Saturday Special: Letting it Go, One Category at a Time

Photo: Godserv via Morguefile

Do you have too much stuff? I know I do. Even when we get inspired to downsize, it's sometimes hard to know just where to start.

Family Circle to the rescue! Diana Reese's fabulously visual 18 Things You Can Get Rid of Right Now offers starting points gentle enough to appeal to even those with an I love stuff style. Items are listed by category, and the article is almost completely devoid of the "throw it away!" mentality so painful to many of us who long to de-clutter. Instead, Reese focuses on gentler ways to let go, such as passing your castaways along to someone who'll love and appreciate them. Some of the tips even come with videos to give you organization tips.

If the posts from the past few weeks have you in a project mindset, this article can help you keep up the momentum. If you've been looking for a starting point, you might find that here, too. Every time I scroll through the pictures, I think, "I can do that!"

So go ahead -- take a peek. You've got nothing to lose except a little bit of clutter.

But I NEED it!

addicted2decorating.com via
42 Craft Projects That are Easy to Make & Sell

It wasn't until I started last week's blog that I realized my third R isn't a Let it Go! strategy at all, but rather an escape route -- and one to be used with caution. While both Recycling and Reselling result in getting things out of our house, Repurposing actually makes it less likely that we'll get rid of the item in question.

That's not always bad. If repurposing a beloved (or simply useful) item gives it new life or helps it earn its keep, then hanging on to it is actually a good thing.....as long as we follow a few simple guidelines.

• Repurposing implies purpose. It's right there in the name. Is the item in question being used, or is it merely taking up space? One or two decorative items that add personality to a space, or a collection that's housed in an aesthetically pleasing way is one thing. A pile-up of "I know I'll use this someday" is quite other.
• For items in limbo, designate a purpose. In our DIY, Pinterest-fueled society, it doesn't take much searching to come up with new uses for everything from empty soda bottles to old furniture. Here's where you have to be honest with yourself. Are you really going to do that project? If so, when? And where will the supplies "live" in the meantime?
• Be selective: You can't save it all, yet the reasons we have for keeping things vary according to both styles and personality. Sentimental people keep things because they make us smile when we look at them or bring back a special memory. The more practical among us save things that solve a storage problem or serve more than one purpose. Those who are frugal often keep a backlog of things they don't want to have to pay to replace. Whatever your reasons, you need to set a limit to how many of those things you can realistically hang on to.

Next week, we'll talk about some ways to make decisions about the things we can't quite get rid of. In the meantime, box up those things you need to hang onto by category (e.g., sentimental value, future projects, I think I'll use this someday, etc.). That will make things easier as we move forward (and no, I haven't changed my mind about "making" you dispose of beloved items).

Next week will also mark my last week posting on this topic in this location. As we move into the last letter of STYLE in June, and begin talking about Easy Upkeep, I'll be taking the discussion to my "Organizing By STYLE" blog, as a means of both archiving all these posts in one place and continuing the discussion. You can still find me here on Wednesdays, writing on a topic still to be determined. 

Want to hear about something specific? Leave me a comment below. I have some ideas for where I want to go from here, but am also open to suggestions.

Let it Go: The Second R

freepik.com

Sorry for the late post -- again. I'm hoping that now the the end of semester craziness has subsided, I'll get back on a regular posting schedule.

Last week, we started talking about ways to let go of things we no longer use or need. I got so excited about the potential reuses for things that I jumped into Recycle, which is perhaps the most difficult one of the three to do. If you managed to make some progress with that R last week, congratulations! You belong at the head of the class!


If not, no worries. This week, it gets easier as we tackle the second R: Resell.

Like recycling, reselling allows us to get things we no longer use or need out of our homes and helps us to "do good" at the same time. After all, someone else might just love that flowery dress or set of dishes that's not your style. When we recycle, we don't simply throw things away -- we give them new life. For those who get attached to their things (yes, my I love stuff friends, this means you), sending them to a new home can making parting with them less painful.

But for some of us, nothing short of the lure of cold, hard cash can soothe the ache that accompanies getting rid of our "stuff." I have friends who do yard sales every year, freeing up space and raking in cash at the same time.

yardsalesofyork.com

I'm not really a yard sale girl, but I love consigning things. I pack up the clothes we've outgrown, grown tired of or never should have bought in the first place and take them to a local shop that sells them and then cuts me a check. In the meantime, if I want to buy something there, I can spend the credit I've accumulated (between the time they sell my things and the time they cut the check) instead of spending cash, which feels like getting something for free. If I stay out of the store between drop-offs (which I generally do at least twice a year), the credit keeps accumulating until the end of the consignment period, when it turns into cash, and I avoid bringing new things into the house to fill the space vacated by the old ones.

I use clothing consignment more than any other, and, in fact, have two favorite stores (one for women's clothing and one that's for a younger clientele). Each accepts clothing by season, so I've learned to take things right from the dryer to one of two boxes (one labeled spring/summer and the other labeled fall/winter) because if I put the clothes back in my closet, it's that much less likely they'll ever make it out of the house. There are consignment stores in our area for furniture and household items, too, though I've never tried those.

If you'd like to make recycling or reselling a part of your routine, think about the containers that work for your style. As an I need to see it/drop and run organizer, I need containers that are open on top and labeled; otherwise it's easier to put things into the laundry basket than in the consignment box. Cram and jammers need to have containers large enough to keep them from, well, cramming and jamming, as many consignment stores are particular about the condition of the clothing they accept.  And I know I put it somewhere organizers will benefit from labeled or color-coded containers that have a specific home so they can remember where they put things when it's time to consign them. I love to be busy folks may want to put their containers into the trunk of the car as soon as they're full to make it easier to fit a drop-off into their busy schedules.

Photo: DodgertonSkillhause via morguefile

Regardless of the lure of cold, hard cash and the desire to "to good," most of us (and not just the I love stuff people among us) will still end up with some things we don't need, but just can't get rid of.

More on that next week.