Keeping Things- or NOT -Part 2

Fair warning, the first photo is a scary one! I'm just glad that there wasn't any garbage on this pile, although, to me, it definitely looks like it is a pile of garbage. And that's all my stuff...

I should have taken the photo a little to the left. The bookshelf was a mess, too!

So, first I had to figure out what everything was. It seems that this is a catch-all spot. We don't know where to put something...it goes there. Uh, not any more!

The sterilite drawers have arty/crafty/fabric stuff. The Wally World bags are full of more fabric. The canvas bag is full of yarn (and you can see a few skeins of yarn up top of the boxes to the right as well). In between the boxes and the drawers are felt sheets and under that is fleece. I like fabric :) I just don't have anything to do with it lately. 

In front of all this is where we put our shoes. The rug that they are on is about 6.5 feet and the shoes run the length. How many of those do we really wear!? Yeah, that was a good question.

Where to start. It just looked like a daunting task but it was actually kind of fun to get going and sort through things. The blue tote that you see under the boxes (with Noah's Ark Animal Workshop logo on them) is full of unstuffed animal skins. I am technically still an independent crew member but I have never done anything with my 'business'. I buy them because I love them... and never sell them. Yea...anyway. I started there.

Took out all of the unstuffed animal skins (which I'd conveniently stored in large plastic bag inside of the tote) and filled the tote with almost all the spare fabric that wouldn't fit in the drawers. Fit perfectly! Next I went through the boxes that are on top of the drawers and consolidated the items to one box. Threw away a lot of strange little things (scraps of paper with no purpose- those went into my recycle box that sits on top of my printer -in another room), and found that we do have safety pins! Score!

I didn't quite fit all the fabric into the tote so the remaining bit I put in another tote that sits at the bottom of our hall closet (it holds curtains, all those tshirts that my ds has outgrown throughout the years and some other odds n ends). The mustard colored box is a sewing box. It holds thread and needles. My mother in law gave it to me the first or second year I was married- so I've had it for quite awhile :)

I went through the shoes and decided that the snowy season is over here and that neither of the kids will be able to wear their boots next year. They will be donated to a 2nd hand store tomorrow. There were two pair of dress shoes that are dd's so they went in her room. Now there are five pair of shoes where there were 10 :)

Here is an after photo: 

Doesn't that look so much better? I even herded all the dust bunnies (ugh), vacuumed the rug as well as swept under it. I wasn't happy with the bookshelf though so I did a little rearranging. Here's the finished product!

 

LOL don't mind the vacuum. I emptied it after taking the photo...figures. 

Before

After

Ahhh, it feels so nice to get rid of things and/or consolidate. I've not figured out yet what to do with all the animal skins I have. I have at least 50 (and I have stuffing too!). But for now they have gone to a closet that is rarely used for anything. So they are out of the way and my living room looks a little bit better :)

Ahhh...it feels good :)

Keeping Things- or NOT

I've written a few posts about keeping things and then wouldn't you know, I didn't go and take my own advice. Interesting how that happens. Anyway.... Long story short- I DID do something about it today. I cleaned out my entry way. Threw away a lot of stuff (things that I wouldn't feel good about giving away) and packed the back of my car full of things to give away tomorrow. 

In the other houses we've lived in we had either a storage shed and/or a second garage for the things that aren't used often or are keepsakes (or were in boxes that hadn't been unpacked from the house before the house before...ahem...moving on...). In this house we have one very small garage that wouldn't and doesn't hold very much of the items that previously we had tucked away. 

That's where the entryway comes in. It was gradual. Put dd's child bed frame in there...put in the Christmas decorations box...put in the coolers...the chairs...before I knew it, it seemed that the entryway was a death trap with who knows what in there!

I should have taken a photo before I started the process. I can just tell you it was a mess in my entry way. I am a packrat to a fault! There were boxes from purchases I've made in the last year just because I might need the box or the stuffing if I ship something. 

Here is a photo (don't mind the dirty floor- next is cleaning it- and those odd n ends off to the side) after purging stuff:

And here in the next photo you can see by the black line on the left how much more room I cleared up:

And although you really cannot see the doorway behind me, to get an image of how much was in this room, put a box or two along the way that the vacuum is on, with some stuffing, newspapers, and other odd items. It was a tight fit!

I stacked all plastic totes (and Christmas ornaments in a plastic bag on top of that...) together on one end of the entryway:

Next to the totes are our camping chairs (in the back with the two balls on top), and folded chairs in front. And you can see the tiki torches tucked behind the totes. In front of all are our coolers. We like coolers :) come in so handy for camping.

