The De-Clutter and Clean Up Support Thread

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
741

Today’s update from the Old Place:

Cleaned off the round dining/kitchen table and the two surviving chairs (originally there were four, but over the past 40 years a few Bad Things happened to the other two) so it’s ready to go once I find a new home for it. If I can’t donate the remaining furniture there’s a “resale and salvage” store near me who willing probably take them for in return for a nominal amount of cash. Went through most of the garden tools which will either go to gardening friends, a local community garden, or Goodwill store. Went through all the stuff stacked on and under the table.

Three bags of garbage in the dumpster.

742

Out the door today:

Kitchen/dining table and four chairs.

743

Thanks!

And a big congratulations to Broomstick for a productive run!

My project this week was a big one, although I did the prep work by cleaning out my car. I loaded up the car with a bunch of stuff and I’m driving it down to NC. I’ll leave the car with my nephew - details to be worked out but I’ll probably sign it over, I brought the title with me. I’ll fly home next week, haven’t bought the ticket yet cause I’m keeping my schedule open.

My first priority was the artwork. I have 1 framed painting, 2 framed prints ( all 2’x3’ ) and a series of 3 canvas panels 18 inches square. I wrapped those well. I loaded up a HUGE suitcase with about 2/3 of the dishes I want to keep. I wrapped them in winter clothes. I used the rest of the space for games puzzles and 2 fur coats ( I’m not really a fur coat person, these are both antique pieces I got from mom) in terms of dishes, I’m only going to keep my 8 matching place settings and my oversized mugs. And some of the colorful drink glasses. Everything else is going to be discarded. A few boxes of DVDs, a few boxes of books. My photo albums, my cowboy boots. Now I have a small car so I was surprised that I still had space.

So I started filling trash bags with clothes. A bag of jackets, a bag of purses. Putting everything in trash bags let me fill in the spaces in the car quite nicely. I filled 6 bags.

I finally left this morning. I had been saying I was going to leave sooner but I started procrastinating. I delayed a day because I “had” to pick up a check from a client, although I could have had them mail it or sent a messenger.

I drove 7 hours today and I have 3 to go tomorrow. I feel fantastic, the driving is good for my mental health. Once I got out of NY and through New Jersey (a drivers nightmare) it was basically one road for the next 350 miles or so, no navigation. I put on a long playlist I made and just drove.

My niece’s college graduation is Saturday, which was why I made the trip this week. I’ll unpack everything ( start filling up my big walk-in closet in NC.

And I have a week before I have to face my apartment again. I did make a decision regarding the wall units, I’m going to empty them and call a junk haul away service to pick them up. I’m almost there.

The upside to this move is I’m not strapped for cash. I have a fairly large amount allocated for renovating ( another problem ) and moving. Hopefully I’ll be able to plow some of it into my retirement fund when I’m settled. After I buy a car.

So that’s my update ,thanks for listening. For some reason I like to write after a long drive.

744

Yay Broomstick and Anhedonia!

Me, I got out 5 large bags of old toys and clothes and gave them to a friend to sell in a very big yardsale. She made 70 dollars !

Yesterday evening, I got my ten-year old son to tackle the electric cord spaghetti that lurked out of sight, in the back of our TV furniture. My son was incredibly proud of doing this with me, because he could tell me what the cords did and what the remote controls did, and what cords could be throw out. I found out that an old TV box took up several slots and electrical outlets without any use whatsoever, while I had never actually used the sound bar I bought ( I thought it had a tinny sound, but the truth was that I had never actually turned it on :o)

I also have redecorated my living room in the past month. I made larger, more efficient and better looking desks by putting a large slap of plywood over existing desks and putting IKEA moppe drawer blocks on top. The old red curtains that never ran well are replaced with cheerful yellow curtains that run on the ring & rod system; such an improvement !

I also changed my decor; old briqabraque stuff out, less ( and more modern) stuff back in.
I put my old tiffany lamp and old sewing machine up on craigslist: I made a girl very happy with the sewing machine. She came to get it and told me she had already found the original manual online, that it was from 1927, and that she was on her way to find an little table with driving mechanism so she could actually USE that museum piece. I was so happy the sewing machine found someone who appreciated it even more then I had done!

