Daunted by decluttering pre-baby

Cassandramariec · September 2015

I admit it. I'm a slob. I've never been a particularly neat or organized person (I blame my artistic talents). But right now, the prospect of getting a home ready for baby is seeming impossible. Part of this is that we needed to move to a bigger place at least a year ago-- I seriously hope this happens before May-- but some of it is just me. I've been trying to work on decluttering and getting rid of stuff as I feel able between fatigue and nausea and lack of AC, but I am losing hope. Anyone else worried about reforming terrible housekeeping skills and living spaces?

yogahh · September 2015

We have so much stuff! I agree it's daunting. Take it one room at a time. You have time to work it out!

Cassandramariec · September 2015

The scary thing is I've been working in this off and on for three years...

vampirina · September 2015

We could be soulmates. I swear, my house is just PACKED with stuff and i just have no clue how we're going to fit baby in there as well. Our house is tiny and I just don't see us being able to move anytime soon! I need an organizational genius (and someone to convince hubby to pair down his wardrobe) to help me out! I feel like we toss so much old crap every week and yet there's always more. It's never ending!

lest12 · September 2015

I agree, one room or task at a time!

And enlist help. Do you have an annoyingly organized mother or sister who will be asking what you need them to help you do? Your husband has a friend who owes him a favor? Tell them to come over, buy them pizza and put them to work or ask them to help keep you on task.

asunna · September 2015

im so lucky i did this not my choice a bit ago
hubby and i lived in different countries seeing as hes military i had to move to america, but could only fly to said location..so ..i sold everything i owned except 2 suitcases
he lived in barracks so he had basically nothing.
our new house is quite empty....yay for no clutter!

you dont realize the amount of stuff you have over the years...

lmarie2009 · September 2015

I feel your pain!

When we moved into our house 4 years ago we put everything we didn't know what to do with in a guest bedroom. Now I guess we need to find places for all of that stuff. I'm hoping DH will be able to clear some of it out this winter during his off season but I'm sure our 14 month old will keep him busy. We will be taking it one step at a time. On the bright side, imagine how much better you'll feel when it is done!!

LadySamLady · September 2015

Yes - I too blame my artistic tendencies for my messiness! I'm counting on the second wind of the second trimester to tackle our clutter. I have never been particularly neat and right now maintaining decent living quarters is taking up all the energy I have. I'm just so exhausted all the time that it feels insurmountable. I am actually looking forward to unloading, just too damn tired to deal with it right now.

We can do it!

ccollins06 · September 2015

I'm reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Condo. The gist is that you must purge anything that does not "spark great joy." After you purge everything (methodically by category) then you organize. It hasn't changed my life yet as I'm still reading, but I'm hoping to make big changes around here in the next few months. You can google "Konnari method" to get a better overview.

nerdymama15 · September 2015

lmarie2009 Same here. We moved here about five years ago and just piled a bunch of stuff into a empty bedroom. It is full of stuff. On top of all that we have a second floor that we cannot use due to the heatpump not working on the upper level so it has been a spot to collect junk. DH and I both have issues with clutter. Sad thing is I know where everything is amongst the clutter, but whenever it gets decluttered I can't find a dang thing!

countrygrl5533 · September 2015

I'm one of those annoyingly organized people. I really wish I could come help some of you. I seriously love purging and organizing.

mrstmoose · September 2015

I'm like @countrygrl5533 I love organizing things but....our spare bedroom (future nursery), still has leftover wedding gifts and other extra stuff in there that needs a new home/stored until we move next November (yikes). I think our plan is in November/December, start going through everything and seeing if we can store some things at my mother's house until we move into a bigger place that has more storage (right now we are renting a 2 bedroom apartment and will hopefully be moving into a 3 bedroom house with a basement). Just one step at a time! I make a ton of lists to help keep me organized.

aamm04 · September 2015

If you haven't touched something in 6 months, throw/donate/sell it. DH and I made a list last night of things we want done before the baby gets here...we will tackle one thing one our days off, and one thing on Sunday's together.

aamm04 · September 2015

countrygrl5533 said:
I'm one of those annoyingly organized people. I really wish I could come help some of you. I seriously love purging and organizing.

This!! I love organizing.

kmd0501 · September 2015

I feel the same. We just moved into our house a year ago this December and our new nursery has been the storage space for unopened boxes. We also have named it "the dogs room" because they sleep on the spare queen bed in their. I'm dreading having to clear it all out. But I figure the longer I wait, the bigger I get, the less I can lift. Ha ha. But I feel like once we have some baby things to put in their ill get super excited and want to hurry and do it. But it's still early.

Cassandramariec · September 2015

Just the article about that life changing tidy up book I read made me so annoyed when I read about it awhile back. I love my books! I can't get rid of my books! And I'm a mixed media artist-- all the random papers and doo dads everyone else thinks are junk are art supplies! And yes, I have several boxes of clothing to alter, but I sew and there's a reason I bought that item! With a few changes here and there, it would be cute! And then there's his geek paraphernalia and electronic... Stuff.

Really, I'm trying to pare down. If my husband and I both had copies of books, for example, keep no more than one paperback (for lending and travel) and collectable versions. Go through my projects and assess if I will really ever use certain things, or if a clothing item is worth fixing. He has been working on his stuff too-- filing papers and organizing and only bringing in Legos and comic books, no space hog type collectables, and getting rid of orphaned chargers and things not worth fixing. But it's just so much!

Ugh. I belong on hoarders.

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