Declutter challenge - 90 days - clean up in 2016

[frugalfanny]

I think it's time to join up! I've been decluttering for a year now but I haven't quite gotten through everything.

It sounds like you all are making good progress. It's inspiring!

These are a few spots that I need to work on:

Makeup collection (I don't wear makeup)
Clothes (closet and dresser drawers)
Books
VHS Tapes
T-shirts
Coats
Linens
Take items to goodwill
save items for Flea Market

Things I've done recently:
Organize scrapbook paper and stickers--DONE! 2/21
Kitchen junk drawer--DONE! 2/22

Let the 90 day countdown begin!

[ruthiegirl]

Been poking through cabinets and cupboards and I am running out of things to declutter.  We are in a good place right now - just enough, not too much.

I did pull everything out of my kitchen, emptied all of the cupboards and gave everything a good wash.  I thought I would find a few things to cull, but really there was very little...a couple of extra measuring spoons, a weird sharpening stone we never use and a single coffee mug.  The kitchen is clean and I think just perfect. 

The garage needs a good cleaning and we have a shed that has a few odds and ends in it.   Might get to those if the weather stays nice through the weekend. 

Still working on the pile of concrete.  A neighbor is going to take some and I am going to use some of the gravel around a new bed I built for the raspberries.  Still a lot left though. 

[Need2Save]

ruthiegirl - sounds like a lot of progress!  Awesome.  Hoping the weather stays in your favor. 

[cityfolks]

I have a pretty substantial earring collection (multiple holes in each ear) and while the pairs get used, I've collected a handful of "one-offs" whose partners were lost. Many of these I've kept because I love the earrings, but I'm wondering if there's something I could be doing to get more use out of them. I've considered thumbtacks, pendants, even getting another ear piercing for the odd ones out! Any thoughts on whether these are worth repurposing?

[Ready2Go]

Been poking through cabinets and cupboards and I am running out of things to declutter.  We are in a good place right now - just enough, not too much.

Good for you! I am almost there myself, and I am feeling so good about my lighter house.

[Ready2Go]

2/19
-Took a deep breath and put all but 4 pillow cases in the donation pile.

-Still doing 10 items a day for DH... This week he gets credit for 50 things that include taco seasoning from 2007! Yes, I hit the spice cabinet this week.  I easily had enough partial pumpkin pie spice tins to last my lifetime as I only make 1  pie a year.

-Went through my baking tins this week. This is getting REAL HARD. DH asks "How are baking pans different from garage tools".  Caught!  Maybe I can trade some fancy bundt cake pans for a lawn fertilizer

52 days to go..

2/26
- DH back on 10 items a day this week. We are creating a nice pile of tools for the Habitat for Humanity Restore.
- My purge target this week was the book cases.   Every day I pulled out 10 books for the donation pile. I can probably continue with this one for the next month!
- All my sewing and embroidery supplies are now sorted, purged, cleaned up and packed into boxes.
- Right now I am looking at the 4 pencil holders on my desk.  What to do with all these pencils?  No one wants these as a donation? Seems wasteful to toss perfectly good pencils?  There are enough here for years of elementary school..

45 days to go...  Half way there!!

[Rosy]

I think it's time to join up! I've been decluttering for a year now but I haven't quite gotten through everything.

It sounds like you all are making good progress. It's inspiring!

These are a few spots that I need to work on:

Makeup collection (I don't wear makeup)
Clothes (closet and dresser drawers)
Books
VHS Tapes
T-shirts
Coats
Linens
Take items to goodwill
save items for Flea Market

Things I've done recently:
Organize scrapbook paper and stickers--DONE! 2/21
Kitchen junk drawer--DONE! 2/22

Let the 90 day countdown begin!

@frugalfanny - Welcome!:) sounds like you could use a deadline for that last sprint. YAY on the organization of that kitchen junk drawer - mine is overdue, it's days are numbered.

UPDATE: The garage sale at the Community Center today was a bust - sniff.
I paid $5 for the table, made $14, ate a dog for $1.
Totally thrilled with my own purchases - found a longsleeved top for two bucks and two necklaces for three dollars. All the garage sale ladies ended up buying stuff from each other - yikes:) It was sorta fun - not:), but they had free coffee and I found out they have a Tai Chi class and some interesting bus trips coming up.

Progress: Garage Sale #1 - done
Garage Sale # 2 - at my house is a maybe for tomorrow depending on the weather - it's all clean and priced and ready to set up.

One small bookshelf cleared of crafts and supplies.
Three big shelves in the tall bookcase cleared of crafts and supplies.

Will list items for sale - New black tank, tags still on - new waffle maker, still in box - one mercury glass fish shaped dish - one or two sewing machines...
(might add a couple of gift items still in box as well - if it is easy enough to do)
Everything else will be donated after the garage sale.

Next step: Check free cycle and check out apps for 5miles and thredup, not sure if I want to try CL

Next on the list:
1. Bookshelf in the hallway
2. Hanging clothes closet - Mr. R.
3. T-shirt drawers - Mr. R.
4. Tall cabinet - Mr. R. - de-clutter - shred - file
5. Tall cabinet - mine - re-organize - shred - file? - Needs Light
6. Night stand - Mr. R. - de-clutter - needs light
7. Side Table - Mr. R. - de-clutter - shred
8. Clean blinds and under the bed - Wash windows
9. Two drawers under the bed - de-clutter and re-organize
10. Linen closet - hall way - re-organize-de-clutter
11. Continue clearing out shed/studio ........
12. Clear out - re-organize/clean underneath bathroom vanity
13. Clear out - re-organize medicine cabinet
14. Study - paper clutter - 7 boxes - sort - shred - file
15. Study - clear out - organize TV cabinet.
16. Study - clear out - organize gentleman's chest
17. Study - clear out - organize  file cabinet
18. Study - clear-organize bookshelf

Well, that is a long enough list for now - makes me realize how much I've been slacking off. We had a death in the family so things were on hold with burial and wake and death watch and relatives from out of state. Somehow I managed to get my taxes done and it is nice to see a dent in the shed/studio - it feels a little better already.
Also spent some time on the garden, harvesting and watering and supervising some much needed landscape work. Need to work on spring planting this week.
... and there is a bird bath project calling my name:)

[Rosy]

I have a pretty substantial earring collection (multiple holes in each ear) and while the pairs get used, I've collected a handful of "one-offs" whose partners were lost. Many of these I've kept because I love the earrings, but I'm wondering if there's something I could be doing to get more use out of them. I've considered thumbtacks, pendants, even getting another ear piercing for the odd ones out! Any thoughts on whether these are worth repurposing?

