2014 - destash thread The Year of the Great Purge

I am in! My main goal this year is to simplify. Simplify our finances and simplify our house! I started before Christmas and already have 3 bags of toys and a huge rubbermaid container of kids' clothes to sell/donate!! I also went through our Christmas decor while packing it and got rid of a trash bag full of things!!!
 
Cleaned under my bed. I'll have to go onto Peter's FB page. Under the bed I found wrapping paper and gift bags (that's where I store them) :), an exercise thingie....but only one. I wonder where my twistisizer went. :confused3 , and a box with rug hooking yarn that I bought (and brought, obviously) at least 25 years ago before we moved to this house. :blush: :laughing: I am planning on a new spot for the wrapping paper (especially since most of it is Christmas!) and I packaged the rug hooking yarn to take to school for free arts and crafts time.

I've vacuumed the main floor and the stairs going upstairs. DH will do the washing of the floors tomorrow, while I finish vacuuming upstairs (and under the bed). :rotfl:
 
Thanks again for this thread! I got motivated to do some more today!

I bagged up a laundry basket of stuff that has been sitting in the hall, waiting to be donated. DD19 had just added some more to the basket so it seemed to be a good time. Plus I did end up going through my closet & pulled about 20 pieces that are either pretty worn or I really don't like. I decided life is too short to hang onto things I don't really like or look shabby, even if I loved them at one point.

Then I got rid of some mental clutter and forced myself to run some errands I'd been postponing. These were things I knew I needed to do at some point and kept putting them off. I hate making returns but had 3 stores to visit. So I got everything returned, mailed a birthday card to a friend, recycled a huge bag of plastic bags sitting in the garage, and donated 6 big bags of stuff to Goodwill.

Does anyone have any good tips for purse & backpack storage? Our kitchen becomes the dumping ground and I'd really like to find more hidden places to store that stuff. I tried having the kids keep them in the hall closet but that's out of the way and doesn't really get used.

Now that my errands are done, I don't have any reason to leave the house tomorrow and get distracted. I hope to get the basement under control & organize some other areas tomorrow!
 
7 totes/boxes are on the street for recycling tomorrow. Yee haw!!!

I sorted some bags and 1/2 a box in my craft room. That room is so frustrating. Most of it is scrap booking stuff and I'd love to get back to my books but the thought of storing them is depressing. I would love to go to project life style or digital but the kids love the traditional albums. I also have so many supplies I feel like I have to use at least some of it.
I do know disney trips from here out will be digital. The kids school, sports and life albums will be traditional. Not sure what to do with the day to day stuff.

Tomorrow I want to tackle the kitchen.
 

I am in. I let my house get way out of hand with clutter towards the end of 2013. Now that work has calmed down I can get to work.

I also have my grandmother's house to clean out. She passed away in October and has a house full of stuff.
 
I didn't get much decluttering done today but just picked up random things from all over the house and got a little bit of laundry taken care of. I did see a friend who said she could get me added on to a local swap and sell site. :woohoo: I'm realizing that I have far too many boxes of stuff to sell to wait until my next school fundraiser bazaar event. Gotta get some of it out of the garage before April!
 
I'm in again for the year. I did pretty good in 2013, but as always, more to go. I actually already have about 7 boxes and bags waiting to go to Salvation Army. The last donation of 13 became the first of 2014.... Funny how that worked (or rather didn't).

I'm have a bunch of projects to finish and really need to get to the garage and basement (though not in that order!)
 
charming23 said:
I am in. I let my house get way out of hand with clutter towards the end of 2013. Now that work has calmed down I can get to work.

I also have my grandmother's house to clean out. She passed away in October and has a house full of stuff.

Sorry to hear about your grandma. Make sure you look through everything before giving it/throwing it away. When my nan passed away last year my parents found money hidden in the weirdest places.
 
Moths???? One of sweaters I found the other day has holes everywhere. I have a cedar floor closet and don't own a whole lot of wool to begin with. But how can I tell if if the moths are gone or not? I can't stand the thought of them eating more clothing or breeding or spreading or whatever they do. Gross. Haven't had moths since I was a kid so I'm kinda grossed out. How can I tell if they are still around?
 
Peter Walsh Day 4: Declutter your luggage. I might have trouble with this one. :scared1: I :love: luggage, so much so that I bought DS and DD luggage for their wedding, and another set for DD who has just finished her BSc. For some reason, I get attached to the stuff. I had the greatest tote bag-Mickey with little tiny Mickey hands as zipper pulls. I :sad: when it gave up the ghost after 10/12 years.
 
I am in! My main goal this year is to simplify. Simplify our finances and simplify our house! I started before Christmas and already have 3 bags of toys and a huge rubbermaid container of kids' clothes to sell/donate!! I also went through our Christmas decor while packing it and got rid of a trash bag full of things!!!

I love the idea of simplifying :thumbsup2

Thanks again for this thread! I got motivated to do some more today!

