In January I performed organizational open heart surgery on my house. I'm happy to report we both survived the calamity of decluttering. I'm now so organized Philip wags his tail in alphabetical order. This is how I did it.
Let's get one thing straight from the get-go. When I say this edit & organize was life changing, I mean it.
I also mean it when I say that about Butter Pecan ice cream.
But in this case I mean it even more. Organizing and getting rid of stuff, even stuff I loved and used, changed my life. Yes, for the better.
I didn't even really have that much stuff. But I had more stuff than I had space. I also had a psychotic amount of vases.
Table of Contents
How it Happened
Any home improvement project starts with a good SNAP. One tiny thing after another tiny thing eventually adds up to you coyote-screaming in your living room. Within 8 hours of that scream, you'll be taking action on whatever caused your snapshow.
It didn't involve drywall or pry bars but getting rid of stuff with abandon was one of my favourite and most impactful home improvement projects to date.
Editing & organizing is like adding a room to your house and an hour to your day.
That was my experience anyway. I did a similar thing 15 years ago when I got rid of almost everything I owned and started new.
What I did
First Edit then Organize
This isn't a guide to having a Home Edit look with matching baskets holding 2 decanted bottles of laundry detergent. It's a guide to getting rid of shit that's annoying you and making your life easier.
- I went through every drawer, closet, cabinet and shelf in the house getting rid of everything I didn't need. Like what? Like multiple sets of dishes, decorations, VASES, art, kitchen appliances, clothing, electronics, lamps and on and on. Everything. You can read about the main process I went through here.
- Got rid of a 2nd laundry basket. I had one laundry basket in the bathroom and one in my bedroom. I never did laundry until they were both full. Cutting down to 1 laundry basket (right beside the washing machine) keeps me on track because SOMETIMES instead of throwing my laundry in the basket I PUT IT RIGHT IN THE WASHING MACHINE.
- I evicted things I liked or loved, but couldn't justify their space. I would look at something and if the thought of storing it for the next 20 years gave me tingling toe anxiety, I got rid of it. Which is in keeping with my motto, get rid of anything that sparks anxiety.
- Sold my Eames Chair and ottoman. Anyone who knows the back story of this chair knows the significance of me getting rid of it. I loved it but the thought of having to walk around that ottoman for another 20 years made me itch.
- Got rid of hundreds of CDs, and cassettes I worked as a music reporter for a few years and accumulated pretty much every CD ever made during those years. I already use Spotify and love it, so I saved my favourite albums there and created playlists. I kept my vinyl and got rid of all my CDs except for a few that are rare.
- Made a Google Sheet of my Christmas Card list. This to replace my previous system of ripping the return addresses off the Christmas cards I received and then dropping those ripped shreds into random drawers around the house.
- All new bras, socks and underwear. This is something I've wanted to do for years and organizing gave me an excuse to do it. Multiple pairs of plain white and plain black sport socks that I like to wear instead of slippers. No more worrying about matching socks. In terms of casual socks they all match now.
- I didn't just make things neater; I got rid of stuff. No more Jenga junkpiles. Everything is easy to access and labelled.
- I took a month off. It's not how most people want to spend their vacation but a block of time off helps. Getting rid of stuff, especially stuff you like, is easier if you do it all at once because you're perpetually in a "get rid of it" frame of mind.
- Once it's out, it's out. Don't second guess yourself & don't bring it back in.
THIS ISN'T AN EXCUSE TO REPLACE THE OTHER STUFF WITH FUN ORGANIZATIONAL STUFF.
I bought a few things that I knew would help save me time, money and coyote-screams but I didn't buy a lot. Next week I'll post everything I bought for organizing and making life easier.
Bonus Tip: Even if something is huge and ridiculous you might decide to keep it. That's O.K. For me it was my candy floss machine.
Life Changing Benefits
- I put things away now because it isn't hard. Nothing topples over in the medicine cabinet when I take out the toothbrush, I don't need a vice to crank my pajama drawer closed.
- I have a dedicated snack drawer now. I have to share it with a dog, but it's a fun thing to have regardless.
- I'm less frantic because I have so much more time. I genuinely feel like I've gained an hour a day.
- I get my prescriptions refilled before I run out instead of days or maybe weeks later because I have time and my mind isn't filled with a jumbled mess. Apparently my mood mirrors my home's interior.
- When you aren't overwhelmed with stuff it's easy to stay organized.
- My seedlings have never looked better.
- My basement has NEVER been more functional.
I always said hours of my life was taken up with finding things and trying to put them away. I didn't realize just how true that was.
EVERYTHING from making dinner to doing laundry is easier now. Everything has a place that it easily fits into and out of which makes grabbing my drill to fix something easier. LIFE CHANGING.