A girl can never have too many earrings:) - I sold my single gold ones at the height of the gold craze, got about $100+ just for the solo earrings. The costume jewelry - your best bet might be pinterest and youtube, surely someone has some fun ideas for a project.

[cityfolks]

Thanks @Rosy, that's a great idea to check out Pinterest. I don't have much "quality" jewelry, the value is mostly emotional, so I'm sure there's options out there in DIYlandia.

[ruthiegirl]

Good for you! I am almost there myself, and I am feeling so good about my lighter house.

Me too.  I am calmer when the house is in order.  I am sure there is something to that...something that could be discussed in therapy, but screw it.  I like my house tidy and I really like not tripping over things. 


Update on the pile of concrete bits -- I took a load of the smaller pieces to the dump.  A friend wants the bigger pieces to make a walkway in her garden, but had no use for the fist size chunks.  It was a heavy load -- almost 700 pounds, but only cost $28 which I thought a decent price.  One more load and all of the concrete will be gone!  Next time I will have to think through the clean-up process before I decide to spontaneously remove an ugly, concrete patio. 

Once all of the debris is cleared, I have plans to build a cob oven in the space which has been on my list of 'fun things to do' for ages.   I am really looking forward to the building, but I am holding off until I do every last bit of clean-up first.   

[Mongoose]

Ugh. I definitely have lost momentum with this challenge. Just over a month to go. The good news is that I have made significant progress. The bad news is that I am back to near paralysis at the next steps.

I'm trying to clean out our office area. I have a huge tub of paper that needs to be filed but a bunch of junk in front of the filing cabinets. I have uncovered multiple boxes of what appear to be every cd, floppy disk, Zip disk and unfathomable computer part that we have ever owned, most of which are cryptically labeled or unlabeled. I have no idea what, if anything, is important.

There are also boxes of data and reprints from my former life as a research scientist. I'm keeping one of each reprint but tossing the rest. I guess maybe I need to sort through the data. Or maybe not. I voluntarily chose not to continue after a downsizing but it is still wrenching to sort the remnants of my former life. A large part of my identity was tied up in that career. It is hard on morale.

So, I've made no progress for awhile and am currently nearly stuck. I really love having my house tidy and find it relaxing (no need for therapeutic analysis in my opinion; I understand why and it isn't an obsession that interferes with the rest of my life). I'm frustrated by my current paralysis. Perhaps it is time to tackle a different part of my list. I think I need DH to sort through all this junk with me so I don't throw out something critical on accident.

- prime and paint the unfinished drywall ceilings (almost the whole house...ugh!) Not started yet. DH is going to have to do this. Try as I might, something is wrong with my dominant hand and I can't hold a paint roller.
- clean out, organize and paint inside the bathroom cabinets (2 bathrooms) Cleaned and organized but not painted
- tackle the kids closets and hall closet
- sort/organize DHs clothes that I wasn't sure what to do with Done
- work on the basement/garage (boxes dumped when we moved in and untouched are keeping me from getting my car in out of the snow! Grrrrr!) Done

In addition to the items above that need to be finished:
- clean, organize and purge office spaces (shelves and two desks) Done twice and the mess keeps reappearing. Huh?!?!?!
- sort and organize business paperwork Requires office to be cleaned.
- sort and file personal paperwork, manuals etc Requires office to be cleaned.
- tackle the two closets in the guest bedroom
- sell crystal glasses and two 35mm cameras Waiting on DH since it is his stuff.
- organize kids' toy shelves

My dominant being semi out of commission isn't helping my mood or progress any. I've had it looked at and the doctor said it was fine. As soon as we can afford it, I'm going to get a second opinion. I really don't think I should be unable to do things like use a paint roller or do my job without pain. It followed an injury where I partially ruptured a ligament in my wrist. It hasn't worked ever since but the hand specialist I saw said it looked fine and could not be related to the ligament injury. Confusing...but it has to wait for better finances I guess. After two and a half years, I'm wondering if this is a new permanent part of my life.

[Need2Save]

Was a three day weekend for me.  Made another run on the strorage room and purged minimum of 10 on Friday down there.  All the obvious stuff is now done.  DH needs to go through a oversized box of old text books and binders from his graduate school days.  I say the whole box can go but just need to lead him down there to make a decision.  So I feel until the spring yard sale (which will likely be in April/May) I'm very happy with progress in basement.  Went through easter and halloween boxes.  Decided to leave the 9 christmas boxes until December when I pull them all out again.  I may commit to paring down one box a year on the christmas stuff until we sell, move, or whatever.

So with the basement in pretty good shape, I moved my attention to my side of the master closet on Saturday/Sunday.  Filled three kitchen size bags.  One for trash, and 2 for donations with clothes and shoes.  Feels good to let go of about 12 pairs of dress shoes I haven't worn in a while for work.  But you can hardly tell anything left.  A lot more clothes to go through. 

Keep it up guys!

[Bracken_Joy]

Was a three day weekend for me.  Made another run on the strorage room and purged minimum of 10 on Friday down there.  All the obvious stuff is now done.  DH needs to go through a oversized box of old text books and binders from his graduate school days.  I say the whole box can go but just need to lead him down there to make a decision.  So I feel until the spring yard sale (which will likely be in April/May) I'm very happy with progress in basement.  Went through easter and halloween boxes.  Decided to leave the 9 christmas boxes until December when I pull them all out again.  I may commit to paring down one box a year on the christmas stuff until we sell, move, or whatever.

So with the basement in pretty good shape, I moved my attention to my side of the master closet on Saturday/Sunday.  Filled three kitchen size bags.  One for trash, and 2 for donations with clothes and shoes.  Feels good to let go of about 12 pairs of dress shoes I haven't worn in a while for work.  But you can hardly tell anything left.  A lot more clothes to go through. 

Keep it up guys!

I really like this approach for holiday stuff! Sensible and attainable.

[cityfolks]

A whole copier paper box of clothes ready for Goodwill, including 7 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 4 long-sleeved shirts, a skirt, and a dress. Trying on old clothes that don't fit is sweaty business!

[Rosy]

Trying on old clothes that don't fit is sweaty business!

I hear ya, @ cityfolk:)

Oh, Mongoose - don't feel bad about feeling paralyzed temporarily, you'll get your groove back:) eventually.

I have slowed way down myself, so I have decided to grab a calendar and make a time plan - focusing only on the things that are the most important to me. The plan is to eek out two days towards the end of the challenge for the remaining simple stuff - like bookcase and under the bathroom sink kinda stuff - but, if I don't, oh well. 

The important thing is to tackle that paper tiger and believe me it is roaring out of control - so back to the ground rules - always do the most  difficult stuff first - can you hear the sound of my feet dragging - NO, I don't want to go through all that paper.
 NO EXCUSES - sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and push forward.

