Organizing and decluttering the homestead

[tortoise]

I lean towards minimalism, but it's interesting to see where minimalism and self sufficiency pull in opposite directions.

I don't have "any" books. EXCEPT a few books get a free pass. Canning books, a butchering book. Etc. Things that I MUST be able to do in the event that the internet is no longer a resource. Also helps me to take notes about past batches, what temperature, what substitutions, etc.

Canning and preserving supplies get a free pass. 3 identical food dehydrators? You betcha! I'll run them all at the same time, weeks on end. Etc.

I struggle with finding balance. I'm thankful for a basement and outbuilding for storage. But in those areas I struggle with keeping them organized. It's ME not putting things back where they belong when I'm done with them.

 

[Beekissed]

I lean towards minimalism, but it's interesting to see where minimalism and self sufficiency pull in opposite directions.

I don't have "any" books. EXCEPT a few books get a free pass. Canning books, a butchering book. Etc. Things that I MUST be able to do in the event that the internet is no longer a resource. Also helps me to take notes about past batches, what temperature, what substitutions, etc.

Canning and preserving supplies get a free pass. 3 identical food dehydrators? You betcha! I'll run them all at the same time, weeks on end. Etc.

I struggle with finding balance. I'm thankful for a basement and outbuilding for storage. But in those areas I struggle with keeping them organized. It's ME not putting things back where they belong when I'm done with them.

We have the same problem....minimalism vs. the material goods to produce food and preserve it and tools to work the land. Then there is scrounging for materials for making other things and having to store those things neatly and not go overboard with collecting. In this current world, there is so very much waste that I could fill this property with potential repurposing materials in very short order...then it runs into hoarding, so I control myself immensely. Too, too tempting!

Books, though, we consider a necessity, since we have no TV and the winters can be long....you'll hardly ever find me or Mom without a book nearby~we never go out the door without one, as one never knows where they will be waiting and want something to do with the mind while doing so. We like Reader's Digest condensed books due to the getting 4 stories in one book and how cheaply they can be had, both older and newer ones. We have a floor to ceiling book shelf in the cabin that is jammed full of books, three and four deep on the shelves.

 

[treerooted]

Since we've moved less then a year ago I'm still in declutter, organizing, unpacking mode.

Unfortunately the selling and moving didn't go as planned and I wasn't able to do the decluttering beforehand...at least not to the extent needed. Right now I'm trying to empty all boxes and I've moved all stuff to be sorted into one room. The "office" is completely full, but at least the rest of my house is presentable and now I have one area to tackle. I have too many books for sure; things that will never get picked up again need to go.

As for the outdoors, it's an old farm so there's plenty of junk. But the wood piles have been a godsend as it's enabled us to fix up an old coop. I'm currently keeping my eye out for free materials but I know it can be a slippery slope. At the moment I'm not too worried though since our projects far outstrip our materials. Though the only thing we've started stockpiling so far are pallets.

The really big thing that needs decluttering around the house is old papers....it's a crappy job so it only gets worse year after year, but I'm determined to get it done this year!

I also had big plans for farm tracking; chickens, garden, wildlife, etc. But I completely flaked.

 

[tortoise]

I filled another paper grocery bag for goodwill today. It was shockingly easy. Also filled an extra trash bag. Also shockingly, shamefully easy.

I bought an endtable, nightlights, a blankets and pillowcases this week so I'm purging more due to that.

 

[baymule]

We downsized 2 1/2 years ago from 2500 square feet to 1500. We got rid of tons of stuff. All of our furniture was oversized and none of it would fit here. The man buying our old house bought our furniture. But we still have too much stuff.....

 

[treerooted]

We upsized, so right now we've got lots of space

But my parents are downsizing...so it's working out. They brought a little UHaul with them the last visit lol. We've bought very little furniture ourselves, and even less new. So the house won't make it into any interior decorating magazine any time soon

However; I'm still in desperate need of organizing and decluttering (my house, my farm, my life....)

 

[tortoise]

I filled another trash bag and another goodwill bag today. Seeeeriously. I just did a major purge in December! Feels good though. The more stuff I remove the better my kids behave.

 

[treerooted]

That's awesome tortoise! I hope I can join you soon...I should have bags and bags of papers to recycle.

My husbands just gone out to organize the shop - he bought a couple shelves on half price. Guess I should go out there and give him a hand now that the little ones off to bed.

It does feel soooooo good to get things cleaned/organized. I can't wait to have practical usable areas all over the property.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm so jealous Tortoise! I need to go through my breezeway, my kitchen and my closet.

DH NEEDS to get the garage organized! It is wall to wall "stuff" and would make any hoarder proud, lol. Can't totally blame him because some of it is my son's and some of it is still left from the first husband!

Sooooooooooooo....

Several years ago I came home from work and walked into the house and immediately smelled smoke. I went in every room and couldn't find the source. I walked outside and saw my neighbor - called him over. He did the same thing I did...went everywhere and couldn't find anything burning. There was no obvious smoke, but we were worried that something might be smoldering in a wall so I called the fire dept. They sent one guy out and he walked in the house and immediately called for a fire truck!

Fire dept couldn't find anything either until we went into the garage. My son had been storing some things in my garage and there was a big craft type magnifying glass sitting on a cabinet by a window. Upon closer inspection there was a big ol' piles of ashes on the top of the cabinet. LUCKILY, we had the top of the cabinet covered with some of that concrete backer board that's used for something in construction, lol. The sun had come through the garage window, hit that magnifying glass and had burned a stack of peat pots I had stored there. It had burned on top of the concrete board which thankfully had stopped the fire from spreading even though the wooden cabinet under the board was scorched black - but thankfully it hadn't ignited.

The point of this long story is that my garage was/is so full of crap that the firefighters told me that they never would have been able to stop a fire in there. That's scary stuff....and what's even scarier is that it's still full of crap. GRRRR!

 

[Beekissed]

Whenever we have a big project like that, we call in reinforcements and promise them food as a reward. When the shed was REALLY bad, I called up a few of my sons and asked them to come to a "working" at our place so we could get the shed cleaned out...in their interest too as this is where they stored their hunting stuff at the time.

Monday we'll be doing something similar...need to tear down and rebuild our outhouse, so am inviting my sons to take part again and will have a cookout that evening.

FEM, maybe you could plan a "working" with family and friends so they could help you clear out that garage and get a good start on it all.