apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

aj--
I'm surprised you can't find a home on eBay for a good leather coat.

Last weekend I tackled clothes again. Good news is my closet has tons of breathing room. Bad news is I have no dress pants that fit. Good news, part two: my old ones that I am now getting rid of are TOO BIG. Yay.

Also moved some Winter/Summer stuff around (clothing-wise)

Next weekend, I hit "paper" hard... a shredder will be purchased this week, and I continue to wrestle with my collection of Architecural Digests. This may be the weekend they get bundled in twine and head out for recycling...

I am working up to my "reward" of rehanging some art, changing out bedding and rugs.

p(too)--

The odds will increase if I actually put it on eBay in the first place. :)

I highly recommend a crosscut shredder.

Architectural Digest magazines might go over well at the local laundromat/waiting room/etc. If you feel motivated enough to relocate them. I have a love/hate relationship with house porn: I find it a strange mix of inspiring and depressing.

Speaking of inspiring, it's great to know that even someone with a beautiful, well thought-out space still has to work on it.

Finally, I also cleaned up my closet this weekend. I have let go all my clothes - which are new but I do not wear them because I don't like them or they don't fit well, which are worn out but I do not throw them out because I love them so much and they fit very well.
It was a tough go but I had 3 bags for Goodwill store and some stuff for dumpster.
Ah!! It feels so nice to have less clutter.

I am still having a problem finding homes for the things I *am* ready to let go of... some stuff moves off of eBay (EVENTUALLY) but a lot doesn't. And for some reason, I can only get OTHER people's stuff sold on Craigs List.

I'm afraid a yard sale will really annoy me, since people usually expect stuff for pennies... but I guess it does get rid of stuff.

packrat (the other one)

I'm seriously thinking of doing a CL virtual garage sale mid-week. We were very lucky in finding what we wanted for a couple major purchases, but that means we have to get unwanted furniture out, and last week's CL attempt was the Carnival of Flakes. I sooooo do not want to come back from vacation to unwanted stuff still sitting here.

With five days to go before we leave, my Cure ambitions are limited to having a really clean, organized apartment to come home to.

I'm definitely a minimalist by nature. Last week I got rid of my desktop computer (iMac circa 2000; sold very fast on Craig's List) and took another load of books to my local library (I have become the librarians' favorite person on earth). It feels so wonderful to be rid of that stuff! Now that I only have an iBook computer, I'm thinking of losing my huge (33" x 66") but wonderful desk; it is great but takes up so much space. It gets to stay awhile longer because I am emotionally attached to it (and it is protein furniture), but I suspect in not too long it will be on Craig's List.

Well, it's hard to get money for stuff, which is why I try to pick a cut-off date. If I have something on amazon for more than a month, I give it to the libary or Housing Works. Sometimes I want things to leave the house rightnow, but sometimes I'm more mellow and am willing to wait and see if things leave of their own accord.

I've had trouble placing a few things that I don't want to just give away. I bought a print at the Vatican for my mom years ago, and she framed it and gave it back to me. It never fit my house, and I've put it up on eBay unsucessfully. I also have two pieces of turquoise jewelry that my dad bought me from the Smithsonian. I don't want to just give them to charity, but I don't know what else to do with them...

(disclaimer: this is definitely not meant as a lecture! Just want to mention this since lots of people I know never think of donating their excess stuff other than their clothes.)

Many charities will pick things up at your home. While I understand (and share) the reluctance to donate to quasi for-profits like Value Village, there are lots of small thrift shops that you might feel better about.

It's often worth asking if they'd be interested in something - I gave a homemade and very ugly desk to the Sally Ann once - they said no problem. Someone would use it as a potting table.

I tend to weigh the benefit of being able to clear something out of my place immediately via a thrift donation versus recovering some of the purchase price on something like CL - which, btw, I have also not had much luck with.

Unless the item was very expensive to begin with, I've found it's just not worth the 20 bucks or so for me to try to sell it. Donations are so much less hassle. No fuss, no muss.

Also, then I can feel perfectly entitled to accumulate things I like better than my old stuff from the thrifts. The thrifts definitely get more from me than I take!

