2019 resolution - shopping my own bag and wallet collection. Any one else?

[bellebellebelle19]

talking you accumulating stuff and keep bringing the same thing again and again...
My DH went to empty the trash bin last night, we have a huge skip behind our house, and oops! he did it again!
i just came back from Vets, did the first round of necessary procedures, now we need to wash her, it's a female and we named her Snowflake

Omg omg omg!!! So cute!!!

 

[pdxhb]

talking you accumulating stuff and keep bringing the same thing again and again...
My DH went to empty the trash bin last night, we have a huge skip behind our house, and oops! he did it again!
i just came back from Vets, did the first round of necessary procedures, now we need to wash her, it's a female and we named her Snowflake

What a cutie!!!! Glad you are caring for her!

 

[ksuromax]

OMG baby kitty!! She's adorable. Please post more pictures! We have 3 dogs, but I love kittens. I would have at least one if my hubby weren't so allergic.

this is our 3rd one, we had 3, but one got sick and we lost her, my DD had really hard time getting over it, it was HER girl, jet black
now she got this, unintentionally, but completely opposite, snow white and DD is endlessly happy!

 

[pdxhb]

I agree with your thoughts not to go to extremes. Some of us need a reminder to follow the one-in-one out rule and to make sure not to hang on things that really aren't needed. I'm familiar with Kondo but haven't read her book. I'm going through everything in the house this year really slowly, one drawer or shelf or small space per day. I've never done it this way, and so far it is really working for me. I wish I'd figured this out before. Usually I go through things seasonally, but I tend to do too much at once. It sounds like you're naturally good at staying on top of things. I was naturally clutter free on my own, but once I got married I had to learn how to keep a whole home in order. We were given so much hand me down furniture and "stuff", I was overwhelmed. I finally realized I needed to give most of it back. I keep surfaces clear; so it appears very clean/organized, but inside the drawers and cabinets are too many craft supplies, art supplies, toys, books, games...and on it goes. It's mainly things the children are growing in or out of; so it's hard to let these things go, but I want them to know how to balance their treasures. They're happier when it's less overwhelming, and they don't have to squeeze everything in. I'm happier with less clutter. I don't like a bare look, but too much ends up feeling like a never ending to-do list. There are some things we had/have more than we could ever use, and in that case it's win-win to pass extras along. They can be enjoyed now, and we have room to enjoy what we have.

I wish I had an inherent ability to keep surfaces clean! It's something that I value and yet, unless I have an ironclad system/place for things, it's difficult to keep up with it. It's definitely been easier for me to succeed if I take it one drawer/corner/small area at a time. There are areas I consider 'no fly zones' where I avoid cluttering the surfaces. Now to expand on those. The mail glut is a big problem and we need to create a shredder and his/hers/house baskets station to get it under better control.

In the fall I got a start on clearing out our upstairs space to be a studio and second 'hang out/quiet reading' spot for us; the deal I made with myself was to realize progress, not do it all at once, so if I clear a pile it is actually resolved, not just moved for the sake of meeting some manufactured deadline. Even though I have been a little stalled out because of the holidays and some work tasks, when I go into that space the progress is real! Very inspiring and it just feels good to have things be more manageable. Turning down hand me down gifts is a huge challenge - I'm always a little afraid of offending the givers in our family since they are trying to be helpful. The other big challenge is avoiding the shiny object! urge to add to my bags and wardrobe, in particular. Really focused on right-sizing my collection.

You reminded me of another reason I don't want to keep things we won't use/want. It is so much easier to clean!

I think it has taken me most of adulthood to figure this out! I am definitely a cleaner more than a tidier - a dirty house makes me crazy.

Decluttering and getting rid of things instantly makes me feel better! With moves, I’ve automatically done this but then we still end up having tons of stuff to move and I have no idea how we accumulate so much!! Years ago we lived in a duplex and moved into our first house. We decided not to pay movers and moved it all in a UHaul ourselves about 20 mins away to our new town, and we figured we’d be making just one trip in the truck. We ended up needing 4 SUV trips plus the UHaul trip, and we almost needed to take the huge UHaul back for a second trip. Stuff was just hiding in every nook and cranny. That was eye-opening. Moving may be a total PITA, but it also helps you to purge and clean as you’re doing it. We’ve moved about once a year for the past 8 years we’ve been together. First, it was individual moves before we lived in the same city and then it was moving together across town or between states.