Finally, my old cat is not long for this world anymore. I have been thinking of getting another cat, but I balked at the commitment. I had a talk with the neighbors, who are in the same situation. We are enthusiastic about the idea of sharing a cat.

745

I was taking a break from The Old Place yesterday and the person who was originally going to come and relieve me of some items had had a change of plans and could we do this today?

I am now down to just one spare set of dishes.

And the garden implements are packed and ready to go - I’ll swing by there today, do a bit of work, and then drop the garden stuff off.

746

How about just putting stuff on the curb with a note “Free for the taking?” pinned to it? When I do so, stuff is gone within a day.

747

If I still had furniture items left, maybe, but otherwise that is considering “dumping” around here and can get you a ticket/fine.

The garden implements are gone.

748

I moved out of state (again!) - that’s by far the best way to cut down. it was stressful, though, and I had a moving sale which I do NOT recommend. next time, I will just sell the big stuff on amazon marketplace and donate the rest.

now I am living in a much smaller space and, as usual, I am swearing to never accumulate so much stuff again! :rolleyes:

749

Have you tried Freecycle.org? You might be amazed what people will find useful.

750

I will certainly look into it.

I’ve been dealing with multiple deaths in the family, a forced relocation, and working full time these past two years. It does limit both the energy I have for this and the efficiency of how I go about it. Which is why I’ve been focusing on making any progress at all rather than trying to get this done as rapidly as possible.

751

Oh, sure. Of course. But of there are things that you don’t particularly intend to get money for and just want gone, but can’t figure out how, it’s a great way to do it.

752

I agree. A couple years ago we did a major clearout, and I moved tons of things that way, including huge number of things I honestly thought nobody would ever want.

What really amazed me was when this woman came to pick something up (an old cabinet/tv stand thing) and spotted the stacks of folded up blankets and bedspreads and towels and comforters and sheets and old curtains that I had waiting beside the trash barrel in the garage. (We’re only allowed to put so much out per week, so I was packing them in little by little as space allowed.)

Anyway, she leaped on it with cries of joy. “You aren’t throwing these into the trash, are you?” I pointed out that they were old, some worn thin, some stained, all faded, some snagged by kitty claws, etc. etc. She didn’t care.

Turns out she did some sort of crafty artsy things with material, and always need material for backings or stuffing into the things she made. She filled her SUV to the gills and left happy.

So, you just don’t know.

753

Yeah, it turns out my old landlord might actually want my white elephant red china set I inherited from grandma (and, after giving it to my oldest sister inheriting it again after she died). Never would have expected that.

754

This month I seem to have concentrated on selling stuff.

I sold more old books. I confess - after one trip instead of opting for cold, hard cash I came home with two new-to-me books. One of which will be passed on to friends once I’ve finished reading it.

I’ve sold a BUNCH of the spouse’s old model kits, some for more than I expected, some for less. About $500 worth.

Sold the late spouse’s oscilloscope.

Really, working with the eBay consignment store has really worked out well.

It turns out that the bookcases I put up at the new place have room for more books than I though they would, and I have NOT immediately filled them up. It actually makes me less stressed about going through the books I still have to sort.

I found a few items I thought I lost in my last move 20+ years ago - apparently there was a box I never did get around to unpacking.

Annoyingly, it seems I moved all of my sewing stuff already EXCEPT the white thread! Which I needed to hem something. :rolleyes: I’ll pick that up along with the 4th of July decorations I’m keeping.

Doing a lot of cleaning/scrubbing of stuff I’m keeping because now it’s all getting dusty, having sat over there for months and months

Today’s plan is to pack/prep some books for selling, bring a box back to the new place of keeper books, find at least one fan to bring back to the new place (we have a BUNCH at the old place, too many too keep, so selection process starts now), make up at least one box of tchotchkes for donation, and measure my late spouse’s old professional drawing table, the weaving loom, and the leatherworking bench to figure out how (if!) I can fit those three in the new place. Which will be the last of the Big Items to move (because there won’t be anymore room). I might not be able to keep the big drawing table which is really, really awful. I used to use that table, too, and produced some very nice artwork on it. It’s solid oak, has a tabletop adjustable from flat to nearly vertical, and a built-in light table. He got it from an old engineering firm on Chicago’s south side that went out of business over 40 years ago, and it had been old then. I’m guessing WWII era. >sigh<

I know I’m making progress, but it still feels very up and down, some days feeling like I’m going nowhere others feeling like I took a big bite out of the pile.