Where I find I have the emotional difficulties getting-rid-of (as opposed to just generally feeling crabby about CL logistics when it's the wrong phase of the moon) is smaller stuff where I kind of ought to have a sentimental attachment -- but I don't, or I wouldn't be getting rid of it -- but it's somehow annoying to discover that it has no value to anyone else either. It's especially irritating when one spent perhaps a little more than one really should have...

On that note, I'm going to Face the Dining Cubby. It's one giant confabulation of Emotionally Fraught decisions, but it won't get better if I ignore it.

original blues--
I actually learned from Maxwell that I am one of the people who need to sell some things off (rather than donate)... it makes it easier to part with when I *know* it is going to a good home.

But I have definitely sent some non-clothing stuff to Housing Works, so I endorse your suggestion to do so.

As I take a break from cataloging gift books given to the library where I work, please please find out your library's policy on gifts. Just "dumping" books at the library may mean someone else is now having to find something to do with the books. Your library may not be able to use them and their disposal method may be the nearest dumpster. Every library has a gift policy and I just hate to see books trashed when there are other options for them. Now back to those gift books :-)

hmmmm...

I wonder if it's because I have often shopped at thrifts for household goods that I feel OK about donating to them.

A handful of my most treasured possessions come from thrifts. So I know that the things I have bought have found a very loving home.

But I take your overall point.

And I *never* shop at a thrift that I have donated to recently - I avoid it for months. Too sad if you had to see your own neglected former possessions. I'd end up buying them back.

I definitely feel good about donating to thrifts, especially Housing Works.

But it is my fear of exactly what you describe... "your own neglected former possessions" that makes me not want to take that route for everything.

Norma - many libraries use the donated books for book sales - not to stock their own collection. The money generated at the sales does go straight to the library.

18 mos ago, I did a big purge prior to my move from the east to the west coast. It's become a little addictive. I probably go through my clothes every 3-4 months and figure out what I haven't (or will NEVER) wear from the previous season.

And it's made me more circumspect about ALL my shopping habits and what posessions become fixtures in my house. I keep hoping that the compound interest on my savings will allow me to retire when I'm...45. Ha!

I consider myself a little pack rat. I've been pretty good the past year or so of throwing out old things that I know will never be any use of saving. I still got things in boxes that I moved with me to my apartment that I never bothered going through or even throwing out.

One good thing is I don't go out and buy old junk that will add on to the junk I already have.

JenPDX,
We are able to use what we don't take in for our book sale, but all libraries aren't able to. Just a reminder to check. If your public library has a Friends group they often are the ones that run the sales.

There are also charities which take books for underpriviledged areas of the country/world. I donated a bunch of books to "Books for International Goodwill" which was convenient, as it's run by a nearby Rotary club and I could just drop them off. These charities often have strict rules (that was one advantage of this one...they didn't) such as "only less than five year old textbooks" so check that before you donate!

I have also found that letting people know I'm getting rid of stuff helps...other people you know may want your stuff.

I'm the worst of the pack rats. I take in the stuff that you throw away. Stuff that wasn't worthy of donating. It bothers me something awful to see things that still have use left in them to be discarded. Like bowls that still hold liquid, they just have chips. They still serve their primary purpose.

I did get rid of a lot of "work" clothes that I wouldn't need after a couple years of being disabled. Some stuff I kept, but it was the less dressy items. Still have those size 4 black leather pants...and I WILL fit into them again, possibly only after death, cremation, and having the ashes stuffed in the pants legs.

Instead of silk dresses and black patent pumps I dropped off, I pick up comfy clogs and sweat shirts with holes at the thrift stores. That's all I really need to go out for a little walk and get tangled in the vines.

Patrick, I've never seen any of my stuff at any of the places I donate to. In fact, I went looking for my old stuff at a small thrift store that benefits an animal shelter and not ONE item was there. Not one. I was told that the "nicer" items are put up for auction. So, that's where I'm hoping they went, and not into another employees auto trunk.

Ahhh, the days when I dressed to kill. Unfortunately now I dress like I'm already dead.

Packrat Extraordinaire here.