I bagged up a laundry basket of stuff that has been sitting in the hall, waiting to be donated. DD19 had just added some more to the basket so it seemed to be a good time. Plus I did end up going through my closet & pulled about 20 pieces that are either pretty worn or I really don't like. I decided life is too short to hang onto things I don't really like or look shabby, even if I loved them at one point.

Then I got rid of some mental clutter and forced myself to run some errands I'd been postponing. These were things I knew I needed to do at some point and kept putting them off. I hate making returns but had 3 stores to visit. So I got everything returned, mailed a birthday card to a friend, recycled a huge bag of plastic bags sitting in the garage, and donated 6 big bags of stuff to Goodwill.

Does anyone have any good tips for purse & backpack storage? Our kitchen becomes the dumping ground and I'd really like to find more hidden places to store that stuff. I tried having the kids keep them in the hall closet but that's out of the way and doesn't really get used.

Now that my errands are done, I don't have any reason to leave the house tomorrow and get distracted. I hope to get the basement under control & organize some other areas tomorrow!

All I can tell you about the backpacks is that command hooks don't work, mine broke under the weight of the middle school backpacks. Might work for purses though. For now we're putting them on the floor of our coat closet, there's nothing else there so they can just toss them in there.

I thought I didn't have much left to declutter, I was wrong :rotfl2:. Today I went through a rack of storage bins in the youngest two boys' room. It had been used for craft supplies for about 7 years. I was able to completely empty it by moving some stuff around (the boys have desks now) and throwing out a garbage bag full of trash. I listed the bins on craigslist, hopefully it will sell. I also gave away 30 children's books that my children outgrew and packed up about 20 that I want to save.
 
I love the idea of simplifying :thumbsup2

All I can tell you about the backpacks is that command hooks don't work, mine broke under the weight of the middle school backpacks. Might work for purses though. For now we're putting them on the floor of our coat closet, there's nothing else there so they can just toss them in there.

I thought I didn't have much left to declutter, I was wrong :rotfl2:. Today I went through a rack of storage bins in the youngest two boys' room. It had been used for craft supplies for about 7 years. I was able to completely empty it by moving some stuff around (the boys have desks now) and throwing out a garbage bag full of trash. I listed the bins on craigslist, hopefully it will sell. I also gave away 30 children's books that my children outgrew and packed up about 20 that I want to save.

I just read a tip for hanging backpacks using the drapery tie back bars hung upright instead of sideways.
 
Yesterday evening I did under the bed. I was right, I didn't want to know what was under there :rotfl2: Let's see... the balance board for the Wii fit, my step aerobics step & risers, 2 sweatshirts that I haven't seen in a few years (one is tinkerbell that will be great for our trip next december!) legs to a mini trampoline I've had for oh 15+ years, some hand weights, 2 of DSs toys, a pair of my slippers, a lap desk, a comforter that I didn't realize I still had... I that's all. Oh no, a throw pillow that has been MIA for a few months. There was enough cat hair under there to make a new cat :rotfl:

So the pillow and hoodies are in the wash, I moved the top of the mini trampoline under the bed. I was torn whether to get rid of it or not. It's seen better days. I remember when my nephew was about 3 and came over he LOVED jumping on it. I thought about getting rid of it and just buying DS one if he wants one, but I priced them out on amazon and it would be 35-65ish for one. So I'm going to hold on to it until after the phase passes for DS then it is gone. I had an empty plastic tub that was the right height for under the bed so I put all the "workout" stuff in there and the loose stuff like hand weights. Under the bed is now fitness storage, haha. And the lap desk because I don't know what else to do with it.

Luggage.. can't really do anything with it as its piled on in the basement. DH and I did throw away two rolling suitcases that were destroyed by southwest after the last time we flew. The actual suitcases are destashed, just don't really have a good place to store them right now but I'll get to that. As far as tote bags/vera duffels... some in my closet, and a few hanging up in the basement. I will get to them when I work in my closet and the basement.

So far today I did one shredder bin full of shredding. Didn't make a dent but it's a start. We took the tree down and boxed it up, sent it to my parents house (they are kind enough to store both of our Christmas trees since they have a full attic) Living room is back to normal! I vacuumed and scrubbed the downstairs level all but the kitchen. I looked up a "recipe" for wood floor cleaner online that said it was safe to use in my shark steam mop (ive had it for years and only used water) let's just say there is a reason it says water only! The steam mop is clogged and I had to do it by hand but they are cleaned. Hoping to de-clog the shark mop with hot water later.

Depending on how long DS sleeps, I'm working on getting the rest of the books listen on half.com and amazon. some more shredding. rolling the jar of change. thank you notes are done and addressed, just need to stamp and send. I would like to organize the office stuff in the basement that I did yesterday a little better. I had to do 3 loads of laundry today totally throwing me off my laundry game. One done and folded, one in the dryer, last washing now. Whew.