In the other end of the entry way is my dd's bed from when she was little. It was handmade by her grandfather. I rather have it where it is more protected from the elements. We will keep that until she moves out and can take it herself...maybe a granddaughter some day will use it :) On top of the bed frame are the k12 boxes for when I need to send back the equipment... Figured I'd better keep those!

And last but not least: 

The coat tree. We never seem to keep from knocking it over in the living room and this house has a long skinny room, limiting the available space. It is nice also to take off wet jackets in the entry way instead of tracking it into the house as well. I really should go through the items on the tree... At least one of those jackets I haven't worn in quite a while... Mental note!

It may not look great but it looks so much better and it is organized in order of use so it is easier to find what I am looking for now.

I am taking a photo after I post this of one particular area in my living room that is next on my list. I will take an after photo also to show the difference. I'm excited about this part :)

I dread the day when I have to purge from my bookshelves. But I know it's needed- even talked to dh about it last night. 

Keeping Things- When It Is Time to Purge

I've made two posts that have been about Keeping Things and What Should I Keep? and I think now it's time to talk about when it is time to purge.

One of the most important reasons that I personally can think of to get rid of the material possessions we have is because they have become an obsession. By obsession I do not mean that we constantly think about them or that we are creepily protective of them. I mean that they take the time we are to devote to others- especially to God. When we have to work extra hours to get that newest gadget (when we've already got one- or two- of the same but older, 'out-dated' models that still work fine) or the latest fashion (when we've got a closet full of clothes and half we do not wear). Then it is time to purge ourselves of our excess. It could be more than a material possession purge we need at that point, but that is a different topic for a different time.

How do you know when it is time to purge? Here are some physical signs that it's time to get rid of some of the material possessions in your life:

• There is no longer a place for things. When you get to the point that you need to rearrange what you currently have in order to fit in a new to you item, it's definitely gone too far. This may seem like it is obvious put the pack-rats among us will understand that often we do not realize it has gone this far until it is too late! An example here would be when you have three shelves and four items so you squeeze them together on the shelf because you just can't part with one of them.
• Things are no longer being used and are put away to make room for something else. This sounds a bit like the first sign but there is more to it. I would say this is more along the lines of tucking away a pair of pants that you used to wear so that you can fit your new jeans in the drawer. If it's not being used, it should be donated, sold, gotten rid of.
• Items sit and aren't used. Much like the first two signs, this one can be simply for the sake of collecting the items. Think of a set of 16 dishes that are on a top shelf just in case there is extra company. While there is nothing wrong with having extras, if they aren't being used, they could be given away. And realistically, if you've never entertained more than a few extra people at a time, what is the likelihood of entertaining sixteen more? 
• It takes a longer and longer time to clean. This of itself does not necessarily mean that you have too much stuff but generally, the more you have (knick-knacks, clothing, toys) the longer it will take to get things organized when cleaning. The longer it will take to dust because more items have to be moved and put back; more loads of laundry must be washed and dried, folded and put away; toys have to be picked up (and sorted?) before the floor can be swept and/or vacuumed.
• It is difficult to find what you need when you need it. Okay, that may seem like simply a lack of organizational skills but really if you have too much, what you are looking for will be harder to locate. In our house we have 7 bookshelves (ahem, yep) and if they are not organized well we cannot find the book we are looking for very easily. If we only had 3 bookshelves, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take much to find the particular book.

When we declutter our material possessions (give away, sell, donate, throw out) it allows us more freedom. We have more room in our homes, vehicles, and/or yards. One of the absolute biggest and best benefits of decluttering, purging our excesses, is that we have the time for what we need to again. Our minds can focus on what is important.

There have been many who have posted about clutter in their lives lately and how they deal with it. You can read some at Our Worldwide Classroom, Jimmie's Collage (about mental clutter), The Midlife Housewife, and Mountaineer Country.

A few good posts to help with the organizational aspect of purging and decluttering:

Confessions of An Organized Homeschooler (Decluttering for Dummies)

MomGrind (Clutter Free Home)

Heart at Home (Top 20 Organizing and Decluttering Tips)

*I must say that I am by no means even close to an expert on this subject. In my first post of Keeping Things I confessed that I am a pack-rat. I am trying to use these posts as a way to help myself (and perhaps someone else) along to purge my house and self of things that I no longer need and that are simply sitting, collecting dust.*

This has been submitted to The Christian Home weekly blog carnival, under Homekeeping. Click here read the latest edition at Legacy of Home.