CL has been very good to me, but a huge part of that is that

1)My sweetie is so happy that I'm willing to actually get rid of something that he'll take care of the listing/dealing with people side, and

2)He lists things for a less that we could probably get for them.

So while I might have sold certain things for more $$, the turn around time is PDQ. [It's part of that space/cost/time/hassle equation-- less money gained, but also less time/hassle spent and all space recovered]. I've also been fortunate in my dealings with other CL'ers, but I'm not in NYC and I don't know how much regional variance there is.

Of course, we don't have anything that would need to go to, say, an auction house. But for things that are special (just not your thing)-- how about consignment shops? I figure there's got to be something like Boomerang's (consignment for charity) in New York. And if you are very careful there is the regift option (especially for small &/or expensive items, jewelry, etc). A friend of mine and I actually trade items for regifting to avoid gaffes. yep, I am *that* cheap. But I use them for the inevitable obligatory gift-swaps and such (unless it suggests a specific recipient).

Since a huge amount of my hoarding is memorabilia, I have plans to get a scanner and go digital for as much of it as I can bear. [future, distant plans...]

Well, I've been pretty good the last year in not accumulating more stuff, but I'm still trying to get thru the previous accumulations, so I'm generously calling my self "a little pack rat".

Wende, I can identify with your disappointment at the revelation that no one values the things you are letting go, but I think its not entirely true. People may value it, but will only take it for next to nothing so they can tell themselves they're great bargain hunters or something. What's worse is when you know something has value and can't keep it, but no one will pay more than a pittance if that.

Andree,

As long as those leather pants are fabulous!

A dear friend of mine saved clothes for *years*, figuring eventually she'd lose weight and fit back in to them. Eventually, she did just that! Only to realize that after all that time storing the clothes, she actually didn't *like* the stuff all that much anymore. While it was rewarding to be able to try things on again, she said it wasn't worth hanging on to 'em all that time.

AJ, I have a whole lifestyle dreamed up for those pants. Sigh. Maybe I'll just fill them with pillow stuffing and use them as a comfortable pillow for my neck and prop my arms on the stuffed legs.

Okay, you all are guilting me into another purge. We've become much bigger pack rats than ever before since opening our own business.

Does anyone else have a problem getting rid of clothing and shoes? Why I hang on to things that I will NEVER wear again is beyond me. It's a sickness. And it's not fair to the clothes that I do wear...because they can't fit in my tiny closet, which is full of ugly, out-of-style clothes.

Okay, by the end of this week, I promise have another load ready for AmVets to pickup. Just say goodbye to the 90's for good.

I wish "recovering pack rat" was one of the options! :)

Also, I'm really cautious about which non-profit thrift stores I donate to. Some of the religious-based organizations have anti-gay policies and/or put some of their proceeds into anti-choice projects. There are really good religious-based orgs where the money goes directly into services, but it's important to find out in advance.

P.S. - women's shelters and transition houses are also a great place to send women's and kids'/teens' clothing, and sometimes furniture and housewares as well. Where I live, our women's shelter keeps a "transition closet," which is a big room in the basement where they store all kinds of clothes, dishes, cookware, linens, etc., and sometimes furniture, for women who have to start all over again after fleeing an abusive situation.

> Since a huge amount of my hoarding is memorabilia, I have plans > to get a scanner and go digital for as much of it as I can bear.

I discovered that my new scanner will automatically crop and rotate pictures for me, and it's made me go a little faster with on scanning all those little paper things I've hung on to...

Andree, a lifestyle?! Well then, I'd hate to think I was passing judgement on someone's lifestyle choice. ;)

In that case, I believe you should choose a suitable wall to showcase them and hang them up complete with a "frame" in moulding or paint. Though the pillow idea is a fine one...

Dorianne brings up a *very* good point. Juli, would it be easier to dump those clothes if they went to someone who could really use them?

Vive la purge.

I have to say that this is another one of those issues for me that rankles a little--not unlike the Great Book Debate. I LIKE being a little bit of a packrat! I don't see anything wrong with it.

There are several classes of things that I collect and keep even though I can think of no immediate use for them--like fabric, beads, and old picture frames. These are all things that I know I'll use someday, and I also know that if I didn't keep them now, I'd wouldn't be able to find them when I wanted them (or they'd be triple the price).

