because when we moved, I put 3 boxes which held things for which I just couldn't find a place, in the attic. I was thinking that in 1 year if I had not had to delve into these boxes and thus hadn't missed these items, that I could sell them. And, well, a year has came and went... it's that time!

OMG, Gloucester. . . I lived there for one year and though it is lovely it is also cold and humid at the same time, which is a very strange combination for us Southern Girls. I'd be like, "Why does my bed feel so weird?" The bedding would absorb the moisture in the air. Stick with the dream. Like so many, it's better than the reality!

A book I found very useful in my downsizing endeavours was Karen Kingston's "Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui". Lots of practical advice and motivation wrapped up in that whole feng shui thingy. She even talks about clutter clearing your body! And perhaps it available at your local library (it is at mine) so you don't have to add to your clutter by buying it.

Ohhhh...just got an email from my mother-in-law. She wants to have a yard sale next weekend. Pray for me ya'll.

Re: office supply stashes - I too am guilty.
Mine needs to just be thrown out as I work at an office that amazingly HAS It's OWN Supplies!?!
I acquired it all at once, in a hording frenzy.
The global company I worked for closed its Santa Cruz office for a building in Anaheim. Instead of shipping the supplies to the new office, they let all of us laidoff employees take whatever we could carry. Nothing like a little compensation.

Omg, I thought I was the only one who hoarded pens! And why? I hardly use them, what with email and all. I just like knowing they're there if I need them. Every few years I get the urge to declutter (including all the pens I never use!) but my house just fills up again. I'm at the point where I'm needing to purge again, thanks to Laurie and all these posters! I feel great after I've done it although it can take weeks. But I'm always happy afterwards. Sometimes in my enthusiasm, though, I've regretted getting rid of some things but, oh well, I lived!

Elisabeth said not many people from Boston have the accent. Funny, cuz my daughter and I were talking about the same thing today, only we're from Texas. Growing up in the city, she doesn't think she has an accent but it's there, although slight. Her relatives in Colorado can hear it.

Oh, and I wanna Dyson so bad! I'm inspired to get one even though I only have one kitty. Love any and all kitty pics that you post, Laurie!

Hey, I heard there's a new Bissell vac for pet hair that might give Dysons a run for their money. But is it purple?

I try to declutter every few days, or relaly, just tidy up. I've gotten in the habit of asking my kids and dh to help out, say 10 minutes before we leave. It makes reentry into the home much nicer.

I know that the start small way is the bset way, but I often end up getting so OCD about it that I'll spend several hours at once doing the clearing. But now, I have very little left to do around the house; just stay on top of it. It's a different story with the blackberries threatening a hostile takeover of my entire house and yard.

does a perfect storm sandwich really go with a bowl of baked beans??

Definitely come out to Boston to check it out - you've already got a lot of friends here, even if you don't know us yet.

As far as the cleaning goes, the best peice of advice I've ever received from a book was from Feeling Good, the cognitive behavioralist bible. Not really so muhc advice as a motto: "Action precedes motivation." In other words, if you wait until you're inspired to do something, you'll never do it. You have to start doing something, and then you'll get motivated to do more. Essentially, your "just do the sock drawer" theory. Now when there's something I don't want to do (like clean my apartment or exercise) I say I'm going to do it for just 3 minutes. Three becomes five becomes ten. And maybe I stop after fifteen, but fifteen is better than none. It's helped a lot.

Unfortunately, there's no way to just do three minutes of laundry at the laundromat fifteen minutes' walk away. Sigh.

I'm a flylady fan myself but heads up if you sign up for eMail she will hound you!!!

I love her 27 fling!

Go around the house with a bag and throw/give away 27 items that are not trash, or at least that is my version of it. However it goes.

wow you're cool. I (intend to) do the 15-minutes-at-a-time thing. Sometimes I actually do the 5-minutes-at-a-time thing. That's a bit more realistic for me. thanks for the inspiration.

