How would you proceed?

[Muddled]

If you needed to go through your entire house and declutter/purge, where would you start? Would you go room by room? Some other way? Give me your plan.

Right now, my best plan is to bring in doglove.

[spindle92]

Room by room but then break each room down into sections.

For me, if the project is large I put it off forever but if I can break it down into smaller sections it seems more manageable.

[Muddled]

Jul 20, 2014 14:51:00 GMT -5 spindle92 said:

Room by room but then break each room down into sections.

For me, if the project is large I put it off forever but if I can break it down into smaller sections it seems more manageable.

Which room do you start with?

[spindle92]

Wherever you keep the alcohol.

[tiramisu]

I'm posting here because I need to do this too.

Last time I started with my clothing. I think this time I might start in my kitchen. Or I'll start in the second bedroom, since that's where I've stored everything for which I don't have a place. Which means lots of it should probably just be donated.

[Deleted]

I would start with bathroom because you can do it fairly quickly and get a sense of satisfaction and motivation for the next room.

[partiallysunny]

I start either in the room that would be easiest (usually if I'm feeling overwhelmed) or the room that drives me the most crazy (this is what I usually do, lol).

If you have the time I find it easier to set a goal by week. "By the end of this week I'll have my bedroom organized". Then break it down even more: "by Monday my closet with organized, by Wednesday my desk area, by Friday I'll go through my dressers, and my Sunday I'll have the whole room scrubbed."

[SwimDeep]

I would go closet by closet...I'm good at stashing things in closets, so everything I need to de-clutter is in one of the five closets in the house. I would pick a closet (probably the bedroom closet) and start there. I'd make two piles: Donate and Trash. Anything that doesn't end up in one pile or the other probably belongs in the closet.

And I can become weirdly attached to things, so I would do everything I could to not think too much about what I was donating or throwing away.

I really wish I had the time to purge right now.

[doriswe]

In theory, I start in one room and move on to the next.

However, what really happens is I start in one room, take something out of said room, get distracted by something in whatever room I just walked into, start decluttering there, take something out of that room, lather, rinse, repeat. So then end up with piles of crap everywhere...I get discouraged, quit and watch crappy tv!

[gault]

Jul 20, 2014 17:32:57 GMT -5 doriswe said:

In theory, I start in one room and move on to the next.

However, what really happens is I start in one room, take something out of said room, get distracted by something in whatever room I just walked into, start decluttering there, take something out of that room, lather, rinse, repeat. So then end up with piles of crap everywhere...I get discouraged, quit and watch crappy tv!

This is me.  Packing takes longer because I get distracted by SQUIRREL or PHOTO ALBUM

[motzie]

Jul 20, 2014 14:43:38 GMT -5 Muddled said:

If you needed to go through your entire house and declutter/purge, where would you start? Would you go room by room? Some other way? Give me your plan.

Right now, my best plan is to bring in doglove.

I already called dibs! She's coming to clean out my basement. It's going to be wicked fun. You are welcome to join in if you'd like some inspiration. 

When we started, I did it in a stupid way, but it made sense to me. I started with my own clothes, shoes, bags and purged all that first. Then I went closet by closest. Then H and I had a couple set days for either the garage or basement. I had the Salvo come and do a big pick up, so having that date in mind helped and I made sure to get the pile as big as possible. 

Also, pretend you are moving and have to carry everything yourself. Is it worth it? Do you need x, y, z?

[Muddled]

Ugh.

[polarbearfans]

I need to see real progress in the first steps, so I start with something I can get done in a reasonable amount of time and something that would be noticed by someone else. Like a cluttered surface. Put on some good music, open a bottle of wine, and get to work.

My husband won't admit it, but it is because of my hard work that our move wasn't awful.

[pinkplasticdoll]

I start in one corner of a room and work my way out. I clean out dressers, bins under the bed, cabinets or anything in my way. I pile it all by the front door then haul it to my car and donate it.

[Muddled]

Jul 20, 2014 23:37:28 GMT -5 pinkplasticdoll said:

I start in one corner of a room and work my way out. I clean out dressers, bins under the bed, cabinets or anything in my way. I pile it all by the front door then haul it to my car and donate it.

You just haul it out to your car, eh?

Come ooooover. I'll pay you in doughnuts, bagels, and beer.

[Muddled]

Jul 20, 2014 17:32:57 GMT -5 doriswe said:

In theory, I start in one room and move on to the next.

However, what really happens is I start in one room, take something out of said room, get distracted by something in whatever room I just walked into, start decluttering there, take something out of that room, lather, rinse, repeat. So then end up with piles of crap everywhere...I get discouraged, quit and watch crappy tv!

This is me. It's horrific.

[Deleted]

Man I wish I was there, I could really use a lot of time to just throw $hit away.

[captainmel]

I've been doing this to my house for the last 3 weeks. It is so fucking fantastic in here right now! I started by walking through the house and identifying my major areas that weren't being well utilized/were the most disorganized. This was super helpful to me because it helped me release some of the interlocking clutter problems. (I can't do all my laundry because there isn't enough closet space to put it all away)

I had to start by unlayering all the problems so I ended up starting in my sewing room. Once I got all my fabric stored so that I didn't have to have it easily accessible in the closet I had a shit ton more closet space for my clothes. Now you can organize the closets. Tada! Proceed on with this process until you no longer belong on an episode of hoarders.