Comments on: January is Get Organized Month

By: Cecil Whorton

Cecil Whorton — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:20:29 +0000

Thanks for all these reminders. Still cleaning out and setting up for a yard sale. Lots of work. so much stuff and so little time.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:12:42 +0000

I didnt even know that January was “Get Organized Month”, but I adopted it as such in my home before the holidays hit. I work for a university so I am blessed with two full weeks off work between the semesters, which is the perfect time to get work done around the house. And since my husband is in the process of starting a small business and his time is very limited (and about to be non-existent once the place opens) we’ve tackled everything from the office to the TV room, garage to laundry room and created a clean, organized space with which both of us can be happy. This will allow us to enjoy our limited time together without worrying about cleaning the house or being stressed by the mess.
I went through boxes, bags, and piles of things and sorted through as keep/toss/give-away. We brought 2 full carloads to the donation center with just soft items – clothes, towels, bedding, etc. We brought a truck load of furniture, kitchen items, and larger donations too. It’s been liberating getting rid of everything we hold onto “just in case”!
We’ve hung shelves for storage and decoration throughout the house, created “landing strips” for shoes, keys, bags, and business dealings. I’m doing the finsih work by buying the correct sized storage boxes and bins, cork boards, etc in order to effectively utilize the space created for storage.
We’ve lived in our new house for nearly a year and I *finally* feel as though it is my home. January will certainly be “organizing month” from here on out, but the goal is to not need to do a major overhaul again!
Thank you to the unclutterer team and all of the insightful readers/posters for giving me great ideas and tips to maximize space and time. It’s such a thrill to read this blog every day and be inspired by the ideas. So, THANK YOU to my fellow unclutterers and Good Luck with your own endeavors

By: Melinda

Melinda — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:54:36 +0000

Hey, someone mentioned wanting to keep the car clean. I have this problem constantly as i have a large family and a large van to accomodate. It’s not always possible to take everything out of the car when I get home as sometimes there are sleeping children who need carrying. Then I think “i’ll go back later” and that’s how the mess happens. Recently, to curb this problem i purchased a plastic tub that sits between the two front seats of my van. Things that need to be taken with us – hats, snacks, shoes or whatever, gets put in the tub. If I find that the tub is full, then it can easily be lifted out, stuff removed and sorted and the tub taken back to the car. So while i haven’t eliminated the car clutter problem, i’ve got it under control.

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:06:05 +0000

I am thinking of a master plan-I have almost 2 weeks to myself this month and am going to attack this place with ruthless fists of cleaning/decluttering fury! My biggest problem areas are the laundry room/closets/man cave which are all filled with my husband’s things. Won’t he be surprised when he gets back from his trip to visit his parents! I have warned him for years that this day would come and yet, he’s done nothing so if something important is tossed out it’s not my fault.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:38:27 +0000

Have gone through the bookshelves and gotten over 30 books to take to the used bookstore. Anything they won’t take goes to The Book Thing, a free bookshare place in Baltimore that takes all books and gives out free books.

Have listed 8 items on Freecycle and they are gone. Chose two moving boxes full of fabric to give to my quilt guild’s fabric sale.

Have made an appt. with a professional organizer for the third weekend in February to do some hardcore simplifying of my office.

I actually feel lighter and less stressed.

By: Betharu

Betharu — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:47:40 +0000

I already accomplished goal #1 – clean out the garage so I can park my car! That was finished between Christmas and New Year’s. I greatly appreciated it during this weekend’s snow and ice.

Next is going through several cartons of books and donating them to the public library sale.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:55:57 +0000

I have been cleaning out my closet and digitizing paper documents. I also started a blog where I have been talking about purging all of that stuff!

http://renouncement.blogspot.com/

By: Nanette

Nanette — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:37:44 +0000

I hope to make a big dent in my clutter before my maternity leave is up mid-February. (While my little one sleeps, of course.)

By: Carrie

Carrie — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:03:58 +0000

My husband and I finally compiled an inventory of all of our financial info (assets, insurance policies, etc.) in one document to make it easier for our families if, heaven forbid, something happens to both of us. It was tedious and boring, but needed to be done.

By: gabby

gabby — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:09:53 +0000

I live in a house which has neither basement nor attic. It has a few overhead storage areas, but not much. Total living space- about 1000 square feet, I think. I have never been able to be much of a clutter person. But recently I have wanted to be even more “light”.

I started to go through some old boxes and trunks and WOW…..I was clinging to every paper I ever wrote in college and grad school. I had ribbons that I won for the 50 yard dash in 5th grade. And 30 years worth of letters. I saved a few items from each stage of my life and the rest went to the recycle center.

I wonder how many people who clutter are “clingers”….clinging to things that are gone, over, finished, no longer…..both psychologically and otherwise.

By: Tabitha (From Single to Married)

Tabitha (From Single to Married) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:41:20 +0000

Yes – I’ve already started. I went through my home office and completely reorganized it (i sent pictures to our flickr pool or you can view the before and afters on my site here: http://www.fromsingletomarried.....organized/ ) It has made such a huge difference. Now I love coming to work at my desk and I can find everything so easily. It’s also transferred to other parts of the house and I find myself wanting to keep the whole place clean and organized.

By: Bobbi

Bobbi — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:21:44 +0000

I inherited some wooden furniture: a 100 year old European hutch, Art Deco armoir and mahogany rolling cabinet that used to house a TV in the 50′s. I plan to move cookbooks to the hutch, turn the cabinet into a wine storage area and the armoir will store sweatshirts, hats, scarves, coats/jackets and such. This will free up counter and cupboard space in the kitchen, make the wine more accessable (now some of it is hidden in a closet way under the stairs) and generally handle the ‘Mom, where is my sweater shirt’ panics every morning. How’s that for destressing! PS Love your site.

By: chaotic kitten

chaotic kitten — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:52:37 +0000

I am beginning the process of dehoarding my whole home, so this January is an important start for me. The more I can get done now, the more confidence I will have that I can continue and get this place sorted!

I am working hard on it, and finding this blog, and other sites, so helpful in keeping me motivated, and full of great tips to help me out. Thank you so much!!

By: N

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:28:04 +0000

We are working on our basement this month. We’ve already sold, donated, recycled, or threw out about 1/3 of the stuff we had down there. Now we have to organizer our tools and sort through 7 boxes of paperwork…

By: WineWench

WineWench — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:59:11 +0000

Several things I’m doing this month to get organized:

1 – cleaned out the fridge, freezer, & pantry – tossed anything old/expired/questionable. My resolution? Buy ONLY what I need for the upcoming week so I don’t waste money/time/space on things that will just go bad.
2 – decluttered my body (lost about 30 pounds), so lots of clothes are gone from my closet. Gave some to my daughter, most to a local Women’s Resource Center that provides work clothes for women in need or resells non-work clothes at their cute little resale boutique and returns the sale profits back to their programs, and the rest is going to Goodwill.
3 – the office is next! The bookcases are full to overflowing and most of the overflow books will be headed to our local Goodwill Book Store.
4 – the kitchen. We have WAY too many glasses (do they reproduce at night????) and most of them are also headed to Goodwill.
5 – and, last, the garage. Too scary to think about but wll definitely tackle it in the next two months. We moved here about 3 years ago and my husband insisted on bringing some power tools with him from our 4 bedroom house (we now live in a 2 bedroom condo). He mentioned the other day that he thinks its time to get rid of the tools since he has never even looked at them since we moved. Habitat for Humanity will be the lucky recipient of those!
Good luck to everyone on their quest to organize!