2013 Destash- this is the year!

[pjlla]

Boy do I need to join this thread! We have so much stuff it's crazy. I feel like the house is never totally clean and organized because we just keep moving stuff around! DH and I are currently working on shredding lots of documents. We have held on to every bill I think we've gotten in the past 16 years of marriage, and some from even earlier! We also don't like to toss mailings of any kind that have our names on it. So we have a lot to accomplish in this area. We have spent at least 5 hours over the past three days going through boxes, choosing what can be recylced and then shredding the rest. And we've only scratched the surface. So this is where we are starting, but believe me our entire house could use an overhaul!

If you can't get them shredded, how about burning them? I had a huge bundle of old paperwork to get rid of about 10 years ago, before I owned a shredder. I took them camping with me and burned a few bundles every day. They made great fire starters......P

 

[Carlyzmom]

Well, so far, I have cleaned out 3 drawers (in the kitchen) and a closet in the laundry room. I have 3 bags to donate so far! I am determined to de-clutter my home this year!!! Love this thread!!

 

[Disney Addicted]

I have several storage bins of good clothes that will fit me if I lose 15 lbs. I've decided that if I don't lose the weight by the end of this year, the clothes are going to Goodwill.

I've been there...you might consider just going through them quickly right now to see what's there. I had stuff that was only a couple years old and when I went through it I realized I wouldn't wear it even if it fit.

I agree with mrsklamc. A few months ago I decided I should let my son have use of his entire closet. Yeah, I was storing my old work clothes in there But that meant going through my own closet as I had nowhere else to put them. I was shocked at how many items I would NEVER wear again once I lose the weight.

What I did was if I had 3 pairs of say black slacks that were pretty much the same, I kept my favorite pair and put the other 2 in the give away bag. After doing this with all of my clothes, I had a few bags of stuff to get rid of-it was kind of painful though.

Good luck on your weight loss! My husband and a few people that I know have tried the Ideal Protein diet and they've all lost a bunch of weight. My husband lost 40 lbs!

That's a good idea. I ended up paring down my clothes to a minimum a few months ago, hoping to help my weight loss goal this year. Three years ago I started in January and lost 33 lbs by end of September. Instead of keeping at it, I slowly gained it back over 2 years. I think my biggest mistake was not GETTING RID of my then too-loose pants & shirts. It's hard to notice the weight creeping back on when your clothing doesn't start feeling tight right away. This year, as soon as I need smaller size, the others get tossed!

And congrats on your husband losing 40 lbs!

 

[Disney Addicted]

Hey, you know what might be fun to do? (Now maybe this has been done in past years, but I'm new to the thread and do not know).

What about taking before & after photos and posting them here? I wish I had taken a photo of my hallway closet before it was all cleared & cleaned out.

I'll take photos of our "craft closet" and "junk room basement". What a shock those photos will be.

 

[starwood]

Today's Peter Walsh task is:

Take all the towels in your house to one spot and disgard all the frayed/dirty/scratchy towels. Then fold the remaining towels uniformly when you put them away.

 

[StephMK]

Today's Peter Walsh task is:

Take all the towels in your house to one spot and disgard all the frayed/dirty/scratchy towels. Then fold the remaining towels uniformly when you put them away.

Ohh, that's a good one! I will definitely do that. I went through it last year but I noticed it's still stuffed full. We do laundry often enough that we don't see so many extras. I am also getting rid of extra sheets sets and pillowcases in there. Thanks for posting!!

Yesterday I went through my last bedroom drawer again and got rid of holey socks and worn out items. No point in keeping stuff that I sift through to get to the good things.

It feels good to go back through places I organized last year and find more things to purge!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Today's Peter Walsh task is:

Take all the towels in your house to one spot and disgard all the frayed/dirty/scratchy towels. Then fold the remaining towels uniformly when you put them away.

I cleaned up my linen closet, but I keep my frayed towels on a separate shelf and use them for nasty clean-ups like stomach bugs, dog messes, etc. I did throw away a random trick or treat bag that ended up in there

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Ohh, that's a good one! I will definitely do that. I went through it last year but I noticed it's still stuffed full. We do laundry often enough that we don't see so many extras. I am also getting rid of extra sheets sets and pillowcases in there. Thanks for posting!!

Yesterday I went through my last bedroom drawer again and got rid of holey socks and worn out items. No point in keeping stuff that I sift through to get to the good things.

It feels good to go back through places I organized last year and find more things to purge!

Oh, I should do my bedroom drawer again, too.

 

[mrsklamc]

I know that animal shelters can often use old sheets, towels, etc.

Our towels definitely need purging but I'm determined to finish the kitchen today!

 

[StephMK]

I cleaned up my linen closet, but I keep my frayed towels on a separate shelf and use them for nasty clean-ups like stomach bugs, dog messes, etc. I did throw away a random trick or treat bag that ended up in there

That's a good idea. We keep a rag or two in the laundry closet but I should add a big towel or two. I need to mark them so they don't end up back in the rotation. Spring will be coming along with muddy dog feet so big towels would be handy.

