Scanners are my de-cluttering friend! the hubs insists on keeping receipts so I've been going through piles and piles scanning and shredding. My best advice to those who are trying to de-clutter compoter files is, to give your folders really descriptive names. you can use things like:
warranties, Drury Lane house documents, new house documents, my medical, hubs medical sons medical gas company, car insurance, house insurance...

Don't be afraid to give folders long names and to do the same to documents. So many of us started working with computers back when we could only have a limited number of characters in the file name and never got out of the habit of self-limiting.

In the midst of decluttering the office/loft. I just bought a daybed to go in there, so I'm getting rid of one of the desks. I cleaned out the closet so that I can put the file cabinet inside. Sorting and shredding papers, deciding what to keep and store in the file cabinet. I have to figure out where to put the shredder and waste basket; along with the CD tower. The battery in the camera is dead, otherwise, I'd post a picture of the mess. Will post when it's done!

Shars55, I'm cut from the same cloth as you! Just can't stand clutter. Everything is in its place here. Unless there are health problems, I can't understand why folks let their homes, which are supposed to be the place they love to be, and love to come home to, turn into a cluttered, disorganized state.

No criticism is allowed of course if you want a huge response to this :))
It doesn't take much to get into the dumping and piling up mode , procrastination , luck of time , luck of space, illnesses all of these can cause chaos that is unwanted . No before picture but I will contribute to this and yes I'm not perfect :)

Genevieve and kpappal, I completely understand if illness keeps someone from keeping the house neat. I don't judge anyone else's house, but in mine, I HAVE to have it neat and clutter free. It keeps me calm and happy. I could NOT live with clutter.

I think everyone wants a neat and clutter free home. My organizational skills went out the window after a car accident, so I can empathize with those who have a hard time with that.

Already working on it. Last month I moved 6 truckloads of "stuff" out of my shed.

This month, it's paper! Yeah, I'm one of those who can't seem to get rid of paper, but I'm working on it.

Remember: 80% of our "stuff" is used 20% of the time. Think about it as you go. I'm trying to.

I find myself holding onto personal items / crafts my kids did in their early childhood etc etc. It's very hard for me to get rid of these sentimental items. Plus I like to pull out every couple years and we all share in those memories. I'm Thinkin maybe one day when they have kids. That their kids would love to see/ have these items . Your views/ advise . Thanks

Remodeling time in my house, so my dressing room has become the storage room and dumping place for things I no longer need. Time to purge so I can have my dressing room back.

tony1409-- When my kids were small, I invested in two large Rubbermaid totes, one for each kid. As they were growing up, I stuck/tucked in "sentimentals"--their baby books, photos, keeper artworks, outgrown special toys, favorite picture books, clothes, etc. As they got older, sports medals, trophies, school work and certificates, etc. went in. School pictures also, for every year. I figured I'd scrapbook their stuff someday, but it never happened. But, it was nice for when we decorated for their HS graduation parties! Everything was easy to find and put back. Their boxes are still "contained chaos"! :)

My rule with this system was "If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go in the tote"...but, when one tote became full (middle school?), I did have to get another one for each kid. Periodically each kid purged their boxes with me, too. (Why are you keeping THAT, Mom?? haha) I now have all their stuff in just two totes apiece. Someday I'll give these to them. For now, they store well in the guest room closets.

A box for each kid is a great idea, but another way to hold on to the visual while decluttering is to take photos of sentimental items that don't have a current use. (A mug, for instance, can be used daily if it's in good shape, but a teddy bear covered in years of slime and grime will probably just sit on a shelf, at best.) Taking photos of art work, toys, etc. and then having them printed in customized photo albums (so easy to do these days) is a perfect solution for someone who wants to have a physical/visual memory to show future generations. :) Save the things that you really have to *touch* or *use* to appreciate, and then take photos of those things that are important only in a visual sense.

Tony1409 I too kept a lot of my kids things. I gave a full tote to the oldest daughter and I still have the tote for the son with full intention of making a scrapbook. We'll see if I get it done before he moves out.

