DECLUTTERING

[Bijou]

We bought new living room furniture!  To get rid of the old stuff (it was still in good shape...we just needed different stuff to fit the layout of the room), I called a charity that would pick it up.  Since they ask for a lot of household things, I went through my boxes and bins in the garage and managed to rearrange things and get rid of 2 boxes! 
We also donated a coffee table that was taking up room in the garage and an extremely uncomfortable sofa bed from Oogydh's office.

I'll bet that feels so freeing!  We have a small house and too much furniture.  Trouble is, everything is something I love, having inherited it from past generations or is a finding from a thrift store.  I'm a sucker for old tables.  OK, the computer table can go.  I don't exactly consider a 4 by 8 foot piece of plywood a treasure.  You sure can put a lot of junk unrelated to a computer on it though...from here I see pink bubble wrap, green dish washing gloves, a pot lid, an old pair of binoculars, a roll of toilet tissue lots of music CD's, empty pill bottles, 2 jars of  cough drops , a hot-cold pack, some gum, some books, on and on and on.   
The computer table is actually nicely finished even to moulding around the edges, by my husband, and is mounted on two two drawer file cabinets. It does catch all though.

[Sophia]

I need help with my decluttering.  We are doing the world's slowest move, which is great for decluttering.  I have a printer paper box stuffed full of pantyhose.  Most of them are still in the original packaging.  I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

[Outdoor Girl]

I need help with my decluttering.  We are doing the world's slowest move, which is great for decluttering.  I have a printer paper box stuffed full of pantyhose.  Most of them are still in the original packaging.  I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

I would keep a couple pairs of each colour, if I thought I might wear them eventually, and sell the rest on Craigslist or donate them to a women's shelter.  If there are fancy ones with bling or lace or something, I might try to find a consignment store.

[Lynn2000]

I need help with my decluttering.  We are doing the world's slowest move, which is great for decluttering.  I have a printer paper box stuffed full of pantyhose.  Most of them are still in the original packaging.  I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

I've found with mine--which I grant you were certainly the cheap kind when I bought them--that the elastic breaks down, or something, as they get older, even if I haven't been wearing them. I had to wear some the other day, first time in years, and was shocked at how bad they were--I never would have kept them if they'd been that bad last time I wore them, so they must have deteriorated in the interim. Might be worth opening a couple of packages just to check that.

Also, check for avant-garde craft stores in your area. Okay, that sounded weird. But the other day in my town I found a store that has EVERYTHING, neatly organized, for crafts and other creative inspiration: bits of yarn and fabric, pop tabs, bowling statues that have been divided into parts (base, column, topper), glazed tiles, bubble wrap, those plastic rings that six-packs of pop cans come in, used notebooks, literally bits of plastic flotsam divided by color... They would probably love old pantyhose, even if it wasn't in great condition anymore, because people could use it creatively somehow instead of wearing it. If they came in the eggs they would definitely love those!!

[SCMagnolia]

I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

I can't remember the name of the charity right now (and it's going to drive me nuts all day until I DO remember it), but there is one that takes work-appropriate clothing for women that need clothes for job interviews and first jobs but can't otherwise afford it.  They may be interested since there are a lot of workplaces that haven't yet embraced the bare-legs-as-fashion thing.

Question for y'all....  What about CD's?  Do you keep them in the plastic cases or put them in those binders?  Every organizing blog I've read says to ditch the cases and buy those binders to put the CD's in.  I get that it saves room, but for some reason, I'm a little quirky and OCD about ditching all those cases, though they could probably be recycled.   And I teach dance lessons so I have a TON of CD's.  The saved space would be awesome, but still....  My OCD is making me twitch.

[GlitterIsMyDrug]

I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

I can't remember the name of the charity right now (and it's going to drive me nuts all day until I DO remember it), but there is one that takes work-appropriate clothing for women that need clothes for job interviews and first jobs but can't otherwise afford it.  They may be interested since there are a lot of workplaces that haven't yet embraced the bare-legs-as-fashion thing.

