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organization

I would say the #1 issue that I had/have in my space is I have too much stuff.  And it’s not just because I’ve been buying like crazy, in fact, I would say that when I had kids, aside from the usual baby spending, my shopping habits considerably died off.

I used to buy clothes and accessories for work, odds and ends for the house and so on. But choosing to become a stay at home mom meant a few habits had to change.  So random spending on stuff heavily slowed down over the years.  (Don’t confuse this with me not spending at all, I still buy what I need or what I want for my home, but within boundaries).

However, my ‘stuff’ that had been piling in my home wasn’t only a collection of purchased goods, but items that I had been moving from apartment to apartment, room to room.  I have a box that I moved out of my parents’ house with, filled with my childhood.  Clipping from papers, year books, small toys.

I had another box of Beenie Babies from when I was younger, and a collection of Disney Robin Hood characters that were actually worth something on Ebay. I’m never going to sell them, so I finally unpacked them and gave them to the kids.

I have other boxes filled with, well, boxes. Seriously. They are boxes from figurines or collectibles so I’ve kept them.

When we were forced to purge the main floor to renovated/decorate, I was forced to make some decisions.  The 4 vases I had weren’t being used so I reduced those.  I had boxes and boxes of ‘stuff’ – extra casserole dishes and so on – that I was able to get rid of.

Because we reduced the amount of furniture in the dining room (no more china cabinet and buffet, although I would consider a console table again eventually), we find that we aren’t leaving as much stuff around.

My other problem is I get emotionally attached.  If it was a gift, or from somewhere special, I tend to hold on to it.  Which is nice, but I can’t do that for everything. I have to get smarter!

So what are some tips for a packrat like myself to use to start getting rid of stuff? (and then, in other posts we’ll talk about better ways to organize the stuff, like I had posted about in the kitchen) Here are some tips:

• Stop bringing  more stuff home. Don’t buy new items until you’ve taken stock of what you already have.
• Consignment! I found a home consignment store in Orleans (Snazzy Seconds) and when I realized I could make money from my duplicate vases and so on, it suddenly was a lot easier to let go of them!
• Donate your items: There are many organizations that will accept your items and either distribute them (for furniture I’ve used Helping With Furniture, an excellent organization) or sell your items to make additional funds for themselves.
• Ask your friends and family.  My siblings have been the benefactors of my extra casserole dishes or items over the years that I don’t need but are in perfectly good condition. Ask around!
• Keep what you love. Don’t get rid of everything.  I have a small, glass container at my front door table that was my grandmother’s.  It has a chip in it, but I refuse to get rid of it. Select those special items and find a nice place for them.

What surprises me most is that I love the cleaner space.  I love not feeling like I’m drowning in stuff (let’s ignore the papers all over the place for now) and now I am really particular about what I do bring into the house.

Have you been organizing and purging in your home? How do you let go?