Organizing Clutter

[MileHighSmokerGirl]

What is your go to method for organization?

I have numerous boxes in the garage, the basement and office full of unsorted junked and miscellaneous odds and ends.

I'm absolutely paralyzed with inaction when I attempt to confront it.

I know the 5 box method.

Donate
Recycle
Trash
Keep
Relocate

So when you get to the Keep and Relocate boxes, where do you go from there?

Some of the relocate items will go to the office and garage to find an appropriate home.

But how do you keep junk from just going back into another box to hide in the shadows until you go in search of it?

And what is your discernment for keeping something vs recycle/trash or donating it?

 

[sandyut]

what is your discernment for keeping something vs recycle/trash or donating it?

If I havent touched or used in a year, its gone. Unless its some porting goods that are not used much but still used and wanted.

I use stackable bins with labels on them to keep stuff organized. Mostly in the garage.

When we moved 3+ years ago we purged about 4-5 truckloads. We found boxes we never unpacked even after living in the house 17 years. That was an eye opener.

We also keep an open box is our storage room for donations, it fills pretty fast.

 

[JckDanls 07]

how do you keep junk

It's not junk... It's inventory , As I tell my wife

 

[Hijack73]

I'm on the @sandyut method.

There are exceptions such as tools and toys, and seasonal items like my huge parka that would keep me warm in Antarctica - but if I've got something in a bin somewhere and I haven't needed it in a couple of years (much less time for many things) I just toss it or run it up to Goodwill and tell the kid taking it that it's worth a g-note...

 

[Gonna Smoke]

What is your go to method for organization?

My wife. She is in heaven when she's getting rid of stuff and that's by donating or throwing away. As for organizing what we want to keep, she likes putting stuff "up". The problem with "up" is I don't know where that is, I need a map...

 

[normanaj]

After the recent passing of both my brother and my father,they lived together,I learned very quickly you need to let go because in the end you have no choice.It took three 30yd dumpsters to get rid of just the junk that was in that house and about twenty or so runs with my truck to the local thrift shops,senior centers.And so many of the things you think are donate-able aren't such as bed frames,hutches and many other items.And many items people won't even take for free,it sucks to see usable items go in the dumpster but in the end you have no choice or you take the items yourself and pass the mess onto the next relative.

And after spending so much time clearing that house my wife and I made a promise that we would not do that and we kept that promise,everything in our house is something that gets used,there is zero clutter.In the end if you have to ask yourself "can I use this?" and you hesitate even for a moment...get rid of it by junking,donating.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

And so many of the things you think are donate-able aren't...

Yep, we/she has found that out a bunch of times and like you said, it's hard to throw the stuff away, but you just have to let go...

 

[PolishDeli]

Akron bins
4x5s on the wall and 6x18s on shelves.

 

[schlotz]

The toughest part is getting over the 'I might need this someday' mentality. Once you can force a logical approach to a pile of things, it starts to become easier to 'let go'. As others have said, if you haven't touched it in x-years then it is tossed either in the trash/dumpster or taken to goodwill. You can apply a reiterative approach where you go through one pass culling out for example 3 years of non-use, then in 6 months or so do it again but this time try 1 year of non-use. Bottom line, get started with what ever creiteria you want but get started and get rid of a batch. When done you will feel a sense of accomplishment which will make the next step easier.

 

[chef k-dude]

Wish I could help. I'm a hopeless pack-rat. It DOES pay off here and there. I have all kinds of metal and wood...random stuff I looked at and said, that may be of use someday...and danged if I dont dig something out of my slightly organized rubble and use it for something once in a while.

I pity those that will have to clean out my stuff. I just hope they think to find a metal recycler cause I have stainless, copper, brass...I used to be a high-end metal fabricator.

My wife on the other hand. A container or organizer for EVERYTHING. But she has no choice but to purge here and there because she has already filled every closet, shelf, under the beds...there is zero space left on the garage walls to put any more shelves...I am not joking, there are shelves or cabinets on every possible square foot of walls out there! All of them full.

She wants to get a second shed just for this reason. I am very resistant to this. At some point it has to stop

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I have all kinds of metal and wood...random stuff I looked at and said, that may be of use someday

A man has got to have "stuff", I'm the same...

 

[schlotz]

In the process of getting ready to move to our retirement home we could not believe how much 'stuff' we had collected and squirreled away in 26 years living there. I'd say 85-90% of it was 'just cause'. All of that and more went into a garage sale. Wife with help, sold enough to pay for the movers. What was left, if good enough went to Goodwill, the rest went in the trash. It was so refreshing to move in and have a place for everything plus space left over. The collecting problem only continues to grow until either you are forced due to no room left or make up your mind that a new path needs to begin with earnest culling. The hardest step is the first one....

 

[bazzz9]

We moved 4 years ago and there is nothing worse than paying to store stuff and then giving it away or throwing it away. We have started with the idea that if something new comes in something else has to go.

I purchased some of the OXO pop containers for the pantry. I really like them and the consistent size makes stacking or packing them easier. You can measure your space and get the size that fits. I can post a picture or two if anybody is interested.