Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2

[zygote]

I've seen the first four episodes and definitely see both of your points. I feel like it has given Marie Kondo the American reality TV spin. It can't just be about cleaning, there has to be a ~story. So there ends up being a lot of focus on an emotional before and after. The bickering couple with kids are kinder and more in sync after they clean, etc. And the dad in that family of 4 realizes he's a grown man and starts taking care of his own things. The kids are also much more respectful towards their stuff and their mother by the end. But you can't have that growth without pushing the subjects to talk about their problems at the beginning.

Marie Kondo does recommend starting with a vision statement about how you want your life to be and how your space fits into that. But she doesn't say you have to dig deep into all of your problems, or that your problems will be solved by cleaning. Just that you may be surprised at all the tangential positive benefits as you go along.

I am enjoying the show on the surface level as cleaning motivation, rolling my eyes a little at some of the storylines. I did a slow version of the Konmari method all year, and this definitely makes me want to do a full round two now that I have gotten rid of the easiest stuff and have honed in more on what items really do bring me joy. I did deal with my active papers pile while I watched an episode, and was able to recycle about half of it that is no longer important/relevant.

@Tris Prior, if you're interested in the concept, I definitely recommend her books over the show. She emphasizes that it is a personal journey. Definitely not a relationship tool or something to force on others. And she does talk about items you need but don't love. The main idea is that even if the item itself doesn't spark joy, its purpose can. So for example, even though you hate winter gear, you can think about it keeping you warm. Then maybe over time you will find you appreciate the item more.

[Need2Save]

Alright. Keeping the momentum going this year.  I was certain that we had already released all the 'obvious' and 'easy' items from the house. I thought if I made a new challenge for myself in 2019 to get rid of one thing a day it would be hard to end the year with 365 items.  However, here we are on the 5th day of the year and I've already found over 50 more items! This is after we threw away/donated/recycled many items this fall and prior to January 1st.  I'm encouraged that I can keep this going. This is forcing me to look back over rooms/drawers/areas I've already gone over before.

My self-imposed rule is it must be something we are donating, throwing out (if broken/unusuable/can't be recycled), recycled, reselling, gifting to someone else or used up in the case of an item we are not replacing. Regular day-to-day items we use regularly and replace do not count obviously.  DH has also agreed to make no non-food (grocery) or gas purchases for the month of January. So zero new items should be entering the home this month!

[Sibley]

Dropped off the old ceiling fan at the Habitat Restore. Am about halfway through taking down the Christmas tree. (Got tired/hungry, so sat down for lunch and the cat ended up on me.) But am culling a pile of ornaments. Also dragged out the lights and went through those. Getting rid of all the non-LED, as well as any LED that aren't working.

[better late]

Challenging myself to get 5 things out of the house* each day I’m home during 2019. Yes, we have that much stuff. So Much Stuff. And that’s after moving house and all the purging that goes with downsizing.

*into the donate bag counts as out of the house even if it takes some time to get dropped off.

[Travis]

Two trips to Goodwill in the last 3 weeks. Both trips filled my trunk and my back seat for one of them.  I decided to go into the Goodwill after the second drop off and discovered two office chairs that are much better than the ones we've suffered through for a few years now.  I also found a Nerf gun on the rack that retails for $90 for $3.  The gun plus two good condition office chairs - $17.  We might be moving this summer so there's at least one more Goodwill run in our future this year.

[HappierAtHome]

In the midst of another decluttering push, inspired by my need to find room for a shit-ton of my Dad's books. Plus, while his books are in boxes in my spare room waiting to be divided up with my siblings, I don't have a spare room to hide my clutter :-/

- I went through the pile of baby gifts we received and never opened. Some of them I have kept to regift, but many (a gazillion muslin wraps) went on Buy Nothing and found new homes.
- Released some clothing items that I felt I SHOULD love and wear, but I just didn't!
- Unpotted and gave away a fig tree that was causing more angst than joy.
- Just listed a heap of books I don't want to read again, to find new readers :-)

Next areas to attack:
- Some unwanted gifts that I bet someone else would cherish.
- Baby and toddler toys that aren't special enough to keep for the hypothetical next kid.
- Kitchen cupboards... Not looking forward to that!!
- Laundry cupboards.
- Mr Happier's clothes? Maybe. Will see how he's feeling re ability to happily let go. He's made huge progress in feeling okay letting things go, and I don't want to push it.

