No wisdom but I definitely can relate to the part about being overwhelmed. One thing that helps me is the concept of "consolidation" which kind of fits in with baby steps. If I tell myself I have to get rid of all the clutter and make everything spic and span, then I crash and burn before I get started. But if I tell myself I only have to spend just a few minutes to sort thru a small stack and find something to throw away (kind of like a treasure hunt) or give away, it will be time worth spent, every little bit helps. I will have made the pile a little smaller, that's the consolidation part (or I guess you could call it compression.)

Anyway, you know what they say about how you eat an elephant....

The other thought I had is about those items you don't want to throw away or give away, where to store. I think thinking about storage and coming up with a major high level vision of being able to actually keep what you want to keep in some type of storage is important, probably at the very beginning. I haven't been able to do that. I can't decide whether I want to have some shelves/cabinets built in or whether I want to buy some furniture, can't decide how best to use the garage, and/or attic....so guess being overwhelmed is going to have to be my predicament for a while. In the meantime, I am consolidating, bit by bit.

Best Wishes,
--Alice

Major bummer, Susan. My advice:

1. Open a box on top.
2. Take the first thing out of it.
3. Evaluate whether to keep, give away, or toss.
4. If keeping, find a place for it. If giving away, get another box or a black plastic trash bag, put it in there, and put that by the front door. If tossing, take it all the way outside to the garbage immediately.
5. Go back to the box, and take the next thing out.
6. Repeat steps 3-6 until the box is empty.
7. Start with step 1 on the next box.

I know this probably sounds sarcastic, but really, I don't mean to be. Sometimes the only way to get started is to tell yourself that you only have to deal with *one thing*, and then deal with that one thing. The hard part is getting the box open, and taking that one thing out to deal with, so my suggestion is that you do just that for starters. :-)

Good luck - keep us updated on your progress...I can't wait to see that lovely new furniture! :-)

Oh, no real words of wisdom (except maybe to say, *take* a couple of baby steps), but a lot of sympathy and encouragement.

And maybe the suggestion that, some of that stuff belongs out of your house?

Can you get a friend to give you a day, just to help w/ that? Or an evening? Even if all they do is keep you on task?

Oh, and: The truth is that I haven't a clue how to organize this stuff--could it be that you need infrastructure?

If things have a place, it's easy to put them there, even if you don't quite know what sort of container to put them *in*.

My sis had one of those old antique houses once.The bedrooms were microscopic,so she knocked a wall down and enlarged her master bedroom.I've seen people outfit a small bedroom with the california closet stuff.IMO utilizing a house is more important than recreating a bygone era .People's needs are different now.Look around your house and see if you can find some space for storage.I've also seen the area behind staircases boxed in as a storage area.

Thanks, everyone. I took your suggestions to heart (even printed yours out, Jamie), and also read over some other threads on this forum. I'm psyched to get this job done, and done right. When I do, I'll share pictures. :-)

Susan

I recently helped a friend move. And I have been shuffling my stuff around for 1-1/2 years for a renovation. Now I am convinced: Most Americans have way too much stuff. We don't need all this stuff! If you aren't using it, toss it. If you ever need it again, it would be cheaper to replace it than to store it, at what cost, mentally and emotionally? Give things to Goodwill. Throw other things away. Lighten the load. Streamline. So much stuff we have is here today, gone tomorrow. Throw it away.

If it is sentimental, have a Memory Box, create a display, and or take a photo of it.

Somethings lose their attractiveness over time, so if you do consolidate, then open the box a few years from now, you may be able to whittle down what is most important to keep.

Nothing but plastic storage boxes for me. I've seen what can happen to cardboard boxes in a damp basement - the sides crumple and hold moisture. From now on, all things in storage will be kept in plastic boxes.

Karen