Now that we have a decent sized house, I’m afraid of continuing to add and add more. As just one example, hubby has this weird thing about buying dog beds because he wants the dogs to be comfortable. We have accumulated (and gotten rid of) so many different metal frame and fabric dog beds. He thinks a fabric bed isn’t enough for the older dogs because of arthritis. He’s probably right but our bedroom does not look great because of dog beds piled on one corner of the floor. And they’re humongous to fit a Rottweiler!

Putting together the nursery, we needed to empty out that room and closet. We actually got rid of some massive furniture in our other guest bedroom to make room, like the huge dresser, three side tables, and ottoman, and took some other items to donate as well. It was a nice purge. Now we just have to furnish the nursery and finish the closet, and I can start arranging and decorating a little bit! I’m looking forward to that.

We also made a decision and we’re starting the master closet revamp early in February! We will combine our laundry room and current closet to make about 200 square feet of space total. My husband will tile the floors and paint the walls (and maybe put in a different light fixture) and we are having some open and closed cabinets put in to store bags, all of the clothes, shoes, etc. We will also eventually replace the IKEA dresser in the bedroom with a low dresser so that will be our final bit of clothes storage needed. Exciting! And that will also be done in time for “nesting.”

Your move story is familiar. We really purged and sorted and still had a giant pile left that I would have gladly just sent to the dump. Most of it was useless. We culled what we could for donations and tossed the rest.
It sounds like you have a fantastic start on nesting! Your projects sound gorgeous.

 

[pdxhb]

this is our 3rd one, we had 3, but one got sick and we lost her, my DD had really hard time getting over it, it was HER girl, jet black
now she got this, unintentionally, but completely opposite, snow white and DD is endlessly happy!

So hard to navigate caring for these little sweet lives! Wonderful to hear your DD is happy!

 

[whateve]

talking you accumulating stuff and keep bringing the same thing again and again...
My DH went to empty the trash bin last night, we have a huge skip behind our house, and oops! he did it again!
i just came back from Vets, did the first round of necessary procedures, now we need to wash her, it's a female and we named her Snowflake

Ooh, what a great acquisition!

 

[ElainePG]

View attachment 4316611 Bag #7 Orange BV Cervo baseball hobo.

What a fantastic color! To me, it looks more "persimmon" than "orange." And it's fabulous!

 

[ElainePG]

Decluttering and getting rid of things instantly makes me feel better! With moves, I’ve automatically done this but then we still end up having tons of stuff to move and I have no idea how we accumulate so much!! Years ago we lived in a duplex and moved into our first house. We decided not to pay movers and moved it all in a UHaul ourselves about 20 mins away to our new town, and we figured we’d be making just one trip in the truck. We ended up needing 4 SUV trips plus the UHaul trip, and we almost needed to take the huge UHaul back for a second trip. Stuff was just hiding in every nook and cranny. That was eye-opening. Moving may be a total PITA, but it also helps you to purge and clean as you’re doing it. We’ve moved about once a year for the past 8 years we’ve been together. First, it was individual moves before we lived in the same city and then it was moving together across town or between states.

Now that we have a decent sized house, I’m afraid of continuing to add and add more. As just one example, hubby has this weird thing about buying dog beds because he wants the dogs to be comfortable. We have accumulated (and gotten rid of) so many different metal frame and fabric dog beds. He thinks a fabric bed isn’t enough for the older dogs because of arthritis. He’s probably right but our bedroom does not look great because of dog beds piled on one corner of the floor. And they’re humongous to fit a Rottweiler!

Putting together the nursery, we needed to empty out that room and closet. We actually got rid of some massive furniture in our other guest bedroom to make room, like the huge dresser, three side tables, and ottoman, and took some other items to donate as well. It was a nice purge. Now we just have to furnish the nursery and finish the closet, and I can start arranging and decorating a little bit! I’m looking forward to that.

We also made a decision and we’re starting the master closet revamp early in February! We will combine our laundry room and current closet to make about 200 square feet of space total. My husband will tile the floors and paint the walls (and maybe put in a different light fixture) and we are having some open and closed cabinets put in to store bags, all of the clothes, shoes, etc. We will also eventually replace the IKEA dresser in the bedroom with a low dresser so that will be our final bit of clothes storage needed. Exciting! And that will also be done in time for “nesting.”