[Bracken_Joy]

Yesterday was a good test for our decluttering and organizing efforts. We put away the last of the Christmas items, and they fit! I still need to go through and refine my office stuff, probably get a desk so I have better storage for the things I need in there. But otherwise, the apartment is 100% functional in terms of there's nothing that space-wise of visibly needs to find homes, etc.

I actually watched a youtube video last night where a professional organizer gave her thoughts on Tidying Up. The part I really liked of the video was her breaking down the 4 types of clutter she sees in people's homes. https://youtu.be/3nIO2bZjm48
1. Too many items to store.
2. Items evoke negative emotions
3. Useful items are hard to access
4. Items are around that no longer function or lack function

So I'm to the lowest bar in some ways haha, that we now have the 'right' amount of items that we can appropriately store everything. Now I'm into the territory of 'is everything we have something we find useful or beautiful'.

[former player]

So far items that can't go in the household recycling and waste collections has had to be taken to the recycling centre which is 15 miles by car in the opposite direction to all my town centre shopping, social and recreational needs.  A new recycling centre is opening in my town, but not until spring this year.  So either I make a special car journey or put stuff somewhere it can wait for three or four months.  Inertia and environmental concerns will probably win, but irritating to have to hang on to things I've decided I want gone.

[use2betrix]

Went through our books today that I’ve slowly been accumulating for the last 15 years. Around 60 will be heading to half price books. Keeping around 15-20. We move a lot so this will be a huge help.

[horsepoor]

About five years ago, the pull-out part of our kitchen faucet started malfunctioning (can't remember exactly what).  We liked the faucet, so I bought the same, although slightly updated, model, and ended up just putting the new pull-out piece on the old faucet.  This morning, I finally got around to installing the new faucet!  Old one is gone, and no boxed faucet sitting under the sink.

Along the same lines, I'm installing a bunch of new electrical outlets and switches today.  It's been on my to-do list for years as our house is 40 years old and the outlets that get more use are loose, not to mention yucky-looking. All the old switches are being updated to rocker switches. Up to now I'd only replace a few key outlets, and installed the rocker switches as rooms have been painted/updated.  Maybe I will really get ambitious and put all the GFCI outlets in too.  Should eliminate a container of supplies that have been stored in the shop.

Also took a couple small items out of the kitchen and put them in the thrift pile.  I'm actually a little surprised at how few unused items I found while going through the kitchen, considering I took everything out of the cupboards and drawers to clean them out and put in shelf liners.

[zygote]

I finished watching Tidying Up, and it has been really motivating for me. I did a pretty good first pass of the Kondo method last year, but I've been wanting to do a second round for a month or so. As I went through and reorganized the later categories, it gave me new perspective on some of the earlier ones. Plus, no matter how hard I try not to bring in new things, stuff creep is real. I have to be better about one-in-one-out this year.

Anyway, yesterday I pulled out all my tops, pajamas, and work clothes and went through them. I said goodbye to a decent sized pile of items that I kept last January but haven't worn since. There were also some things that have worn out or don't quite fit me right anymore. Everything in my closet is finally arranged one deep (I have stackable hangers and used to double up on some of my like items). Also, I finally did the proper folding method and packed my shirts upright in the drawers. My drawers only open halfway (thanks, tiny apartment living) and they never fit that way before. It is seriously life-changing.

The only downside is that my laundry is currently pretty full...hopefully it all still fits once those items are clean and put away. I do plan to go through it once i do a load later this week. I know I have a few pajama shirts in there that I only wore because they were on top of the pile that I can let go of. And I also have to do pants and sweaters (my nemesis!)

[I'm a red panda]

I've watched a few episodes of Tidying Up and liked it more than I thought it would. I worried it would be too "reality show".
What was interesting is it did seem different than I got from her book.  Like, rather than do everything from a category from every room of the house, she seemed to put people on different rooms and focus on rooms.

I didn't get anything new done last week. I need to decide what category I'm going to be looking at next. It really needs to be "husband's clothes", but Marie Kondo has taught me that other people's stuff is theirs to deal with...