Living in a small space helps with the clutter. It's me and two kids and a dog in 1100 sq. ft. If I don't use or love it, it has to go. And when the kids are in bed and I'm in my lovely blue living room with the dog at my feet and the candles glowing, I can look around and know that I'm surrounded by all of the things I love and none of the things I don't. Like, say, my ex.

I'm am so with you on the Perfect Storm sandwich. Can we both be in that sandwich? You know, like peanut butter and jelly? Do you want to be the PB or the J?

You inspired me, Laurie! First to go - 8 skeins of LB Homespun - like knitting with binder twine. Then, the dust bunnies the size of Holsteins lifting the bed off the floor.

whenever I start to feel intimidated by my clutter I watch "Fight Club" and listen to Brad Pitt's tirade about stuff.

between his rock hard abs and his anti-consumerist ranting, I'm ready to go.

just sayin.

You don't worry about the Flylady emails--you can delete most of them. Daily stuff doesn't have to be opened. Testimonials, I pick and choose depending upon the subject line. Laurie, you are so ready for her philosophy--babysteps, shining the sink, set the timer, automatic routines. There are days when my routines get done during TV commercials--it's amazing how much can get done in a short amount of time.

This topic is very familiar to me. We've been trying to minimize our stuff for about a year now. We moved from North Carolina to California last year, and many of our things were damaged in the move. It got us thinking a lot about "stuff" and what it really means in the big scheme of things. We also moved into a smaller place, so a lot of the stuff we did have didn't fit in the new space. We just went through our books and got rid of atleast half of them (well, we put them in boxes in the garage, but they'll get sold/donated eventually). But we're also trying to really think a lot more about the things that we buy, so we can nip the accumulation of stuff in the bud. Yarn is exempt from this, of course.

As is the Scaling Down book you recommended yesterday. I went straight from the post to Amazon, and it will be here tomorrow. Buying stuff to learn how to minimize stuff. Yay! :)

um, George belongs to me...

Girl! Sign up for the Freecycle.org list in your area. It's set up to help people get rid of things they no long want but, for whatever reason(s), don't want to donate or sell and don't want to see it end up in a landfill. You can also request things you need. And this is all FREE. When you post something that you want to get rid of, the person who "wins" it by being first to respond has to come pick it up, so you don't even have to mail/transport, etc. So far I have received a mountain bike, George Foreman Grill, marble tiles,etc. I see people offering everything from lumber scraps to hot tubs here in the Nashville area, so I'm sure whatever you want to get rid of would find welcome recipients in your area. If you try it, let me know! I know I've been really happy with this here. Good luck!

This really resonated with me. When I got divorced, I had to leave behind everything except what I could carry. Less than a car load. The furniture, the dishes, every purchase that seemed so important at the time. Now, I am gradually accumulating stuff again, but that experience changed me, changed my opinion of what I require for my personal happiness and how much I need for day to day living. I'm hoping to do a major decluttering session soon--the stuff is inching up and I feel constricted again. I try to remember the glorious terrifying freedom of starting over to inspire me.

I've had myself a few coffeeshop conversations about the whole pen addiction. New pen, new spiral, cheap therapy. At present, I'm stuck on the G2. They are fab.

Keep talking...you may just inspire me to clean up my cluttered mess of a condo. I am in the category of people who make a bigger mess cleaning up the current mess. It's great to hear I'm not the only one!

Along the lines of doing one small thing. I have a friend who was facing the daunting task of reorganizing, cleaning out and someone recommended to her that she throw away 27 (pick a number) things each day. Now 27 of those things might be lint balls or paper clips--doesn't matter--but you must get rid of 27 of them before you can rest. Worked for her and was kinda like a game. Games are good, as long as you know the rules and have made a decision to play them!

I still want to declutter, but I also still kind of want to just move out and take one carload of stuff with me....

And Becky? Right there with you on the pen thing!

France is really worth the trip. You should do it.

It's really the perfect place to go because it's very pretty to look at, but there are not a lot of the comforts of home, so although it's great to visit, you wouldn't want to stay there.

But it's definately worth the trip.

If you need to see some reallly cute cats in some deep, deep kid clutter, check in with Trixie's View. Scroll down to the media influences....

