Well, blow me down. You guys knocked it OUT OF THE PARK yesterday with all your purging. WAY TO GO!!! I’m so stinking proud of you!! I’m going to extend yesterday’s e-book offer through today. (Purge 5 items from your home, and I’ll send you a free copy of this.)
I know from experience that it’s so easy to look around at all your stuff and feel completely paralyzed. Where do I even start? Are my meager efforts even going to make a dent? I’m so overwhelmed! And then you raid your cupboard for candy and curl up on your bed and read a book instead.
Here are 10 ideas to get you started on your purging adventures. Pick one, pick three, just do something! (Disclaimer: I am NOT an organizing expert. These ideas are based more on feelings than any solid research. Feel free to adapt–or ignore–accordingly.)
1. Take all the books off one shelf, any shelf. Put them back one by one but ONLY the ones you LOVED and/or plan to reference or read again in the next two years.
2. Empty your big kitchen utensil drawer (or crock or whatever). How many wooden spoons do you need? How many plastic slotted ones? How many spatulas? Any gadgets that seem awesome but you never, ever use? Try to get rid of one for every two you keep (or something like that).
3. Go through your socks/underwear/bras. Throw out everything that has a hole in it. And everything that fits under the Frumpy category. And everything that’s too big, too small, too scratchy, too wedgie-inducing. (I do have a pair of lounge pants that I wear around the house and they have a big hole in the rear. If your favorite undies have a hole in them and you can’t bear to throw them away, I won’t judge.)
4. Look through your CD and/or DVD collection. Choose 5 that you never watch/listen to. Give them a new home.
5. Do you collect something? (giraffes, globes, vintage aprons, old books) Evaluate your collection objectively (sort of). Do you really LOVE every pig you own, or are there several that don’t do a thing for you, you just keep them around because they’re part of your collection? Lose them.
6. Open your medicine cabinet or a bathroom drawer or peek under the sink. If you’re feeling extra brave, empty the whole thing and toss whatever is outdated or you’ll never use. Otherwise, try to get rid of 5 things.
7. Tell your children you’ll pay them 25 cents (or 50 cents/1 dollar/20 dollars) for each stuffed animal they’re willing to get rid of. (I’ve done this a couple of times. Pure genius. And totally worth whatever I had to pay.)
8. Go through your desk and throw out 25 things. Counting is a really big thing with me. When I’m tired and don’t feel like picking up around the house, I tell myself to just pick up 50 things. I know this is a game you play with children. It works on me too.
9. Skim through the clothes in your closet. What haven’t you worn in the past year? Are you really going to want to wear it anytime soon? Get rid of it.
10. Look around your house at all the knickknacks on various surfaces. REALLY look at them. Is there one (or two or seventeen) that you’ve had forever and dust around it and never think about it because it’s always just been there? Is it meaningless, ugly, outdated, not who you are anymore? Get rid of it (them).
So, tell me:
1. Which one are you going to tackle today?
and/or
2. What brilliant purging tip do you have for the rest of us?
Be careful! I recently purged a couple of kitchen drawers. I found a beater (just one) long agp, ThIinking it was for a hand mixer I pitched long ago I threw away the beater. Cleaning out another drawer a couple of days later I found another beater and threw it away. About a month later I found an old 1950′s mixer that belonged to my mother in law and it had no beaters. Now I need to pay $25 for replacements. *sigh* I don’t use the mixer a lot but I would rather have it available if I decide I need one. They don’t make them like they used to!
My tip is, when you are on the fence about getting rid of something, put it in the donation pile, and load all the donation stuff in the trunk of your car. If after a few days of being out of your sight, you’ve forgotten what’s in the donation pile, and it’s not still bugging you that you’re getting rid of whatever it is, then it’s probably safe to say you’re not going to miss it. Swing by Goodwill and empty your trunk knowing that someone else will probably enjoy that stuff way more than you would have. Same principle applies to buying stuff. Go home and sleep on it, and if you still NEED it the next day or in a few days, think about buying it. Most of the time, I forget about it by the time I get home, which means I didn’t really need it.
My second tip is to picture the person who’s going to get what you give away/sell. In sixth grade, my dad went to Russia to help design a new church building and help out at an orphanage. He was collecting stuffed animals and dolls. I did not want to part with a single one, even the ones I never played with. But my parents reminded me that I have dozens of them, and the orphans in Russia might not even have one stuffed animal of their own. Picturing another kid getting one of my furry friends as their first and possibly only stuffed animal helped a lot and I made much deeper cuts in my collection than I would have otherwise. I still do that when I purge. I recently sold a pair of shoes on Craigslist, and I was kind of sad about selling them, but it turned out the girl that bought them was going to wear them in her wedding. It was way more fun to know that those shoes would be part of her special day, than it would have been to keep them, gathering dust in the back of my closet.
I’ll tackle the socks and such
My brother and dad have been at my house the last 2 weekends doing bathroom renovations, so while I wasn’t running errands for them, I purged 8 boxes of stuff and put it out for Easter Seals to pick up Monday. (They send a postcard a week or so ahead of time with a date they will be in the neighborhood.) Knowing that I wouldn’t have to cart my stuff somewhere to donate it really helped light a fire under me to reduce the clutter. I have a long way to go, but it was a great beginning. From now on I think I will keep a “donate” box in the closet where I can drop anything I come across that needs to exit my home!
I love this! Adam sand I are appalled at how much “stuff” we have . . . we are working on it now!
Great tips Marla! My mother-in-law loves the “counting thing” as well. She does the whole Fly Lady 27-Fling Boogie thing. I don’t get it. I guess I’m just too lazy to actually count what I get rid of. But I do love taking before/after pics of de-cluttered spaces.
I just stumbled across your blog. I really needed inspiration, and I think this is it!!
I have purged a tall kitchen bag full of clothes from my closet… yeah !!!
Here’s my five:
1) a dresser we inherited when we got married
2) a stack of magazines
3) Pumpkin muffins (I would’ve eaten otherwise…)
4) two maternity shirts that won’t cover this 8 month pg belly anymore
5) 3 jars of mini playdo
I picked 2 & 9, what a great feeling! A total of 18 items are ready to go to Salvation Army, woo hoo!
I went through my hanging clothes not that long ago, but as I get out my fall clothes, I’m going to go through them ago. Thanks for pushing me along to purge!
So far I’ve given away 4 harvest placemats, and put 3 pairs of girls nylon tights and 2 Love Comes Softly DVDs in the yard sale pile. Can I have the kindle version of your e-book?
Before you toss towels and dish towels (and how many do you really need.. same with pot holders) check with the local humane society.. they can almost always use rags.
I have been going through my books… next to hit are socks.. haven’t worn white ones in years, so really do I need a 1/2 a drawer of them?!
i’m having a yard sale this month – planning on going thru all my books, cds, and movies. hopefully jay won’t be stingy with the ones he lets me purge.
Hey, Marla – this post may help somebody out there!!
http://smallnotebook.org/2011/10/04/it-is-so-much-easier-to-simplify-than-organize/
I did it yesterday, too!! I was very proud of all my organizing. I have yet to bring my pile out to the garage to add to our garage sale pile, but the closets look great!!
My tip, in regards to #10 especially: if you are soclose to getting rid of something, but hanging on for sentimental reasons, take a picture. A folder on your computer of special memories takes up way less room than all the items on your shelf or being stored in a box.
Great starting point. I have way too much junk in my house!
I guess my only tip is have a yard sale with all the stuff you purge! I feel better getting rid of things if I get a little something back. 