[dcheesi]

With the help of my honey and some friends, this past weekend I was finally able to vacate my storage unit!!! That particular albatross had been around my neck since I moved 2 years ago, and it feels really good to finally be clear of it!

Since I'm no longer in that area, one of the keys for me was to rent a big truck so we could haul anything useful back up with us. It turned out that renting one-way from down there was much cheaper than round-trip from my new location, enough so that renting a cheap compact car to drive down made sense (and also saved on gas). We thought about train/bus, but the schedules weren't great, and then the pickup location ended up being in an outlying community so we would have had to arranged for a separate ride out there anyway. I was also lucky that my brother and certain friends had need of furniture (new housing arrangements since the time of my move), so I was able to parcel out a lot of stuff instead of having to dump or donate all of it.

I'll also say that (with help) it was a lot easier than I'd made it out to be. Part of the reason it had languished for so long was that I had built up a major anxiety hangup & mental block when it came to finding ways to get rid certain items: large CRT TV, dead lawnmower, etc. The well-known services (1-800-GOT-JUNK, etc.) don't operate in that area for some reason, and the local contacts I could find seemed sketchy. The truth of the matter, though, is that I have a social phone-phobia, so doing business by phone/text is just excruciating for me; even just watching my honey do it for me (thanks, hon!) gave me a deep sense of dread... In the end she found some local crew to haul away everything that wasn't donate-able, including all of my worry items.

The other thing was that just the sheer amount of stuff, combined with the distance involved (no longer living in the region), made it seem insurmountable. But when we looked at it this time (with a friend to help, and big-a** truck to haul it all in), it didn't seem nearly as daunting. We were able to clear out the unit in one day, which left us another full (and long) day to drive, distribute, and donate on our way back home.

It feels so great to finally be done with this needless expense, and all of the junk with it!

[Cassie]

I worked on my kitchen yesterday and now have a few boxes for the thrift store.

[dcheesi]

HUGE congrats @dcheesi! Sounds like an AMAZING accomplishment and I love how good you clearly feel about being DONE with the storage unit. Hopefully there's also a nice financial savings in not paying for it anymore too :)

Thanks! And yep, the bill for that unit had grown over time, so that's a huge hole in my budget¹ that's now closed :)

[¹ Even though I'm more of a tracker than a budgeter, I had deliberately left this expense out of my monthly spending benchmarks just so it would keep bugging me every month when I looked at my finances.]

[Need2Save]

Yay! congrats @dcheesi! that is a huge accomplishment. Really! I know once people put stuff in a unit, the burden just mounts with time. You are starting 2019 off right!

I dropped off some ceramic floor tiles at a local Re-Store that can be re-used and a hardly used manual tile cutter.  I thought I'd like using it on a particular size tile during my last project (kitchen back-splash), but the trusty wet saw came back in to play quickly.  Maybe it will be helpful to someone else who has a small project to do.

I haven't purged anything today, but I found a few more items on Sunday from the kitchen drawers and bottom cupboards. A few extra measuring cups/spoons that were duplicates, a few random odds and ends of appliances we no longer own, a couple mixing bowls we haven't used in ten years since we moved in.  I know there is more lurking in the kitchen, but for now there is absolutely nothing on the top shelf in each of the upper cabinets so that feels good.

[Shinplaster]

Two more large bags being picked up tomorrow.  I also have a box of books almost ready to drop off at Goodwill next week. 

[adamsputnik]

I think I am making good progress with the basement. The closet has been mostly reorganized, and I have a carful of stuff to take to Goodwill tomorrow, plus probably two carloads of rubbish waiting in the wings.

Still have some more areas to go through, but the ball is rolling and it's much less cluttered in general down there. Or will be, once the trash is gone.

[zygote]

Great job everyone, especially @dcheesi. Emptying a whole storage unit is quite an accomplishment!

I went through the rest of my clothes last night (besides what's in the laundry). I cannot believe the size of the donate pile! I thought my wardrobe was just going to need a fine tune here and there, but I really got rid of a lot considering the fact that I already did a big purge last year. Multiple trips to the thrift store are in my future. I don't have a car, so I have to take things in smaller bags on public transit.

It feels really, really good. My clothes finally feel like they're at that "click" point. The closet and drawers are still relatively full, but with room to breathe.