And a purple vaccum....WOW!

I am so with you I can barely type. It seems like I spent the first 30 years of my adult life accumulating stuff and now I'm going to spend the next 30+ years of my life getting rid of it all.
I have way too much....pottery, dishes (what the heck was I thinking? Dishes?) Books ( I have book gluttony in the extreme) clothes of varying size ranges and decades, papers (am I going to need those college papers, EVER?!) , magazines, photographs, (really, they're going to end up in a dumpster anyway, burn em!)
I am unable to dust without a major production. A house-cleaner would have a heck of a time trying to make heads or tails of any horizontal surface. I am practising a scorched earth policy and leaving myself with the bare minimum of stuff. Slowly, scorching the earth, slowly.
loveyoupurl

I love my pen collection and my purple Dyson (which is getting a well-deserved overhaul at the vacuum place), and I am overwhelmed by STUFF. I purge constantly -- it's a daily battle for me. So this post totally resonated with me.

I don't knit, but I quilt, which doesn't help my attempts to declutter, because I have enough fabric to cover every bed in my town, I think, and of course I NEED all of that fabric!

We went to an estate sale recently and they were . . . collectors. Even my 12-year-old SON was horrified.

Laurie, I used to live in Pasadena and agree with you on the state of men in So Cal, scary!! So many plastic, shallow, terrified men there. I had to get my ass back to the South. I've done the NE thing too, that was fun for a while. But what can I say, I'm just a Southern gal I guess. It's my reset button.

Wishing to be the filling in a George/Mark sandwich...is NOT crazy. Mmmm...George/Mark sandwich...

You'll have to fight me for Mr. Dyson because I LOVE MY DYSON!!!!! That doesn't get me to use it any more, but damn, when I do, it's good times.

I with you on the decluttering. I used to have sentimental attachments to everything. Like my mom, I was a packrat. Then after she died, I had to clean out the house. I learned pretty quick that "It's just stuff" was my mantra and I started working by making split second decisions--if I didn't know as soon as I picked it up that I HAD to keep it, whatever it was got donated or trashed. If I had to think it over for more than a few minutes, it went into a box for reconsideration. I revisited the box every few months and realized that a lot of what I thought I had to hang on to could go...because the memories that I attached to it weren't a part of the thing itself. So the stuff went, except for a few boxes...which I'll revisit in a year or so.

Anyhow, a year of intense cleaning has made me much less of a packrat. Except for yarn. That stays.

I understand about the Dyson. My husband swears I love it more than him. He doesn't pick up dog hair, it does. He talks back and it just says "okay, I'll pick up the hair ball from hell for you". Besides, it's purple, how can it be wrong on any level? I'm convinced there are states in this country that would allow a marriage to a Dyson?

Oh, my Mr. Dyson. Around here, our purple Dyson is not just a vacuum. We call it the Terminator because it is so menacing. We also joke that if we are not careful, our 2-month-old baby will somehow get sucked into the cyclonic vortex. I am so in love.

when i read that you formed emotional attachments to pens, i thought you said penis. which would have grammatically incorrect of course.

do you know that i've lived in the boston area for 20 years, in boston for 18 of those years and have not yet once set foot in gloucester?!

come and we'll go together. you'll need a translator.

by the way, my husband has the accent. it's wicked pissah.

I saw somewhere the other day to pick a number like...27 whatever you want and throw that number of things away that day. Whether its a q-tip or a piece of mail just add up to the number you pick and daily, little by little you'll declutterize!

I used to move on a regular basis. That's about the only way that I ever de-clutter. For company, I just hide the stuff. That's why lots of closet space is essential wherever I live.

You should check out http://www.flylady.net . She helps you take baby steps to make a clean and clutter-free home. The site is a little odd, but the process is a great one!

Soba and Roy look like they've just been caught by a private eye in their secret love nest.

Good luck with the decluttering, you will be free! free! And then you can come to Boston! Just in time for the Knit-Out, which is coming to the Boston Common on Sept. 24th, so there's still time.