I do better if there is a reward waiting for me at the end - yeah, I know the feeling of spaciousness and accomplishment should be reward enough, but I'm a greedy little thing:)

I have the advantage at present that the weather here is really nice, so my reward will be sitting out in the gazebo in the afternoon - twirling a glass of vino, enjoying the antics of the birds and the butterflies and the squirrels and laugh at the cat drinking out of the bird bath, standing on it's hindlegs - LOL.

If I manage to get X done by March 10 - I will get a ride to go to the Strawberry Festival with a bus tour - take my camera and have a blast.
If I manage to get XX done by March 23? - I will get a bus ride to Jungle Gardens - take my camera and have a blast.

[Bracken_Joy]

Loaded up the car, and snapped photos for records (so I can take the tax deduction... I like having the photos in case of an audit!).

So far the "outbox" contains:
Men's
2 pairs jeans
5 pr underwear
10 t shirts
3 tank tops
1 long sleeve shirt
5pr socks
1 jersey
1 baklava
1 workout shirt

Women's
1 pr tennis shoes
2 scrub tops
1 t shirt
1 bra
2 tank tops
2 long sleeve shirts
1 pr slacks
1 rainboots
1 slippers

Misc:
1 backpack
colander
table cloth
pedometer
soft cover medical textbook
bracelet
3 pillow cases
dog rain jacket (lol)
can opener
rice paddle
measuring spoons
pot holder

[Rosy]

@Bracken_Joy - why, that is brilliant! Why didn't I think of taking photos of all the donations?

Mixed it up a bit, worked in the garden all morning - you know it is spring - so the garden is calling my name.

So, another 30 min on the computer and then - DRUMROLL please, I will, yes I will, pick one box of papers to sort. Wish me luck:)

[Bracken_Joy]

@Bracken_Joy - why, that is brilliant! Why didn't I think of taking photos of all the donations?

Mixed it up a bit, worked in the garden all morning - you know it is spring - so the garden is calling my name.

So, another 30 min on the computer and then - DRUMROLL please, I will, yes I will, pick one box of papers to sort. Wish me luck:)

I can't take credit! I totally read the tip on a blog I found through pinterest. =P Glad it helps though! I thought it was a great idea. I'm backing them up to Evernote so they have a time stamp and titling them with donation date.

[Rosy]

^^^ Your pics automatically show the date. I think I'll just do a Donation file folder in the pictures section. ^^^ Really great tip, you gotta love pinterest:)

[cityfolks]

The pictures are a great idea, as well as filing them! We've done that for insurance purposes and have them in a shared Dropbox folder with copies of instructions/manuals for all our gizmos.

I've made a date with a friend for crafting Friday night, I'm exchanging a knitting tutorial for an embroidery tutorial. I'm "donating" some of my extra craft supplies to the cause, some nice yarn I've been holding on to but haven't had a use for yet. I figure nice yarn is a good motivator to a new crafter, and if I were going to use it, I would have.

[TRBeck]

Okay, I posted a long time ago in Clearing out Clutter, but never did it. I do well with deadlines. Here's where I'm headed before the 90-day mark:

- Ebay sale of some assorted running shoes I never used (I run, but these were bought on clearance in the pre-MMM days when I was hoarding shoes and....yeah, I just won't ever use them)
- Donate used tricycles and stroller now that daughter has grown out of them
- Donate bunches of kids' clothing
- Use up fragrance oils in some batches of soap
- Sell slow-moving soaps (side business) on clearance and condense storage space
- Sell off homebrewing supplies, probably on CL
- Closet clean-out, focused mainly on old shirts I don't wear anymore
- Sell off gear from wetshaving hobby (still a wetshaver, but no need for extra gear these days) - primarily selling through various shave forums, most likely

Looking forward to this. Soaps I will put on sale tonight, and probably will photograph the shoes, shave gear, and homebrew stuff.

The rest is in progress, but I am shutting down the side business, so I'll be really decluttering, including getting rid of most of my fragrance oils. Wetshaving gear is next.

[Mongoose]

Ok. DH is home this weekend. Saturday will be all business (yay growing business!). Sunday, I'm hoping to tackle the horrible office area. I need DH's help. I can do the closets without him. I wish I knew how much time he will have available. Oh well, it'll be a surprise! What fun! A mystery! And I have a ton of cooking, mix making (I premake my own "box" mixes for pancakes, bread, muffins, etc...saves time and money. I'm out of all my mixes currently though.)

I'm adding bonus goals of inventorying our food stocks and cleaning and organizing our business work area...because I don't have enough to do right?

I may go beyond the 90 day mark but at least stuff will hopefully get done. Or maybe I can pretend to finish the 90 day challenge and then restart for a second one. I think the deal was to start whenever.

Time to make a weekend to do list.

[Mongoose]

- prime and paint the unfinished drywall ceilings (almost the whole house...ugh!) Not started yet. DH is going to have to do this.
- clean out, organize and paint inside the bathroom cabinets (2 bathrooms) Cleaned and organized but not painted
- tackle the kids closets and hall closet
- sort/organize DHs clothes that I wasn't sure what to do with Done
- clean up and organize office shelves Done! Boxes and boxes of old computer parts, CDs, floppy disks etc. Pared down to a single shoebox.
- clean, organize and purge office spaces (shelves and two desks) Done twice and the mess keeps reappearing. Huh?!?!?!
- sort and organize business paperwork Can do now that office area is cleaned? Yay!
- sort and file personal paperwork, manuals etc Can do now that office area is cleaned. Yay!
- tackle the two closets in the guest bedroom
- sell crystal glasses and two 35mm cameras Waiting on DH since it is his stuff.
- organize kids' toy shelves

Major progress. Office shelves and supplies are now organized! We had 8 trash bags of just garbage. Tons of stuff from jettisoned careers and computer related junk. Bonus, we made more room in our kitchen by taking the leaves out of the table.  Another whole carload is set aside for donating; more stuff finding new homes where it might actually be used!

A second table and 6 extra chairs are getting donated. I was balking so DH decided to do a chair inventory. Not counting the couch or two love seats....drumroll please...we have 20 chairs that could be used in a dining room...for a grand total of 4 regular users with an occasional extra 2. My only defense is that we picked them up from various relatives and didn't purchase them. DH has won...5 chairs for each tush does seem a might bit excessive.