[Serendip]

Filled another bag to donate after watching Tidying w/Marie Kondo (and just finished a year with zero shopping).. some of my things are badly in need of replacement and/or I am tired of trying to make them work.
-button up flannel that makes me look pregnant
-skirt with shorts under for hiking (I just ended up tugging at them the whole time)
-miscellaneous doo-dads,

going to do a few more rooms today hopefully!

*went through kitchen & found stainless steel tumblers, 5 wine glasses and some shot glasses that we don't use
*2 meditation cds
*weird ornamental Ikea gadget

[momcpa]

We will be driving thru a town with a Goodwill store in an hour for an appointment, so I made a quick look at what 'extra' stuff I have to bag up.  Not taking the time to do a big purge, but still ended up with a couple purses, a few items of clothing, an 'inspirational' desk do-dad, and some unused Christmas decorations.   And it only took about 10 minutes.  Stuff I won't even notice is gone, but it will be. 

[Bracken_Joy]

Spent the better part of a day working with my husband on our office! It was the remaining area that hadn't been addressed much since the move. Went through a ton of stuff- got rid of a ton of paperwork, filed a bunch, even went through some of our files! We hung a few extra pieces of decor and decided that 5 paintings/frames could be donated. Also a small box worth of misc cables and so forth will be donated.

All this means I actually have table space now! I need to get a couple things to make it a more functional desk, since it doesn't have any drawers. But anyway, WAY better than the antique dresser drawer + dining table I was trying to use as my 'desk'. It also means I don't have to move in progress stuff for meals or guests. This will be the first time ever for me that this is true, come to think of it! I've always had weird spots in the kitchen, or use the dining room table then clear it off, that sort of thing. How exciting =)

Also today, sold our circular saw. Kinda forgot I even had it listed online actually, it had gotten tucked up into a closet. So, item we don't need now that we don't have a house is gone, and $20 in my pocket. Fine by me.

[shadesofgreen]

Got rid of 3 sets of crummy blinds and a old camping chair over the weekend. Than I replaced my horrible shrunk up and pathetic patio drapes and got them out of the house yesterday. Feels good to get them gone.

[Raymond Reddington]

So a while back we bought a new coffee table because the old Ikea tables just weren't cutting it. So we order one from Wayfair, but it comes damaged (corner chipped and one of the cardboard-esque particle board sides cracked) and one of the pieces was drilled backwards. So we call them to order replacement parts, but they just send us an entirely new table. So we had a partially complete defective table, and now here comes a brand new one. So we build, and use the new one. Meanwhile...still got the old one. Anyway, I finally got some time to drill the backwards piece properly (the piece doesn't face out), and we just decided...what the hell, let's build the defective table and see how it looks. It actually didn't look half bad. So we sold it cheap for $35 this week since it's got imperfections. And we're just happy to have the space it was occupying in our front room back.

[HappierAtHome]

Watched the first round of Tidying Up. It really made me want a TV show to come provide childcare for days or weeks so I can declutter in peace :-P

I started going through our underbed storage yesterday. Ohmylord, THE DUST.

[Frugal Lizard]

I have put a lot of stuff on hold while I cope with grieving, but doing little tiny bits of de-cluttering has been therapeutic.  I can't make big decisions - like what to do with all of the 50% of the Christmas decorations that didn't make it out of the box - but I was able put a bunch of stuff in a bag to use in next year's fundraiser, including stuff that arrived just this year. 
Hubs took the pile in the garage to the dump/donation as was appropriate and it is nice to get that space back when getting into the car. 
When looking for cloth to make beeswax wraps, I found a whole bunch of useless fabric that I had saved for daughter to do crafts with.  Now gone or finding new life as a reusable wrap. 
When looking for containers for gifts of food, anything that was not functional got tossed tidying up one cupboard.
Christmas accumulations were way down and that has made things much easier. 
I am going to follow along and work at my own pace, but I too have enjoyed watching Tidying Up when I was just too tired to do anything else.

[oneday]

Without catching up...Frugal Lizard, I am sorry for your loss.

Got stuck on both work projects today, so turned back to 2017 emails.  Got them all done!  61 total in the last 4 days!  Feels good.  Maybe I can keep clearing out a month of 2018 emails for every month in 2019, to keep from getting further behind. 