Grabbing a pan and utensils to make dinner is easier. Tidying up the house quickly is simple because now there's a place for everything to go.
Picking a vase for flowers is definitely easier.
When in doubt always go with the Plantasaurus Rex obviously.
Maintenance Tips
I keep these few tips in my head at all times because I am now rather militant about maintaining this newfound hour a day.
- Don't put it down, put it away.
- If it's going to take less than 30 seconds to do, just do it.
- Keep it up. Decluttering is an ongoing thing.
I've sat in front of my laptop for half an hour trying to think of the perfect way to convey to you how helpful organizing has been and the best thing I can come up with is an example that happened the other night.
I was taking the garbage out and couldn't open the gate I hide my garbage cans behind because the step to my potting shed had shifted and was blocking the gate.
Normally this would have prompted me to smash the gate open with a sledgehammer because that would be faster and easier than fixing the problem.
Instead I lifted the offending step, moved the gravel underneath of it, reset the step and opened the gate. There was no swearing, rushing, crying or coyote sounds.
I just did it.
My motivational advice to you? Set a date and just do it.
🌵Pamela🌵
Karen,
Your witches coven must have known about my plan(s) to do exactly what you’ve described and you sent this motivational blog post through witchy magical internet smoke.
I had one massive and horrible involuntary purging in the early ‘90s when almost everything I treasured was destroyed in a California wildfire. I’d left it all temporarily at a friend’s home and in a storage unit and kept putting off retrieving it after moving to La Jolla where I’d transplanted myself. The things that were lost are the things that could never be replaced. I’d already purged a large portion of my collections and mainly kept a set of early to mid century furniture, massive California depression era Bauer pottery, all of my family photos (as I was the lone survivor.) My kitchen drawers were stocked with mismatched sterling silver antique flatware place settings and my huge selection of multicolored celluloid handled flatware that came from the same era as the Bauer pottery-was all lost. This loss is what sparked an inability to part with “things.” I’m not the hoarder who’s buried alive in garbage but I recognize my OCD when throwing away things that are useless to me and how my mind tells me “You might need this SOMEDAY” so I stuff it in a drawer or in a closet & immediately forget it. I can guarantee that I will spend hours hunting for an item that has been treated in such an unceremonious manner when I actually do need it. I become an anxious wreck over trivial things that I hunt for. I do not have enough time as it is to do all the things on my agenda & I hate this aspect of me.
I have a stupidly small clothes closet that haunts me. I’ve put way too much into this tiny craphole so today is when (once again) I purge this nightmare & decide on a drawer & shelve system to install. I dread this more than going to the gym. That’s another story.
If anyone has recommendations besides donating and trashing please, by all means, help.
Allison
I hear you! I have a hard time letting go, too. What's helped me is, as much as possible, giving things to people who need or want them. It's not quite the same vibe as donating, and I feel good taking a bag of art supplies to the kindergarten class, or asking a friend if their college-bound kid needs cookware. I also thank the stuff, Kondo-style, before it goes. A bit woo, but it truly helps.
Jennifer
I love giving to college kids too! Restore, the Habitat for Humanity thrift store, is also a great place to give to in my opinion. I also use the corner with a free sign-the stuff always goes-as well as listing things on freecycle.org. Just as Karen addresses, people are getting stuck with what to do with it, but I truly think that is another part of our hesitancy to go through the process. There are a jillion ways to unload it, and some charities will pick it up for free. You just have to be truly ready to say goodbye to it and the rest will fall into place. And I often say thank you to the stuff also, as there is something sweet about saying goodbye to it in that way.
Laurie
Ahh, I recognize this feeling, but only seen to be able to hold onto it while on adderall. Well done you. Did suddenly find myself wondering though, what if the cats? Pre ‘Lip you had cats and chickens and now, as a poodle attaché I know the case, but wonder.
Karen
Oh! Yes, Cleo had to be put to sleep several years ago. And Ernie was here for the first few months with Philip, but she had to be put down as well. I'd love another cat. And the chickens ... the chickens are a wholeeeeee other story. ~ karen!
Nicole
My "snap" happened a couple of years ago - I was watering the garden, it was 114 degrees F AGAIN and the valley had been blanketed in smoke for weeks. Also, the guy we bought hay from said he wasn't growing it any longer due to lack of rain. I asked my husband how he felt about moving to the Oregon coast, he said fine and 4 months later we moved to our new community 3 hours away from where we were. Now we have 5 acres and are building a hempcrete house in a beautiful place with mild summers and abundant rain.
Karen
Oh! That is a major snap! And very brave to move. I get antsy when I have to use a gas station I'm not familiar with, lol. ~ karen!
