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[OKPrincess]

DH and I decided to keep what we want and can use now. 

We haven’t mowed the yard ourselves in years, so most big yard tools are gone. We still have our spade/shovel, pruners, small blower, hand tools, little giant ladder, dolly but gave away mower, edger, big shovel, hedge clippers.

All photos, pictures in albums, received cards from family, are now put in one place.  Anything for the wall is used or given away.

All VHS tapes and books, cookbooks we no longer want are boxed up and taken to a used book store. I have a large one down the street from me and we’ve done a lot of business with them.

This is how I’ve been downsizing through the years and more serious recently. Of course we ask family first.

[mac116]

I live in a small, older home.  Now that I am semi-retired, I am bugged by all of the STUFF that we have!  I think that I was way too busy before to notice, as long as the house looked clean with not a lot of visible clutter.

HOWEVER, every drawer, bookcase, closet, and cabinet is stuffed full.  The basement and garage are useable, but have way too much STUFF.  My goal is to purge before I get too old or unwilling to do it.  I would be embarrassed to leave this mess behind for my kids.

[151949]

In 2010 we sold our home in Pa and moved into 2 "homes". A large camper at a campground in Pa and a small house in Fl.So we could snowbird between the 2. Since our Pa home was considerably larger with attic and basement storage space it required a lot of downsizing. Last fall we sold the Pa camp and moved totally into the Fl. house. We had intended to sell the small home we are in now and get a much larger one, however, that plan went caput when we failed to sell this place. We accepted God's plan for us to stay here, and had to make room in this home for everything we had brought back with us from Pa. Thus - let the cleaning begin! It worked - everything has found a home here and we aren't crowded at all.A few trips to the thrift store to get rid of stuff and a number of bags into the trash. DH had to clean his garage out when the workmen needed to install a new AC blower and a new water heater out there. Boy does it look nice out there now. He did a good job. So that's our story. Happy at home in our little villa.Our neat & tidy little nest.

[gidgetgh]

I don’t know that my goal with our basement clean out was to totally get to empty spaces, but it worked out that way and that’s more than fine with me. It makes sense for us to keep all the basement things in this one area. I’ll be able to organize it and my husband will have all his treasures somewhat together.  Believe Me, my husband kept a lot of things. But at least I’ll know what all is down there and where it is.  When I get it done, I’ll post a picture of that. 

I think my primary goal for keeping the House lean is the potential for having to move. To something with no basement. 

Secondary was that if something happened to both my husband and me, in addition to cleaning out the house and settling our estate, I really didn’t want my sister and my stepsons to have to tackle that basement. I don’t think that’s very nice. And there’s no reason for all that clutter or all those possessions. 

The Living space of our house has really always been fine so the continual decluttering and organizing is more of a hobby than a need. I love looking in my organized cabinets and closets and drawers and seeing how nice they look. 

I really didn’t think I’d be able to get the basement cleaned out on my own if I had to and that caused me anxiety. I can’t live like that. I have enough worries about my husband’s health (it’s been a rough couple of days with that) than to have to also worry about basement clutter. 

And as much as I adore our house, I’m starting to think more seriously about us moving. My husband used to cut the grass, but can’t now. So we have someone do that. Another company comes and does the weed spraying and fertilizing of the lawn. But we have woods behind us and on one side of us so those two areas are kind of wilder. And I was the sprayer of Roundup and it’s become overhwhelming and my husband absolutely is not up to that kind of yard work. So I’m starting to get a little anxious about that. 

So the ultimate goal?  I guess possibility of moving and downsizing. I think empty spaces in the basement is just an extra bonus. 

Great new thread @Mominohio. 

[Mary Bailey]

Our master bedroom, walk-in closet and masterbath are decluttered....

.....because the clutter was moved to the spare bedroom and office when we had the master suite painted.

My goal is to look at those two rooms and smile.... not cringe & want to shut the doors.

[Snicks1]

For me it was simple, I need to do as much as I can while I am still physically able to do it for myself. Arthritis continues to move throughout my body and it takes longer to do this than it did previously. I too am thinking of the day when we can no longer live in a split level home where the stairs are becoming more of a daily challenge.

[151949]

I always have taken a week of vacation time every spring to spring houseclean.One of the tasks that week was to clean out every single storage space in our house. No matter how large or how small, everything was cleaned out. It was just such a good feeling . Beside that I cleaned all my blinds and all my curtains,and washed all the walls,& had the carpet steam cleaned.By the time it was done I was glad to get back to work, which was easier than all that moving furniture and cleaning.

[qvcfreak]

When my aunt passed away, she had accumulated so much stuff that it took my cousins months to sort through. I decided then if I don’t need it, don’t use it or didn’t know I had it, someone else could use it. 

• I started one room at a time and I did it. It worked out great as we downsized to a much smaller home and yard. Now I keep the same concept and every 6 months I get rid of stuff. After every season I donate clothes I didn’t wear. 

[ECBG]

I'm not purging.  I just want the identified "I don't want" catagory taken out of here!

[VaBelle35]

My goal is to get it nearly empty and just have stuff I need/use.

About 3 years ago I did a purge of all the things I was keeping "just in case" and that freed up a huge room in the basement and half of my utility room.

I'm good with clothes and shoes and kitchen stuff.  I follow the "1 in" and "at least 1 out" method.

I purged a ton of Christmas and other holiday stuff and am keeping that to a minimum.