Question for y'all....  What about CD's?  Do you keep them in the plastic cases or put them in those binders?  Every organizing blog I've read says to ditch the cases and buy those binders to put the CD's in.  I get that it saves room, but for some reason, I'm a little quirky and OCD about ditching all those cases, though they could probably be recycled.   And I teach dance lessons so I have a TON of CD's.  The saved space would be awesome, but still....  My OCD is making me twitch.

Is this charity Dress for Success? (http://www.dressforsuccess.org/)

As for CDs, all mine are in binders and I've managed to break the majority of the jewel cases (not on purpose just because I'm me). But these look awesome and might make the twitching stop: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/mediaStorage/cDsCassettes?productId=10030546

[siamesecat2965]

I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

I can't remember the name of the charity right now (and it's going to drive me nuts all day until I DO remember it), but there is one that takes work-appropriate clothing for women that need clothes for job interviews and first jobs but can't otherwise afford it.  They may be interested since there are a lot of workplaces that haven't yet embraced the bare-legs-as-fashion thing.

Question for y'all....  What about CD's?  Do you keep them in the plastic cases or put them in those binders?  Every organizing blog I've read says to ditch the cases and buy those binders to put the CD's in.  I get that it saves room, but for some reason, I'm a little quirky and OCD about ditching all those cases, though they could probably be recycled.   And I teach dance lessons so I have a TON of CD's.  The saved space would be awesome, but still....  My OCD is making me twitch.

I did this. I bought CD envelopes, and put both the liner notes and the CD in. And chucked the cases. I was able to get rid of two CD towers, which I replaces with one of those open cube shelf units. I put 3 of the CD cases in one square, and it takes up so much less room. And honestly, i don't miss the cases at all.  Maybe you could try a few, and keep the cases, and see how it goes. if you're ok with it, then do the rest.

[SCMagnolia]

Dress for Success! That's it!!!! 

That CD organizer looks awesome!  I can still keep the artwork and liner notes (which also contain some of my notes for dance classes) and it looks like I can just pull those sleeves out to take CDs to class with me. 

[siamesecat2965]

Dress for Success! That's it!!!! 

That CD organizer looks awesome!  I can still keep the artwork and liner notes (which also contain some of my notes for dance classes) and it looks like I can just pull those sleeves out to take CDs to class with me.

These are what I got (but larger) , since i can put them out of sight. http://www.amazon.com/Case-Logic-CDE-48-Capacity-Wallet/dp/B00011KM3I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390583360&sr=8-1&keywords=cd+wallet

[Outdoor Girl]

Use your OCD powers to catagorize and alphabetize each CD binder/organizer.   

My brother has a fairly large album collection, stored in milk crates and all alphabetized.  My oldest nephew is quite the DJ - has a great mixing board and these HUGE speakers, including an extra subwoofer.  He was DJing my brother's 50th birthday party, using my brother's albums and other people were grabbing albums and putting them back willy nilly.  Nephew was freaking out because my brother would be freaking out about everything no longer being alphabetized.  Someone made a comment.

I countered with, 'Brother and I have CDO.  It's like OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order, as they should be!'  I love that line.  And my bookshelves are alphabetized by author and then by title, if it isn't a series.  The series' get kept in order but if the author has more than one series, those are alphabatized by the name of each of the series'.

[GlitterIsMyDrug]

Dress for Success! That's it!!!! 

That CD organizer looks awesome!  I can still keep the artwork and liner notes (which also contain some of my notes for dance classes) and it looks like I can just pull those sleeves out to take CDs to class with me.

They have them for DVDs too, which is what I've been looking into because our DVDs are running amock at this point. My CDs are in CD sleeves, ideally with their album artwork (ideally being the key word here), and then sorted by genre into different binders...and then alphabetized in there....I went a little nutty.....

[SCMagnolia]

SiameseCat,  I might like those because they'd keep things dust-free, but are the sleeves big enough to put all the CD art/inserts in with the CD itself, too?