Go! Go! You only have your clutter to lose.

Except for the four cats (which you can replace with 3-almost-4-people, who accumulate much more clutter and help out as much as four cats), I'm living your life. I've been actively and passively hacking away at our mess for the past year or so.

I have more organizing and cleaning books than you can shake a stick at (since I actually do live in France and can't just go to the English bookstore for that). I, too, use them as inspiration. I actually reread parts from time to time when I need to get remotivated.

My favorite so far is a book called "Organizing From the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern. She's got decluttering tips, but she also helps you organize the stuff you actually plan to keep. It's made a huge difference at our place (even if there's still a long distance to travel).

We are in the middle of a massive declutter/move to a bigger house. I decided if we don't need it/use it/wear it then it didn't need to move to our new house. So those are our requirements for getting to move to the new place. I have found one wonderful method of getting rid of this woman's trash, because as they say my trash is someone else's treasure. So I joined Freecycle in my area, and suddenly, people need this junk I thought was destined for the dump. You might give it a look, Freecycle makes you actually feel like all that crap you were saving, was saved because eventually someone else would need it and you would conveniently have it tucked in your garage, which if it is like mine, is a giant freaking hellhole of death.

Anyway, hang in there, declutter is the next best thing to well ummm perhaps only a about a flight of steps below great sex, but it is certainly above living in squalor.

Cindi

You threw me with the George Clooney/Mark Wahlberg sandwich. No rational thought is possible after that image is transplanted in the brain!

Dahling I never knew that cabernet was a verb!
You crack me up!
Mia

Once a year we call a dumpster company to put a big ol' tub on the driveway and we throw stuff ruthlessly. We still have a full garage, but otherwise we seem pretty organized.

I love watching the Clean Sweep because those people are usually worse off than me. I can move, freely, through most rooms of my house. The kid's bedrooms are always a wrench in that plan.
I am envious of the $$ they make at their yard sale's with what appears to be little help. Here in MN we have a whole season for these sales (May-September), they usually span 3 days (Thursday-Saturday), and if you don't do it right - you aren't making ANY $$. This is why I just donate, donate, donate - too lazy to be "in the know".

Go forth and git'erdun!

I am so, a lurker. But this topic of clutter has brought me out of the closet! Have you ever heard of flylday? Flylady.net is a web page that uses schedules and zones to keep your house clean and decluttered. They have the 48 fling boogie, and the five minute room rescue...all which help me keep on track without being overwhelmed. The biggest part of it is that the scheudles revolve around keeping your house a little clean all of the time, so that no big cleaning has to be done, and your weekends are always free!

It's a wonderful thing! I think of it not so much as getting rid of stuff, but creating space. I don't know if anyone mentioned Freecycle to you. Freecycle has been a godsend for me. You post your stuff to your local freecycle mailing list, arrange for its new owner via e-mail, and someone comes and gleefully hauls your junk away. www.freecycle.org

From THE packrat...as soon as you throw it away...you'll need it!

Go on, move to Boston! Or at least near here. We have lots of knitting and wool and no mosquitoes in December. Really. Also knitting. And only accents when we talk to each other for long periods of time.

Plus there's knitting.

Definitely, come east, and if Gloucester and Boston don't meet your dreams, come an hour south to Providence....it's cheaper than Boston, safer than New York, and much better rush hour traffic than either (not to mention we're getting a lot of movies shooting here these days). I can't comment on the single men, I've been married for 14 years and haven't got a clue. The accent is different from Boston, but still can be hysterically funny (think Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny).

My biggest decluttering tool: I look around and say to myself "What is ONE thing I wouldn't want company to see". I pick just one thing, big or small depending on how much time/energy I have, and do it. I must confess though, between a full-time job, a four year old, and a husband with severe ADHD, I cannot live without my cleaning lady who comes twice a month. And I figure, her sixty dollar fee is MUCH cheaper than therapy. :-)

Yes, Laurie, your New England fans would love to show you a good time here! In fact, the Boston Knit-Out and Crochet is coming up on Sunday, September 24 . . . hint hint! :0)

http://www.bostonknitout.com

Good luck with the purging! And thanks so much for your blog - it's so much fun!