[Luthien]

Hey there! I haven't read the whole thread, but wanted to go ahead and jump in anyway, hope you all don't mind. :)

We moved to a new (slightly smaller) house last June, and had a big rummage sale and threw out tons of stuff before we moved, so I really didn't think we had much more to declutter. My husband, however, seems to be always wanting to get rid of more and more stuff. After six months in the new house, I began to agree that we did have an excess of things slowly taking over. I had heard about the KonMarie method and really wanted to read the book and try it out. So, of course, I did the Mustachian thing and put in a hold request at the library. And waited. And waited. There were hundreds of people on that list! Every time my husband suggested decluttering, I said I couldn't until I got to read that book. Finally he suggested we just spend the $10 and buy it, which turned out to be a great idea. We got some good laughs reading it together (we both find the way she attributes human emotions to inanimate objects amusing and a little ridiculous) so it was probably worth the $10 just for the entertainment value and the time we spent together reading it. Despite the surprising amount of woo-woo stuff in there, there was enough practical advice to keep us interested and on board.

We started with our clothes on February 18. Neither of us really had that many, or so we thought, but I donated 67 items and my husband donated 57, a nice big load for the local thrift store! Previously, my husband was using our large 8-drawer dresser, and all of my things were either hanging in the closet or folded in crates on the closet floor. Now, my husband and I each have 4 drawers in the dresser, and with far less things hanging in the closet we finally had enough floor space in the closet to move my jewelry stand out of the kids bedroom and into our room, which makes much more sense and is far more practical.

We have four kids 10 and under, so we are pretty busy most of the time, but in the last 2.5 weeks since we started KonMarie I feel like we've made decent progress. We spent a couple of afternoons going through all of the kids clothing and donated several more garbage bags full, and in the process made their shared closet a whole lot nicer and more organized as well.

We spent one day going through every book we own, and donated FIVE big boxes of books. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be to decide what to keep. We are avid library users, and I like to think of the library as our book storage facility. Any book that I knew was readily available at the library was packed up to donate. We only kept ones that were hard to find at the library or that we really loved and knew we would be reading again and again. Now we finally have a large empty shelf designated for the dozens of library books we have checked out all the time!

Today we went through our bathroom closet and cabinet. We have a very tiny bathroom, and the cabinet in there is not very big at all, nor is the bathroom hall closet. I didn't think there was much to purge there, especially since I threw out so many things when we moved. We started by emptying everything out onto the floor. I was totally surprised that we filled TWO garbage bags from such a small area! One was filled with towels to donate (we realized we had an excessive amount), and the other was old/expired/garbage lotions and creams and medicines and hair things and such. After we decided what to keep, we put everything back on the shelves and it is SO much nicer and more organized!

Anyway, that's the progress we've made so far! Our goal is to go through every item we own within six months, so I'm setting a deadline at the end of August. Looking forward to keeping track with everyone!

[Mongoose]

Hi Luthien. Glad to see you joining us. The more the merrier!

- prime and paint the unfinished drywall ceilings (almost the whole house...ugh!) Not started yet. DH is going to have to do this.
- clean out, organize and paint inside the bathroom cabinets (2 bathrooms) Cleaned and organized but not painted
- tackle the kids closets and hall closet
- sort/organize DHs clothes that I wasn't sure what to do with Done
- clean up and organize office shelves Done! Boxes and boxes of old computer parts, CDs, floppy disks etc. Pared down to a single shoebox.
- clean, organize and purge office spaces (shelves and two desks) Done again. Hopefully it'll take this time!
- sort and organize business paperwork Corralled in one small box for DH to help sort/file. Yay!
- sort and file personal paperwork, manuals etc Done!
- tackle the two closets in the guest bedroom
- sell crystal glasses and two 35mm cameras Waiting on DH since it is his stuff.
- organize kids' toy shelves

Major progress. Office shelves and supplies are now organized! We had 8 trash bags of just garbage. Tons of stuff from jettisoned careers and computer related junk. Bonus, we made more room in our kitchen by taking the leaves out of the table. Another whole carload is set aside for donating; more stuff finding new homes where it might actually be used!

A second table and 6 extra chairs are getting donated. I was balking so DH decided to do a chair inventory. Not counting the couch or two love seats....drumroll please...we have 20 chairs that could be used in a dining room...for a grand total of 4 regular users with an occasional extra 2. My only defense is that we picked them up from various relatives and didn't purchase them. DH has won...5 chairs for each tush does seem a might bit excessive.

Since we had so much momentum from yesterday, I went ahead and tackled our personal paperwork, kid's art and school work, and those messy office spaces. Two years of backlog have been filed, shredded or stowed where they belong. In the process, I emptied a large plastic box which is now holding our business paperwork that also needs to be filed or stowed (receipts mainly, all the important stuff gets secured immediately).

Onward!

[Rosy]

Welcome to the challenge, Luthien:)

Mongoose - I don't know whether I am exhausted from reading about all of your progress or whether I am elated that you can find the energy to make it all happen:)

Progress report: I'm zig zagging between all my areas.
1. Sorted one huge box of old papers - Shredded half. Still need to file the second half.
2. Sorted, tossed and filed two thirds of all the papers on my desk.
3. Sorted, de-cluttered and donated a car load full of items - one medium size trashbag full of clothing, 5 boxes of craft items and supplies, 3 boxes of misc gifts and household items clogging up our space. 
4. Cleaned up the carport for the second time with Mr. R.s help - had him set up a table for me to sort it all and he took it to the donation place.
5. Found three sets of St. Patrick's Day coasters I'd made and forgot about - giving them to a friend who's running a local craft beer place. Kept two coasters for the two of us.

Actually, this is making me feel pretty good - somehow I thought I hadn't moved the needle, but seeing it all in black and white - it is OK considering, I've got a lot of other projects going on as well.
Mr. R. is off and we plan on both paper work and gardening. Yeah, spring gardening time is here.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR DE-CLUTTERING PROJECTS EVERYONE:)

[Bracken_Joy]

Well, we're battling ants here. This is both good and bad for this decluttering challenge.

Good: I keep getting freaked out and checking behind/under/in everything, thus enabling introspection about the things I am moving about.

Bad: Other times, I'm too freaked out about grabbing things in case there is an ants nest in hiding, and so I'm not decluttering at all.

Jury is still out on which tendency will win out here. We had pest control in, and were hoping that would take care of it, but then found some more today. Ick ack blehggggg.

[Squirrel away]

I went through my paperwork yesterday and managed to sort through everything and throw away some papers that I did not need. It lives upstairs in a file box in a cupboard and I didn't realise that I was holding onto unnecessary stuff.

Everything is very tidy and up to date now.:)

[Ready2Go]

2/26
.....
- Right now I am looking at the 4 pencil holders on my desk.  What to do with all these pencils?  No one wants these as a donation? Seems wasteful to toss perfectly good pencils?  There are enough here for years of elementary school..

45 days to go...  Half way there!!

3/8 Time just flying by here. So pleased with our progress over the last week.

