Declutter Challenge: Final Post for this Challenge

It was two months ago today that I challenged myself to get rid of 372 things in twelve months.  Amazingly, I was able to accomplish that in three and a half weeks.  Even more amazing is that after I finish this post, we will have decluttered a total of 898 things from our house in two months!  Wow, that's a lot of stuff!  We still had a few boxes in our garage that needed to be cleaned out, so we have recently done that and have found a few more things in the house for a total of 121 things this week.  Thanks for putting up with this challenge over the past couple of months.  It has been incredibly motivating to get rid of stuff when I take pictures and post about it (also eye opening and a bit embarrassing to know we've had so much junk stored here and there around the house!)

Declutter Challenge: Closet Clean Up

We've had a hugely successful decluttering week.  This week, I worked in our closet.  I chose to paint it the same color as the bathroom because we had paint left over from that project. 

Here is the before pictures.

They aren't the greatest pictures, but they give you an idea.  When we first moved in, we had Ella's crib in our room, so the only place we had for Andy's armoire was in the closet.  The top of the armoire quickly became a catch-all for clothes and other stuff.  I know, shame on us!

The first step in this project was to move everything out of the closet and get rid of unused items.  Both Andy and I have gained weight since we got married.  There's a part of us that previously had a hard time parting with our old clothes because we always think we'll fit back into that stuff some day.  During our garage clean up, I went through boxes of my smaller clothes and realized that even if I were that size again, it is unlikely that I would wear much of that stuff anymore, so I got rid of most of it.  Yes, I still held on to some "just in case things, but mostly I got rid of my smaller clothes last month, and this week was Andy's turn to do the same.  I am thrilled that he was extremely willing to part with this stuff.  We're both just so over hanging on to stuff.  I have a couple of teenaged nephews, so I bagged up Andy's old clothes and shoes and we will let them see if they want any of the stuff, otherwise it'll find a new home at Goodwill.  We ended up bagging up seven garbage bags full of stuff. I could do a dance - that's how excited I am that we are getting rid of this unused stuff - plus, laundry day is going to be a breeze now that I won't be trying to stuff clothes into overfull dressers/closet!

Here are the pictures of the stuff that we have gotten rid of from our closet (and also a box from our bedroom).

Clothes: 102 items

Shoes: 18 pairs

I actually wrote this post last week and have since donated an additional 10 items of clothing/shoes, which are not pictured.

Total things decluttered this week: 130

Grand Total things decluttered: 777!!!!

Here are the after pictures of our closet.  Again, the contrast of the paint color isn't very great.  I still don't love painting, but I am happy to report that it was not as frustrating as it was in the bathroom. 

Declutter Challenge: more and more clutter

In addition to a few things that I needed to declutter this week, I decided it was time to get in the girls room and start cleaning it out.  My mother-in-law often says that she wants to buy some toys to have at the house when her grandchildren come to play, but toys are expensive and we are on a mission to simplify our house, so we asked if we could donate our old toys to them.  They agreed, which is awesome because they don't need to buy any toys, we get rid of the toys from our house, but the girls still get to play with the toys, which will make it seem like they are "new" toys since they will only have them when we travel to their house.  I do not want my girls to have the same attachment to stuff that I have had in the past, so I decided it was important for them to help me.  However, I did explain that they were only sending the toys to Grandma's house, so that probably made it a bit easier knowing that they would get to play with them again.  I showed the toys one at a time to Arin and let her decide what to do with them.  I really wanted to sway her decision on some items, but decided that this first time should be completely up to her.  I was very proud that she was so decisive.  She looked at a toy and immediately knew if she wanted to keep it or send it away.  Although I wished that she would have chosen to get rid of more stuff, I was actually surprised that she got rid of as much as she did.  We will try this activity again in a few weeks and see if she is willing to part with more of her stuff.

Things being decluttered this week:
fabric x 3
clothes x 17
children's books x 5
hangers x 13
toys x 12 (would have been 13, but after looking at this picture, Andrew decided we should keep the American Girl doll for Ella since she loves baby dolls)
total this week: 50
total since challenge began: 647

Declutter Challenge: Another Week, Another Basket of Clutter

This week we are getting rid of:

clothing x 2

fabric x 2

picture frame

fondue set x 2

misc. lids x 3 (one's not really a lid)

earings

books x 2

cd

bowl

toy

craft x 3

hangers x 8

27 things decluttered this week

597 things decluttered since March 2010

Declutter Challenge: This Week's Clutter

I have a wicker laundry basket and my goal from now on is to fill it weekly with items that I want to get rid of.  Last week that was no problem with all of the baby items.  This week began slowly, but today, I was able to top off the basket.  It is amazing how much stuff can be packed away in a closet or a drawer and then just forgotten about.  I have decided that if I don't currently use it and I have no certain plans of using it in the next six months, then it must leave!  That's a big thing because remember, I used to hold on to stuff for years for that "just in case" moment to arrive.  I have found that the more stuff I get rid of, the less attachment I have to things and it is a huge weight being lifted, but I still have a ways to go!