I also do the FlyLady thing, which helps alot. One of the best ideas she has is the Fling Boogie, where you take a trash bag and throw away 27 things (no matter how small) as quickly as you can.

Also? My secret to conquering Mt. St. Washmore (and other crap) is to do chores during the commercials during my favorite tv shows (namely every CSI because I am obsessed with forensics and cops who can maintain perfect hair). That trick helps me a lot, because (1) you try to go fast to get things done before the show comes back on, and (2) by the time the show is over you've gotten a lot done!, and (3) you can still knit during the show. Which is crucial. :D

"and by then I was maybe too tired and cabernet to make any sense"

I feel this way sometimes.

Chiming in to sing the praises of the FLylady. "You can do anything for 15 minutes" - my favorite Get-it-done phrase. In 3 months of 15-minute attacks, I unpacked a mountain of boxes, got rid of at least a third of the contents, sorted the rest, and learned how to keep on top of my laundry/kitchen/cooking/decluttering all rooms. Flylady. Is. Da. Bomb. (Is that very old-fashioned slang now??)

Laurie, I've got three lazy teenagers and a husband who wouldn't declutter to save his dick. I know clutter. I manage to keep a path open through the house by having "fill the bag" day once a month or so. Everyone gets a big, black yard waste sized bag. They MUST fill it with reasonable stuff to go to our local charity shop by 4 pm. MUST. The alternative is hauling mulch, which every last one of us hates. The donations get approved by me, then the bag gets loaded into the car and at 4:20 I make a donations run. I try, for myself, to fill a box, doesn't matter what size, once a week, for charity. Maybe it's a mail to somewhere charity, maybe it's the local one. Doesn't matter. Out go the textbooks and clothes that are great colors but too short, no longer my size, etc. It helps. I don't know how the hell we keep filling this place back up, but I keep plowing stuff out. I think your cats are sneaking crap in. It can't be YOU!

Uh, what's a Val-Pak?

I am moving from Berkeley, CA to Cork, Ireland at the begining of next year for a new job. I am already trying to give away all my stuff. Everytime a friend comes over I start trying to give them my furniture. My problem is that there isn't anything that I own (other than my cat, Henry) that I feel is worth shipping to myself. And in fairness Henry will not be packed in a box, he will be sedated and brought in a carry on.

I've been in this process for years. I need to get back at it. The weight of the crap I have been gifted/collected/not thrown away because I've had it forever is just too much.

Now when I buy something I ask myself if I REALLY need it. I know people who buy crap all the time. Crap they will never use. But they buy it because they think if they have enough shoes or cheap ebay jewlery that maybe they'll be happy. All it does is make more stress because now they can't even clean their home because it's burstig with crap that only made them feel good for a second.

I even feel guilty about how much yarn I have. o.0 I'm going to force my Best Friend to take some of it so I won't feel so weird about it.

I'd love to have an empty room in my house that I could just sit in and breathe. I'd settle for my honey to not leave his papers and books all over the couch so I can sit and knit in peace though.

I need to think about the things I have and why I still have them. And I don't even really think I'm THAT bad anymore. :/

Thanks for making me think, Laurie. I need to decide what to do next. I want more room to breathe and less stuff to dust. *L*

