Not quite a horder - decluttering

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Noonrider, please give us a clue.  What's their secret?

I got the pantry cleaned out and organized. I will look up that book. Love anything that motivates me.

Happy New Year to all..let's make good memories.

Interesting list Onco. Let us know how it works for you.

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Christmas tree still up - waiting for DH to return from business trip Friday night... besides, it entertains the cat. There is no dust on the keepsakes on my dresser top - they are covered with clothing. I cleaned/straightened up before my BMX... hmmm... I have week 22 done! no mudroom and nothing but a small table in the front hall - it's a cat perch so no clutter... I will think some more about attempting Onco's list.

I read this thread regularly to give me motivation. Thanks!

I'm not sure anything in my house brings me joy. Not sure I would like absolutely bare tho. I think owning a sofa the cat has not trashed might bring me joy. No point in getting it while I have cats.

All right, I have dresser scarves also. I'm hoping to reduce the amount of dust on the furniture.

Hello- it is time for me to join this thread as I have been doing some home renovation since last summer and am lightening my load in the process. I built my house 11 years ago, so it is still "new-ish" but it was time for some fresh paint, and I am replacing the crapped out carpeting with new hardwood floors. I did a lot of work last summer but now am finishing it, and as the house gets finished, the last of the de-cluttering must get done. I am trying to create usable space for every room in my house, which is also a small house.

My de-cluttering to date has involved the dumpster, paper shredding (I take it to Staples now to do for me instead of dealing with the forever jamming up shredders for home), donations (including those that will come pick them up curbside), and have been taking clothing to a great consignment store that will take my better items.

Here is one small accomplishment for today, I had put all my linens from a small shelving area in my guest bedroom into bags during the painting, and as I was doing so, thought here was one good opportunity to get rid of some things. Linens that perhaps don't work anymore, but still good enough to use and donate. As I put everything back today after the painting is now done there, I probably cut out half the stuff that was literally "stuffed" into that space. Now I have the best items remaining and also created space for some beach towels on the bottom most rack that were stored elsewhere, freeing up more storage space in that other area for as well.

Happy New Year, Clutter-Busters!!!!

Oh, what a long strange month it's been.

On Christmas Day, my sister (77) fell and broke her hip. She had replacement surgery, and is still in a nursing home. I was doing all her medical management until New Year's Day.

On New Year's Day, my 93 year old FIL fell and broke his hip. He had replacement surgery, and was a total Rock Star in Rehab. They actually started his PT only 2 hours after surgery. At the Rehab facility, he always did his therapy and volunteered to do more. Now THAT was a man who valued his independence!

Unfortunately, that meant we had to drop EVERYTHING we were doing at our own house to clean up, and spend morning, noon, and night at Dad's to make it safe for him to come home to.

Mom (who passed a year ago at the age of 93) and Dad were hoarders. They never threw anything away, including old food in their refrigerator. Just walking into the house made you gag. There were only narrow pathways on the carpet to maneuver through the living room. There were no empty spaces in the tiny kitchen. All the dry goods had larvae in them (BLECHHHH!!!) I won't even describe the refrigerator - you'd faint.

So DH and I spent every single day over there, throwing things away. I tossed medications from 1987 from the bathroom. I took down all the curtains and soaked them in BIZ. As soon as they went in the laundry tub, the water turned black.

When I started to empty Dad's pajama drawer, a huge cloud of yellow dust came with them. I realized all his clothes were full of bugs, eggs, larvae, and dead bodies. Everything went into trash bags, came home with us, and stayed in the garage until I could wash everything.

SIL came over to tackle the kitchen. It took two weeks and two SILs to do it. Most of the food got tossed - something that has always infuriated FIL in the past. This time he had no choice. We threatened him with the fact that Adult Protective Services might condemn the house as unliveable, and then he'd have to live out the rest of his days in the nursing home. That wasn't true, but it worked.

After two solid weeks of scrubbing and cleaning and replacing filthy carpet (I must have gone through a case of Lysol spray and Clorox wipes) finally, the house no longer stunk when you opened the door. All the trash was gone. The living room was clean and safe, as was the bedroom. All the clothing and linens were freshly washed. The only thing we didn't get to was painting the walls, but that can be done later.