Mary W
I quilt, draw, journal, create cards to give away, sew, GARDEN, collect old bottles, have craft parties for friends to come and make stuff with my stored stash, hoard books, address book is exactly like yours, love to watch YT about homesteaders getting things done, can and preserve food, play solitare and soduku to waste valuable time, started rewriting by hand by Bible with ink and painting every page then making copies, binding into new books, for all the kids, and grands and now greats. BUT never get any thing finished as I'm part squirrel and part dog. Currently I'm trying to tackle my craft room that is more storage than crafting - so sad as the stuff I hoarded for 'when I have time' is now dried up and brittle and a waste of space. So NOW I can get rid of it but it makes me depressed and filled with anxiety for what I could have done. Thanks for being my mental health advisor and enforcer. Now if I could just get all the dust off my chandalier - better yet, give it away and get a fixture tiny glued to the ceiling that doesn't need constant cleaning. Your the BEST-GOAT!
Kathy Johnson
I love hearing about other peoples' decluttering exploits. I'm in the process of doing a whole house declutter this year, and am more than halfway through. I chose two rooms to work on each month. Some days I only work for 15 minutes, other days I work on them for longer. The whole process has been exceedingly imperfect--but I'm making real progress. Just this week I made a trip to Goodwill with a couple of boxes of stuff. I expect to have to make further passes through the house, but Dawn from The Minimal Mom compares decluttering to peeling an onion, and that metaphor works for me. Each pass through I get rid of a little bit more.
Sandra Blackwell
Last month we combine households. Some of his went to storage...some of mine went to storage (Temporarily) while we looks for OUR house. Now we are moving into OUR house. There will be a lot of serious consideration of what stays. Two well equipped kitchen...living rooms, etc. It will be an all summer project.
Deb from Maryland
I'm one of those - if "this" happens, then I can use "this" person. You notice I wrote "if". I had so much stuff stored for just-in-case, I would have put any boy scout to shame. I too have a smallish house and ended up storing things behind the couch, every closet, most nooks, etc. It wasn't a hoarder situation, but trying to clean rooms was a huge chore. I realized one day why I felt co closed in! I sat and thought about my the stage of life I "actually" in and the kind of things I have done in the last year. I started going through the kitchen, if those things haven't happened for "this" out it went. I accepted that I won't be having deck parties any more - or any kind of party any more. ;) If I did, I would by paper products. It was so freeing. I donated a lot, sold some and had things to take to the landfill. The best result was the clutter free mind space I acquired. It's exactly like you said - I didn't freak out anymore when something went wrong; I just went got what I needed and fixed it. Now I have dedicated space for my weakness buying (thrift store vases are also one of mine) - if the space is full, something has to come out before something is added. I still have a couple areas to do this to, but I feel confident now that it will be ok on the other side. ;)
Chris W.
I've always been sort of a declutterer and it truly does clear up space in your mind as well as your house. When we moved to our present house, we went from 1200 sq. ft. to 2400 so of course there was more stuff space. However, I decided that I didn't need any more stuff but organized it so it was readily available and easy to put away when finished with it. Makes our lives easier and truly appeals to my sometimes laziness! P.S. yeah, that vase collection WAS over the top but at least you did retain the dinosaur!?! Your house looks great and so very liveable comfort-wise. Enjoy all your hard work...
Amber
How long, exactly, did you hold on to that massive TV?
Karen
Since Boy George reigned supreme. ~ karen!
Cathy Vosper
I love the idea of decluttering, the thing that always stops me is "What do I do with the stuff I don't want anymore?" Just put it in the garbage? Try to sell or give it away and then have to deal with strangers coming to my house, who probably don't have my best interests in mind? Which organizations take what, will they collect, do I have to deliver? I just get wrapped up in all that and then do nothing!!
Cassie
For a lot of stuff, if I don’t need the money, I put it on the curb with a sign that says “Free”. If I put an ad on Kijiji /Facebook Marketplace (xxx available for free on xx ave), it’s gone in an hour. I’ve had people tell me they were so grateful because their daughter’s apartment had a fire or their money’s so tight right now. The stuff gets out of my house and I get to feel good too.
Cathy Vosper
Good idea, I would have to go the route of telling somewhere that stuff was there because we live in the country, on a dirt road and don't get many passerbys. Thanks for the suggestion.
Karen
Ha! I just responded to a previous comment saying that a big reason people don't do this (organize and purge) is because they don't know what to do with all the stuff. The guilt of throwing it out takes over. But if throwing things out gets your house organized and your head calmed then it is 100% worth it. For me I sold antiques, put things that would be hard to sell or give away in the garbage, and put everything else on my front lawn for free. But if putting everything in garbage bags will get you to do it - then just do it. If you have a lot of stuff it's easy to get a service to pick your junk up, or you can rent your own bin. ~ karen!
