Took fabrics, electronics and cardboard to the recycling centre today. I’m trying to make it monthly, but this is only month 2! Its nice to have those parts out of the house.
When the guys were here last summer for windows, we took down all the blinds. We ditched the plastic ones, but kept the metal mini blinds. When DH was redoing the interior trim, we started buying new, cell blinds instead at Lowe’s. Light blocking in the bedroom and bath (Yes!!!) and light filtering for the hall. The metal blinds sat on a shelf, unused. We took them to the dump yesterday. Win! An entire shelf empty
The junk drawer and a dresser drawer wouldn’t close so I took 10 mins to declutter each! The dresser declutter got out of hand and turned into a full trash bag of clothes from the whole dresser and closet. I mostly got rid of stuff only had for working/pregnancy or both but it feels nice to have the space again!
My mom downsized 7 large garbage bags of clothes in prep for her move. There are a few things I wanted so now I need to double check when I get home what is there.
Help I got to the overwhelm part of the closet clean out
Where do you all store your bags? Bags of bags of bags. So many dang bags!
Do you regularly use all the bags? I have found a lot of freedom by reducing the type and number of bags that I have and use.
No, and every time we move we purge them, but somehow they keep expanding
Maybe another purge is a good idea
My kitchen still bares traces of yesterday’s overwhelm/collapse
Keep going! You can do this!
Currently my bags live in the bag closet of my walk in closet and the bag box in my hall closet and overflow both.
I have found it necessary to be extremely strict about purging bags and am considering futher limiting the number and types to make more closet space.
I have a bunch of hooks on both sides and the back of my coat closet and have a row of bags hanging on them. They really don’t get in the way. Maybe something like that would work for you?
Sturdy bags are pretty popular in my local buy nothing. A lot of aid groups use them to distribute supplies.
I still have 3 stashes of bags though. We could streamline a little bit but for special excursions I prefer to have a bag pre packed, so most of the bags have a purpose and we just dedicate more space to it.
One is the most frequent bags - a giant thin tote we use for swim/beach trips and my 2 daily bags. One is smaller going-out or sports bags (I have separate ones for each type of outing since we use them a few times a week and I keep them pre-packed). One of the big kitchen drawers is grocery bags plus the kids’ lunch bags.
I put bags where I need them, and get rid of the rest. I got these special little hooks that hang on the back of the headrest of my car, and hang a bag of bags worth of groceries back there, and then I have a small stash inside the house. I got rid of all the rest.
Importantly, I have had to start saying no to free bags. Places like natural grocers try to give them to you all the time, and you actually have to be very proactive at preventing bags from coming into your life.
opened a box of kitchen stuff that had been stored in the basement, and apparently something wasn’t clean of food, and there was still some moisture. So we will be getting all new hot plate holders
And I’ve confirmed several pans won’t work on the new stove (as expected), so we’ll also find new homes for those
we have so much trouble with ‘this might be useful’, hopefully we do better as we’re unpacking
I (finally) got the new, 2nd working hanging file folder in the file cabinet. The top drawer is current stuff, the bottom drawer is regulated to old stuff. And I’ve been weeding it down as I go so that the glut of papers are a LOT less!
In 2 weeks, I will have (as of tomorrow) taken 2 magazine boxes worth of shredding to Staples. After our 3rd shredder died, I decided I’d just take the stuff to Staples – it’s about $1/lb. I get it weighed, stuff it in the appropriate container, pay for it, and it’s gone! No more hauling the shredded paper to the dump, etc.
We HAD a hanging file cage thingy. I bought it from Staples too – it was “improved” with plastic bits. Did NOT work, the thing kept collapsing. I finally tossed it. This resulted in another glut of papers in boxes – and that’s what I’m going through now.
the shadowy one has agreed to get rid of the 2nd couch
which means I’m responsible for posting it and finding a new owner. that couch is such a workhorse. we bought it to fit into the first apartment we got together and I think it was more than my university student credit card limit (I tried to get around that by adding more cash to the card and that didn’t work? I’ve forgotten the exact scenario and solution). obig ‘they don’t make them like they used to’.
perhaps I offer it to the niblings first.
I have a van. In the back of the van is a depression, where the back bench seat lived. In THAT, I put a willow hamper. My cloth grocery bags live in there. (There’s 1-2 in DH’s econobox most of the time too.) My answer for bags is to keep them out of the house. HOWEVER, I do NOT have kids or babies, so I’m not hauling all the asst. kid stuff. Can you put grocery bags in your car?
Decluttering win: I pulled most of the herb teas from the 2 shelves where it lives. Realized we had: a quart jar from 2 years ago, some loose from last year, and a bunch of expensive tins of mint tea, which we use the most of in the winter.
Except! I’m getting ready to harvest this year’s crop and there was NO room. The old, loose tea was dumped into the 'house pot pourri" earlier than I usually do it, but it’s always been mostly mint or rose… I also add the flowers DH gives me or I pull from the yard when dry.