Wonderful ideas! I don't feel so odd after all .

Pantry/laundry/medicine cabinet! I live in 1 room so I have lots of stuff... Need to make it prettier though! Will repost

We were 30 years military and decluttering was a way of life! Imagine the relief when we retired from that life and got new jobs and a bigger house with amble storage ,an electronic shop in the garage, a study,a sun-porch /office and a professional office a mile from home plus storage.Suddenly he passed away and my daughter, granddaughter and I are slowly making a dent in the life that used to be and forging a head to create a new one.

Before and after for our office!

Awesome job!

I am so ready to do this! My family room has looked like I have a hoarder living out there the last 7 months. In anticipation of both of my kids moving out of the house, we have been collecting furniture and things. Literally piling it on top of each other. My daughter moved out two weeks ago tomorrow. I kind of forced the issue of her taking all of her stuff. She's the type that will take just what she wants and not deal with the rest. I do have some more boxes for her sitting in my living room to take up to her. My son moved down into that room so I had to find a place for all of my stuff that was out there (paint, coolers, etc) so those went into a storage closet I have that's now more junked up than ever. But I did get her room painted and new bed, bedding, curtains, furniture, etc. in it last weekend. I am now working on getting everything together to go in my son's old room. He should be moving out in a few months, and then I'm going to town! New carpet upstairs, get rid of more stuff. I found someone to take all of these stuffed animals that were brand new and she will also take lots of "chatchkies". I gave her two large bags of stuffed animals and some other stuff this week. Wish I had some pics of my daughter's room for the before and after, but no such luck!

Making progress.

Wow, houseatthelake, you are doing GREAT. Very inspirational. My disaster area is my walk-in closet. WAY too embarrassed to post a before picture.

Ok, I jumped head first into this one. Our master closet has been haunting me, and I would get a sick feeling when ever I entered the door. Here's my before pics.

I discovered that by pulling everything out, and sorting the "keeps" from the "keep nots", my husband is a clothes hoarder! But he's a visual reality kind of man and decided the outcome was better than the keepsakes. I added a new lightbulb and "Whila"!

I just joined the group so please tell me that there that there is a clutter challenge every month. I am sooooo pumped up after this one!

We're in. The primary purpose is to replace carpets in the 2 rooms that still are carpeted (take our word- it's a need not a want) with hardwood floors. Declutter is also an objective. One room is bare now, the other started clearout today. Don't think we'll be done by the end of the month as we're using wknds to do the work.

I am in. My computer desk is the first thing that you see when you open the door and I need to clean the area up.

A trick for your clothes is to put all hangers on the pole the opposite of what you would normally do. Then as you wear a piece of clothing, rehang it with the hanger going the opposite way. Then at the end of a season, check what items you didn't wear and really think of donating those.

That is my desk area clutter.

I've recently named my house "purge-atory." My mother-in-law passed away last year and all of her household goods (that had any "value") moved into our house. Then my father passed away right before Christmas (my mom died a few years ago), and our house filled up more. It was okay to go through it all slowly until I convinced my husband to go open concept with our house. The structural changes look awesome. The view of the things that we are "storing" in the open areas, really not awesome.

So I accept the challenge (even before I read there was one!). I am finding homes for (i.e., purging!!) items from our home that we don't use, don't need, and probably don't like. We will keep some of the special items that we inherited (that we love and will use), but I will de-clutter!

Oh my! Some of the posters' pictures are something else. Good luck all!

A friend of mine boxed up all her nick knacks for a month. Brought back out the boxes and discovered she really didn't want most back. Off to the charity they went and less dusting and upkeep for her. Great idea!

There always seems to be one room in the house where everything we don't know what to do with goes. For me always seems to be my sewing room. Going to change this behaviour if I don't know what to do with it I will either give it away or find a home for.

