just starting to declutter

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Started 10 months ago by pietrusia
Latest reply from mskris
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pietrusia
Member

Hello, i am new to this forum. i live in the childhood house i grew up in. I inherited it in 2001 when my dad died. it's hard to believe it's almost 10 years and i have not made this house my home. the only room i redid was the kitchen (because i love to cook). i am also an artist and feel the need to save everything for arts sake. but, i have a dozen lifetimes of projects in this house. the last few years i have really let things go.

my years of clutter and infront of some of the clutter i inherited. i need to get rid of furniture. but it's behind boxes of my own belongings.

i am trying to figure out where to start. i have many on going art projects in my living room/dining room. i need to find a real place for everything. also, my house needs structural work done and i am procrastinating about getting things cleaned up so i can have contractors in for estimates. it's a perpetual cycle for me. i mostly just move things from room to room not really thinning out what i have accumulated. i am just looking for where to exactly start? i did go thru my wardrobe in early summer. but, it could be gone over again.

Posted 10 months ago #
mskris
Member

If you went through your wardrobe this season, you may want to wait until fall to do so again, when you can judge what you wore that's worth keeping another year, and what you didn't that can be donated/tossed.

It sounds like you might benefit from choosing to do one room at a time. I did that when I was overwhelmed with stuff after a move (I hadn't had time to do it before the move, so everything just came into the new house). Remove everything you can from the room you've selected, clean, repair the things you can, and then only put back what you love, use, and need in that room. Anything that doesn't get put back needs to be gone through to determine if it belongs in another room or not at all. I find that's the best way when I have massive decluttering to do.

After I've done the major decluttering, then I choose 1 area (drawer, shelf, corner) and get down to the small items, culling a bit at a time. If you can't do a whole room, you could start doing sections in 15-minute increments. Sort of like speed-decluttering (like, speed-dating). Don't spend a lot of time mulling over each item, just make quick decisions to toss, keep, or sell/donate.

Good luck and welcome - this is an ongoing process - you can't just do it once and forget it!

Posted 10 months ago #
chacha1
Member

Hi pietrusia, welcome. I second mskris in recommending "divide and conquer."

Try choosing one area that is cluttered with stuff you don't have a strong immediate reaction to. I mean an area that doesn't set off your emotional bells. Sometimes certain things are so intimidating, or the thought of getting rid of them is so upsetting, that the entire task becomes unmanageable - so it can be best to avoid those things altogether at first and go for the things that seem unimportant, just messy. Does that make sense?

Because what I've found is that things that seemed irreplaceable treasures two years ago, I am now completely indifferent to.

The process of decluttering (and it DEFINITELY is a process!) rewires your brain. After a while an attachment that felt like steel cable suddenly feels like a fragile thread and it becomes quite painless to cut it.

Art projects can be particularly hard to let go of. You say you have more projects than you could ever reasonably hope to do, so you may have a habit of not editing your ideas. (I used to do this. It took years to figure out that I didn't really WANT to do Project X, and that's why Project X never got done. It was just a cool idea, but not for me.) It can be easier to edit down to what you really *want* to do when you can see every project in one place.

You might first clear a space in a designated room. Perhaps even set up an Art Room. And then everything that was being "guarded" by the projects will be exposed and you can look at it without that association. And on the flip side, the projects will be all contained in a way that reaffirms their value, but allows you to live in, and cope with, the rest of your life and home as something other than a staging area.

Also, of course, as you go through your rooms every day, try looking at each room as if you were a stranger, seeing it for the first time. After a week or so you will start to "see" things you had been not-seeing for a while, and you will think "I don't need that." Then just take that thing and put it out - in the trash, on the curb, in a donation bag - just take it away immediately. You will be amazed how fast you can nibble away at stuff.

Good luck!

Posted 10 months ago #
pietrusia
Member

thanks. this makes sense. now i need to get into action.

Posted 10 months ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

"After a while an attachment that felt like steel cable suddenly feels like a fragile thread and it becomes quite painless to cut it."

Love that analogy :)

Posted 10 months ago #
rutheverhart
Member

Maybe it would help if you could designate where this stuff is going to go once you donate it. If they are art supplies, for instance, could they go to a school? If it is metal (thinking of sculpture here) could it be recycled? Sometimes it's easier to let go of things if you can imagine that they will be used by someone else. You are not just tossing it, you are setting it back in motion. It will still have a life.

As an artist, you know that things get stagnant if they're not used, right? Most artists really appreciate the flow of creativity. You need to unblock all of that. And it sounds like your house needs to be unblocked! Structural issues sound important. If that is the house you grew up in, don't you want to respect its needs? Perhaps there are just so many emotions layered up that you feel overwhelmed. So pick her a layer and rip it free. Put it in boxes, get it out of your house. Make room for your life. Good luck!

Posted 10 months ago #
Rosa
Member

Pietrusia, you're not alone in being stymied by this.

Sometimes I like to do Flylady's 27 thing fling - just walk through the house and find 27 things to toss, recycle, or donate. Trash counts, everything counts, so it's not at all hard. And every time you do it is better than doing nothing.

Posted 10 months ago #
Ella
Member

Pietrusia, if you find that you're really stuck, you might consider hiring a professional organizer to work with you for a few hours, to get a good overview, help you prioritize, and develop a plan of action.

Here's an excellent Unclutterer article about hiring and working with a pro, including a checklist of questions to ask:
http://unclutterer.com/2009/01/20/hiring-a-professional-organizer/

Posted 10 months ago #
mskris
Member

You are not just tossing it, you are setting it back in motion. It will still have a life.

I love this! This quote may actually help me get rid of some things I've been a bit reluctant to let go. Thanks!!

Posted 10 months ago #

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