Tag: Packing party

Packing party – a sum up!

I never knew, when I planed out doing a packing party, that it would turn out to be as hard as it was.

It sounded so easy, this idea about doing one room at a time, for just a few days. And I had this notion that it would go by in a flash, and would reap large rewards in decluttered items.

Well, that’s not quite what happened, as you probably have gathered from how long it actually took me to do this!

I started out real good, and then somewhere half way, I ran into a bump, mostly due to the fact that I really didn’t have enough boxes to pack things in. And I did not like how cluttered my guest room was becoming, from all the discarded items from my other rooms. My own fault, as I couldn’t seem to get the items out the door, because I was fumbling around, never taking the time to actually take the pictures and sit down and write the post about them. Yeah, my bad, I know!

I’m telling you, it will be a long time before I try something like this again… if ever 😉

I did learn a thing or two though during my declutter party!

I learned that I obviously have short staying power… the first days out, I wanted to do my whole house all in one, but as I had said I would do one room at a time, I had to pace myself… Yeah! I’m not good at that. I’m more of the the get it done now kinda person, rather than the slow haul kinda person… guess I should keep that in mind for my next project 😉

I also learned that as much as I had decluttered, there are still “mountains” of stuff left that could probably go out-the-door, but I have also learned that sometimes we need time, before we are “ready” to let it out of our lives.

The things that have left my building during this packing party, are things that have survived several culling before, and I can see there are a few items, that made it through this round, that will most likely go out the door, next time around (after I’ve had a minute to think about it).

I guess this is just the way it is, slow and steady getting there, on our path towards minimalism!

Even though I never quite got rid of as much as I hoped I would, there was a few rooms that surprised me in the “loots” they provided.

I expected to find most of my stuff in the living room and guest room, this is not quite how it turned out, even though these rooms wielded the bigger items. It was the kitchen and my bedroom that surprised me most, as these where the rooms I was sure I had already gotten down to the “bare bones”. Guess it just goes to show, that we change our level of needs and wants as we move along minimising our possessions.

Since I have called this post packing party – a sum up, I guess it’s only fair to let you in on what my packing party amounted to in out-the-door items.

So here it is a total of 194 items out-the-door! 

Not quite the number I was hoping for, but chipping away at it will get me there in the end 🙂 Fortunately this time around there was a few “big” ticket items, leaving me with a bit more “empty” space as a result!

As with a lot of things in life, it’s easier when you get a little help along the way. I could not have done this without some of my fellow bloggers, who have either decluttered alongside with me or cheered me on. There are to many to mention, but you all know who you are 😉 All I can say is, Thank you!

Packing party – guest room and living room results!

It’s raining outside, and it’s time to let you inn on how the last part of my packing party went!

As you might remember from a few weeks back, I told you my guest room was next on the list.

Weeeell… it didn’t go quite according to plan… The guest room is a horrible room to do the pretend packing party on, as I think I probably have almost as much stuff in this one room, as I have it the rest of the house put together!

As I mentioned before, the room have a few big huge IKEA wardrobe cabinets. And since I don’t really have any indoor storage rooms, I use these cabinets to store all my linens, towels, guest bedding, sport items, computer peripherals, office stuff, Christmas decorations, photo collections and I could go on 😉

As good as my intention was to pull everything out, pack it up and leave it for a few days, I lost heart somewhere in the middle and just couldn’t do it..

You see, I have gone through and decluttered this room several times over the last few years. And there have been soo much stuff that have gone out-the-door, specifically from this one room, that I’m now having a really hard time.

But, even though I didn’t pack it up, I still found a few things, that needed to go out-the-door, which after all, was the idea behind the packing party 😉

When I did my living room, most of the stuff that I found that needed to go out-the-door, got “stored” in my guest room, so below you will find the result from both the guest room and living room.