A little bit of packrattiness encourages creativity, IMHO, and also makes good financial sense.

that said, I've given away or sold plenty of furniture over the last few months, and a new bag clothes goes to the salvation army almost weekly.

I suppose I'm a selective packrat.

Jess, I figure art supplies are exempt from discussion of packratting as long as they're still "in play" for a future project.

So I did a purge of items that had hung on for three or four years while their prospect of being used diminished. I continue to have a lot of stuff -- and I'm hording sueded paper because it's starting to disappear from stores -- but it's only stuff that still excites me.

I try to do that every six months or so, just to get rid of tiny scraps that stuck around "just in case," paint that's past being useful, and paint brushes that are starting to fall apart.

The Cure made me realize I'm not as much of a streamliner as I thought. I have a whole layer of stuff that had become a permanent fixture as a kind of insurance. It's burdensome to live that way, but it comes from living check to check over the years. It's time to get over it.

On the other had, I've gotten rid of things during radical purges that I now regret are gone. But not that many.

Typos 'r us--on the other HAND.

Minor compared to my mangling Jesse's name...

I hope you write a book called "Ten Owls and a Loon".

once i have decided to get rid of something i want it to happen as soon as possible. that's why donation to charity is the best the item doesn't linger waiting for an auction to end or a craig's lister to answer the ad.

art supplies? oh, dear, I sure hope they don't count.

Jesse, in my case my enthusiasm and encouragement for purging comes from the perspective of someone who is (hopefully) a recovering Uber Pack Rat. A selective pack rat is what I *strive* to be. Honestly, I just cleared out a room that you could not physically walk through without small feats of acrobatics. It still needs help, but now I can walk in, move around, and even touch the walls. I think it's harder to get rid of stuff if you aren't sure you'll have the resources to replace it if it turns out you might need it after all. My ideal is to have made an active and conscious decision to own everything I have-- active vs. passive ownership, if you will.

Andree, about those pants... I conveniently forgot until this morning that I have a leather coat that I can't seem to let go. I bought it while under the influence of an ex. It is the most expensive item of clothing I have ever purchased. I tried it on last fall, and it doesn't fit me well. And yet I can't seem to get rid of it. And I don't even have an evening, never mind a lifestyle, planned for it. Hm... Damn, I hate having to take my own advice.

just coming back in... (wende-don't worry about the name--I answer to anything except "jessica")

I'm glad that craft supplies can be semi-exempted. I've inherited the craft-hoarding gene from my mother and grandmother, and I really don't think I could win the fight against it even if I tried.

I guess my goal, as aj eloquently put it, is to "actively" own my collections of craft stuff. which really means I need to go home and sort through all the yarn I know I'll never use... *sigh*

Wow, I am so glad I don't have a craft supply habit - there's one clutter thing to be happy about!

Another thing I wrestle with is, as a graphic designer, I have lots of old samples of work. While I've managed to cull it down,throwing away any more of it feels like I am throwing away my professional history. :(

P(too): I have that same problem. I've now advanced to the stage where at least I'm not keeping multiple copies of old things, because there's no way I'd give them out as samples at this point. One for me is enough.

I actually had that same problem of keeping old work from a previous profession (journalism)and after many years of lugging the stuff around all over(pre-scanning), I finally got sick of it, never used the originals (and after a while stopped using the notebook/portfolio of samples since I no longer do that work, although I've kept the notebook) and got rid of almost all of it. The stuff just got so old. I may just digitize what I have left. It would have been easier to have the option to scan earlier, but I also wanted to keep the originals. One's work is hard to let go of.

On art supplies -- they're not CLUTTER if they're properly stored. They're more like out-of-season clothing, in that they're perfectly tame if neatly stored, and it'd be unrealistic to replace them every year, but they still need to be sorted through occasionally to remove obsolete stuff and symbols of lost hopes.

On work samples, I stopped keeping samples that would only work to apply for jobs I no longer wanted, while hoping fervently that I wouldn't regret that career decision. A couple of exceptions exist for things that are symbols of having accomplished something difficult or important to me.