- Half of my basement is now completely cleared of boxes and old stereo equipment. Almost better, DH has agreed that all old ikea cabinets and shelves in the basement can be purged once we have cleared them out. An inoculation against future collections of junk.
- DH continues to amaze with his commitment. 47(!!) old binders went to the donation pile. They filled up 6 boxes--and had been moved cross country 3 times. Yikes!!
- I am declaring the second level of my house cleared and lightened to just essentials. My last pass through yielded only a few work shirts that came back from dry cleaning. 
- Gave DS old matchbox car collection to a neighbor's boys. These little cars had been played HARD by my son. Sad to see them go, but thrilled to also pack up the Thomas train set for donating. I had planned to Ebay, but it looks like the train craze has passed and it didn't seem worth the hassle.
- And finally, every thing I had in the donation pile was packed up and taken on Sunday.  The minivan was completely packed.

Looking back at my list and what everyone else has purged leaves me astonished once again. So much stuff! And so much more to go! Here's hoping that I can be more mindful about what we're buying in the future.

35 days to go...

[Rosy]

My own deadline for this challenge is coming up on Apr 5 - 28 more days to go..... FOCUS on what I want/need done the most - re-evaluate weekly from now on.
Just a reminder for myself:)

Ready2Go - yeah for finishing up the second level of your house - you go:)

[Mongoose]

Rosy I think it sounds like you had a busier weekend than I did.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to finish my list within the 90 days. But it's an improvement and I'll grant myself an extension. :-)

[Rosy]

Rosy I think it sounds like you had a busier weekend than I did.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to finish my list within the 90 days. But it's an improvement and I'll grant myself an extension. :-)

Well, that's just it - I can't extend, I'm out of time. There are new and different projects, medical stuff, possibly company from overseas and a big garden I have to get ready for a huge garden party by the 19th of April.
So this is my one window of opportunity - at least for the next four months.

GOOD FIND:
1. I was on youtube today and found that Peter Walsh (one of my favorite organizing gurus) has a great challenge.
31 days to get organized - a video for each day.
That might be my next goal - I'm thinking maybe in August - so yeah, looks like 2016 will be the year of the monster de-cluttering.

2. Also checked out a couple of "Unstuff your Life" videos by Andrew Mellen - he has an interesting approach as well - smart and likeable too.

Maybe I could find a couple of small monthly challenges or a 30 minute a day de-cluttering routine to do until August. I just don't want to lose my momentum entirely.

UPDATE: This week was a bust - but I did clear 80% of my e-mails - only 2000 left in the promotions section - zero in my primary and zero in my social. Next, I will cancel everything that I'm not reading or using now.

Hopefully Mr. R. and I will make progress together this weekend:) Wish me luck.

[Need2Save]

Good Luck Rosy!!!  It sounds like you have a lot on your plate coming up in the next month.  I'm exhausted just reading your list. ;-)

I didn't post last weekend but we did take two bags of donations to Salvation Army and I got my hubby to focus on some decisions for our upcoming bathroom renovation project.  I think we have some new flooring and accent tiles picked out and narrowed down the replacement cabinet choices.  The upcoming bathroom renovation has motivated us to do a rehaul on the master closet.  It kind of goes hand and hand with the decluttering.  So since last weekend I have completely removed 100% of the items from our master closet.  I ordered a couple of DIY closet organizer kits online and I'm waiting for them to arrive. While we wait (I think the first one should deliver on Tuesday) I took out all the old cheap/white wire shelving and patched all the holes.  Today and tomorrow I'll prime and paint the whole closet.  This way, I can work a little each day on the new shelving when they arrive and by next weekend we can put our clothes back in....but more importantly, while everything is out. It will get a serious looking at to see if it earns the honor of going back in at all. Otherwise, I'm expecting to fill quite a few more bags for donations this week.  DH is onboard as well.  We'll have such a spiffy looking and organized closet by next weekend!  I can't believe I'm excited about a pretty closet.  Hoping it makes deciding what to wear for work in the morning an easier chore.  The other bonus is when we sell this house (it's too big for us long term) both the bathroom and master closet upgrades will make selling easier. By the time we sell, the house will be ~20 years old and having been on the buyer side of similar aged homes before, the owners have to show some investment in upgrading over time to sell quickly (in my area anyway). Otherwise everything looks tired and dated.  We are choosing products that have a general appeal to all ages (think boring and safe/neutral colors).  I'm actually shocked at the number of work clothes I have now that I had to pull them all out.  My closet storage needs will be so much smaller when I'm FIRE and don't have to have professional work clothes. That's something to look forward to!

Oh.  I'm pretty sure we can reuse the wire shelving to add to the kids' closets and in the basement.  So those won't get wasted.  I saved all the components. We can buy extra wall clips at Home Depot though if we need to. 

[Bracken_Joy]

Rosy I think it sounds like you had a busier weekend than I did.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to finish my list within the 90 days. But it's an improvement and I'll grant myself an extension. :-)

Well, that's just it - I can't extend, I'm out of time. There are new and different projects, medical stuff, possibly company from overseas and a big garden I have to get ready for a huge garden party by the 19th of April.
So this is my one window of opportunity - at least for the next four months.

GOOD FIND:
1. I was on youtube today and found that Peter Walsh (one of my favorite organizing gurus) has a great challenge.
31 days to get organized - a video for each day.
That might be my next goal - I'm thinking maybe in August - so yeah, looks like 2016 will be the year of the monster de-cluttering.

2. Also checked out a couple of "Unstuff your Life" videos by Andrew Mellen - he has an interesting approach as well - smart and likeable too.

Maybe I could find a couple of small monthly challenges or a 30 minute a day de-cluttering routine to do until August. I just don't want to lose my momentum entirely.

UPDATE: This week was a bust - but I did clear 80% of my e-mails - only 2000 left in the promotions section - zero in my primary and zero in my social. Next, I will cancel everything that I'm not reading or using now.

Hopefully Mr. R. and I will make progress together this weekend:) Wish me luck.

Here's the link for the Peter Walsh, if anyone would like: https://www.youtube.com/user/PeterWalshOrganizer/playlists?view=50&shelf_id=8&sort=dd

[Mongoose]

Good luck Rosy!

- prime and paint the unfinished drywall ceilings (almost the whole house...ugh!) Not started yet. DH is going to have to do this.
- clean out, organize and paint inside the bathroom cabinets (2 bathrooms) Cleaned and organized but not painted
- tackle the kids closets and hall closet
- sort/organize DHs clothes that I wasn't sure what to do with Done
- clean up and organize office shelves Done! Boxes and boxes of old computer parts, CDs, floppy disks etc. Pared down to a single shoebox.
- clean, organize and purge office spaces (shelves and two desks) Done again. Hopefully it'll take this time!
- sort and organize business paperwork Corralled in one small box for DH to help sort/file. Yay!
- sort and file personal paperwork, manuals etc Done!
- tackle the two closets closet in the guest bedroom One done. One to go. Plus rearranged the whole room so that the bed fits better plus we had room to set the tables and lamp next to the bed (instead of in one of the closets).
- sell crystal glasses and two 35mm cameras Waiting on DH since it is his stuff.

