Tag Archives: declutter

How Many Never Used Items Are In Your Home?

How Many Never Used Items Are In Your Home?

I recently read a statistic that blew my mind – the average person has $7000 worth of never used items in their home! $7000! My first thought was, surely, that can’t be right. I’m sure I don’t have that much. But then I started thinking (and looking around). In just 10 minutes I realized that I had 3 shirts in my closet with the tags still on them, one pair of sandals I bought this summer but didn’t get around to wearing, a set of dessert plates that are still in the box, and I don’t even want to look through all of my craft stuff! I probably don’t have $7000 worth of never used items in my home, but if I looked hard enough, I might come close to finding $1000.

How many of us could use that kind of cash right now? I know I could, especially with Christmas sneaking up on us like it is. This has motivated me to dig a little deeper and let go of things that I’ve never used. Of course the first task at hand is to LOOK through boxes and drawers and find those things. I could wear those sandals next year…or I could sell those ugly things (what was I thinking??) on ebay for some extra cash in my pocket right now.

What’s in your closet that you’ve never used?

Question From a Reader – What to do with Baby Clothes and Toys

Question From a Reader – What to do with Baby Clothes and Toys


Dilemma:
We have clothes everywhere! I can clear one room in our 3br house-but it seems like the things just “shift”. Most of our items are clothes we are saving for our son-ranging from 2T-5T, my husband’s clothes (mostly never wears), stuffed toys out the wazoo, toys out the wazoo, and now some big ticket baby items our son has outgrown that we can’t find a good home for yet. Then there are the sentimental items-about 6-8 large boxes of those. Suggestions?

The above question was sent from a reader and I think it’s a problem we’ve either all had or are still struggling with. Here are my suggestions:

*The clothes – The first step is to look over each item of clothing and see what ones you would actually use again. If you see an item covered in stains and you don’t think you will put your next little one in it, toss it. Both the baby clothes and your husbands clothes that he doesn’t wear could go into Space Bags. These bags hold an unbelievable amount of clothing! I like the flat ones for clothing (as opposed to the cube ones which are great for blankets and stuffed animals). The flat ones can be stored under beds, under the couch, any where you have narrow spaces. Just make sure to label them so you know what sizes are in each bag.

*Stuffed toys – Go through the toys and see if there are any you can donate. The ones you decide to keep can go in the cube Space Bags. We keep most of my daughter’s stuffed animals in these amazing bags. Because they are clear, you can see what’s inside and if your child wants a particular stuffed animal you can open it up, take out the toy and then suck out the air again.

*Toys – this may have to be something you put up with for the next few years. As with everything else, go through and see what you actually need and what your kids really play with. If you come across any toy that is broken, either fix it or toss it.

*Big ticket baby items – if you don’t need it anymore, get those space suckers out of there! Sell them on Craig’s list or, if you don’t want to mess with that, donate them. Many pregnancy help line places will gladly take the donation.

*Sentimental items – Oh man, that one gets all of us. Here is what I do – I keep a box for EACH person in my family. I don’t throw everyone’s keepsake items in together. If you do this, you’ll never know who you’re keeping things for…or why you’re even keeping it.

Before anything goes in a box I ask myself this question – why am I keeping it? Do I hope my daughter will pass on this item of clothing to her own daughter one day? If that answer is yes, I make sure it’s stain free and in perfect shape. If it’s not, I try to get the stains out and make it look like new. If I can’t do it, I take a picture of it (for myself) and toss it. When my kids grow up and have their own children they will not want to put their children in old, stained clothing – just like the rest of us wouldn’t do to our own children.

If it’s a toy I’m tempted to put in the box, I ask myself the same question. Am I keeping it because it was one of their favorite toys and I think their own children would play with it one day? If it’s not a favorite toy, if it’s broken or doesn’t work anymore, then either toss it or donate it.

I try to keep this in mind with my keepsakes – will it live on and actually be useful to my children one day? If the answer is no, I don’t keep it. When my child is an adult it will not be helpful to give him/her 10 Rubbermaid containers full of “stuff” that is broken, stained, or torn. No one wants that! My mom kept very few things for me, and I treasure everything that I have in that little box. If she would’ve given me 10 of them, I would’ve been overwhelmed.

When it comes to keeping papers or art work, I keep a flat Rubbermaid container under my bed. I don’t have one for each kid, I just have a “Family” box. Every other time I add to it, I look to see if there is something similar they’ve done that I can get rid of.

The key here is to pay attention to what you are keeping, and think about why you are keeping it in the first place. We keep so much more than we really need. We end up using space for things in the past and have less room for the present.

I hope this helps! Happy organizing!