I just need a little bit of celebration.  Oldest work email is now only 10 months old!  Also, I got the oldest thing on my monthly task list (from July 2018) done!  That's a piece of paper I no longer need (the task list).

[mspym]

Oneday - you are seriously rocking the email.

[SunnyDays]

I started going through our underbed storage yesterday. Ohmylord, THE DUST.

Underbed storage?!?!  Noooooo!  Bad Feng Shui!  Only partly kidding - somehow, I just felt better when I got rid of mine.

[HappierAtHome]

I started going through our underbed storage yesterday. Ohmylord, THE DUST.

Underbed storage?!?!  Noooooo!  Bad Feng Shui!  Only partly kidding - somehow, I just felt better when I got rid of mine.

Well if we declutter enough, I can get rid of it :-)

I don't believe in Feng Shui, but seeing the edges of the underbed containers poking out sometimes bothers me, plus it does make it harder to clean under there.

On the other hand - you know there are no monsters under the bed when the space is filled with storage tubs.

[mspym]

My bed has build in storage which is where clothing that brings me joy but isn't in this season's capsule wardrobe lives.

But I do need to examine the number of woollen jerseys I truly need to own given I haven't lived in NZ for a decade

[HappierAtHome]

My sister is taking the Royal Albert tiered cake stand that was a gift from my BFF. My BFF is taking the Royal Doulton cut glass decanter that was a gift from my sister. I find this HILARIOUS.

[jengod]

Today’s decluttering box includes a roasting rack that doesn’t fit our roasting pan, a warped skillet for which I have two replacements, a butter dish for which I have two replacement, some outgrown kids clothes (donate), some ripped/holey kids clothes (compost), a puzzle the kids don’t touch, and a set of alphabet blocks.

[Fresh Bread]

My sister is taking the Royal Albert tiered cake stand that was a gift from my BFF. My BFF is taking the Royal Doulton cut glass decanter that was a gift from my sister. I find this HILARIOUS.

Funny! Xmas & birthdays would be a lot simpler if everyone just bought something for themselves!

[HappierAtHome]

My sister is taking the Royal Albert tiered cake stand that was a gift from my BFF. My BFF is taking the Royal Doulton cut glass decanter that was a gift from my sister. I find this HILARIOUS.

Funny! Xmas & birthdays would be a lot simpler if everyone just bought something for themselves!

Gift giving is horribly inefficient. Which leads me to ponder how I increase the efficiency of my giving, i.e. ensure that what I give people has at least the value to them that I have exchanged for it.

[HappierAtHome]

Went through half the kitchen cupboards last night, and made a huge pile of things for Mr Happier to consider. Made it Extremely Clear that he was not obligated to agree to getting rid of a single thing in the pile if he wanted to keep it all. He opted to keep two things: a mug with a built-in tea strainer, and a set of four mini mugs that he says we need for when we have a lot of guests. I kind of agree about needing the extra mugs - but I don't care at all for the particular mugs in question. So he's taking time to consider whether he wants these mugs or just some backup mugs, and when he's had time to think about it and come to a decision we'll proceed accordingly.

He marvelled at how much space I'd cleared from the cupboards, and is super excited to have space for the toddler bowl, spoons etc in a very accessible kitchen cupboard. They're in frequent use so we've just been keeping them on the counter, but neither of us loves how that looks. (Thank goodness I married a man who loves a tidy kitchen.)

Listed everything on Buy Nothing last night, and it amazes me what people want or don't want. I'm hoping to give away at least 50% of what we're decluttering, because I know that not everything given to charity actually gets bought.

We've already gone through the toddler toys and boxed up the things that we want to save for a hypothetical next kid, and set aside for Buy Nothing the stuff we don't think is worth keeping.

[halftimer]

A bit of backwards movement this week I guess. We cleared out so many items and large pieces in the last month, that when our neighbour offered to give us a treadmill we had a nice clear spot for it ready to go. At least one person in my family is very happy we have that equipment now, but I'm sad I lost the clear space.  sigh

In other news, I recently discovered a trading app called Bunz where you can post items and fill other people's or your own 'in search of' lists. Traded one item on it now, and I hope my city gets more people on it - I just really like the idea of people getting matched up with items they need and want and it not just going on some anonymous donate pile. Many people in our friend circle already swap, but it's very disorganized and can be user intensive - make a social media post with a list of items, or a google doc list, and decide who to share it to...    I don't need anything, so I'm treating it more as a give away site, but I put things on my ISO list like kids board games for the non-profit I work at, transit fare, or house plants (I can never keep them alive long).