*OtterHuggles*

Hi Laurie,

I started dunging out stuff like mad this past spring. I cleand out my closet and consigned like half of my stuff to places that consigne clothes. So, I have gotten check for $200 bucks at times for cloths that were A)too big B)too small C) Reminded me of the past in any sense that was less then joyful...i.e. (stuff that ex mother in law's ex husbands gave you, clothes that remind you of a time that was unpleasant. GEt it out of your closet!!! D) clothes that you have not worn for a year and keep on convincing your self that you will...but you won't.....E) clothes that are dirty, stained, ripped or would not be able to sell at a second hand store. It is important that you feel pretty in what you wear. do as the europeans do. have less but what you have you absolutely love and looks great on you. alot of times we gold on to things that look like utter crap on us because we fell guilty that we spent money. well, the money is gone but the clutter isn't so haul it out sister!!! same for shoe. if the shoes are raggedy. lose them. As for things...if anything and I mean anything has an attachment to MR X in a bad way you have to ditch it. You will eventully want to ditch anything that was attached to our XEXEXS!!!!(children and beloved animlas are not included in this scenario becaseu they are not objects...they are our precious's...) I went through and SCOURED my home of all things that rminded me of my EX( and I've ben married for 8 years...) But I was amazed with myself for not seeing that this crap was still around. Like hate boxed we bought toghether when we were going to get married-SOLD! LIke the russian pin he bought me that I still had in a drawer- SOLD! Like all his letters that I could not part with....I am having a cedar and sage burn the old letters party complete with smoking cigarrettes and alcohol in a week or so. It will be fun\11 the only sad thing about the letter burning party is that I can't make sommores over the fires because it would be bad karma to eat it..like I would be ingesting the soot from his bad negative vibes. Also, crap tchokies. just stuff. like hello? do I need this monkey form aunt irma given to me from her trip to timbuktu?? NO, No I don't. alo tof times we hang on to and accumulate vast amounts of crap becaseu we attach sentimentality to each little thing. things are not important people and the great memories are. so if you don't need the little thing ditch it or sell it and don't feel guilty about it. It is only a thing. Also, I am interested in how you have gotten closure and have moved on from the heartache of Mr X. People that leave like that really are like toxic waste. they can be gone but the fumes from their negative souls still make us choke. How have you learned to get closure since he obvioulsy can't or won't give it to you. love you girl. you are the bestes....

I can see la Virgen de Guadalupe in the fur between Soba's eyes.

Do pens multiply like rabbits? I start out with a couple pens...then I need a mug to put them in...then a longaberger basket thingie...then a kitchen drawer and then a plastic shoebox thingie. THen the cycle starts again! WHERE DO THEY COME FROM???

Just wanted to give a suggestion... I find it useful to have what I call a "bye-bye box". It can be a cardboard box or something more permanent, but when it is full it gets taken to the takin' place (i.e. goodwill or salvation army). It can be a semi-permanent fixture in some relatively out-of-the way space in your home, and when you happen upon something you decide you don't want anymore, well it goes into the bye-bye box.

Where is Steve D? I gently poked fun at him once...and then he vanished.

I have been on a purging quest both at home and in my classroom this month. Yeeha. Crap at home and work! But I'm not giving up my fabulous Sharpie collection. I love them. So much. Last year I got one of my students (first grade,heh) hooked on them. He gave me a big set of the new clickie kind at the end of the year...oh, that was the best teacher gift ever! I'll give away or throw away just about anything I don't "need", including bits of my yarn stash. But the Sharpies? No freaking way. You can never have too many.

Laurie,
I just sent you a really funny thing about YOUR HEALTH to your email...wanted to make sure you get it......

Cheryl

Long time lurker, I think this is the first time i've posted. FYI - I love this site, you rock Laurie!

I went from a 5K+ sq ft. house to a rental (temporary for about 8 months) to a house I just bought and moved into about 3 months ago. This house can't be 2K sq. ft soaking wet so I had to learn to downsize big time. My ex didn't get much from the marital home so I ended up with way more stuff than I could reasonably accomodate. In the rental, I ignored the boxes and clutter (it was temporary). Then, when I did buy a house I thought, holy crap all that stuff will NOT fit!
Ok, so how to get rid of stuff? Honestly look at your collections and think, do I really need 18 pair of flat black shoes? Probably not. I donate alot of stuff to the local thrift stores and once a year I haul my crap up to my aunts in NJ for our annual family yard sale. My rule is - if it doesn't sell I take it to the Salvation Army - the truck is empty when I come home. Doing a small task is also a great way to start and feel accomplishment - clean out the night stand drawer; cabinet under your bathroom sink; junk drawer in the kitchen; one shelf of a bookcase; anywhere really. I also got real about how much I truly needed/loved. I've moved a bit and though I kept things I couldn't use, at some point you think - i'm spending money to have these items follow me around yet I get no satisfaction out of them anymore cause I have no where to use them. E.g. fireplace tools and I don't have a fireplace, barstools and no where to use them, linens for a bed size you don't have anymore, etc. If you never use them and they collect dust and take up valuable real estate in your house, you need to at least consider having them move onto another home. Oh, i've also given away alot of stuff on freecycle.org. Dyson should become a saint in my book. That vacuum cleaner is the best thing ever! Sorry for rambling, sometimes I get a little crazy on the decluttering topic.