So why don’t we just get to it! Here it is, the results from my living room and guest room – 56 items out-the-door! I have to admit, it’s not as much as I would have wanted, but this time around, there are a few bigger items, so storage wise, I have actually cleared out a bit…

Guest room – 30 items out-the-door

  • 2 long wood candle holders
  • 1 flower pot
  • 1 travel iron
  • 3 books
  • 2 very large vases
  • 1 spatula
  • 1 travel headset
  • 1 makeup bag
  • 1 platter
  • 1 leather foot rest
  • 1 tennis ball
  • 3 puzzles
  • 1 battery run toothbrush
  • 2 charger “stations”
  • 1 wool carpet
  • 1 smartcard reader + misc cables/plugs
  • 1 cable tube
  • 6 practice golf balls

Living room – 26 items out-the-door

  • 1 small “vase”
  • 1 VHS tape
  • 1 glass bowl
  • 2 DVD Cases
  • 4 table place mats
  • 1 table runner
  • 2 fruit/decorative bowls
  • 1 large glass decorative bowl/vase
  • 4 glass candle holders
  • 1 large headset
  • 2 tall vases
  • 1 gamegear
  • 9 games to the gamegear + 1 box to keep them in
  • 1 glass vase
  • 1 glass decorative bowl/vase
  • 3 small glass vases

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Packing party – Kitchen! And results!

I knew I would run into trouble with my kitchen packing party, and I was right.. I sure ran into a bump in the road with this one. And I have to confess, I did not pack it up like I should.

I’ve decluttered my kitchen, so many times, that every time I opened a cabinet or drawer to empty it, I took one look and realised that there wasn’t really any reason to pack it, as I would just put all the stuff right back where it belonged… So I didn’t, pack it that is!

My bad!

But even though I did not follow my own rules on this one, I did however manage to shed a few things after all 🙂

And here it is, my kitchen shed;

  • 4 measure cups
  • 2 knives
  • 1 mixing bowl
  • 1 set of tiny glad bowls to store food in
  • 1 metal water bottle
  • 2 serving bowls
  • 1 swiffer duster handle
  • 4 cleaning cloths
  • 2 dinner plates
  • 1 trash bin
  • 1 food scrap trash bin
  • 2 cereal bowls
  • 1 frying pan
  • Bunch of small river rock, sand and shells for decorations – count as 5
  • 1 terracotta plant watering “tube”
  • 2 ice cube trays
  • 1 pair of chop sticks
  • 1 thong to grab hot bowls
  • 1 broken soup bowl – that obviously didn’t want to hang around it’s siblings any longer…
  • Bunch of decorate stuff for flower arrangements – 17 items

I can’t believe it, that actually turned into 51 items out-the-door, that’s kinda cool! (small happy dance going on here 😉 )

So what room is next?

As I mentioned in my last post, doing the hallway would just be a joke (or a very easy pass) as my hallway is the size of a stamp, and the only thing in it, is the entrance door and a closet. And not to mention that this closet I have already gone through several times, and there is nothing left to get rid off. If I take a seriously good look, I might find a pair of shoes that could need new shoelaces, but other than that, only a few dust bunnies are to be had 🙂

Then there is the guest room. That’s a whole other ballgame! There is no doubt it needs to be done… but right now it looks like an overstuffed piñata, filled up with; boxes from other rooms that are not quite emptied yet, some of the stuff that is going out-the-door that I’m hoping I will find takers for, piles of out-the-door items I have not written about yet ++ It’s been literally treated as an overflow area during my packing party, and it’s a hot mess.

The guest room is NOT going to be fun, as I have a few big huge IKEA wardrobe cabinets, filled with stuff. Since I don’t have much storage rooms, I use these cabinets to store my Christmas decorations, photo collections, electrical stuff, towels, bed linen, guest pillows and covers, golf stuff, other smaller sports stuff, speakers, printer, cables… you get my drift, yes? It is where I store everything!!!

So this is how this is going to go!

This coming weekend, I will clear the room of all the “junk”, unpack the items that belong elsewhere, and prepare myself…

For the following weekend, which will be crunch time for the guest room 😉

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Packing Party results – part 1

Hi there,

I’m sure you are all wondering if there have been any result from my pseudo packing party, at least with regards of items out-the-door!

