An update~

[kalloway]

I want to thank everyone who has mentioned Unfuck Your Habitat on here. It's changed my life.

Moving into my own place has been... exhausting and stressful and now I totally understand why one co-worker told me I'd still have packed boxes after a year. (I thought she was joking!)

But the reminders on there, along with the concept of 20/10s, have kept me motivated most days. I'm also looking much more critically at what I'm hanging onto, especially the really random stuff. Throwing things away has gotten so much easier, especially since I live alone now and no one is judging my garbage. I've got a good pile of books going to donate to the library book sale. I've packed off multiple boxes of clothing. I finally managed to get rid of all the socks that didn't fit quite right but I've been hanging onto for a decade anyway. I'm organizing and sorting and it feels really good. All my stuff is in one place for the first time in years, and I'm actually learning what I own compared to what I thought I had.

There's still a lot of clutter, and a lot of things that just don't have places yet, but I've made so much progress.

Also - putting things by the door = easiest way to actually get them out and where they need to go to. Cloth shopping bags get hung on the doorknob immediately after being emptied so that they get taken back to my truck. And anything that needs to go anywhere/along gets tucked in one, unless its better in a basket/box. I know this sounds ridiculously simple, but I had to figure it out, because I was just tucking all the bags together in the kitchen and then never having them when needed.

Comments

[moonreviews]

Nice to hear that you're finding ways to reduce clutter :)

When I moved this summer holiday, I discovered I still had unpacked bags from the previous time I moved (a year before that); the boxes had gotten unpacked, but the bags hadn't...

[kalloway]

I've basically gotten to the point where I can put 'questionable' things in a box and come back to the box another day and then determine a final disposition. It's a two-step process, but it's working and even if I wasn't ready to throw a random item away the first day (like a broken electric candle - maybe I can fix that), the next day I can (I'm never going to get around to fixing it even if I technically can)...

It's been six months and I still have about half my bathroom in boxes, along with some misc. collectibles that don't have shelves yet. And a printer I was given that I keep forgetting to buy ink and paper for. ^^;;

[moonreviews]

A box for questionable things is useful!
Mostly I throw out items which are NOT broken and can still be used, which are harder for me than the "I could still fix those" items. I found some places I can give those items too, which makes it a lot easier (because... they can still be used...), because it's fun to see other people enjoying items that you don't use yourself anymore.

In my bathroom I only really have 1 shelf (built-in), so there isn't any place for boxes. What do your bathroom boxes contain? If you haven't used them in 6 months (or have you been taking them out of the boxes?), is it extra bottles of shampoo etc? I keep those in a kitchen cabinet (because of the small bathroom).

I gave my printer to a friend, I hardly use it ^^; It was just standing there in on my desk taking up place. If I want to print something, I'll do that at university, in the office, or at my boyfriend's or my parents' printer.
I also still have some collectibles (figurines) in boxes, but my motivation for cleaning up some shelves is to put them on those shelves! That, and a box full of books are my last boxes in my room (+ some bags left to do and a large pile of books I got from a friend that I want to read but am not going to keep). Though I also have my stuff still at my parents' to clean up, because when I move again I'll probably take my stuff out of their house and I don't want to move stuff I don't want to keep.

[kalloway]

I donate a lot to our local soup kitchen, which takes clothing and misc. household stuff/toys, too. A lot of non-broken stuff I'm pitching are old useless craft projects and indie band promo stuff from when I was a college radio deejay. I don't remember most of these bands or their music, why am I hanging onto their glossy 8x10 photo?

I think you have my bathroom! It has a giant mirror, which I hate, and no medicine cabinet or storage. I actually just pulled the semi-permanent lone shelf off the wall and got one of those stands that goes above the toilet so I have somewhere to store toilet paper and the basics. So some of the stuff can be unpacked onto that (possibly today, since shelving is a new development in the last week).

A lot of my shelving/furniture arrangement woes are because I'm still saving up for a decent TV. Once I tackle that and have it where I want it, my living room will (hopefully) basically be arranged around it and I can figure out where DVDs/games/figures actually go. (and also what can be sold...)

Maybe. I hope. So far, the hardest part of moving (especially with enthusiastic friends wanting to help) is figuring out where things actually go! 'Where does this go?' 'I HAVE NO CLUE YET JUST PUT IT IN THE LIVING ROOM'

[moonreviews]

There's a "give-away store" in my neighbourhood which takes everything (if it isn't broken). Very useful :) I also really like the idea of 'shopping for free', though I hardly ever bring anything home from that store because I think "Do I actually need this?" with a lot of things. That's something the decluttering helped with as well!

Would someone be willing to pay for those band promo things? Maybe you can sell them online? Mostly I put things online for sale for a while and when I go to the give-away store I take the things with me I haven't sold.

I have put all the medicines in a tool-box (this one looks very similar to the one I have) and it's in the closet next to the door (together with my coats, shopping bags and vacuum cleaner).
I have put the toilet paper and basics at the built-in shelf, which was already above the toilet. Luckily my large mirror is not attached to the wall so I can move it around (though there is a mirror attached to the wall above the sink). The previous owner had a plastic cabinet under the sink in the bathroom, but personally I think there's not enough space for it (2nd row, 2nd picture from the left; on the left side of the picture are the shower and the clothes-washing machine, on the right side is the toilet; it's a photo from when I had just moved, all the unpacked bags are hidden under the bed and under the desk and in the cupboards ^^;). I also don't want to buy another thing to put things in, it only creates more clutter if it's not really necessary.
Have fun with arranging your bathroom and unpacking (some of) those boxes :D

Ah... I decided not to get a tv, because I can watch everything I want online (the tv channels that have programs I want to watch are also available on their websites). Can you get a secondhand tv, maybe? Then you don't have to save up as long as for a new one? (or maybe you're already doing that :P)
Or can you already arrange everything pretending that you have a tv in your room already? Then you can arrange everything and later place the tv in the room. Maybe use a newspaper as a "fake tv" in the meantime. Or something :P

Yeah, I had the same thing when moving and I said the same thing as you did XD

[kalloway]

There is a Free Store, but... last time I was there, it wasn't a good environment. The other one a lot of my stuff goes to is a huge garage sale our Humane Society has twice a year.

I have an older TV, but I mostly want something to play games on, so I need a decent-sized HD, alas. I just have a hard time with 'big' purchases, so I've been stalling more than anything. ('still saving up' seems to be the excuse I give myself)

(And it's going to be 'clean the kitchen' day instead, because I somehow managed a soda-splosion and everything is sticky...)

[moonreviews]

Ah, that's too bad :( It probably differs a bit per country what kind of environment the give-away stores are.

They don't sell large HD tvs secondhand?
But saving up IS a good excuse, I think :P It gives you more choice in TVs the more you save up, so you can decide which one you like best (and then it doesn't even have to be the most expensive one). Maybe you could wait until there are sales (I don't know when there are sales for TVs in your country, but maybe before or just after a large sports event)?

Good luck with cleaning then!