Organizing His and Hers Master Bedroom Closets – Part Two “His”

Organizing His and Hers Master Bedroom Closets – Part Two “His”

The Finished Dresser

I decided a little over a week ago to clean and organize our master bedroom closets. In our current house, my husband and I have our very own closets (first time ever!), and they were in need of some sprucing up. My closet was a mess. To see the transformation check out the part one of this article here at Organizing His and Hers Master Bedroom Closets – Part One “Hers”.

My husband’s closest was much more organized than mine was (less stuff) but it was very boring and still needed a little organizing love to make it better. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a “before” picture. Just picture it all white with things piled up on the dresser and you’ll have an accurate mental picture.

The first thing I did was remove EVERYTHING from the closet. I painted the walls a beautiful color called Gulf Winds. It’s from Behr. I then cleaned the floors, shelves, and all of the molding. Now it was time to get organized.

*My husband loves hats almost as much as I love purses. I hung Ook Hooks above the door to hold his four favorite hats. The others I stacked on a shelf.
Hats Haning on Ook Hooks

*I organized his clothes by putting all of his business clothes (which he wears to work 5 days a week) on the top bar, and all of this regular, every day clothes on the bottom. This makes it easy to see exactly what he has (or needs) to wear to work each week.

*The dresser was pretty beat up. I used Mod Podge and put beautiful old looking maps on the top of the dresser to cover it up. To see exactly what I did, go to my post on how to decoupage a desk or dresser

*I painted the side of his shelves with chalkboard paint. Now he’ll be able to write himself notes and erase them when he doesn’t need them anymore (no more little strips of paper that end up getting lost).

Black Chalkboard Paint On Side of Shelves

And, just for fun, I painted a toucan on the left wall. Now his closet is clean, organized, and interesting!

Toucan

Organizing His and Hers Master Bedroom Closets- Part One “Hers”

Organizing His and Hers Master Bedroom Closets- Part One “Hers”

My Closet Before

I have a large closet (11 feet by 5 feet). The best part is, it’s all mine! I don’t have to share it with anybody! This is the first house we’ve lived in that has “his” and “hers” master bedroom closets. My husband’s closet is about half the size of mine (still a good size).

My Closet Before

When we first moved in, more than just my clothes went in my closet. Extra clothing, craft supplies, books, picture frames…just about everything that didn’t have a permanent home had a temporary one in my closet. It got to the point where I had to squeeze in to my closet to get my clothes every morning. Finally I decided to make some changes.

I used my Room Worksheet (if you don’t have a copy yet, sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get my free downloads) to determine exactly what I wanted out of my space. I decided I wanted to turn it into a dressing room!

First, I had to take every single thing out of my closet. I sorted through every item, every box, every folder…everything! I threw away trash and filled a bag for Good Will. Out of season clothes when into Space Bags (I love those things). Craft things were taken to a closet near the kitchen where I actually do my crafts. Extra blankets (also put into Space Bags) were taken to a hall closet. This sorting process took me two days.

After the sorting was finished, it was time to paint. I painted the closet a pink color called Tropical Smoothie in satin from Behr (I got it at Home Depot. If you use this color it’s best to get it with the primer in the paint. It covers better this way).

Once the paint was dry, it was time to bring things back into the closet. I wanted this to be an area where I could do my hair and put on my make up, as well as get dressed in the morning. When we first moved into this house there was a junky looking white desk in the garage. Upon further inspection, I realized it was sturdy, just stained. I scrubbed it down and put it in my closet. I couldn’t get the stains off of the top of the desk so I did some decoupage and viola! I have a one of a kind desk that I love. For information on how I did it, check out the “Make It” section of the website here http://www.borderhoarder.com/how-to-decoupage-a-desk-or-dresser/

My closet After

Here are other things I did in my closet to keep things organized and handy:
* I installed hooks on the far wall to hang my favorite purses. These hooks are called Ook Hooks and I got them in two packs at Home Depot for $2 a pack. They just screw into the wall, no tools needed.

* I installed more Ook Hooks near the door to hang up my scarves and necklaces.

* I took out my bulky dresser and bought black canvas bins from Walmart ($5 a piece) to hold my smaller clothing items.

* I stacked my sweaters (which had been in the dresser) on the shelves.
My Closet After

Here is what I spent in my closet:
$35 paint
$20 black canvas bins for clothes
$20 Ook Hooks
$15 lamp

Not only do I have a bright and cheerful dressing room, I can find everything I need in a matter of seconds. It has also kept the bathroom counters clean because I no longer do my hair or make up in there.

My next project is my husband’s closet. Check back soon to see how I organize and liven up his small space.