Organizing and decluttering the homestead

[tortoise]

@baymule, my family is similar! I'm well.... y'know. DH's life was very tidy. He picks up after himself, but isn't much for cleaning surfaces, so it wasn't like OCD clean, but very neat. Except for closets. . I am the exact opposite! Storage must be just-so. Everything carefully grouped in matching, labeled containers. I don't enjoy picking up, but I enjoy scrubbing surfaces. Even still, I'm a whirlwind and I do what I can, when I can, and stop when I can't. That leaves a lot of unfinished projects behind. Poor DH!

 

[tortoise]

I refuse to be a slave to my house or anything else

^ This thought process draws me to minimalism. Can't organize clutter. Every object in my house is a commitment to clean it, maintain it, clean around it. Yuck. fewer commitments please! I have better things to do! I want to purge utility and storage areas in my house to reduce commitments and workload. So I can do something more important.

 

[Beekissed]

Cleanliness is pretty important, in the long run...unclean human habitat leads to disease and so does unclean animal habitat. Down through the ages much disease and death has been caused by people who thought dirt was just fine and let other things take priority over it.

This thread isn't about who can be the cleanest and neatest, it's about something that affects most people and how well they do their jobs. Homesteading is a job, no matter how you look at it, and any job goes easier and one gets more done if they aren't fighting filth and clutter as they try to move through their lives.

If keeping orderly and organized ain't yer trigger, why even post on the thread?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Exactly why I don't collect things- I'm not a knick knack person. I only want what I need.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Why post on this thread? Thought it was an open forum. You know- different opinions and all. Isn't that the point of discussion? If someone doesn't want other opinions why start a thread?

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, I got them in TSC.

Why post on this thread? Thought it was an open forum. You know- different opinions and all. Isn't that the point of discussion? If someone doesn't want other opinions why start a thread?

It's not exactly a thread about opinions really, whether it's good or bad to be organized...the thread is pretty well labeled. It's actually about being organized and decluttering on the homestead, not about if you think it's a good thing or a bad thing. It's clearly stated in the first paragraph of the thread:

Thought I'd start a dedicated thread to the practice of making homesteading life easier through decluttering, organizing and generally keeping things on the homestead where you can use them and find them easily.

We get it...you think people are crazy for wanting to be clean. That's your opinion but does it add anything helpful towards the topic of the thread?

Of course it's an open forum but is it really a great thing to express one's opinion merely for the sake of argument or to put down someone's efforts on their homestead? That would be like me coming on a thread you start about goats even though I don't own any nor do I like them and then stating my opinion on how I don't like goats. Does that help your thread any at all? Nope. Am I free to say it? Yes...but why in the world would I even want to do so, just to add my negativity to your thread?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Stung by the Bee again! Sorry you got your knickers in a wad. However, I have gone back and looked at my posts and not even once did I say anyone was crazy for wanting to be clean.

Negativity? You should check some of the posts because I quite clearly praised you for your efforts. You must've forgotten to give me credit for those!

Just so you know, my house is clean. In fact, it's 4am and I just got finished cleaning and disinfecting the bathroom where my mom, bless her, went pee and poop on the floor. She's been cleaned up, the toilet, floor, vanity, sink, and faucets have all been bleached and sanitized. Her wet, nasty night clothes are in the washing machine as we speak.

Also, just so you know, their sheets were freshly changed twice today because dad, bless him, forgot to wipe his behind when he got off of his bedside toilet and sat on the bed, smearing feces on the sheets that I had just replaced that morning.

There is no clutter on my kitchen counters, because if I leave anything out it gets opened, closed, broken, or even thrown away. The refrigerator is also cleaned of any thing not absolutely necessary because if not, it will be open, closed, spilled or thrown away. The door handles to everything get a wipe down with Clorox multiple times every day because mom and dad forget to wash their hands after toileting.

Oh, and the throws I keep over my leather furniture are also freshly laundered, because again, the oldsters who live here sometimes get up in the middle of the night without their underwear and sit on the furniture. That is pretty much a daily job as well.

The floors are clean too. Dad won't put shoes on so I do keep the floors as clean as possible so he doesn't step on anything that might give him a splinter or any other kind of sore on his feet.

Furniture dusted too - can't forget that!

No dirty dishes in the sink...can't leave anything out for the above stated reasons.

And, since I'm already up I'll give everything another going over because Hospice will be here in the morning.

 

[baymule]

Decluttering and organizing makes everyone feel better. It rained all day today. I went through a pile of junk mail this afternoon. I have to open it all up, a lot of it is credit card offers, it has our name and address on it, so it goes in the burn pile. Generic junk mail goes in the trash. I also dug receipts out of my purse, sorted them and made copies. By the end of the year, the receipts are faded, so I always group them according to what purpose the purchase was made and make a hard copy. I got out my file folders and filed them away.

 

[treerooted]

I still haven't tackled the (whole) kitchen mess yet, let alone getting that space decluttered and organized. But when I felt better after being sick I did a nice clean of the living room which was being overrun with animal hair. I love my pets but it takes them all of 1 hour to create hair tumble weeds!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Glad you feel better! My chow mix sheds like that. It's just amazing how fast the room fills up with dog hair!

I need to get rid of some stuff, or at least move it into storage because I'm about to be overrun with 5 year old Christmas presents. Eek!

Is it bad that I'm looking forward to taking the Christmas tree down because I really need the space back? Lol!