Things decluttered this week: 39

Total things decluttered: 570

Declutter Challenge: Baby Stuff

This past week, I cleaned out the girls clothes.  Typically, Arin's clothes get passed on to Ella and Ella's clothes get packed away for future little girls that we may have.  However, there is the occassional item or two that we no longer have a use for.  Luckily for us, I have a niece that has one little girl that is a year younger than Arin and a second little girl that is a year younger than Ella, so we are able to pass our unwanted items to them.  This week we are passing 24 items to them.  That makes a total of 531 things decluttered since March 18, 2010.

Declutter Challenge: Photo Albums

We have had a crazy week around here.  Both girls have had fevers on and off - Ella seems to be better now, but Arin is still sick.  Also, Andy smashed his thumb at work on Thursday and had surgery on Friday to reconstruct it.  The doctor is expecting a six-week minimum recovery time for it. 

I completed the desired number of items for my declutter challenge eleven months early, however, I still have more stuff that I want to get rid of.  My friend, Ruth, asked me to continue blogging what I get rid of as motivation to her.  I am always willing to help out a friend :)  so I have decided to continue taking pictures and writing about all the junk I am getting rid of!

I didn't have a lot of time to get rid of too much this week with everything else going on here, but I did start to consolidate my picture albums.  I love pictures.  I took somewhere around 3,000 pictures on our road trip - no that's not a typo!  I am extremely grateful for digital cameras because I do not have to print out all of those pictures.  But I do have a lot of pictures from before digital picture days.  I had several albums that were either partially full, or had pictures from when I was in school of people that I can't even remember their names, so I decided to fill in empty pages and toss pictures!  In the end, I came up with five picture albums to get rid of!  (one is not pictured because I took the picture yesterday, but just got rid of the album today)

Things decluttered from our home: 507

Declutter Challenge: Mission Accomplished

My goal was to declutter 31 things per month for twelve months, making a grand total of 372 things removed from our home in a year's time.  However, once I started this challenge, it turned out to be a breeze to get rid of stuff.  I started this challenge three and a half weeks ago and prior to today, I had already gotten rid of 126 things.

Today I got rid of an amazing 376 things (not counting the hundreds of things that we threw away), making my grand total 502 things!  And, wow, does it feel great!!!! 

I had said that I needed to take a picture of our garage, but was always so embarrassed of it.  We recently purchased a new vehicle and Andrew has been wanting to park it in the garage.  I have been wanting the garage cleaned out, so we both had motivation to get out there and declutter, declutter, declutter!

We've always tended to have too much stuff, but with this move to a smaller, differently laid out house than our previous one, it felt like we were drowning in stuff!

So here it is, the before picture of our incredibly embarrassing, cluttered garage.

And here is a picture of all the trash we got rid of.

And a picture of all the stuff that we are donating.

And finally, an after picture of the garage. 

As you see, there are still some boxes and stuff so we are not done yet, but oh so much closer!  It feels awesome!!!!

Declutter Challenge: My Dresser

We arrived home from our Road Trip last night (still have more pictures to post from that) so I spent today (Tuesday) catching up on our laundry.  Before I put my clothes away in my dresser, I decided it'd be a good idea to declutter that space.  I came up with 16 clothing items to get rid of from my drawers.  Underclothes will be thrown away and not donated, so I didn't take any pictures of those items.

Items left to declutter before March 2011:   246

Declutter Challenge: Stroller

 Last week, one of my dear friends told me that she needed a jogging stroller for her son and I was thrilled to pass this one on to her.  I haven't used it in about a year!

Total Things Decluttered:110

Things Left to Declutter: 262

Declutter Challenge: Five Minutes in the Garage

I don't have a lot of time to spend decluttering today, but like I mentioned yesterday, it is becoming addicting.  I am so happy to be getting rid of stuff.  It's only been a week since I started this challenge.  I had intended to get rid of 372 things in a year's time, but at this rate, I think I might hit that goal in only a month's time and believe me, that'd be even better!  I spent about five minutes collecting unwanted items from the garage.  I really should take a "before" picture of the garage because it is down right scary, but again, it's behind closed doors and you know what they say, "Out of sight, out of mind!".  It's never really out of mind, but certainly much easier to ignore out there.

