Congratulations! I can't believe you did all that in just one day. Maybe that's the secret: being on a time schedule gives no time to rethink each item picked up.

We took a car trip this weekend to see my dd and she purged her books and magazines as well. I came home with the box she put aside for me (lol).

I was amazed, too, Marie. I thought the books would take all day. The deciding made me dither, but actually, it went pretty fast. It helped that I tended to have "collection"--my Dick Francis mysteries, Margery Allingham, etc.

So it was a matter of deciding whether to keep that AUTHOR. And when I decided to send Dick Francis to my mom (she asked), that was 41 books! Eliminating Ruth Rendell was worth 8.

I called someone for both sessions--my mom during the books, and my old friend who helped me clean out LAST time during the closet. It helped a lot--didn't feel so lonely.

Oh, I can't wait to go home tonight! (which is unusual--the place has been in such disarray, usually I don't want to GO there).

Hi Talley_Sue,

Whoo Ray for you! Most excellent! You're inspiring me...

I'm going to go thru my storage unit stuff after it get's delivered by the movers and then I can get it picked up by the city when our city does our Annual Spring Cleanup. I can't wait. I'll be $244 a month richer and I'll have the rest of my true junk purged. But I'm afraid I still have more to go when it comes to really purging all the way... But I'm getting there.

I really need to go thru the boxes of books in storage... these were put there long before I got into the purging way.. The books that stayed (and didn't go into storage way beack when...) have been purged through already... But even those probably could stand some purging.

I found a great organization around here that takes books. They even are very happy to get tech books, even if the topic is out of date (who wants a book on Cobol?) or if there's a newer edition of it out... I.e. Perl Programming...

More and more to get rid of! And yeah more and more space :) and freedom from clutter :)

Cheers and Congrats!!!!!
--jans

Wow, Talley Sue! Throw some of that my way. I need to purge like crazy - an empty closet. Is that possible?!

103. That's something. My great aunt will be 100 next week. We purged for her when she moved to an area of the nursing home that offers more care. I need someone to purge for me.
     A few months ago I threw away size 10 jeans that I loved the color of. That took about eight years to do.

no, no, no, don't get TOO excited--a half empty closet, and an empty cabinet.

But both much needed.

The next big hurdle will be to get rid of the fabric!

Talley Sue, that's great! Here's a hug & a pat on the back for getting rid of that suit.

I'm off tomorrow, and I hope I can get half as much done as you. I think I'm going to work on either the hall closet or the sewing room. My craft supplies are one of my biggest problems right now. I like to do floral stuff & I have boxes & boxes of really nice silk flowers. I know I won't use all of them and if I need something in particular for a wreath I can go to Michael's. I guess it's just hard admitting that I'm not going to have time to do all those things.

Greta

Wow - good job Talley Sue! Keep inspiring us :-)

*Great* job!!! Congrats, and well done!! Sounds like you had a very productive day...you're going to smile when you look in that closet tomorrow morning!! :-)

Oh, that must have felt wonderful. And good for you about being ruthless on your closet, but I feel for you about the suit. I have a tough time getting rid of good pieces that either don't fit or have gone hopelessly out of style. I kept a bunch of pleated skirts for 12 years, hoping they'd come back in style, before I donated them. Figured out later that pleated skirts aren't a good look if you've got hips!

Congratulations on a well-spent day. I'm going to try to work on books this weekend.

Wonderful! Sounds like you're really energized. Wish you could send some of that energy down here. I especially liked when you said you couldn't wait to go home! That is what this is all about, at least for me, having a home/haven that really brings you peace, pleasure, joy, etc.

Great job Talley Sue! Perhaps you could be the star of a sequel movie, "Two Closets and a Funeral"! LOL! It sounds like you really got a lot accomplished. I have really found that the more of my clothes I get rid of the better I feel about my wardrobe. I know it sounds dumb, but really if you only keep what you really love or really fits good, you are more likely to actually look better most of the time! This truly is a "less is more" experience!

Brenda

No, no, no, not the fabric! Well, maybe a little. LOL. Congrats. I know that must have been hard . Wow, an empty closet, hmmm. Brenda, you're a hoot.

Man, Talley Sue, what a coup! It's funny how we keep stuff that we never will wear again. I've been trying to do that but---. You've given me a push.

so proud of you
shirley

Thanks! It was fun to open the closet this morning--in fact, yesterday, I stopped in to look at it.