Today was guest bedroom day. I still have one closet to do but one is done. Ended up rearranging the whole room and I like it much better. It looks more like a bedroom and less likely a storage area for wayward junk.

We're having a conundrum about beds though. DH likes the firm queen size bed that is currently in our bedroom. I like the semi firm king size bed that was in our room but got moved to the spare bedroom. Humph. We may get to switch the beds for the fourth time. I wish we could make a decision and stick with it.

[Rosy]

https://www.youtube.com/user/PeterWalshOrganizer/playlists?view=50&shelf_id=8&sort=dd

THANKS so much Mongoose:) this is the perfect link for all of the Peter Walsh organizing - de-cluttering challenges, (better than just subscribing to his channel like I did.
I didn't realize he has 31 day clutter challenges for 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and they are all different.

These are so easy and fun and will work for me on days when I have limited time or low energy.

UPDATE: No progress on the de-cluttering. Had a serious flare up and am still recovering.
The good news is that I got in some spring gardening before it hit me and thanks to Mr. R. the veggie/flower garden aka Potager:) is practically finished for 2016. All that is left is for me to spray paint four trellis, seed out flowers and herbs, re-arrange a bit and harvest the swiss chard so I can swap out window boxes.
Need to pick up a couple of packets of zinnia seeds and plant some of my free plant babies, mint, violas, African blue basil and a geranium and then I'm officially done, except for the daily maintenance, weeding and watering.

Moving on to the next area in the garden once I have my wherewithal back and spent some more time de-cluttering the house first.
Hoping to do a few things tomorrow - and oh yeah, I finished clearing out my gmail - phew, I was mistaken, there were 4000 not 2000 promotional e-mails left. GONE
Oh and I unsubscribed from about ten sites and organized my pinterest account.

Kudos to Mongoose - Captain - Londoner - Ready2go. You guys are rocking it:)

[Squirrel away]

We had some work done in our house this week and that created rubbish and so all rubbish has been taken out to the bins. The end of a lipstick binned and the end of a bottle of hand cream was used up.

[Mongoose]

It is a small item leaving but we have found a museum who is interested in a Civil War era bible that potentially belonged to some distant ancestors. The records in the book we have go back to 1715. We don't have a way to properly store it and it would eventually deteriorate. DH was given the book by family members who didn't want to care for it. We aren't currently interested in genealogy but I photographed all the information. More importantly, there is a small museum where the original owner was from that collects and preserves information about local families. Happy to have a place for it to be preserved and appreciated. And if we ever want to visit it, we'll always have that option.

- prime and paint the unfinished drywall ceilings (almost the whole house...ugh!) Not started yet. DH is going to have to do this.
- clean out, organize and paint inside the bathroom cabinets (2 bathrooms) Cleaned and organized but not painted
- clean, organize, and sort kids toy shelves and books Done. Plus we switched out toys and books to upgrade to add older/remove toddler toys and books. Kids are ecstatic!
- tackle the kids closets and hall closet Done
- sort/organize DHs clothes that I wasn't sure what to do with Done
- clean up and organize office shelves Done! Boxes and boxes of old computer parts, CDs, floppy disks etc. Pared down to a single shoebox.
- clean, organize and purge office spaces (shelves and two desks) Done again. Hopefully it'll take this time!
- sort and organize business paperwork Corralled in one small box for DH to help sort/file. Yay!
- sort and file personal paperwork, manuals etc Done!
- tackle the two closets closet in the guest bedroom Done
- sell crystal glasses and two 35mm cameras Waiting on DH since it is his stuff.

Good progress again this weekend. We got the kids main toy collection temporarily under control. They are having a great time playing since they suddenly can easily access the toys that they actually play with.

We are nearly done with the whole house decluttering that we started in January. Our house is so much better. Thanks again Rosy for starting this challenge! We can easily find things. My car fits in the garage. We can walk in the basement without tripping over random junk. We can easily find our clothes. Nothing falls out of the closet when we open the doors. Woohoo! We're super happy with the difference!

I have found a couple of additional trouble spots so I'm making a new list.

Updated list of things left to do:
- prime and paint the unfinished drywall ceilings (not really decluttering but it is ugly)
- paint inside the bathroom cabinets (2 bathrooms)
- sort and organize business paperwork/update files
- declutter/organize after schooling and game cabinet
- organize cabinet of kids' art and science supplies
- sell crystal glasses and two 35mm cameras
- organize/clean business building
- sort and donate baby items (we have a closet in the basement with literally everything we had for both kids; it needs to be pared down)

[Ready2Go]

3/8 Time just flying by here. So pleased with our progress over the last week.
- Half of my basement is now completely cleared of boxes and old stereo equipment. Almost better, DH has agreed that all old ikea cabinets and shelves in the basement can be purged once we have cleared them out. An inoculation against future collections of junk.
- DH continues to amaze with his commitment. 47(!!) old binders went to the donation pile. They filled up 6 boxes--and had been moved cross country 3 times. Yikes!!
- I am declaring the second level of my house cleared and lightened to just essentials. My last pass through yielded only a few work shirts that came back from dry cleaning. 
- Gave DS old matchbox car collection to a neighbor's boys. These little cars had been played HARD by my son. Sad to see them go, but thrilled to also pack up the Thomas train set for donating. I had planned to Ebay, but it looks like the train craze has passed and it didn't seem worth the hassle.
- And finally, every thing I had in the donation pile was packed up and taken on Sunday.  The minivan was completely packed.

Looking back at my list and what everyone else has purged leaves me astonished once again. So much stuff! And so much more to go! Here's hoping that I can be more mindful about what we're buying in the future.

35 days to go...

3/22  - OMG this challenge is almost over!

- Continuing to purge 10 items a day. My office has been completely decluttered, paper purged, and packed up.  So now my stuff is mostly gone, but  there's still plenty for DH.  With the nice weather he is starting to falter -- much more fun to be outside than clearing the basement.  I am resolved to stay out of his stuff however, and just concentrate on what is clearly 'mine'

- Big win:  Last week On I ebay sold almost $700 worth of stuff that I pulled out during this challenge.  Old iPods, phones, pans, a fancy purse(!!).  It was a little painful for the clean queen to have boxes piled in the office while going through the ebay process, but definitely worth it.  I though about Facebook yardsale, but that looks like its still a lot of work,  without the range of buyers.  As in,  I sold a cracked iPhone 3GS for $5 on ebay.  I was going to toss it... just goes to show you never know that's treasure.