I know what you mean about relocating being a trigger to purge and clean. We've done that every time we've moved, whether it was across town or across state lines! And each time we do it, we promise ourselves (and each other!) that THIS TIME we are NOT going to accumulate so much "stuff."

HAH!!!

I've finally learned not to wait for a relocation to keep on top of the "stuff"... for us, extraneous clutter (and I'm not talking about junk... I'm talking about clothes, books, unused kitchen tools, and so on) must be managed on a yearly basis. That's what spring cleaning is for, though I usually get in the mood to do it in January. The Hubster has learned this about me, and when he sees that telltale gleam in my eye, he knows it's time to go hide somewhere before he gets boxed up and taken to the thrift shop!

Fortunately, neither The Hubster nor I like to see visible clutter. So we're both good about putting things away, and our house always looks tidy. The down side of this is that clutter accumulates in drawers and closets. "Out of sight out of mind"... until January rolls around, and I start peeking inside cupboards!

 

[ElainePG]

talking you accumulating stuff and keep bringing the same thing again and again...
My DH went to empty the trash bin last night, we have a huge skip behind our house, and oops! he did it again!
i just came back from Vets, did the first round of necessary procedures, now we need to wash her, it's a female and we named her Snowflake

Ohhhhhhh... precious!

 

[Nibb]

What a fantastic color! To me, it looks more "persimmon" than "orange." And it's fabulous!

Thank you! This is actually a dark pic, it’s a very bright orange.

 

[ElainePG]

In the fall I got a start on clearing out our upstairs space to be a studio and second 'hang out/quiet reading' spot for us; the deal I made with myself was to realize progress, not do it all at once, so if I clear a pile it is actually resolved, not just moved for the sake of meeting some manufactured deadline. Even though I have been a little stalled out because of the holidays and some work tasks, when I go into that space the progress is real! Very inspiring and it just feels good to have things be more manageable. Turning down hand me down gifts is a huge challenge - I'm always a little afraid of offending the givers in our family since they are trying to be helpful. The other big challenge is avoiding the shiny object! urge to add to my bags and wardrobe, in particular. Really focused on right-sizing my collection.

This sounds like it's going to be a really great space. I agree with your idea of breaking the project down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Otherwise it can seem impossible, especially if you don't have a big block of time to do it all at once.

I think it's fair to turn down "hand me down" gifts if you do it tactfully. Certainly your family members are trying to be helpful, but if the whatever-it-is doesn't work for you, it's just going to be a headache. You might try saying "That's so very sweet of you to offer, but we really don't have space for a twelve-foot-long solid mahogany bureau in our guest bedroom. The longest unobstructed wall there is only ten feet long. But THANK YOU for thinking of us!"

 

[dcooney4]

talking you accumulating stuff and keep bringing the same thing again and again...
My DH went to empty the trash bin last night, we have a huge skip behind our house, and oops! he did it again!
i just came back from Vets, did the first round of necessary procedures, now we need to wash her, it's a female and we named her Snowflake

She is so adorable.

 

[Annabel Lee]

@Sparkletastic
I'll betcha there's one Kondo step you didn't take, though. When you divest yourself of something, you're apparently supposed to "thank it and say goodbye." I always forget to do this step (I just make sure it's clean, fold it neatly, and put it in the give-away box), but even if I remembered, I honestly can't see myself doing it. I'd feel a little silly.

On the thanking items and saying goodbye: I haven't read Kondo's book or seen the show, but when someone explained this step to me, it was framed as "thank it for the lessons it taught you." While that's also pretty silly, it made slightly more sense to me as the idea that you could take a moment of reflection on why the item no longer worked for you. For some things, that might be sort of obvious--it's obsolete, it's damaged, etc.--but it DID help me when clearing out my closet and some storage: "No matter how much I like yellow, it's not a good color for me," or "I don't use giant wallets" or "I no longer like a lot of holiday decor in the house" and so on. I saw it as a way to stop myself from making those mistakes again, by acknowledging I had moved on from whatever led me to buy the item in the first place.