755

A couple weeks ago I was digging thru some of electronic junk for something.

I noticed some of the junk was real junk, so I started tossing them into a garbage can. (As per a recent thread, I can’t believe how many IDE cables I still have despite throwing out so many.)

A few days later I realized I needed a bluetooth keyboard. Oh, I just saw one in the junk pile and added it to the throw out pile. (I had bought it for a dollar or two at a thrift store and hadn’t used it for a long while.) Oh. So “It’s baaaaack.”

Getting rid of stuff is hard.

756

OK, another day off work and since it’s Sunday there’s limits to other stuff I can do so it’s back to Downsizing.

After measuring stuff I realize that if I reconfigured the bedroom I’d have a much more efficient use of space. So… had a friend come over to help move my bed and put stuff away. Tempted to go back to the Old Place for more sorting and stuff BUT the new place needs some work now - putting stuff away, filing, cleaning. So it’s the New Place today.

Then, when I have some help again, I’ll have a place to directly put the drawing table and loom.

I do actually have a decent amount of storage space here - one walk-in closet in the bedroom, a front hall closet, and a “utility closet” off the kitchen. Storage cubes for the front room library which also provide a bit of privacy when I open the front door (not really eager to have anyone at the door see everything I have). Different storage cubes for storage in the bedroom, which is actually now subdivided into “bedroom” and “craft/hobby area” - yes, it’s that big, I’ve essentially subdivided the bedroom into two rooms. The new configuration makes the underbed storage much more easily accessed, which is a definite plus.

Also seriously considering throwing some storage cubes (I have LOT of these) in the walk-in closet for more organized shelf space, even if that means the step stool will be needed to get to some of it. But the step stool is very portable. I actually have two of them, thought I would dispense with one but given how much use I’m making of vertical space it might be a good idea to retain both.

757

>sigh<

On again off again - but I suppose this is the way it’s always been. Have not made a lot of progress since last posting. Oh, I’ve put some more of the late husband’s model kits on-line (and picked up another check from the eBay store) and now have three empty plastic/rubber storage tubs I can use for stuff I plan to keep. Yay! But days with high heat kick my butt, especially as The Old Place does not have air conditioning any more. When I can get out there early I can do stuff, but mostly it’s been to check on the place and empty buckets under the upstairs roof leaks (don’t get me started on the building issues). Even without visiting The Old Place, heat kicks my butt and there have been a couple days I’ve just come home from work and plopped in front of the air conditioner. Well, I guess it’s normal to blackslide a bit from time to time but I’m feeling a need to kick-start myself on this very long project again.

Also, even if much progress has been made there are still days I go to The Old Place and feel overwhelmed.

758

This weekend is my big cleanout weekend and I’m kind of freaking out at the moment.

I’ve known for awhile that this was coming, but I kind of put it out of my mind while my kitchen was being renovated.

The “kick in the ass” was the elevator in my apartment building. It’s going out of service for at least 6 weeks on September 10th.

My original plan was to fly my nephew and his wife to NY, rent a truck here, load it up, have them drive it to NC, unload it and return the truck there.

Which was a incredibly expensive plan. And one way truck rentals are jaw-dropping.

And I’ve been saying all along ( I hope I’m right) that I didn’t need a truck because I wasn’t planning on taking furniture. I just needed a cargo van.

So the new plan is for my nephew and a friend of his (his wife can’t ditch work) to rent a van in NC and make the round trip drive on September 7th and 8th.
(Add to list : call nephew and make sure he understands mileage rules before he rents a vehicle and drives it 1200+ miles)

Then I am having a junk removal company come haul away my furniture. Everything is at least 12 years old (most of it’s older) and most of it is high-end flatpack stuff that’s not worth salvaging. (Another jaw-dropping expense, until you think about it- they still have to move it out, load it on a truck and unload it somewhere). I have a full truck’s worth, at least.