I’m happy to say that yes, there have been 😉

There aren’t any big ticket items that I’ve found I can get rid off, but there have been a bunch of the little things. Those items that hide in between the stuff that is easily “seen”. The items you don’t notice because they are just part of the rest of the stuff or collection or… you get my drift 😉

This time around, we are talking result from the bathroom and bedroom packing party. The other ones will follow 😉

I am a bit shocked when it comes to my bedroom. Since I wasn’t doing my closet, I really didn’t think there was much left to toss, as I have cleared the place numerous times… but it turns out, there were, as you can see from below 😉

So let’s get to it. How did I do? Well, here it is, 87 items out-the-door!

Bathroom – 33 items

  • Bunch of cosmetics, brushes, nail files, nail clippers – 16 items
  • Bunch of creams and lotions – 7 items
  • Hair stuff – 2 items
  • 1 body brush
  • Bunch of random stuff – 5 items
  • Bunch of contacts lenses I can’t use – count as 1
  • 1 towel rack

Bedroom – 54 items

  • 1 old worn out small backpack, it’s travelled just about every place with me, it’s sad to see it go, but it’s beyond repair..
  • 1 laptop cover
  • 1 broken bracelet, that I’m obviously not going to fix as it’s been like this for the last three years
  • 1 broken hanger
  • 1 jewellery/watch tray
  • 8 jewellery boxes
  • Purse cover bag + some plastic cover bags – count as 1
  • Bunch of small tubes of massage oil, aeons old and probably no longer useful – count as 2 as I had 2 bags of them
  • 1 magnetic picture frame, never used
  • 4 instant hand warmers (bought for a bike trip long time ago, and never used)
  • 1 hand sanitizer and 1 bottle of ?? (for the same bike trip) – count as 2
  • 1 ice pack (Bought long time ago when I was a goalie (handball and soccer), I’m only keeping one bag for emergencies)
  • 2 covers for hanging clothes
  • 1 funny scroll about Norwegians (damn, I forgot to take a picture of the text before I tossed it 😦 )
  • 5 bags for packing stuff when you travel (I have several, and these I’ve never used)
  • 18+ pieces of misc stuff
  • 3 wall posters
  • 1 wall poster tube

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Packing party – Living room!

Hi there,

it’s that time again. Time for me to tell you how I’m doing with my living room packing party.

Like with the other rooms, I started a little early (Wednesday) but I have a confession to make… I didn’t really do all that OK with packing everything I have in my living room. Mostly because, I ran out of boxes, and truth be told, steam 😦

Let me explain. I started up, pulling everything out of my big credenza. But realised really quick, that if I was to fill my boxes with bowls and decoration, I would fill them up in no time and have no room for all the other stuff. So I used my boxes for stuff from drawers instead. Filled them up with computer items, table cloths, candle holders, cards, games, papers, small decoration pieces, all that little junk that I had stashed away everywhere.  And not to forget the DVD/Blu-Rays, that was a whole box on it’s own. And that wasn’t even all of them.. good thing I’m already working on a separate watch myself out of my movie collection project 🙂

After all the boxes was full, I took the decorations from any surfaces in the living room (with the exception of lamps and my grandfathers old typewriter) and stuffed them into the credenza instead, just to get them out of sight.

Right now my living room looks a bit bare (compared to before)… and I love it! I know I was only supposed to leave the room “empty” for 48 hours.. but I’m liking it so much I’m having a hard time putting things back on the surfaces. So I won’t. Yet!

I am however unpacking the rest of the living room stuff, to free up the boxes.

There are a few things that I know will be going out-the-door as a result of this living room round 🙂 Unfortunately I have also come to a conclusion, that will most likely result in me getting a few new items 😦

I have a lot of decorative pieces made out of clear glass, and they are really nice, but I’ve realised that since they are all clear glass it takes a “lot” of them to show up! And it quickly becomes cluttered.