I could slide the clothes around, so I could take one off the hanger without disturbing the others.

And I wore a jacket today! It's the one leftover from a suit--the pants wore out.

I like this jacket--a nice boxy fit without being way trendy (and therefore out of date---this was pre-marriage!).

But you know what? It's old colors! It used to match half of the shirts I owned, so it was a great thing to grab when I needed one--black pants, teal shirt, this jacket.

I don't wear teal anymore--the shirts I used to wear w/ this have worn out or been outgrown (ahem). I wear soft colors--pinks and yellows (but oddly, not green or blue or coral), and true blue-green. Can I bring myself to get rid of it?

The other thing that has happened is, the bumps are all in different spots. So stuff that *might* fit, or seems it ought to be the right size, won't.

But I could SEE the suit jackets.

There are way too many empty hangers still in the closet--but I'm thinking of keeping them, because they restrict how much I can slide the clothes around, and they keep me from thinking it's so empty--so I won't go fill it up with other stuff.

I laughed when I read that your husband had asked you what you would wear now...isn't it strange how a closet full of clothes gives us some type of security that we "do have" something to wear, when in reality if it doesn't fit or is not our current style it simply hangs there unworn? Go you!

We did our bagging for Goodwill last week in our closet (still have DD's to do).

And I have done the same thing!!! I have to keep stopping to look at my decluttered closet, and admire my work!!!

Good Job.
I need to do my closet.
Ginger

You are an inspiration to me. it is amazing how much you can get done in a short time if you focus.

I've been reflecting on my experience ditching all that stuff, and I realized:

Not one of those decisions was hard. In fact, I already *knew* I wanted to get rid of that stuff.

So this declutting problems--having all the stuff that needed to go out--wasn't an emotional or decision-making problem. It was purely logistical.

It takes *time* to declutter. And it takes *time* to deliver stuff to the donation spaces. Not having that time is what has been holding me back. I don't have any trouble being willing to get rid of stuff. I just have trouble carving out the time.

It's been nice to be able to shove stuff to the side to get my coat out, etc.

And I dressed up yesterday for a family party (celebrating a 25th anniv), which I haven't done in a while! All because I could *find* the clothes.

Low carb? Honest to God, haven't had a Rolaids or Tums that I used to keep in my pockets for a year, down 30#, and fit into clothes that I'd think a child should wear, not me!

I'm purging the carbs!

Great job TS!

I need to keep reinforcing that even if I could get back into the sz 10Âs I would feel foolish wearing the styles in public! I use to wear suits everyday; it's very hard to give away nearly new name brand suits even if they are 10-15 years old.

Excellent, Talley Sue!
Mustangs, I also have trouble purging expensive, well-made suits. If they require tailoring, I don't want to have them tailored until I lose weight, which I am now (finally, but slowly).

I am throwing away the large, brown felt silver liner from my beautiful Pennsylvania House side board. I don't own silver silverware, and as beautifully made as this object is, I haven't used it once in the ten years that I've owned this piece of furniture. It is still wrapped in plastic. Now I have somewhere to store my white porcelain Advent wreath and 10 new boxed sets of pink and purple Advent candles. I'm set, candle-wise, until 2014. Next year it will be so easy to find them, in the room where the Advent wreath is used. Yippee!

be sure those candles don't deform over the next many years.

I laid my cylinders (thin, like tapers, but not tapered) on their sides in my wall unit drawer, and every one of them is bowed.

And they're the only ones I can find that will fit in the candleholder I love so much.

You are an inspiration, Talley Sue!!!!

Talley:

Thanks for the advice about the candles. Since they have been laying down for a couple of years (I bought fifteen boxes after Christmas one year, I'm hoping they don't deform in the drawer. Sorry about your candles! My silver ware thingy is out in the trash can. I resisted the ruge to trim the large piece of brown felt from the top. Actually, it would be good for school diaramas. Oh well.

I was absolutely blocked in organizing the basement and garage because of 5 left-over metal cabinets. Yesterday my son came and put 3 out at the curb (they're from the 1940's)and shifted the 2 in the garage to the back wall (for storage). What a blessing! I can now organize (throw out?) both of these areas. My neighbor will be pleased, since half my garage stuff is over in his garage because of renovation at our house. I can see what my spring and summer will be like.