I hope I don't lose steam, I'm feeling very motivated and encouraged! I hope everyone else is staying warm and having a productive weekend!
 
dtr_angel said:
Yesterday evening I did under the bed. I was right, I didn't want to know what was under there :rotfl2: Let's see... the balance board for the Wii fit, my step aerobics step & risers, 2 sweatshirts that I haven't seen in a few years (one is tinkerbell that will be great for our trip next december!) legs to a mini trampoline I've had for oh 15+ years, some hand weights, 2 of DSs toys, a pair of my slippers, a lap desk, a comforter that I didn't realize I still had... I that's all. Oh no, a throw pillow that has been MIA for a few months. There was enough cat hair under there to make a new cat :rotfl:

So the pillow and hoodies are in the wash, I moved the top of the mini trampoline under the bed. I was torn whether to get rid of it or not. It's seen better days. I remember when my nephew was about 3 and came over he LOVED jumping on it. I thought about getting rid of it and just buying DS one if he wants one, but I priced them out on amazon and it would be 35-65ish for one. So I'm going to hold on to it until after the phase passes for DS then it is gone. I had an empty plastic tub that was the right height for under the bed so I put all the "workout" stuff in there and the loose stuff like hand weights. Under the bed is now fitness storage, haha. And the lap desk because I don't know what else to do with it.

Luggage.. can't really do anything with it as its piled on in the basement. DH and I did throw away two rolling suitcases that were destroyed by southwest after the last time we flew. The actual suitcases are destashed, just don't really have a good place to store them right now but I'll get to that. As far as tote bags/vera duffels... some in my closet, and a few hanging up in the basement. I will get to them when I work in my closet and the basement.

So far today I did one shredder bin full of shredding. Didn't make a dent but it's a start. We took the tree down and boxed it up, sent it to my parents house (they are kind enough to store both of our Christmas trees since they have a full attic) Living room is back to normal! I vacuumed and scrubbed the downstairs level all but the kitchen. I looked up a "recipe" for wood floor cleaner online that said it was safe to use in my shark steam mop (ive had it for years and only used water) let's just say there is a reason it says water only! The steam mop is clogged and I had to do it by hand but they are cleaned. Hoping to de-clog the shark mop with hot water later.

Depending on how long DS sleeps, I'm working on getting the rest of the books listen on half.com and amazon. some more shredding. rolling the jar of change. thank you notes are done and addressed, just need to stamp and send. I would like to organize the office stuff in the basement that I did yesterday a little better. I had to do 3 loads of laundry today totally throwing me off my laundry game. One done and folded, one in the dryer, last washing now. Whew.

I hope I don't lose steam, I'm feeling very motivated and encouraged! I hope everyone else is staying warm and having a productive weekend!

Whew! I'm exhausted just from reading this!
You could make a new cat, and I think I had a litter of puppies under my bed. When our dog was a puppy, she would hide under the bed 24/7. It's so hard to vacuum under there, but I think I sucked up the last hairball yesterday. The only thing left under our bed is a baseball bat my husband seems to think is necessary for self defense in the middle of the night.

My floors are so clean right now, I've realized just how badly they need replaced, but that's not in the budget yet.

What's today....luggage? I'm good there since I cleaned out our storage closet the other day where we keep our luggage!
 
Ok, I'm in! Reading this thread last night was a huge motivator! I spent my day, taking down the tree, and packing it all away. Sorted and pitched decorations and ornaments as well as wrapping stuff before putting it away. We also did some winter prep, putting up plastic etc. re-arranged living room and thoroughly vacuumed. Three bags of trash taken out, two boxes of stuff ready for goodwill. Lots and lots of new space from combining small boxes of Christmas stuff into a couple larger plastic totes. Later tonight I'm going to work in the basement until I have at least two more bags ready to be donated.
 
I so need to clean out our basement. We still have unopened boxes from when we moved in 8 years ago and my husband's boxes and boxes of VCR tapes. (I don't even think we have a VCR and he has moved on to blu-rays now.) This thread has inspired to work on that this year. Plus if we want to finish it, it needs to be cleared out. The other area is our garage. But that will need to wait until spring and warmer weather.
 
Filled up a garbage bag of stuff from the kids' room. That was just doing a quick walk through.. I need a full day to go through their stuff and do a major purge. Still, that's one bag of junk out of the house! :)
 
Filled up a garbage bag of stuff from the kids' room. That was just doing a quick walk through.. I need a full day to go through their stuff and do a major purge. Still, that's one bag of junk out of the house! :)

Good work. I find I can always get a bag of trash out of the girls room. I have been moving slowly. I have gotten a bag of papers shredded and several bags of paper ready for recycling.

I did the marketing and the vet yesterday. So I did not have as much time as I had planned. I took both dogs and as much as it was a time saver I think next time I will take them separately.
 
Love reading this thread! I'm wondering if anyone has Vera Bradley bags that are so used they start getting ripped, do you just throw them out when they get like that?
 
Love reading this thread! I'm wondering if anyone has Vera Bradley bags that are so used they start getting ripped, do you just throw them out when they get like that?

It pains me to do so, but usually, yes. I have a wonderful lady that does alterations, and if she can even remotely save it, we will, but sooner or later, they all get thrown out.
 












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