I think I need to change it up a little, maybe bring in fewer and bigger pieces. We will see! Right now I’m just going to leave it nice and “empty” and slowly incorporate items as I find the right things.

So what room is next?

I seem to be having a bit of trouble with this one. You see, since I live in a small home, the only rooms left are the kitchen, entrance hallway and guest-room.

Doing the entrance area would just be teasing you guys, since it is the size of a stamp. Seriously, you open the front door, take one step in, then take one step to the left.. and you’re literally in the kitchen.. the hall is that small. The only thing I have in my “hallway” is one closet for outerwear and shoes.

The kitchen, I have gone through so many times and it is about as streamlined as I can get it.. that I’m not sure what purpose the packing would have..

And then there is the guest room. This is the room I have been using as a stash space during my packing party, which have resulted in it being filled with all the other rooms “leftovers”. It seems like I need to leave this room for last, as I need to clear out the other rooms leftovers first. And I could need a week or two for that 😉

What to do, what to do???

OK, I know.. while writing about my last rooms, I’ve decided I could probably do with one more round in the kitchen 🙂 So guess what?

Kitchen it is! Are your coming?

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Packing party – Bedroom!

As you probably know I’ve started on a small pseudo packing party challenge. I started out last weekend with my bathroom, as I thought that would be an easy place to start, since there is a limit to how much I can actually fit in my tiny bathroom 😉

This weekend my bedroom was up. My rules stipulate that I pack up on Fridays, and unpack on Mondays. Just like with the bathroom, I started up a day or two early, to give me a few more days with an “empty” bedroom.

I boxed up everything in the bedroom with the exception of my medical drawer and my clothes.

Why didn’t I pack up my wardrobe? Well, I’ve been chipping away at my clothing for the last couple of years, and the result is that I have gotten rid of at least half of what’s in my closet. And since I’m pretty happy with where my closet is right now, I didn’t feel the need to remove it all, and then just hang it right back up. So there.. I kinda figured since it’s my party, I get to do what I want to 😉

Turn’s out, that not packing my clothing and shoes, there wasn’t much left. I emptied all the drawers and it still only amounted to one box, as I actually managed to clear out a few more items from what have survived earlier culling. I couldn’t believe there was anything left to get rid off.. but obviously there was.. guess that was the reason for this packing party after all.. to really get down to the nitty grittys 😉

Below are a few pictures of my bedroom “decluttered”! Having it empty have made me realise I need to get some art up on the walls, as the room is quite bare. I have in general been extremely slow at decorating my walls. Maybe that can be a small project, for when I’m done with my packing party.

Now for my partners “in crime”!

  • Moving Forward is doing her cupboards. So far she’s done her bathroom.
  • All-Round Better me – is back from travel and seems to be deep into some decluttering tasks again!
  • Every Week Is Green – just mentioned she might join us..  it will be fun to see if she does…

Next room – Hmm.. let’s see…. I think… living room! Anyone?

You are wondering about the stuff going out-the-door? Well… for the time being I’m piling it all in a heap in my guest room. I will write it all up in a post, when I’m through with my packing party… it’s going to be fun to see how much it actually amounts to by the time I’m done 😉

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Packing party – Bathroom time!

As I mentioned last weekend I would start my pseudo packing party in my bathroom. Following the rules of my version of the packing party, I would pack up on Fridays, and unpack on Mondays. Well, I have to admit, I’ve cheated (yes already)… I was so antsy to get started I packed up my bathroom Tuesday this week 😉

I boxed up most of everything, with the exception of items like hair dryer, laundry bin, trash bin, weight scale, toilet brush holder, floor mat as these are things I knew I would use during the week.

I kept out one towel for me, one guest towel, toothbrush and paste, hand soap, my home made shampoo and conditioner, body oil and face oil (also home made), contact lenses, vitamins I take daily, one bottle of liquid bubbly bath soap (which I have used up already) and one bottle of body lotion I’m trying to use up.  Oh yeah, and the jar I collect plastic in, since I now recycle this after my plastic challenge.

