Where does all this crap come from?

**G'MaDebbie** · 01-02-2009, 01:42 PM

I just was bragging a few weeks ago how I had decluttered my entire home and was so happy with the results. I was looking thru my home over the past couple of days and I am shocked with all the clutter!!! Where does it come from?!!!! UGHHHHHHHH
Now you know what I will be doing this weekend...

**MoonMommy** · 01-02-2009, 01:49 PM

I feel for ya.

My gripe is that people know that I am "frugal" (mostly that I will recycle stuff and am happy to get used clothes for the kids) so then I end up being the drop spot for all their JUNK, if I want it or not. This is especially true with my parents and my brothers. So, then I will all of a sudden notice that I have tons of stuff in my house that I didn't want in the first place. UGH. More work for me.
Grip over.

***psst*** after you are done decluttering...want to travel over to WNY and declutter my house?

**Marie78** · 01-02-2009, 02:02 PM

I'm ready to start a major purge. It might be pregnancy hormones talking...but I can't stand that every square inch of living space has something in it. The only really cluttered places are the closets and our office. We have to make the office into a nursery in the next 6 months and that will mean a lot of stuff needs to go. I need to really purge my clothes closet and tackle the office closet too. We don't seem to have that much stuff, but we are filled to capacity in this two bedroom apartment that has limited closet space. We thought about moving, but we have looked every year since we moved here and haven't found a bigger space to rent. Unless we want to pay $500 more a month for rent (which we don't). That leaves us needing to do a major purge!

**madhen** · 01-02-2009, 02:13 PM

I just did this with my clothes. I went from a walk-in closet AND a hall closet stuffed so full that I couldn't fit the hangers in, to about twelve items of clothing. It felt SO GOOD!! And the bags of clothing went to a really nice woman I met via FreeCycle (who just emailed me today thanking me and telling me she split up the three huge bags of clothing with several others). I'd rather have a couple of items of clothing that I love and want to wear, than a closet-full of crap that I wear because it is there.

**dancar3** · 01-02-2009, 02:22 PM

I've pretty much had off this week so I've been spending most of my time decluttering and doing very detailed cleaning. I'm going room by room. So far I've done 3 rooms and I'm working on number 4. I haven't had time to do deep cleaning for a few months (taking fixtures off, relining cabinets, etc....). It's amazing how much stuff I'm throwing away in the process. I thought our home was pretty much in good shape already, but I've had trash bags full of stuff. I don't want to save it and think I can use it later on if I haven't used it a couple of years. I've been watching a lot of HGTV this week, and I look at how well organized and decluttered their homes are and so I'm striving for that!

**joyofsix** · 01-02-2009, 02:26 PM

My theory is that it clutter mates with dust in the dark and multiplies. I have the same problem as MoonMommy-people know I'm thrifty and not too proud to take hand me downs. Unfortunately some people at my church must feel we're really bad off and give us way more stuff than we could possibly keep. I go through it now right away, keep what I can use, bag the other back up and donate or pass it on. If I don't do it right away it'll never get done. I need to do toys again. Gift exchanges at school, scouts, church etc and family means we've got way too much again.

**Dancing Lotus** · 01-02-2009, 02:41 PM

I''m getting ready to purge again. But not until dd returns to school. That kid gets so upset about every think I toss out, even if it's not hers. I hate clutter but I like things so I'm in a constant battle with myself. My thoughts are that if it doesn't make you happy to see it , it needs to go.

**MommyBliss** · 01-02-2009, 03:26 PM

I just took a bunch of bags to Salvatiom Army today and got home and ended up with one more bag of stuff for donation. With our family it is the closets that need to be overhauled. My hubby and I came up with a plan last night, so I've been just tackling what I can as I go along.

**mikandmari** · 01-02-2009, 03:44 PM

We ~might~ sell our house this year. So that means it needs to look spacious, and all the clutter must go. Potential buyers will be looking in the closets

I've got some serious work to do! It's glad to know I'm not alone....

**G'MaDebbie** · 01-02-2009, 04:26 PM

OMG..I am so not looking forward to yet ANOTHER weekend of decluttering..I want my weekend time back! I am very thankful that it isn't summer time or would really be having a fit.

**kittykatstrong** · 01-03-2009, 04:01 AM

Everytime we move we get rid of so much stuff but I feel cluttered again, how can that be?

**The Muse** · 01-03-2009, 09:26 AM

DH's grandparents just went to assisted living, so we're in charge of emptying their house to be sold. 60 years of accumulated possessions and they never threw anything out! Even their knick-knacks are filled with papers and other junk. It's a nightmare, and very sad.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 01-03-2009, 10:14 AM

Our house is pretty cluttered and that's even after going through things. The fortunate part in all of this is that I managed to seal off the clutter to two main rooms in the house: the kitchen and the kids' playroom. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get rid of all the clutter in the kitchen and I'm pretty content. It's that feeling of drowning that I get when I look at clutter that makes me sick. I think that with the holidays having come and gone, a lot of us need to start going through things again.

We're planning a huge haul to the dump in the spring to get rid of a ton of things, but I think we'll always have clutter. We're remodeling the interior of the house all the time...

**dancar3** · 01-03-2009, 11:28 AM

I cannot imagaine having to do that..........it must be hard on so many levels. First having to sort thru everything and deciding what to do with it, while looking back on their lives of so many years. My parents have put me in charge of doing this same exact thing when that time comes, and I would have no idea how or where to start.

Good luck with this and I hope things come together quickly.

Originally Posted by The Muse

DH's grandparents just went to assisted living, so we're in charge of emptying their house to be sold. 60 years of accumulated possessions and they never threw anything out! Even their knick-knacks are filled with papers and other junk. It's a nightmare, and very sad.

**fixer** · 01-04-2009, 12:30 AM

Originally Posted by joyofsix

My theory is that it clutter mates with dust in the dark and multiplies. I have the same problem as MoonMommy-people know I'm thrifty and not too proud to take hand me downs. Unfortunately some people at my church must feel we're really bad off and give us way more stuff than we could possibly keep. I go through it now right away, keep what I can use, bag the other back up and donate or pass it on. If I don't do it right away it'll never get done. I need to do toys again. Gift exchanges at school, scouts, church etc and family means we've got way too much again.

At last, a theory as to where all of this stuff comes from. We purge this time of the year. I know, nothing says holidays like being on your hands and knees scrubbing floors and going through every drawer in this house. We try to throw things out all year. I cannot imagine what our house would look like if we didn't. My Mil was a pack rat all of her life. That makes DW more determined to be a clutter buster.