And it’s HARD. I’ve been slowly hauling away garbage bags full of stuff for months now, trying to thin everything out, and feeling I haven’t made a dent. Except I did get my 4 large wall units empty and cleaned and hauled away. But there’s always more. I’ve been at it hard for a week now. I have a big huge pile of packed stuff but there’s so much more.

I’ve been using what I call “hobo luggage” for most of the packing, the large plaid (they’re always plaid) heavy duty plastic totes.

They really are perfect. Ive been packing small loose items inside shoe boxes and packing those in the totes. I’ve got lots of them and I’m leaving some of the heavier ones half empty, this will give us more flexibility when I comes to packing.

I’m being merciless, but maybe not merciless enough. I’ve never been a hoarder and I’ve done a pretty thorough cleaning every five years or so. Which means most of the stuff I’m tossing away has “made the cut” several times.

Clothing is the hardest for me. My weight has a mind of its own and it fluctuates through a 20-25 pound range on a 10 year cycle. Right now I’m at a high point and there a lot of stuff in my closet that doesn’t fit right. I’m throwing the smaller stuff out, that’s a no-brainer. But my problem is the stuff that I’m not wearing because it’s a little tight. Which is about everything I own except for a selection of sweats and athletic pants. (That’s all I’ve worn to work this year, because I don’t give a fuck anymore). I do have a couple of pairs of pull on stretch pants that look like nice khakis and dress pants but I don’t bother for work.

I can’t decide whether or not to toss them all or keep them all. Or half and half (keeping a few pairs of each style). But that can be the biggest mistake of all, I happened before. I’ll fall in love with them again in 5 years, they’ll be unavailable, and I’ll be kicking myself over the ones I threw away.

But I’m babbling because it’s the existential aspect of this that’s freaking me out. I’m literally throwing almost everything I own away. I’m giving up my business, my career, my apartment, my life as I know it. I’m not leaving for good just yet -I have to get the rest of this apartment renovated so I’ll stay for a week or so and camp ( I’m leaving a mattress, a night table and a chair, and I’ll still have a fully stocked kitchen) -then I’ll go down to NC, let the guys work - then when they’re done I’ll come back and get it on the rental market.

I know it’s the right thing to do and I have a list a mile long of reasons why. My business isn’t where I need it to be at this time in my life - I could still make a living but that would require lugging a backpack around Manhattan doing service calls all day and that’s not what I want to do.
And my family in North Carolina needs me to be there.

So this is it, the beginning of the end. This weekend. I’ve lived in this apartment for over 25 years, this city for 39. I need to breath deeply. My ultimate declutter is happening now. It’s unburdening but a little scary.

759

I read your post, Ann. Here’s a bunch of {{{hugs}}} to take with you. They don’t weigh anything, and don’t take up much room. Change is hard! You can do it.

I moved a year ago, and was brutal in what I got rid of - 18 years of crap. And I STILL have a room that is stuffed full of boxes that I haven’t unpacked. Mostly photos and wall art. I’m gonna get to it, soon. :wink:

760

Wow, time goes by, doesn’t it?

Last time I posted I had re-arranged the bedroom, subdividing it. My weaving loom is now in the new place AND assembled. I have storage cubes in the bedroom that are standing empty, ready to act as storage. I have continued to take stuff down to the eBay store for consignment selling as well as donating to Good Will. Also just organizing what I have in a more efficient manner helps a great deal.

A couple days ago I went back to the old place, along with the Old Landlord who was cutting the grass/doing maintenance. I cleared off two of my late husband’s bookcases, found some interesting stuff, tossed other stuff, put more stuff in the “try to sell this pile”. With the landlord’s help I dragged out the bookcases into the backyard, determined they were too deteriorated for further use, and turned them over to him so he could recycle the wood into something else (yes, that’s a thing with him).

Still need to bring over the drawing table and work bench, but not until I have the current stuff in the place put away and organized. As both the loom and the drawing table have to be brought over disassembled I need the space to put them back together before bringing the next item over.

I now need to spend some time cleaning up/organizing the New Place. Working 40 hours a week AND spending some time socializing with others for my mental health AND keeping up with the kitchen and bathroom and the bird cages AND doing all the other stuff life requires does cut into the moving schedule. I am fortunate I have ample time to get through 30+ years of stuff for not one but two people.