[Bird In Hand]

My paint stash is getting positively small! Used up and took another 3 gallons of primer and paint to the garage to dry before tossing them. I plan to paint the walls in the bedroom, which will use another gallon.

Well done!

I'm a little jealous...we have at least a dozen partial gallons of paint in the basement, most from the original owners of our house who used it probably 15+ years ago.  We've kept it because of laziness/intertia, but also because we thought it might be useful to do touch-ups (that hasn't happened) or to color-match if we ever decide to repaint some rooms (not gonna happen anytime soon).  The paint is probably no good after all this time, so I'd really like to start getting rid of it.

[Bird In Hand]

The best gift I gave myself this Christmas was to spend a lot of time decluttering the basement.  We didn't get rid of as much as I'd hoped, but some of the items were pretty large.  The biggest gains came from thoughtful reorganization, and consolidating like items into the same boxes/areas.  It's really nice to know exactly where to look for something when I need it.

I keep going down there to just walk around and enjoy the (relatively) de-cluttered and open-feeling space.  Every time I do that it inspires me to chip away at it a little more.

One thing I still want to do is replace some (or all) of the free-standing shelves with wall-mounted shelves.  We have six free-standing units and I really dislike the way they look.  Plus it really bothers me that I can't run the vacuum under the free-standing units!

[Frugal Lizard]

My paint stash is getting positively small! Used up and took another 3 gallons of primer and paint to the garage to dry before tossing them. I plan to paint the walls in the bedroom, which will use another gallon.

Well done!

I'm a little jealous...we have at least a dozen partial gallons of paint in the basement, most from the original owners of our house who used it probably 15+ years ago.  We've kept it because of laziness/intertia, but also because we thought it might be useful to do touch-ups (that hasn't happened) or to color-match if we ever decide to repaint some rooms (not gonna happen anytime soon).  The paint is probably no good after all this time, so I'd really like to start getting rid of it.

That paint is most likely garbage.  Depending on the pigments - it may only work for touch ups for three or four years (anything with reds is quickly faded in a bright room)  And you probably want the lower VOC paints on your walls now anyway.

[Sibley]

My paint stash is getting positively small! Used up and took another 3 gallons of primer and paint to the garage to dry before tossing them. I plan to paint the walls in the bedroom, which will use another gallon.

Well done!

I'm a little jealous...we have at least a dozen partial gallons of paint in the basement, most from the original owners of our house who used it probably 15+ years ago.  We've kept it because of laziness/intertia, but also because we thought it might be useful to do touch-ups (that hasn't happened) or to color-match if we ever decide to repaint some rooms (not gonna happen anytime soon).  The paint is probably no good after all this time, so I'd really like to start getting rid of it.

That paint is most likely garbage.  Depending on the pigments - it may only work for touch ups for three or four years (anything with reds is quickly faded in a bright room)  And you probably want the lower VOC paints on your walls now anyway.

If it's frozen at all, it definitely is garbage. A lot of hazardous waste drop offs will take old paint. I dumped something like 50 gallons on one in 2017. They were pretty shocked. So was I actually when I started gathering it all together and it just kept turning up.

[Bird In Hand]

I'm a little jealous...we have at least a dozen partial gallons of paint in the basement, most from the original owners of our house who used it probably 15+ years ago.  We've kept it because of laziness/intertia, but also because we thought it might be useful to do touch-ups (that hasn't happened) or to color-match if we ever decide to repaint some rooms (not gonna happen anytime soon).  The paint is probably no good after all this time, so I'd really like to start getting rid of it.

That paint is most likely garbage.  Depending on the pigments - it may only work for touch ups for three or four years (anything with reds is quickly faded in a bright room)  And you probably want the lower VOC paints on your walls now anyway.

Most of the colors are neutral -- grays, beiges, light blues.  But you're still right that it's all most likely no good anymore.  I'm going to put this on my list of things that are somewhat annoying to get rid of.  Along with CFL bulbs, rechargeable batteries, old Christmas tree lights, and wood scraps.