Thank you! I did rehab it. I usually rehab most vintage Coach. It looked a lot worse in the listing photos. All it needed was a bath and conditioning. I polished the hardware and colored the edges of the strap. There weren't any stains.

Whoa, even so, those pictures are night and day. You did a terrific job.

Decluttering and getting rid of things instantly makes me feel better! With moves, I’ve automatically done this but then we still end up having tons of stuff to move and I have no idea how we accumulate so much!! Years ago we lived in a duplex and moved into our first house. We decided not to pay movers and moved it all in a UHaul ourselves about 20 mins away to our new town, and we figured we’d be making just one trip in the truck. We ended up needing 4 SUV trips plus the UHaul trip, and we almost needed to take the huge UHaul back for a second trip. Stuff was just hiding in every nook and cranny. That was eye-opening. Moving may be a total PITA, but it also helps you to purge and clean as you’re doing it. We’ve moved about once a year for the past 8 years we’ve been together. First, it was individual moves before we lived in the same city and then it was moving together across town or between states.

Now that we have a decent sized house, I’m afraid of continuing to add and add more. As just one example, hubby has this weird thing about buying dog beds because he wants the dogs to be comfortable. We have accumulated (and gotten rid of) so many different metal frame and fabric dog beds. He thinks a fabric bed isn’t enough for the older dogs because of arthritis. He’s probably right but our bedroom does not look great because of dog beds piled on one corner of the floor. And they’re humongous to fit a Rottweiler!

Putting together the nursery, we needed to empty out that room and closet. We actually got rid of some massive furniture in our other guest bedroom to make room, like the huge dresser, three side tables, and ottoman, and took some other items to donate as well. It was a nice purge. Now we just have to furnish the nursery and finish the closet, and I can start arranging and decorating a little bit! I’m looking forward to that.

We also made a decision and we’re starting the master closet revamp early in February! We will combine our laundry room and current closet to make about 200 square feet of space total. My husband will tile the floors and paint the walls (and maybe put in a different light fixture) and we are having some open and closed cabinets put in to store bags, all of the clothes, shoes, etc. We will also eventually replace the IKEA dresser in the bedroom with a low dresser so that will be our final bit of clothes storage needed. Exciting! And that will also be done in time for “nesting.”

Sounds like a great project! How nice you'll have all that done before the baby comes too!

I also have a total blind spot (soft spot?) for my pets' belongings. They totally NEED 9,000 toys, right?

talking you accumulating stuff and keep bringing the same thing again and again...
My DH went to empty the trash bin last night, we have a huge skip behind our house, and oops! he did it again!
i just came back from Vets, did the first round of necessary procedures, now we need to wash her, it's a female and we named her Snowflake

Oh my goodness, what a sweet face! Congratulations on the new addition to your household! And how nice that she'll be such a comfort to your DD.

 

[pdxhb]

This sounds like it's going to be a really great space. I agree with your idea of breaking the project down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Otherwise it can seem impossible, especially if you don't have a big block of time to do it all at once.

I think it's fair to turn down "hand me down" gifts if you do it tactfully. Certainly your family members are trying to be helpful, but if the whatever-it-is doesn't work for you, it's just going to be a headache. You might try saying "That's so very sweet of you to offer, but we really don't have space for a twelve-foot-long solid mahogany bureau in our guest bedroom. The longest unobstructed wall there is only ten feet long. But THANK YOU for thinking of us!"

You just made me totally laugh with this!!!! Thank you!!
On a related note - I have a storage spot for the gifts from my MIL which are always, uniquely, her taste as opposed to ours. They are typically small items so I just keep them safe knowing ahe means nothing but good. We are also encouraging her on the gift card front instead of *stuff*.

 

[Sparkletastic]

So I’ve decided to TRULY shop my closet and I think I have a potential huge win win. Remember I want to sell the ivory Chanel? And I’ve talked about wanting a pink Chanel.

Well I looked at the going prices for the ivory and would have to take a hit. I’m doing that. So, I’ve decided to send the bag off and I’ll have it dyed!!! Whoop! That way I “get rid” of the ivory Chanel with no hassle and “buy” my pink Chanel with only a few hundred dollars. And, I get my pink Chanel in the exact shade I want, in the single flap with the bijoux chain. Whoop!