I finished the closet. I didn't have much to get rid of but am planning to give away a set of king flannel sheets that are not soft and few odd sheets/towels. I also found a few kid towel sets in nice condition to pass down to my DB's kids. Now it's better organized and hopefully easier to put things away.

Oh yeah, went through the magazines last night. I keep a basket and only keep what will fit in there. I recycled a big stack and now there is more than enough space left.

I can't work on the basement because there are still several of DD18's friends sleeping. I should tackle some of the garage but really hard to get motivated to go out in the cold.

I love January and the feeling of clearing stuff out for the new year!

 

[goofyredraider]

Between teaching and being a mom I'm sure you're days are full full full, but if you don't want to put it on hold until spring break, you might try setting a timer for 15, 10, or even 5 minutes a day and see what you can do in that time. Between now and spring break I bet it would make a big difference!

That's a great idea! I will make a goal, even if it's just clean out one thing - per day.

I took a load to half-price books yesterday, too. Later today (after the gym with DD), I plan to clean out one piece of furniture in my room.

 

[Debbie]

Thank you for the recommendation of Peter Walsh and FB. I've dabbled in the previous de-stash threads, and have done okay.....but not fabulous. Perhaps having a daily goal that isn't overwhelming, I can do better this year-well at least this month . And thank you to the people who are posting the 'summary' of each day. That helps!

I'm off to do Day 1!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Wow! What great motivation reading all the progress on here! I thought of you guys as I was working hard this weekend!!

I wanted to tackle our dining room turned library and I did and won! I pulled off all the books and got rid of half since we haven't touched them in years and naturally we've moved on to kindles/iPads. We will be taking a huge box to a local store that buys used books so I hope to get some extra Disney money soon! I rearranged and organized all our CDs and also purged a bunch to sell or donate. I have an entire trash bag full of clothes my DS outgrew to give to a family friend, a few small bags for goodwill.

The best part - after taking about 10 hours to get it all done - is my DS helped me a bit and really enjoyed the challenge and appreciates the efforts now.

One room done, several more to go!

Heather

 

[scbelleatheart]

I thought I was doing good. Went through all the clothes of mine. Boxed up that did not fit, out of style, ect. The DH tells me I have 3 more dressers to go through. I totally forgot I had clothes in the guest bedroom dressers. I guess if I have not seen them in 2 1/2 years they should all go!

 

[TarzansKat]

Hi!

I'd like to join in. This year I am all about cleansing! Myself (losing weight), my space (getting rid of stuff)!

I've already decluttered our living room and dining room. Every day I try to do something small because the big projects (like our spare bedroom that we use as a storage room) can feel overwhelming!

I've also done three drawers in the dressers in my bedroom, and yesterday, cleaned out the bathroom vanities and excess tolietries to give to my DBIL's girlfriend. They're in college, so she really appreciated it and it felt so much nicer than throwing things out!

I'm hoping to tackle all of my dresser drawers and closet in the coming week.

 

[my3princes]

I cleaned out the pantry and in the process one more cupboard. Amazing how much room there is when things are put in the proper places

We also got all of the outside decoration down and in the basement. Next weekend I need to get those put away. The snow needs to finish melting off them and then they can dry before going into totes, storage bags and trash cans. round trash cans are excellent for storing wreaths

 

[TarzansKat]

Thank you for sharing this! It is an awesome idea, and I will definitely be using it.

We had a spare bedroom that was unusable. Today we cleaned it out. Half were boxes from our bathroom remodeling project last year. The rest was baby stuff that we are holding onto invade we have another child. Moved the baby stuff to the basement. DH us going to re drywall in there and we will get new flooring and it can actually become an office for now...maybe eventually a nursery until we can do our addition. Have a small box for donation. We're getting there anyways.

Your post gives me hope. Our fourth bedroom is this way. It has overflow from when we moved into the house a couple of years ago, and is housing extra toys, baby things, etc, etc. Just too much stuff. Time to purge!

 

[C_leen]

Wow! Everyone is really working hard! I worked up on the ladder in my kitchen for about 3 hours today. Wine rack clean with sparkling glasses. Cupboard tops all clean. My ball jar collection is shiny. I then dug into the tallest shelves and wiped most of the high ones out. I now have my first donation bc started of 2013. Wiped the lights down too. I got tired and quit. Gave up the ladder. I will need it next weekend for the pantry.

I listened to Radio Lab which really passes the time!

Over the week I hope to sneak in some 15 minute clean sessions between my kitchen and office.

Cleen

 

[mrsklamc]

Ok so...the kitchen is done or as done as it's getting at the moment....My flour, sugar, etc are in mismatched containers until I figure out what new ones I want.

The other project left in the kitchen is paring down the recipe books- as in looking through them page by page and seeing if there are any recipes I want to hold onto...Just not up for that much reading tonight.

But otherwise...pretty happy with my clean, newly organized kitchen!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Not a destash but it was nice out today so we got the wood splitter out and tackled the last of the woodpile. The pieces were to big for our fireplace so we split and restacked everything. So that is done and tarped for the rest of winter.

I've been slowly tackling the craft room too. I've purged a little and reorganized a little but nothing to write home about.

I should take before and after pics though.