(If you are just joining us, here are parts 1-3 to get up to speed)
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| This picture still gives me the willies. Our house looked like this for all of July. I present to you: The Work Floor. |
“The Brutality Of It All”
The entire month of July was vicious! Once we made up our minds that we were in Mode d’ Declutter, it meant treating it like a full-time job. We fired all burners to get it done so
that the rest of the years would run better.
People have hired me to help them declutter and now I was taking on the
most difficult client: me. Good luck with THAT one, I reminded myself.
The problem with staying in the same house for 21 years, is that
you never had the advantages of Moving Day.
So, your clutter becomes attached to your home like a cyst. This was our one
chance to mimic the glory of tossing things as if we were moving to a new
place.
I began by blocking out huge chunks of time: no appointments, no
social calls, no answering the phone. I
had to arrange play dates for my daughter or find projects for her to help me
sort. When it came time to look through
her things, I included her in order to teach her how to part with belongings. I once tried the time-tested way of stealing
her toys and getting rid of them while she was in school. However, it backfired when
she saw one of her things at the Goodwill.
So, we are now into Full Disclosure.
Then, I found an area in my house that could be my sorting
area. This was my kitchen table and part
of the floor around it. We agreed that
we’d all be okay at giving up the table for a while. We'd eat while standing over
the sink or maybe even at a real restaurant or outside on the patio. For the record, we haven’t eaten on the patio
even once this summer. So, you do the
math. If
you said the sink, you’d win the gold.
Then, I found every box, laundry basket and empty container
I had, put it in a pile, and used them often to sort, store, move around, empty
again. These were very helpful fellas.
Next, and this was the most critical to keep me from running
out of steam, was to do it by item, and not by room. Plus, it had to be removed
from its area and taken to the sorting area. For instance, I had “jewelry day” and I would
remove all my jewelry from everywhere in the house, and plop it down on the
sorting table, and only declutter the jewelry.
And then on “DVD day”, I’d do the same.
I had other days like “book day” “dishes day” “linens day” “toy day”
“recipe day.” I’d go and hunt down the items which were stored scientifically
in Tetris blocks all over my house, and then bring them all together for a
dusty reunion. I’m sure I was a squirrel
in my previous life. And of course it
was during the Great Depression.
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| Jewelry, jewelry...come out wherever you are. I had papers to label 'giving away' and 'fix.' The 'fix' pile will probably become the 'giving away' pile next month. Note the hi-def mirror. Just like trying on jewelry at Nordstrom. |
This is why I group similar items and take them to the
sorting table: because an item gets power from its regular location. If you declutter where it normally rests, you
tend to let it stay because it’s the only thing that fits there. But when you throw it on the table to stand
next to its brethren, it shivers as you stare at it. Many times, its power is lost as it is
out-shined by the better stuff and therefore, it must go. Remove them from their friends and some can
barely survive on their own merits. Like
removing a Mean Girl from her clique.
Grouping helped me see the wheat from the chaff so
easily. By removing items from their
home and letting them see the light of day on my kitchen table, I saw them more
clearly. They had to deserve to go back to
their room. And once I got rid of the
runts, I knew it was okay if things were not in the perfect sized container or
closet or even the right room…as long as it was together, I could move it as a
pod to the right area when I’ve finished.
If you do this, prepare to stink and get sweaty. But for gawd’s sake, at least have the decency to floss daily. Have quick food on
hand, and make plenty of room for piles and dirt. I won’t kid you. It wasn’t pretty and it drove me crazy. My tiny house is normally hard to clean and I
found the areas that hadn’t seen anyone’s dust rag for two presidential terms.
During the decluttering phase, the floor was full, and our
appliances continued to break and get fixed by repairmen coming over. We were trying to actually have life with our
kids, because surprise! they were off for the summer. It wasn’t the perfect time to do this Life
Overhaul, but there is no perfect time.
We just hope for short memories and that my kids and friends will
forgive me for the Summer of 2012.
However, there, in the Valley of Shambles with its low-lying
dust cloud, I caught the faint smell of triumph approaching.
Part 5 of 6. With LOTS OF Embarrassing photos. Here is the link: http://freddiesmom50x50.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-game-changer-part-5-of-6-part-series.html
Part 5 of 6. With LOTS OF Embarrassing photos. Here is the link: http://freddiesmom50x50.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-game-changer-part-5-of-6-part-series.html
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