@gardengus - glad I'm not the only person who has had trouble finding her desk. Each time I whittle the paper & assorted whatevers down, the desk somehow gets buried deeper. But at least I found my spare pair of glasses. Now if only I could find my spare keys.

I wish I could find my camera charger. I keep it in one spot and now the stupid thing has decided to hide on me when I need it most. If I lose power this weekend I'll probably find it then because I'll get bored and clean up several spots in my room.

Cinda, sounds like you made good progress. I am missing my pearl studs if you find them on that desk give me a holler...I looked everywhere here! The darn things 20 years old and lost 40 times....they turn up in the darndest olaces!

@MISSINGROSIE - funny how those things happen. Abracadabra! Now you see it, now you don't.

Oh dear. I may be forced to do something about my office. Tidy it up if not truly declutter. I have a handyman who is going to help me replace the blinds in my office that are literally hanging by the proverbial thread. I'll at least have to clear a path.

Bingo! I just pitched 4 to-do lists from my nightstand! Too bad only 1 landed in the waste basket.

On my list: tackle the office supply closet. I previously ran a business out of my home, but have been retired now for 3+ years, so time to 'let go' of stuff I will not be needing. Ever. My computer itself is also in a slow-dying phase so need to look at replacing that.

Ooh, handymen! That's what I need! The neighborhood association prez said he's going to find us someone, but I'm doubting that! Local handymen are scarce here. Getting handymen from the big city tends to be more expensive, but we did resort to that last year for our big plumbing job. I envy people who don't have ADD and have the organizing gene. Imagine actually knowing where everything is!

I'm working under pressure here to get organized. We heard a crash while watching the football game. At first, we couldn't locate the source. In a front bedroom, the 12' closet rail and the support (that also held the shelf above) pulled out of the wall. This is a "catch all" closet of heavy coats, tablecloths, out of season clothes, etc. When the rail fell, it also pulled down the shelf above. That one had old records, special seasonal decorations, way too many gift bags and tissue paper, etc.

I don't know if we were upset, or relieved that it was the closet railing. It could have been something much worse, I guess. We had a terrific wind blowing through all day yesterday. The first thing I thought was that a tree had fallen onto the side of the house.

So now, I'm tasked with removing "stuff," and giving away clothes we'll probably never wear again. It's going to take a lot longer than I planned. There were also photo albums on that shelf, so I have to stop and look at them....

I'd better go back and read through this thread. The downstairs furniture is covered in clothes. Yes, I'm procrastinating.

I hear you when it comes to photos very time consuming.
I inherited boxes of my MIL 's photos and DH has no idea who most of the people are so I was at a stand still what to do with them, then my dear son said he would scan them to disc

We've scanned all our parents' photos, but not our own. I did go through lots of our own and wrote on the back who was in the photo and where and when it was taken. I thought our daughter might want them one day. We have scanned some of our photos that had begun to change color, but it was really time consuming.
I remember when my aunt knew she was dying, she asked that I go through her things, keep what I wanted, donate her clothes, and dispose of the rest (she meant taking the rest out to the garbage cans). She had collected antiques for years and saw people at estate sales going through someone's possessions and photos, and laughing at why in the world they had kept this and that. It took me a long time to let go of all the photos. I finally realized that most of the people in the photos were strangers to me because they weren't IDd in any way.
Today I unzipped a bag with two WWII Navy pea coats of my Dad's and my uncle's. No wonder the closet pole came down! I guess I'm hoarding....

Edited to add: I just finished reading all the posts in this thread. Whew! I think I'm in good company. I'll try the "one room at a time" plan to begin.

Making stuffed animals from my brothers fav shirts and denim.... if the young seamstress I gave them to gets moving I may have them this century

What I have found helpful in decluttering is to reward myself after tackling a drawer or closet with a bit of organizational accessories -- new baskets or hangers in a closet, custom dividers in a drawer. Makes me want to KEEP the newly organized area neat and tidy.

Deb that sounds like a good idea but for me it takes up more room. I should have put in more closets!

Rosie ...

If you have more closets, you have more stuff. That's the way it works.

For years, I told my sister the only major thing I needed in this house was ONE more closet. Since I was forced to declutter in October, I have more than enough closet room. I never did need one more closet. I just needed to get rid of more stuff.

I think that's the case with most of us, Lyn. If we pare it down to just what we need and use, we all have plenty of storage space. I'm working on mine....very slowly! I am much more loathe to buy things I see that I love. I already have too much.

I agree with the 'less stuff' philosophy. Our master bedroom closet is fairly small, but really, it holds enough clothing for both of us. I recently cleared out all the extraneous clothing I rarely or never wore, and love having space between my hangers, and to only see clothes I actually like and wear. Hoping to keep it that way - someone new in, something old out. I do pack up seasonal items (long johns, summer duds) and keep those binned under the bed.

I do the same thing, Deb. I only want to see what I can wear right now. Of course it gets hard when we have one day we could wear shorts and the next day it's long johns!

Deb ... I think you have an advantage due to your climate.

You, as do all of us, have to deal with your gardening clothes vs town clothes, but I don't think you have to deal with cold winter clothing vs hot summer clothing.

I have to change out my closets for the seasons because I do not have enough space for both seasons in my closets and drawers. AND I am only one person ...

The same is true with bedding. It does make a difference ...

Coats take up too much space here. I have dress, barn, winter , fall/spring, rain...to many coats a lot because of our weather.
One of my clutter control efforts that works for me:
I keep a box just behind the bedroom door and have made a serious effort to fill it every month.
I have been doing this for about three years now. When I run across something I can do without it goes in the box , if it is not full at months end I start sorting through drawers and such.

I've been doing that too, Cinda, and I manage to fill the box every month. It is a good feeling, and I'm not missing anything I've donated.