Dreading tomorrow's "cleaning" of the basement

**MomToTwoBoys** · 01-16-2009, 11:51 PM

It's supposed to be 10C tomorrow (51F for all you other people) and with that, we figured it would be a fantastic day to take a load or two to the dump. These are things that cannot be salvaged or given away and have been with us for more than a couple of years.

I am dreading this. Why? We have a very cluttered basement. It's made worse by the fact that I am a complete packrat. I also am a very disorganized woman. I have Christmas decorations in more than one room in the house, in more than one place, and I just can't get the urge to put it all together.

So what are we getting rid of?

1) Broken down computer chair (the chair itself broke into two and cannot be fixed)
2) Old paint cans
3) Recyclables (these will go to the recycling place near DH's bank, which we have to go to anyways to deposit a reimbursement check that's going onto the CC)

We also have a miscellaneous pile of things. These are items that cannot be freecycled except maybe for the Christmas tree that we have that's fiberoptic. Even the baby gate we used for the longest time cannot be given away because it's lacking proper mounting equipment. I do have some clothes that I'm waiting to see if MIL wants that were Dakota's before I decide to freecycle those. We have a large box of baby toys to give away also.

Along with the removal of stuff, we need to wash all of the spring coats and pack them into a under-the-bed plastic storage bag. We also have a dresser to get rid of because ODS currently has two in his room.

I just forsee a whole lot of cleaning tomorrow and I'm dreading it.

Does purging your house of all that stuff really make you feel better?

**redeme** · 01-17-2009, 01:23 AM

Yes, it makes me feel better when I'm done. But the process is uncomfortable and I try to avoid it. I've been slowly getting rid of things a little at a time. It's something I need to continue working on. Every time I make progress, though. It feels really good, like less weight to carry around, less chaos in my house.

So far, I've sold books, donated items, free cycled, my current procrastination is listing some items on Craigslist. I need to just do it, but I'm not. So, I'll try to get them listed. It's the next thing that really needs to be done.

I try to focus on smaller parts rather than looking at everything, otherwise I get overwhelmed with the monumental task and choose to do nothing instead.

Take it one thing at a time and try to have a little fun, too.

**MRAHoffman** · 01-17-2009, 05:20 AM

don't DREAD the process, think of how nice it will be when it is done. Take care and God bless.

**ladykemma2** · 01-17-2009, 05:28 AM

recovering messie here.

you don't have to do in one heroic effort. just do a square meter. then another square meter. stop for the day. take a break. then another square meter.

as you go, load the stuff to be gone directly in the truck. do not wait for another day to take it to the dump or charity shop, because you won't do it.

in my neighborhood, if the stuff is good, you put in on the sidewalk and it is usually gone within the hour.

**dancar3** · 01-17-2009, 09:25 AM

Yes, just think how wonderful it's going to look after! Do you have to do it all in one day.......can you break it down into parts?

Here in a couple of weeks, we will also be decluttering/cleaning ours and it should take a couple of days since it's partially finished and partially a big mess! I am NOT looking forward to doing it at all but like you, can't wait to have it decluttered and looking good.

You'll have to tell us how it went.

**cheles2kids** · 01-17-2009, 10:27 AM

We did some purging of our basement last weekend & yes, it feels sooo much better.
With each empty box, or bag of garbage I got so excited to see it out of the basement and into the back of Mike's truck!

Now each time I go down there I don't have to walk around things, the floor is nice and empty and all clean, all the shelves are straightened and things are all stacked up nice & neat.

It'll be a job, but it'll be sooooo worth it once your finished.

We still have a couple of boxes yet to go through from the move, but seeing the progress makes it so much easier knowing we've got to go back down there in a month or so to finish it all up.

I agree with dancar3, breaking it up will be so much easier to deal with. That's how we always do alot of our big projects, in steps.

That way we don't get so sick of dealing with that we never want to go back to it and each time we organize a part of the house, we continue to see some progress so we don't get unmotivated.

Also if it's ends up being too much cleaning, purging and organizing we begin to get on one another's nerves and that is very counterproductive, believe me, I know.

Try to stay warm though and take lots of "warm-up" breaks during the day and keep us updated with how it all turns out.

**Monner 1** · 01-17-2009, 11:20 AM

I know what you mean about feeling better after all of the purging is done. We have to do that to our attic. Some night I expect to wake up and find the attic floor gave way and it is laying on top of my husband and I. He has finally got sick of all of the junk so now I will get help. I have to wait until it is warmer since it was minus 20 this morning when I got up. I think more like March when we clean. I plan on being totally ruthless but I do the same thing after it is done I also have to go in and walk around awhile and admire it. Good luck and I hope you get everything done that you are planning on.

Monner

**IntlMom** · 01-17-2009, 07:48 PM

soooo.....how'd it go?
do you feel better?
getting rid of "stuff" feels great - at least I think so!!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 01-17-2009, 10:26 PM

It actually went well. We spent roughly four and a half hours clearing out everything we could possibly not need. However, I didn't get to do the underneath of the landing where we have a bunch of storage boxes. DH had about a van's worth of stuff and it cost him $10 to get rid of it all.

I'm afraid to go downstairs and clean up.

We had to leave the recycling until tomorrow. There just wasn't enough room in the van for all of it. We're doing the newspapers, aluminum cans, returnables and cardboard boxes tomorrow. Once that's all finished, I'm going to break down the remaining boxes and sweep and dust. I got a huge headache because being in the basement kills me in terms of allergies. I feel so different now. It's not good or bad, it's just in between. After everything is cleared out, DH wants to start putting the stockpile stuff downstairs. I'm also washing all of the coats and mittens/gloves/hats and putting them in storage. We don't need five pairs of gloves per person.

**homesteadmamma** · 01-17-2009, 10:30 PM

Glad it went well. Doesn't it feel good to get it done.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 01-18-2009, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by homesteadmamma

Glad it went well. Doesn't it feel good to get it done.

It actually feels like we got a ton done this weekend, now that we did the recyclables. We had about $40 worth of pop cans, bottles, etc. The cardboard boxes, aluminum cans and newspapers all went away today. It took us about five minutes to offload the recyclables into the large green bins at the supermarket, then another five minutes to return the deposit bottles, cans, etc.

It's odd to walk into the basement and not trip over things. I can actually see the walls now. The kids got our old Ikea dining room table as their playroom table and we got rid of the old coffee table they were using.

The shelves are still in need of some organization and the underneath of the landing will get done when it stays warm for longer. It was 15C at least today so doing the recycling was actually pretty enjoyable. We're going to try to do it at least once a month and keep it better organized in the basement. I didn't return the plastic/glass bottles because I wanted to go through them for later use.