- This week's plan:  go back through every room in the house for a final look and then its time to get started on the fix-it-up stuff. I have a feeling that the areas I did first will have more stuff.  I am much more ruthless now than when I started!

21 days to go...

[Bracken_Joy]

Wow! Ready2Go is killin it! $700 is awesome. Minimalism REALLY pays off ;)

As for me, progress is currently stalled, but Brother is supposed to move out THIS WEEK! Once he does, everything will be rearranged and sorted... I am making lists. Best I can do for now!

So I guess my question to you all: if you had to completely rearrange your house, what would you do to make sure everything was needed and in a good place? It's a bit overwhelming!

[RetiredAt63]

My sister did this when she redid her kitchen.  As things were needed they came back in, and after that first use she thought hard about where the item should be kept.  She ended up with a bunch of stuff that was occasional use, that was stored in the basement.  Why keep something in the kitchen that you do want to keep, but only for Thanksgiving and Christmas?

I assume that technique would work for any room.

Wow! Ready2Go is killin it! $700 is awesome. Minimalism REALLY pays off ;)

As for me, progress is currently stalled, but Brother is supposed to move out THIS WEEK! Once he does, everything will be rearranged and sorted... I am making lists. Best I can do for now!

So I guess my question to you all: if you had to completely rearrange your house, what would you do to make sure everything was needed and in a good place? It's a bit overwhelming!

I'm not completely rearranging my house but we completely redid our kitchen cabinets/counters and we put everything from the kitchen into large rubbermaid tubs. We still have three upper cabinets to install but I'm only very slowly putting the stuff from the tubs back to the cabinets that are there. I'm thinking very hard about how I want the items stored instead of just putting them back where they were before. It's a pain living out of tubs while I do this and DH thinks I'm crazy as I move things from one cabinet to the other then sit there pondering, but I think it will be worth it for a kitchen that really works for me

[Need2Save]

Our master closet is about 95% done now. A little slower than I thought.  All the shelving and new rods are hung and looking pretty.  We just have to finish assembling the drawers and installing them into the shelving units. There are 6 drawers in all.  We also only replaced 1 of the 2 light fixtures because as we were working on it yesterday, the small grounding wire detached from the fixture.  No problem though.  My FIL is an electrician and he fixed it for us while over for Easter dinner last night. So we can now finish installing it. However, difficult to do in the evening with no light so it will prob wait until next weekend.  I have probably set aside about 30 hangers with dresses, shirts, skirts and pants that I decided I would not wear again so I'm very pleased with the smaller quantity of work clothes going back in. A few things went into the trash bag as they were not worth saving.  I also got rid of all the cheap plastic hangers that generally come with clothes when you buy them.  Plus, although I decided I would yard sale and then possibly donate what doesn't sell this Spring, I am now going to visit my sister this coming up weekend and she may want some of them so I'm happy to pass along to her instead.  Hubby likewise purged a few shirts and pants/shorts that he called his fat-boy clothes.  So his side looks amazing too!  I have approximately one month left in my 90-day challenge.  I need to decide what to focus on next.  Garage maybe if the weather is suitable?  That mostly involves hubby making decisions though so may be difficult to make much progress on my own.   

[retiringearly]

I desperately need to declutter.  My goal is to get rid of everything that I no longer use - take it to Goodwill, Salvation Army, eBay, or trash.

I live in a two bedroom, two bath condo by myself and it is really cluttered.  It is so bad that I don't have people over because of it.

[Ready2Go]

3/22  - OMG this challenge is almost over!
  ...
- This week's plan:  go back through every room in the house for a final look and then its time to get started on the fix-it-up stuff. I have a feeling that the areas I did first will have more stuff.  I am much more ruthless now than when I started!

21 days to go...

3/28 Heading to the finish...

- More Ebay this week. Now up to $923 in sales. So amazing. Trying not to think about what we originally paid for this stuff!

- Clean out of the first floor now complete. Only the basement is left to finish, and it's all stuff that only DH can sort.   DH took vacation today and says he'll finish tonight. Not sure how that can happen but I'm glad he's still engaged.

- Now comes the hard part. Time to get cracking on house repairs. If I can find a handyman who does drywall we might get everything done 'on time'.

15 days to go...

[Ready2Go]

3/22  - OMG this challenge is almost over!
  ...
- This week's plan:  go back through every room in the house for a final look and then its time to get started on the fix-it-up stuff. I have a feeling that the areas I did first will have more stuff.  I am much more ruthless now than when I started!

21 days to go...

3/28 Heading to the finish...

- More Ebay this week. Now up to $923 in sales. So amazing. Trying not to think about what we originally paid for this stuff!

- Clean out of the first floor now complete. Only the basement is left to finish, and it's all stuff that only DH can sort.   DH took vacation today and says he'll finish tonight. Not sure how that can happen but I'm glad he's still engaged.

- Now comes the hard part. Time to get cracking on house repairs. If I can find a handyman who does drywall we might get everything done 'on time'.

15 days to go...

[chaskavitch]

Most of you guys are already toward the end of your 90 days, but I'll jump in and try to keep up :)

I've only got ~ 60 days, our first baby is due on May 30, so I'll try to get as much done as I can before that so my head doesn't explode.

This is my list so far:
Sort:
- Linen Closet
- Closet in master bathroom
- Laundry cupboard
- Coat closet
- Night stand
- Under vanity in master bathroom
- Upstairs Bookshelf
Clean pics and documents off of laptop hard drive, then get rid of laptop (it only turns on when it is plugged in, and then only works marginally well)
Basement
- Make a garage sale area to collect saleable things
- Clean remainder of drywall off of floor
- Set mouse traps - ew
- Go through knick-knacks - there is too much "sentimental" stuff that I don’t actually care about!
- Organize wrapping paper and other wrapping supplies
- Move stuff from downstairs bathroom so it is usable and not covered in cat litter dust, ew
Go through craft supplies
- Discard stuff I don’t like/don’t use
- Organize the rest more efficiently so I can actually find fabric or supplies when I want them
- Make things from scraps?
- Consolidate art supplies upstairs as well

Does anyone have any good ideas to store wrapping paper?  Mine always unwinds or catches on other wrapping paper ends and tears it.

That list is a lot bigger than I expected.  I already sorted my clothes - don't want to get rid of too many in case I am a completely different shape after baby is here.  Also, I apparently got rid of too many shoes.  I can't find any neutral flats to wear that are comfortable :(  I have one pair of black (hurt the soles of my feet), one of brown (pinch the tops of my feet), seasonal shoes (red and black plaid that are impractical and I only wear around Christmas...) and a pair of Target flats that are super comfy, but also the wrong color green to wear with any of my green clothes.  I'll have to be more careful with my shoe purchases in the future and make sure they're actually wearable and not just cute.