In today's donation pile:

- purse (Not pictured and that is because my sister was here over the weekend and she needed a new purse, and guess what?  Yup, I just went out to the garage and found her one.  In this case, it worked out well because it fulfilled that "may need this one day" scenerio, which has proven to be the exception and not the rule.)
- floor puzzle playmat
- craft items x 3
- shower curtain rings
- handkerchiefs
- supplemental workbooks x 4 (I used to homeschool a little girl and I am not even sure how I ended up with her supplemental workbooks instead of her parents having them.  She's been back in private school long enough that it is time for me to throw these away!)
- 3-ring binder

That's another 12 items for today (109 so far) and 263 left to get rid of!

Declutter Challenge: 5 minute decluttering

In the first round of my declutter challenge, I said that I would be dropping the unwanted items off at Goodwill on Friday.  We had company all weekend, so I never got around to it on Friday, or the next day, or the next...but today, I have to run into town, so I will be taking the stuff with me.  The more I play this game, the more excited I am to play it.  I am thrilled, really thrilled to be getting rid of my clutter!  Woohoo!!!

Since I know I am heading to Goodwill this morning, I wanted to gather a few more items, but I also didn't want to spend all morning looking for stuff, so I set the timer for five minutes and gathered as much as I could in that amount of time.  Ok, so I sort of cheated because all I really did was go to the garage and grabbed a box and unpacked it and look at all the unused treasures I found!  It feels good that I am no longer going to be taking up space with unwanted stuff.  Maybe one day I will have enough room in our garage to park our vehicle!!!

Items I am donating today:
Pairs of shoes x 4 (technically I am getting rid of 8 things here, but will count it only as 4)
Olive Oil bottle
Hot sauce/salsa bottle
Drink Glasses x 2
Throw Rugs x 2
Icing spreader
Picture Album (This was by far the hardest thing to get rid of today.  It wasn't hard to get rid of because I thought I might use it one day, because I know that I rarely print prictures, but it was a handmade gift given to me when Arin was born.  Homemade/handmade gifts take a lot of thought, time and effort and that makes them so special.  However, I knew that it was going to waste not being used at my house, so I brainstormed with my sister-in-law this morning and she said that her youngest daughter (who loves princesses) would be delighted to have it.  So I feel good knowing that it'll brighten someone else's day and be put to use!)

Items being donated: 12 (97 total)
Items left to be donated before March 2011: 275

Declutter Challenge: Round Two (Linen Closet)

Today was clean the master bathroom day, so while I was in there, I took advantage of the time and decluttered the linen closet.

Here is the before picture.  I know - YIKES! - but it is so easy just to throw stuff in there because it's always behind a closed door.

Here is the after picture.  Not a huge difference, but definitely more tidy.  Andy noticed it right away when he got home from work.

I didn't get rid of too many things today.  What is going into my donation pile is:

- bedskirt (This was hard to part with because my sister made it for me, but I haven't used it in several years and am not planning on changing my bedding in the near future, so I decided it was time for it to find a new home.  If I ever need a new bedskirt, I am sure my sister will make a new one for me or better yet, teach me how to make one myself.)
- fitted sheet
- table cloth
- cloth napkins x 3 (not sure what happened to the fourth one)
- unopened bottle of baby oil
- unopened bottle of cocoa butter
- unopened bottle of lotion
- unopened bottle of baby powder

So that is 10 things I have removed from my house today (85 things total) and 287 more to remove before March 18, 2011!

Declutter Challenge: Round One

The goal for my Declutter Challenge is to get rid of 31 things per month or 372 things for the year.  This was only day one and I have already found 75 things to remove from our house!  Yippee!!

Books x 48 (most of these will be donated to my nieces)
VHS movies x 3
Storage containers x 2
Plastic baby forks x 5
Pacifier clip x 1
Plastic placemat x 1
Magazine x 1 (donating to my aunt)
Craft x 2 (donating to my aunt)
Clothes x 5
Misc. Lids x 6
Fake Flowers x 1

I can't wait to donate the not already claimed items to Goodwill tomorrow!
297 more things to declutter!

Declutter Challenge

Today is my 31st birthday and I have a confession to make.  I am pack rat!  I hate this quality about myself and I often complain about the clutter, but do very little else about it.  I want to get rid of stuff, but I tend to hang on to it "just in case" I might use it one day.  I am sure that is stuff packed away in boxes in our garage that I have kept since before we were married seven years ago "just in case" I might need it some day, but that day hasn't arrived yet.  So today, I am challenging myself to declutter my house.  It'll be a birthday gift to myself :)
Because I like to make everything into a game, I have decided that I will get rid of 31 things per month for the next twelve months.  In other words, 372 things will leave our house before I turn 32!