I never really had all that much in my bathroom to start out (as you can see from my packed away stuff below), but I have to say… it’s been freeing living with just about nothing in my bathroom. So much so, that I have decided that I most likely will not unpack all my stuff tomorrow. There are a couple of things I will add back, like a few towels, the basket I keep all my laundry stuff and soap in, a couple of small grooming items and a small jewellery box.

Everything else I will keep packet away and only pull out as I need them over the next few months. I already know a few items that I have decided will not make it through this round, so that will go out-the-door within the next days.

Below are a few pictures of a cleared out bathroom.. unfortunately I forgot to do a before picture. I could off course pull everything out, just to take a “before” picture… but nope, that’s not going to happen 😉 You will just have to make do.

Now for my partners “in crime” 🙂

  • Moving Forward is doing her cupboards, following my lead on what rooms to attack 🙂 Check out her bathroom job.
  • All-Round Better me – is travelling right now, but might join in when she is back…?
  • How To Be Myself – might do a “light browse”, with my “moving test” questions in mind?
  • Free but fun – are moving in May, so they are knee deep into decluttering already.

Next room – bedroom anyone?

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My pseudo packing party!

I mentioned a few days ago that I’m doing a pseudo packing party. Mostly inspired by the realisation, after having participated in my step-mums house move, that I most likely still have a lot of stuff hiding in nooks and crannies, even after my decluttering effort the last year(s).

I decided there are a couple of questions I need to add to my regular decluttering rules, questions like;

  • If I was to move to a different country or a smaller house, would this item be worth paying good money to have it moved, or would it fit in a smaller lifestyle?
  • Would I keep this item if I myself had to physical carry/haul this over to the new place, with no help from anyone…

I don’t want to do a real packing party, like The Minimalists did, as I don’t want to cover up everything I own, and live in boxes (especially after the last few days), but I decided I want to do a smaller version, where I “pretend” I’m moving and therefore have to go through my stuff as if I was packing up for a move. And while I go through my stuff I will evaluate the items according to my regular declutter routine and add the questions above to the mix!

All round better me – one of our fellow bloggers – quickly asked me what it involves, joining my “packing party”!

My original plan was to just “pretend (in my mind)” that I packed up room by room, and while I was going through my stuff I would use the questions above, hoping that that would make a few more things go out the door.

But, All round better me’s question made me stop up and think, that maybe I should do a “proper” job 🙂

So I have made a plan for my pretend packing party. Now! If there are anyone out there that wants to join me, you choose yourself what it is you want to join this “party” with. You can do a room, or a closet, or the cupboards (Therese?), or an area of your house or the whole house. Whatever area you feel you would like/need to give a once over 🙂

The key is – you need to empty the space you have chosen!

Since I’m doing most of the house, I’ve decided I need a plan, to keep it from becoming to overwhelming:

  • I will do one room at the time
  • I will not touch any of the furniture (the original packing party covered them all up, but I’m not going there)
  • As with the furniture I will not touch the TV, cable, stereo ++ as it’s way to many cables to mess with…
  • I’m not touching my books, as I’m doing those separately as part of my read a book program
  • I’m not touching my photo collection as this is a whole project on its own
  • I’m not buying any moving boxes or packing items. The idea is to get rid of thing, not have to buy anything to get that done. I will use boxes, bags, suitcases I already have, and I have “borrowed” some of my step-mums moving boxes. If I have no boxes to use, I will stack the stuff in piles, use plastic bags or whatever I have. The key is, if you are joining me, use whatever stuff you have to pack in 🙂
  • I will store my “packed” items in a different room than the one I’m packing – if possible!

