The Cure is in full swing and spring has sprung here in LA, so that might explain why we have cleaning on our minds. That's our friend and neighbor's apartment before she tackled her own operation cleansweep...all that stuff (except for the bongo and the major furniture pieces) went bye-bye, and her newly decorated place looks amazingly more roomy because of it. Unlike hair, thinning out your home is a good idea.
How To: Thin Out and Slim Down Your Decor
Now that it's warming up, it's a great time to go through those closets, shelves, garages and cabinets for "stuff" that's begun to own you, rather than the other way around. Here's what we've done ourselves (and also what our neighbor did before redecorating her place) to lose that decor gut:
1. Using some coloured Post-It notes, designate your "absolutely must keep pieces". Grandma Gertrude's antique curio cabinet or that awesome Saarinen Tulip Armchair, alongside other major pieces and daily use items, should get designated with this first colour.
2. Use a secondary colour of Post-It notes to mark those items that you use occasionally and will consider getting rid of. Things like that popcorn maker you use a couple times a year or those knick knacks from your travels that don't really have much sentimental significance or use. This second tier are things you'd consider letting go, but aren't sure.
3. This third group is where the fun begins: the donate or sell items. You don't have to mark these...just start a pile or throw them into a large box. Old clothes, CDs you no longer listen to (burn them), appliances, sporting goods, bedding, etc....be vicious. Trust me, you do not need to hold on one more day to that Wilson Phillips commemorative mug.
Now, go back to category #2 and at least take 25% of those items and add them to pile #3. No if's, and's or but's (except your butt hauling that stuff over). This is the hard part for many people, who tend to start making excuses. But this is where you start making a difference, because pile #3 is usually filled with stuff you're obviously and willing to giveaway without much pressure. It's the stuff designated in group #2 that will result in a lot more room (and possibly money).
A few years back we used this method to clean out our apartment of years of accumulated "stuff", organizing a party/garage sale with our friends, where we spent three separate weekends BBQing, hanging out and ridding ourselves of the possessive baggage of "stuff". We made $600 selling these things we didn't even want nor need anymore, and it certainly helped when we moved from a 800 sq. ft. apartment down to a 600 sq. ft. place without a garage, all the while not looking like we were cramped in. And till this day, we hardly remember any of those things we strangely held onto for so long.
In the coming weeks, we're planning another yard sale with our friends and neighbors. We have hundreds of CDs we've burned and are ready to part with (small scratches prevent an Amoeba trade-in), alongside some of our clothes (both my girlfriend and I not only thinned out closets, but also our waistlines this year), so we hope to use that money for more important needs (haha, I've made an argument for an ice cream maker, but that's debatable). We hope you follow suit and put yourself on a decor diet using that easy process above.
Comments (19)
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Next month I'll be downsizing from a 3-br townhouse to a small 1-br apartment. I'm excited at the prospect of purging what I need and paring it down to only those things I need and really love - it feels so freeing!
view Erin K.'s profile
Post an after!
view cakekick's profile
WOW, that photo is tremendous. kudos on your bravery to post it! yes, show us your after!
view *heather leaf*'s profile
Where's Niecy Nash when you need her?
view bepsf's profile
Good girl, congrats!
I did a little thinning myself last night after watching a repeat of Oprah's show on hoarders. Oy vey, it scared me straight!
view Lourdes's profile
I love putting stuff out on the street and seeing it gone in a matter of minutes. Because of my DNA, I have a hard time throwing things out, so there's a real satisfaction in knowing someone can find a use for whatever I no longer need. It's also more instantaneously gratifying than waiting for weeks for some charity to pick up your stuff.
view bluebird's profile
i too want to see an after shot - if your friend says yes! also ... i have an ice cream maker i rarely use. but get yourself hold of a nigella cook book (i forget which one) and she makes a bitter orange ice cream that is to die for using, get this, one tupperware! you just mix up your creamy mixture and throw it into a tupperware. every so often you just mix it up. the trick is to whip the cream before you freeze it. also the very cool ice cream maker makes lots of noise like a leaf blower so you kind of get out of the mood to eat the ice cream once it's finally done - you already have an ice cream headache!
view Joan in SB's profile
I just purged my whole apartment!! What a great feeling. It has taken a few weekends to go thru the whole place and boy does it feel GOOD!!
view danze's profile
I happened to stay home from work yesterday and ended up watching Oprah -- she was doing a show on a couple that had tons (literally)of stuff in their house -- it was laid out on tables and bins in a huge warehouse. They found years worth of mold and mouse droppings under the mountains of old clothes etc. and had to rip out everything, even the wallboard. If you need inspiration to cut the clutter, here it is:
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200711/tows_past_20071115.jhtml?promocode=HP31
view Deborah's profile
I LOVE cleaning my closet. Getting rid of the things I don't wear means the things I do don't get all wrinkly, and it also means a tax deduction. Sweet!
view meg_ues's profile
Grand purges always sound exciting, but really, Maxwell's Outbox sounds more humane...
view JG's profile
Deborah, thank you so much for posting the link to that Oprah episode. I saw the show when it first aired a few months ago. It made me cry because it was like seeing my mom's house and her turmoil. She's starting to work on the hoarding, thank god. I just sent her that link.
for those of you who LOVE watching before and after dirty/hoardy home episodes, go to youtube and plug in a search for "how clean is your house". it's a british show with two funny ladies (kim and aggie) who go to homes and clean them up and give sassy advice and chastisement. watch one full episode and you'll get RIGHT to cleaning your own home in an instant! works for me whenever i feel begrudged to do housework.
view *heather leaf*'s profile
i tackled my closet over the weekend and my pantry today. definitely feels good to get rid of stuff and get more organized. i love a good junk purge.
view ponyinarope's profile
I did a big purge before my January because my new apt is both smaller and less open than the old. I hated my boring rectangular and l-shaped open studios of yore, but I now mourn space lost space due to a long narrow hallway, multiple small closets, and a fugly dining area in the location of the living rooms of apts above and below me (horrid tv noise).
I still haven't unpacked because this place as just a crash pad for sleeping. This weekend will be all about setting aside shrunken shirts, books, and cds.
view Kinky Gazpacho's profile
When living with my mom, I was a clutterbug. But for some reason, while living on my own, I've turned into Monica from Friends. Weird.
I just moved into a smaller place, and now I just have to call Purple Heart or someone to pick up some stuff that I no longer use. I purge, but it sometimes hurts (i love my stuff).
view Sleek's profile
I used to have way too much stuff. I noticed I was taking boxes of stuff with me every time I moved- and never opening the boxes. Just storing them.
Then I moved into a studio apartment and started reading Apartment Therapy. Six months ago, I opened one of those boxes up & saw that it was just full of random crap that I don't even care about.
I tossed all that junk, freed up space for stuff I actually care about and have never looked back.
view HollyinDC's profile
Holly,
You've got the right attitude.
view Mr. Dangerous's profile
Off topic, I know, but I love her use of blocked color on the walls.
view PhillyLass's profile
You are so right, actually not only people who need diet, a house needs too, it can get heart attack or stroke too, good job!
view RKDsign's profile