Dad is banned from several rooms - they are packed with boxes of things and are just too dangerous for him to navigate with his walker. He is also banned from the packed-to-the-rafters garage, which stores an old car from the '50s, and who knows what else. That's also where the washer and dryer are, and where he stores his canned soup, even though the temps in the summer time are at least 150 degrees in there.

I've watched so many "Hoarders" shows on TV, but I never thought I'd have to clean one myself. At least this was just old papers, old food, buggy clothing, etc, and not bags of human waste or animal feces on furniture. But it was awful. We wore surgical masks and gloves the whole time, and showered and washed our clothes the minute we came home. And we kept the windows open over there no matter how cold it got.

Now Dad is home, with a caregiver that comes in every morning. We now have time to take care of our own mess. But aside from just putting the Christmas decorations away a few days ago, I don't have much energy left!

Can someone fax me some?

Oh yeah - I love the "joy" concept. I do have a nice wall unit with glass doors, that a few years ago, I picked out the most special of my Grandma, Nana, and Mom's things, and they are nicely displayed. Peter Walsh always asks the question: "If this is so important to you, why are you treating it like trash, piled in a heap of unimportant things?" That part I got.

Happy cleaning, everyone! I'm off to check out the books and websites!!!

Blessings, Oh my! Going thru the depression made hoarders of a lot of people. When my GMom was in hospice, she had us go thru some things in the garage. She had clothing that had belonged to my mother who passed in 1945. That was 38 years! I outgrew her in the 6th grade, so GMom can't have thought I would ever be able to wear any of them. My GDad kept buying cases of canned peaches and kept them under his bed. He finally stopped when we promised him he would always have all the canned peaches he wanted. From what I've heard, DIL's mother is a hoarder. Her father just died and I'm wondering if she'll get worse.

Thanks, Glennie.... now that the caregiver goes over there, my workload is lessened quite a bit. I still do his medical management, though. I am slowly regaining my energy by sleeping late and doing nothing around my own house!!!

Jazzygirl - both my mom and my dad went through really hard times back then, too. I know they learned those habits from their parents.

I got to do the same thing (cleaning it out early, before she passed) with my mom's house when she went into a nursing home. At first, I kept it for her - "as is" - to give her the motivation to get stronger and come home after a hip replacement (what is it with all these broken hips?) and an emergency quadruple bypass. But by then she had end-stage Parkinson's, and she never went home again.

It's funny - I had such a hard time packing up her things, even though, or perhaps because she was still alive. Everything I touched had a story, and I got so stuck sitting on the floor reminiscing, I barely got anything done. Finally, DH asked "Do you want me to finish this?" and he did. Whatever was in a drawer, or on top of a desk, or squished into a closet, he just shoved into boxes, labeled them however he could, and then we rented a mini-storage to put all the stuff in.

Later, when we bought a house with a big garage, he went over and packed up all her things and stored them in our garage. Every year, I would go through boxes and realize how much could be donated or tossed. Now I just have a few special mementos. Again with the Peter Walsh quotes - "Those THINGS are NOT your loved one." It just took me a long time to learn that.

Fortunately, DH already feels that way. There are one or two things of Dad's that he wants, and his sisters have indicated they want some things.

He's the Trustee and the Executor of the Estate, and the way the will is made out is that anyone can take whatever they want, but the value will be deducted from their share of the inheritance. So when Dad goes, we call in an Estate Sale company, have everything priced, and offer family first dibs, and whatever they pick will be tallied up and deducted from their proceeds.

The Estate Sale company will sell what's left, gather up anything unsold that can be donated, take it to a charity, give us a receipt, then call in the trash removal company to get rid of the trash. Fortunately, oldest SIL wants the house, even though she may have to ADD money to her share of the estate. This way we don't have to get it ready to sell.

Dad is our last surviving parent. We are happy that he is doing as well as he is, and we're happy to make him a safe, comfortable home for his last few years on earth. Now, if we could only be sure someone will do that for us!