Cathy Vosper
Thanks Karen, I really do need to get at it...why is it so hard?????
Martina
A lot of thrift stores will pick up. They may not come for small stuff, but will pick up larger items. The rest can be boxed up and delivered to thrift stores…I’m in the middle of this and thankfully Karen is there to remind to hang on and hang in…😝
kathryn
WHAT did you do with the banished stuff, Karen?? I expect some things could be sold, but I hope everything else has gone to people who can make good use; do you have Freegle and Olio in your neck of the woods? Our local homeless charities are often in need of clean socks and underwear.
Karen
Hi Kathryn! Nope, lots of stuff got thrown out actually. A big reason people don't purge when they should is the nonsensical guilt that they're not being a good enough person if they don't find a good home for their old stuff. I sold antique pieces, threw out a lot of stuff that would be hard to sell or give away and everything else got put on my front yard with a big sign that said "Free Stuff". ~ karen!
Elaine
Loved this! How did you get rid of things? ie, CD’s, kitchen stuff, etc
Karen
Hi Elaine! I got rid of everything by means of whatever was the quickest and easiest way to do it. If you have to stop and worry relentlessly about if your old stuff is going to good use it'll screw you up. It will. CDs I threw out. All of them. I sold antiques and furniture, everything else was thrown out or put outside my house and given away for free. No regrets. ~ karen!
Tammi
Love being organized....to the point that if I can't easily find it in the dark, then it's out of place.
Karen
Organization goals 🗑️ ~ karen!
Lori H
Thank you - this is so inspiring. I am drowning in my house and now will look forward to the feeling of open space :)
Karen
Seriously and truly life changing once you just get down to it and do it. ~ karen!
Jennifer
Just READING about this makes me feel better! I love having an organized home, it feels cleaner and more peaceful. Your no nonsense approach, i.e. get rid of shit, is spot on. And I’m with Randy on the mantra; just need to teach my husband to do it! :)
Randy P
Even as someone who has made procrastination a near life style, I am on rare ocasion struck by something that makes so much sense I HAVE TO make it part of my daily life. Today was such an ocasion and "Don't put it down, put it away." has been added to my mantras for simplification. Thank you.
tuffy
Oh wait, I see there’s a link to HOW. Scratch my question 😁
tuffy
Absolutely terrific!! This is EXACTLY what I needed, right NOW!! Thank you!!
Where/what to start with?! Or is that in a part 2?
Jennifer
Not being Karen (though of course we’d be good friends if we knew each other,) but having done the process before I will offer my two cents which is start in any room, with anything, just start. Shakespeare is credited with having said, “once begun, half done.“ If you’re more of a Nike person, “just do it!” But seriously, just start doing it. You will know when you’re ready and then nothing will stop you. It is like a soul cleansing bath, it feels so good. I’ve often said I love getting rid of things even more than I love getting them and it is true.
tuffy
Thanks Jennifer 🙏
Karen
That is all true. ~ k!
Ruth in Saugerties
Ohhhhhhhhh
editing and organizing.
I thought you 'said' 'eating and organizing.
all roads lead to food.
for me!
Karen
Same Same. You can't organize without it starting or ending with eating. ~ karen!
Carrie
I need this Karen, thank you! What did you do with it all ? I ask because that is an unresolved issue that holds me back!
Karen
I just got rid of the last of it today! Garbage went into the garbage. As I gathered things they got piled in the dining room and then on the porch. I gave stuff away to people I knew, and then I had an auctioneer I know come to look at all the stuff and take his pick, then yesterday I put every other thing out in the front yard for free. I have 3 things left (dog crates) that I will sell online. When you're ready to do it, you just make it work. :) ~ karen!
Carrie
Thank you!
Terry Rutherford
Goodwill happily took our two beautiful “bamboo” dog crates. Hated to see them go but we’ve reached the ‘no more puppies’ age. One thing I would add, your footstool reminded me, is when one is inevitably injured or otherwise disabled, things like footstools are useful rather than decorative. (Ask me how I know, curses.) If you’ve the space to keep. You’re right about vases, they multiply unseen, I think. Except for vasosauruses. They’re one of a kind. Enjoy a rain day in SW ON!
Ellen
I did a big declutter a couple years back and found a group of decluttering youtube women who helped a lot. Dawn the Minimalist Mom, A Slob Comes Clean and Cas from Clutterbug. These three get together and do Delcutter alongs and their combined ideas really helped with issues like the one you asked about. They encourage you to stop finding the perfect home for all your unneeded items and just get them out of your house. It really is life changing. I maynbe ready to do another pass over to get rid if even more.
Carrie
These are great references and I will peruse them all. We have a thrift store that supports our local no-kill animal shelter and that is where I typically take my stuff, however they don’t take everything. I love all these ideas!
Thank you !!!