FINALLY!!!!! After a solid week (after work, Saturday, and today after work), a plastic bin (now in closet) two kitchen sized trash bags, and filling up the shredder twice, the loft is DONE!!! The desk on the right is empty and ready to be picked up for donation so that the daybed can go in its spot on Saturday. One pic shows what I came home to today (which looks good compared to when I first started emptying drawers), and the other is the finished product!! All I can say is never again...

just thrown one full garbage bag yesterday, work is still in progress!:).... gotta do it ;) sorry don't have the photo yet!

I took a stationwagon full of old clothes to the op shop on the weekend:)

I totally agree with the decluttering and mental health comment. It's one of the areas we do have control over. Afterwards, you feel so much better. Our minds are cluttered enough and looking around at an organized and minimal space helps clear your mind.

beverlynn - What a heroic effort! The newly cleared space looks soo nice and calm. I always have to remind myself that, I am not my stuff, my memories are not in the stuff, and I can honor the people who gave me the stuff by giving things I don't need or use to people who can use them and need them.

Thank you Catherine! You are so right! It was work! The desk was overflowing, I had papers on top, it was a hot mess! I had been intending to clear it out, but never seemed to get to it. Ordering the daybed forced me to get it done so that I can get rid of that desk. Now I am forced to toss, shred, or file immediately! I am also going paperless in some instances. @debbie56, that's why it was bothering me so badly! That room had become a catchall, and I couldn't stand it!!

Almost finished with my spare bedroom decluttering. Have given away a lot and tossed what is no longer useful. Feels good. Can't wait to have my spare bedroom back again for what it was meant to be.

I don't have photos, but we just moved from a 2100 sq ft house with two storage rooms in the garage to a new house 1400 sq ft. We rented a 15 Cu yd dumster and proceeded to fill it up!

Hey, Nancy, did you do that house project you were going to do on that thread awhile back? You were going to build on your existing land. Just curious. :)

No, we decided after my emergency surgery last year that we needed to be closer to doctors and hospitals, so we moved north of Albuquerque. There are two hospitals, one within 2 miles, and one within 8 miles. Our dr.'s office is about 6 miles.

Thanks for the info, Nancy. I hope you are enjoying your new home and I hope you are doing okay health wise.

I am clutter free and have been for years, here's my humble tips. Pretend you are going to move far away and have to pay for it to be moved and on a tight budget. All of a sudden things have less value. I give away family treasures to my friends as no family to pass on to and so enjoy when I go to friends houses and see my family things displayed with love! One other tip just two of us. "Really how many sets of towels, sheets, dishes, etc do 2 people need?"

Catherine Gibson, ask your hubs if he would consider some online tools such as: YNAB [You Need a Budget] and Home Inventory [by Binary Formations LLC]? For each receipt that enters your wallet/home, you can enter info into YNAB and for big-ticket-items or non-disposable items that have warranties, etc. you can also enter into Home Inventory. The info is ready to retrieve at a moment's notice, and you can scan the original receipt to append to the file -- whilst paper copy can be disposed of. You might prefer it over your current method, you never know. YNAB is free to try for a month.

OK- so I knew we wouldn't be done by August, but we did complete the project within a month of the 8/22 posting.

I finished this a couple of weeks ago - the before - in-between and finished room - Just need to repair and hang one set of curtains.

no way I'm posting a before, lol...however, I am de-cluttering [downsized, now living w/ everything put in storage and getting rid of it ruthlessly]...nice to give things to Goodwill and to goddaughter and friends, but now down to books/photos/papers/sentimental things ugh! getting rid of old receipts feels good...especially since incoming receipts now entered in YNAB + Home Inventory then purged immediately. #feelsgood

Yo on this I'm in the know - not doing the de-cluttering even though ya Know how good it is afterward. I moved over a year ago - so Finally one day... I got out the box of new folders and started sorting and filing all the papers that were scattered around ... better!

I'm all for filing those papers...but even MORE for not having papers to file! What we need is the info [data] from those papers, but not the papers themselves...unless it is a legal document. http://lifehacker.com/5883371/gather-these-twenty-five-documents-you-need-before-you-die