Outdoor Girl, I totally get it! Books, movies....  They're all sorted and in order!!!  And Glitter, I already have my CD's sorted by genre, then by alphabetical order.  At first, it was just easier to find music for my classes that way -- teaching salsa?  All the Latin dance CD's are in one place.  But then....  Even the stuff I've bought just for my own listening over the years is by genre!!! 

Gawd... I need help!!!! 

[jayhawk]

I need help with my decluttering.  We are doing the world's slowest move, which is great for decluttering.  I have a printer paper box stuffed full of pantyhose.  Most of them are still in the original packaging.  I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

It's hard to get rid of things that we paid a lot of money for, isn't it? But really, the expense is a red herring. It doesn't matter of the item was expensive or not; what matters is if it has value for you. Not always the same thing. Sounds like the pantyhose don't have value for you, but they might for someone else.

I like the idea of donating items to organizations or people I know will use or appreciate them.  On the other hand, if you did spend a lot of money for an item and it still has value, you could always try to sell it to recoup some of your cost. 

The important thing is if you don't use it or love it, you're paying rent to hold on to something useless.  Find a way to let it go.

[siamesecat2965]

SiameseCat,  I might like those because they'd keep things dust-free, but are the sleeves big enough to put all the CD art/inserts in with the CD itself, too?

Outdoor Girl, I totally get it! Books, movies....  They're all sorted and in order!!!  And Glitter, I already have my CD's sorted by genre, then by alphabetical order.  At first, it was just easier to find music for my classes that way -- teaching salsa?  All the Latin dance CD's are in one place.  But then....  Even the stuff I've bought just for my own listening over the years is by genre!!! 

Gawd... I need help!!!!

For the most part, yes. I will confess, and some may cringe, if it were too large, I simply ripped the cover off, and stuck that in. I did find that by doing it the way I did, It meant I couldn't use every sleeve, as there are 4 on each page, both sides. So sometimes if the inserts were larger, it didnt' quite fit, so I ended up alternating, which worked. But...I just wanted them out of sight, and so how they went in wasn't as much of an issue for me as was getting them out of sight.

Regarding DVDs; I got rid of a lot of them, esp if I could stream them through Amazon Prime (or Netflix, if you have that).  I figured why keep them around, if I could simply hit a couple of buttons and voila, watch.

[siamesecat2965]

I need help with my decluttering.  We are doing the world's slowest move, which is great for decluttering.  I have a printer paper box stuffed full of pantyhose.  Most of them are still in the original packaging.  I haven't worn pantyhose in the last year.  But they are in the original packaging, and they weren't cheap.  Opinion?

It's hard to get rid of things that we paid a lot of money for, isn't it? But really, the expense is a red herring. It doesn't matter of the item was expensive or not; what matters is if it has value for you. Not always the same thing. Sounds like the pantyhose don't have value for you, but they might for someone else.

I like the idea of donating items to organizations or people I know will use or appreciate them.  On the other hand, if you did spend a lot of money for an item and it still has value, you could always try to sell it to recoup some of your cost. 

The important thing is if you don't use it or love it, you're paying rent to hold on to something useless.  Find a way to let it go.

I'm kind of the opposite; for me, once its been purchased, cost isn't really an issue, for the most part. I've given things away, and would rather see someone use them, even if they did cost me $$. At Christmas, I gave my cousin in law a leather jacket I'd had sitting in my closet and no longer wore. She kept saying "are you sure, are you sure?" I told her yes, plesae take it, wear it, and enjoy it, esp since it looked so good on her. I've had others ask me "do you want any $$ for this?" but again, if I know someone likes something or can use it, I'm all for giving it to them, so its not cluttering up my house.

The only exception is some of my Vera Bradley collection. I have waaay too much, and my tastes have changes, so I'm contemplating getting rid of some of my bags. But, that being said, while I didn't pay full price, they aren't cheap, so I'd rather try and sell some of them, than give them away. I don't know why I'm like that about these only, and nothing else, but I am.