[chaskavitch]

Most of you guys are already toward the end of your 90 days, but I'll jump in and try to keep up :)

I've only got ~ 60 days, our first baby is due on May 30, so I'll try to get as much done as I can before that so my head doesn't explode.

This is my list so far:
Sort:
- Linen Closet
- Closet in master bathroom
- Laundry cupboard
- Coat closet
- Night stand
- Under vanity in master bathroom
- Upstairs Bookshelf
Clean pics and documents off of laptop hard drive, then get rid of laptop (it only turns on when it is plugged in, and then only works marginally well)
Basement
- Make a garage sale area to collect saleable things
- Clean remainder of drywall off of floor
- Set mouse traps - ew
- Go through knick-knacks - there is too much "sentimental" stuff that I don’t actually care about!
- Organize wrapping paper and other wrapping supplies
- Move stuff from downstairs bathroom so it is usable and not covered in cat litter dust, ew
Go through craft supplies
- Discard stuff I don’t like/don’t use
- Organize the rest more efficiently so I can actually find fabric or supplies when I want them
- Make things from scraps?
- Consolidate art supplies upstairs as well

Does anyone have any good ideas to store wrapping paper?  Mine always unwinds or catches on other wrapping paper ends and tears it.

That list is a lot bigger than I expected.  I already sorted my clothes - don't want to get rid of too many in case I am a completely different shape after baby is here.  Also, I apparently got rid of too many shoes.  I can't find any neutral flats to wear that are comfortable :(  I have one pair of black (hurt the soles of my feet), one of brown (pinch the tops of my feet), seasonal shoes (red and black plaid that are impractical and I only wear around Christmas...) and a pair of Target flats that are super comfy, but also the wrong color green to wear with any of my green clothes.  I'll have to be more careful with my shoe purchases in the future and make sure they're actually wearable and not just cute.

Ha.  I got to ONE of these last night - under the sink in the master bathroom.  What did I find, you may ask?  Some Mary Kay Satin Lips, which would be awesome for my dry and flaky winter lips, except I thought I'd used it all and bought some more just last month :(  That's an $18 lesson in organization right there.  This may turn out to be a painful process.

[Need2Save]

Off loading some work clothes on to the sis, went very well this weekend.  DH installed the 2nd light fixture so closet is 98% done now.  Just need those dang drawers assembled and installed.  Decluttering much slower now in month 3. Plus we have a vacation coming up.  But...DH mentioned he wants to clean out under the deck out back so I think I'll give us an extension and try to do that by end of May (more like 4 months than 3). 

For those just joining - I think the intent is to start and stop your 90 days any time it works out for you so this thread should keep going.  I'll probably need another 90-day cleanse by the end of the year so I'll rejoin then.  But will try to maintain the rooms I tackled with this round. 

[Bracken_Joy]

My 90 days just gets to be on hold right now. Brother still had not moved. 90 days will resume once he actually moves. *mutter mutter*.

[Rosy]

Most of you guys are already toward the end of your 90 days, but I'll jump in and try to keep up :)

I've only got ~ 60 days, our first baby is due on May 30, so I'll try to get as much done as I can before that so my head doesn't explode.

This is my list so far:
Sort:
- Linen Closet
- Closet in master bathroom
- Laundry cupboard
- Coat closet
- Night stand
- Under vanity in master bathroom
- Upstairs Bookshelf
Clean pics and documents off of laptop hard drive, then get rid of laptop (it only turns on when it is plugged in, and then only works marginally well)
Basement
- Make a garage sale area to collect saleable things
- Clean remainder of drywall off of floor
- Set mouse traps - ew
- Go through knick-knacks - there is too much "sentimental" stuff that I don’t actually care about!
- Organize wrapping paper and other wrapping supplies
- Move stuff from downstairs bathroom so it is usable and not covered in cat litter dust, ew
Go through craft supplies
- Discard stuff I don’t like/don’t use
- Organize the rest more efficiently so I can actually find fabric or supplies when I want them
- Make things from scraps?
- Consolidate art supplies upstairs as well

Does anyone have any good ideas to store wrapping paper?  Mine always unwinds or catches on other wrapping paper ends and tears it.

That list is a lot bigger than I expected.  I already sorted my clothes - don't want to get rid of too many in case I am a completely different shape after baby is here.  Also, I apparently got rid of too many shoes.  I can't find any neutral flats to wear that are comfortable :(  I have one pair of black (hurt the soles of my feet), one of brown (pinch the tops of my feet), seasonal shoes (red and black plaid that are impractical and I only wear around Christmas...) and a pair of Target flats that are super comfy, but also the wrong color green to wear with any of my green clothes.  I'll have to be more careful with my shoe purchases in the future and make sure they're actually wearable and not just cute.

Ha.  I got to ONE of these last night - under the sink in the master bathroom.  What did I find, you may ask?  Some Mary Kay Satin Lips, which would be awesome for my dry and flaky winter lips, except I thought I'd used it all and bought some more just last month :(  That's an $18 lesson in organization right there.  This may turn out to be a painful process.

Welcome to the challenge, chaskavitch:) Glad to have you:) - Babies have a way of keeping one extremely busy - so I hope you managed to get all the stuff that was really important to you out of the way already.
It's ok - all any of us can do, is work on one project at a time.
Here is to hoping all went well with you and the baby!

Well, my 90 days will be up tomorrow - April 5. It is still bookshelf in the hallway day - nothing has happened at all in the interim. Too much other stuff happening.
The spring gardening and other personal projects ranked higher on my list. Some because they had to be dealt with, like taxes and plumbing problems and harvesting and cooking the bounty from the garden, so it doesn't spoil - some I did for fun like painting three garden trellis and taking time out for sidehustles I wanted to give a try.

RESULT:
I'll need another 90 days if I want to finish up everything on my list. I'm happy with the progress regardless.
Helpful: expected company is not coming, so I will have time to continue my de-cluttering mission.

NEW PLAN:
1. Start the 30 day organizing challenge from Mr. Walsh on youtube - alongside:
2. Tackle the study next - extreme paper tiger invasion - don't stop until done - may take all of April - sigh.
3. Tackle the big shed - actually looking forward to that project, but I really need to do the study first.

I'm not even going to think about any other areas, unless I decide to do a mini project on the spot - to alleviate the pain of paper clutter sorting. Like organizing and cleaning the spice drawer - at least that will give me some pleasure and satisfaction and immediate results:)

Come May 1, 2016 - I'll re-evaluate, for now I am pleased with my progress, but do wish I was further along.