Packing:

  • I will pull things out of my cabinets and drawers and pack away everything that is not going to be used the first 48 hours.
  • While I’m packing I will use my declutter system and ask the questions mentioned above
  • I will only keep out the items I know I will use the next 48 hour (e.g toothbrush, clothing, cups and plates and so on)
  • Then I will “sit back and relax” and enjoy my clear space for the next 48 hours. Why 48 hours? I’m thinking that that will give me just enough time to enjoy my empty space, and also contemplate on what I really want to put back in, when I unpack!
  • Since the space is empty, I figured this is as good a time as ever, to do a proper spring clean! So maybe not so much relaxing after all 😉

Unpacking:

  • I will only put back the items I really want or absolutely need in that cleared space.
  • Since I’m only putting back the things I really want or need, I’m sure I will have leftover items. These I sort through again
  • Items I know I’m keeping that belong somewhere else, I will put where they belong. If that is in a room that is next on the list, I will still put it there, for me to go though again, together with that rooms stuff.
  • Items I’m getting rid off, I will dispose of either as donate, sell or toss (recycle off course).
  • Items I’m not sure about, I will keep packed up, put a future date on them, and store out of the way until that date and then get rid of anything I have not taken back out by then.

When? 

I’m lucky to have some long weekends I can use for this task, and I was planing on packing Fridays and unpacking Mondays!

Saturdays and Sundays will most likely be used in the garden as spring is finally on it’s way, and there are plenty, and I mean plenty of things to do outdoors 🙂

I thought the month of April would be a great time for this job! But, since I have a whole house to do, I will start as early as next weekend, and I’m starting in the bathroom!

Jump on in, any time, from now through April 🙂 And why not blog about it? Let me know, I’ll add your links to my posts 🙂

And remember! A great rule when you are trying to decide what stays and what goes:

Choose what to KEEP, not what to get rid of! 

 

Packing it all up! The number of stuff….

Only a few more things to do, and then my step-mums move is finally over. Monday was the day the movers came, and boy did it turn out to be a long, loooong day 😉

The last few days have been crazy with packing, disconnecting electrical items, cleaning up the new place after all the workers (who incidentally are still not done.. according to the grapevine. I believe they are putting the finishing touches on the bathroom today), the move itself, unpacking, reconnecting electrical items +++

All I’m going to say is this… moving is a pain in the… 😉 and I’m glad it wasn’t my house this time around!

I would like to think that, now that I have cleared away quite a bit of stuff, it would be reasonable easy for me to move (if I ever were so inclined) but having witnessed the chaos of the last few days, I’m not so sure any more.

I knew my step-mum had quite a few things, but I didn’t realise how much, until stuff came crawling out of the woodwork. And I’m starting to think that even as much as I have decluttered, there are way more, than I realise, hidden away in my nooks and crannies.

Maybe it’s time I take another look at all the little things that are hiding in “plain sight” in my closets, drawers and shelves. See if there isn’t a way to reduce even more. I should probably implement the moving test going forward with my decluttering task. A moving test, huh?

To me, this is to implement questions like;

  • If I was to move to a different country or a smaller house, would this item be worth paying good money to have it moved, or would it fit in a smaller lifestyle?
  • Would I keep this item if I myself had to physical carry/haul this over to the new place, with no help from anyone…

Hmm, I can think of a few things that would not survive the “hauling it myself” test 😉  I mean, even if thing are small and don’t take up a lot of space, I’m telling you, when you pack all that stuff in a box, it quickly becomes a heavy load of stuff… and even the smallest box becomes heavy after you have lugged around 50 of them!

I don’t think I’m quite at the packing party level, like The Minimalists did, especially after the last few days (if I don’t see another moving box again, I would be really happy), but I can still “pretend in my mind” I’m packing up, right?

So that is what I will do… ahem… in a couple of weeks time! I just need to get this current move out of the way first, and there are still a few things that needs to be done (guest bedroom/office to set up, basement storage room to sort out, curtain rods to be hung, pictures to put on the walls, books to unpack… you get the drift) before I can lean back and relax.

But at least I have made the decision (and a decision is half the work, right? 🙂 ) to do a pseudo “packing party” as soon as this real “unpacking party” is over…

Want to join me, in my “packing party” endeavour?