Organizing and decluttering the homestead

[tortoise]

I have been watching Hoarders episodes online in the background to motivate me to clean. I have been working on basement clutter. I'm happy to report that the floor is clear and I've been sweeping up. There is a ton of dust everywhere from our jackhammering plumbing project. I need to wash everything on shelves. It's a lot! DH is starting to get on board with minimizing basement storage. He used to say storage is "static", but after a series of basement cleanouts he's realizing that it breeds mess.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I have been watching Hoarders episodes online in the background to motivate me to clean

That is great motivation, lol!

 

[tortoise]

That is great motivation, lol!

Yes, I catch myself thinking like a hoarder. Saving things to repair or donate... but not getting around to it. I've been getting repairs in order and items ready to sell. Lower value things going to goodwill. Excess furniture is now gone!

 

[Hinotori]

I have my mother trying to foist off her junk onto me no matter how many times I say no and that it should be tossed. She also nags at me for tossing things out.

She'd been cleaning her shed so my brothers could replace the floor. They came across plastic cutlery and paper plates that have been out there for a couple decades. She wasn't going to throw them out even though my brother told her to. So she called me trying to get me to agree that she should keep them because "they are in their package and perfectly fine". This from a woman who won't wear clothes witjout washing that have been stored because they smell.

I did have to finally explain about how plastics, especially cheap plastics, break down and anyone using them would be ingesting microplastics. It wasn't until I reminded her about the Christmas tree she forced me to take that she gave in. When I opened the box and touched the needles they disintegrated. Getting the clingy plastic dust off was not fun.

 

[tortoise]

I am working on getting cloth diapers in sale-able or gift-able condition. I inherited a set that were mostly low-quality and poorly maintained. I chucked most of them. Stripping the ones that are worth the hassle. There are a couple covers that goodwill can have.

I need to get on selling a few things. grooming table, grooming stand dryer, maybe an electronic dog training collar too.

Master bedroom is due for straightening up and tidying organized areas. Our staycation kicks off and I want to feel like a bed-and-breakfast.

 

[Beekissed]

Today is once again the shed clean out, eliminate and re-organization. Started at 8am this morning and haven't got a single thing back in that shed yet at 2 pm...still cleaning it, cleaning up the items that were in it, sorting and reorganizing things, etc.

So much stuff!!!!!! I think it's been 2 yrs since we did this and it shows....hope to streamline it even more, get rid of things that have not been used for 2 yrs or more, put in more work space and shelving, a large peg board for hanging up things more efficiently, etc.

Gotta get back out there...came in to get a socket set for moving shelves on a shelving unit so as to make them more usable.

 

[wyoDreamer]

DH has this thing about owning stuff. It seems that once he owns it, it is here to stay forever. Even if we are not using it.
Part of this is not wanting strangers to come to the house, heck, we hardly ever even have friends stop by. Who wants to post that they have something for sale and then have people stopping to look at it at all hours of the day and by the way, they are looking at everything else you own too! He sees everyone he doesn't know as a potential thief - and some that he does know.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

He sees everyone he doesn't know as a potential thief - and some that he does know.

I get it... Ask my neighbors who were robbed and the thief knew just where to go for the important stuff - like the cash stored in the freezer....SMH.

 

[Hinotori]

Pockets of the kids winter coats in summer. Behind books in the kids bookcases. Behind boxes in the kids closets. Toes of older shoes in the closet.

Mom used to hide things everywhere and forgets where she put them. We learned to check things before putting them on.

They have a huge safe bolted to the cement in the utility room now.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Freezer is one of the first places a thief will look now a days for valuables, it has become a very common hiding place.
DH's Grandpa was an accountant and he didn't trust banks. He loved books and after Grandma died, he never threw away a newspaper. He lived on his own for 20 some years. He kept building more shelves in his living room to hold his books. By the time he died, all 4 walls in the living room had bookcases that reached the ceiling, there was a narrow bookcase going up the stairs and bookcases along the hallway upstairs. There were 8 stacks of newspapers - tied into a bundle every year - possibly every month, because I think it was a daily paper back then. His daughters (Andy's aunts) had to go through every book and every newspaper because they knew he hid cash in them. The old fart had thousands of dollars hidden away. They also had to clean out all the canned goods that were left after Grandma died. They say he never touched any of it. There were some jars that were really funky, but surprisingly, there were some that still looked good and smelled good. They did not taste any of it to see if it tasted good ...