[Bird In Hand]

That paint is most likely garbage.  Depending on the pigments - it may only work for touch ups for three or four years (anything with reds is quickly faded in a bright room)  And you probably want the lower VOC paints on your walls now anyway.

If it's frozen at all, it definitely is garbage. A lot of hazardous waste drop offs will take old paint. I dumped something like 50 gallons on one in 2017. They were pretty shocked. So was I actually when I started gathering it all together and it just kept turning up.

I know the local recycling center has a 'hazardous waste disposal day' once or twice a year where they accept stuff like this.  I'll find out when that is and start counting down the days until I can reclaim that corner of my basement.  :)

[Serendip]

Love reading these updates :)

Today I am donating
- two beautiful (but overly fancy for us) glass candleholders
- long black skirt, never worn but doesn't suit me

[Car Jack]

My paint stash is getting positively small! Used up and took another 3 gallons of primer and paint to the garage to dry before tossing them. I plan to paint the walls in the bedroom, which will use another gallon.

Well done!

I'm a little jealous...we have at least a dozen partial gallons of paint in the basement, most from the original owners of our house who used it probably 15+ years ago.  We've kept it because of laziness/intertia, but also because we thought it might be useful to do touch-ups (that hasn't happened) or to color-match if we ever decide to repaint some rooms (not gonna happen anytime soon).  The paint is probably no good after all this time, so I'd really like to start getting rid of it.

Oh, you had to remind me.  My wife couldn't decide from the color samples and just had to buy those little samples of blue paint to do a spot on a wall when we re-did our bedroom and expanded it.  We have probably 10 different shades.  When I redo our bathroom, which really needs it, my plan is to pour them all into a 5 gallon pail and paint the whole thing whatever color blue I get.

[SunnyDays]

That paint is most likely garbage.  Depending on the pigments - it may only work for touch ups for three or four years (anything with reds is quickly faded in a bright room)  And you probably want the lower VOC paints on your walls now anyway.

If it's frozen at all, it definitely is garbage. A lot of hazardous waste drop offs will take old paint. I dumped something like 50 gallons on one in 2017. They were pretty shocked. So was I actually when I started gathering it all together and it just kept turning up.

I know the local recycling center has a 'hazardous waste disposal day' once or twice a year where they accept stuff like this.  I'll find out when that is and start counting down the days until I can reclaim that corner of my basement.  :)

I had a bunch of paint in my basement, some of it not that old, but when I opened the cans, the inside of the lids were rusty and of course all the "crumbs" fell into the paint.  So out it went.  I just took it to my local hardware store, and they happily accepted it for recycling.

[I'm a red panda]

My "#hugyourhome" this week resulted in a huge box of mugs and bottles beind fonsted, getting rid of the magic bullet.

Then my husband added 3 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of jeans.

Plus a bunch of other random stuff.

Feel good about tonight. If there is no snow, it all goes to Goodwill tomorrow. Magic Bullet was already gifted on BNP.

[Need2Save]

We are over 100 items since January 1. Yay! Not bad for 12 days.

[horsepoor]

Donated 2 big boxes of stuff, and my "old lady grocery cart" to the thrift store today.

In moving book cases up to our office, I found my two HS yearbooks.  I flipped through for about 2 minutes, thought "never want to look at these again" and into the trash they went.

Getting rid of a big cheapo corner desk that has been holding the printer in our office (way oversized for the job).  The room is so much nicer and more functional now.

The lady who does bodywork on my horses gave me some wild orange oil, which I'm running through the diffuser.  She says it promotes desires to cleanse/declutter, and her H suddenly cleaned out the garage so she can park inside when she started diffusing in her house.  Hoping it works on my husband, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  I might volunteer to clean up "his" room next week, maybe get rid of the ginormous non-working amp we've been dragging around for 13 years...

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Today I:
-Went through 12 year old's sock drawer, & found a bunch of solo socks. Matched up with three socks in our "where the heck do all of the socks go" drawer. Re-organized sock drawer so that he can now find soccer socks & shin guards easily.
-Donated an unopened puzzle & a game
-Found another item I can sell, so put that aside for when I'm back from all of my work travel

Now that I'm on a roll, I'm kind of tempted to go through my travel/sample toiletries, but should really work out instead. We'll see where I net out.