Motivation: My inspiration comes from knowing that someone else would be happy to have my stuff, especially if it cost almost nothing, or even better, it was for FREEEEee. With clothes I always think there's someone out there less fortunate than I that could use'em.

Plus, it's tax deductable and I tell you, the amount of stuff I junk I ABSOLUTELY include in my taxes. I use a guidelines from the Red Cross site for prices for used clothing etc. A typical year has me giving away approx. $200 - $500 worth of stuff. Some of that comes back to me when I get my check from Uncle Sam. So, you could say money is my motivation too.

"Hey, I heard there's a new Bissell vac for pet hair that might give Dysons a run for their money"
Well I'll have to see about that. I have just one 17lb cat who is short-haired, but sheds just about everywhere.

Also, why not use your dad's vacuum-sealer-thing-a-ma-bob to get the air out of those books/clothes/photos that you just have to keep. Might help on the declutter... There's vacuum-sealed-pile-of-photos-1, etc

Okay. The widow-lady with the 4 cats and the ENORMOUS house full of crap is still trying to reduce reduce reduce the volume of possessions. I think I feel a blog entry coming on... come by and visit for my sad tale. My goal, set in Jan '05, was to reduce everything by half. Still not there, but making progress--some purposely, some unwillingly, but there...

www.flylady.net. 15 minutes at a time.

Did you see all the responses? Amazing, isn't it?!? You are actually living my(our)life(lives)! Which brings me to my point...we have SO MUCH! We do SO MUCH! We want SO MUCH! We also want it clean and organized! We want to be buffed and polished! We want to have SERVANTS! Yes, servants, because that is the ONLY way we will ever get the house clean with all that STUFF! :)

Some food for thought:

http://nexblog.mycrochetblog.com/?p=93

I knew a guy once who told me that no one should have more "stuff" than what could fit in the trunk of a car. I laughed derisively. Now, about 10 years later, I know what he meant! During those years, I downsized at least four times before moving to Tokyo where the average apartment is about 120 sq. ft., including kitchen and bathroom! I think I've now had an epiphany about what my friend meant: NO ONE needs as much stuff as they THINK they do! All it does is weigh ya down--spiritually, physically, and mentally.

Oh, do I have a story for you. I promise to spill it soon. Meanwhile, that Mr. Norton! What a rake! Making every girl think she was the only one! But we are older and wiser now. PS. I don't know if someone has suggested it but check out flylady.net. Lot's of good tips.

Dur. Just read the comments. yep. flylady.

I work on a few piles a day. Pile of paperwork, pile of clothes, pile of dishes, pile of towels, pile of toys that I make others put away. If inspired I go into the garage. That's where I really get cleaner's block.

Clothes: My kids and their friends love going into our attic because it's weird. That is the initial lure. They get all excited and bring stuff down willingly. On the next rainy day I make them go through the clear plastic boxes and try items on to see if they're still viable. They hate the trying-on process so much that they started their own policy of actually looking at their wardrobes when I tell them to. That's the key: looking at the stuff and getting real about it. They realize they will have to care for it, wash it and fold it and put it away and later find it when they need it. And they don't want to.

Just got back from a vacation at Cape Cod in a tiny cottage. No room for anything except tripping over each other. Hardly any stuff we needed except what we brought. Had to make do with small amount of random junk. Complete holiday from phones and computers. Fabulous. When I got home I was depressed because of all the stuff.