My husband and I have been decluttering our basement, what I have called, my area of secret shame. We made great progress on his birthday when we both had decluttering momentum going for us. Since then, it’s been slower progress. We have been fighting feeling overwhelmed and decluttering the basement one corner at a time.
Clutter Free Zone
When I started decluttering our house, I declared a clutter free zone in the kitchen. Every time I looked at it, it reminded me that a clear counter was possible. Even when every other inch of the counter was full of stuff, it brought a sense of order to the chaos. My husband and I discussed using this method for our basement project. We declared the stairs a clutter free zone. The basement may still be in a state of chaos, but the stairs are kept clear on a daily basis. It is a reminder to us of what is possible in the basement.
How to Continue?
Ever since we cleared out recycling and trash in the middle of the basement, we have come to a slow halt. Neither one of us has felt motivated to declutter at the same time. When I have felt motivated, I’ve taken things down off of shelves, but I usually don’t get very far since I’m not sure if the items should be kept or tossed. I’ve tried to pile things into similar categories, but that only results in piles all over the basement floor.
In order to make progress, we need to work together. I motivate my husband to make decisions and he decides what stays and what goes.
The past couple of weeks I’ve gone down to the basement and just stood there looking around. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of small items that need to be considered. To be honest, I have been overwhelmed, and usually walked back upstairs, too tired to do anything (see tips on best times to declutter here).
Put the Needle on the Record
I finally walked back to the furthest corner of the basement where our sump pump is located. This corner has shelving that will be ideal for items that will be kept. There are two shelves of vinyl records back there and several shelves of scanners and printers for a project that my husband wants to do someday. I was hopeful that we could agree to donate/recycle/trash some of the items there to free up some space.
Before
Since our record player is not connected anywhere in the house, the records don’t get played. I casually asked my husband, “so, the records, what were you thinking about those?” He stated that one of the boxes was his brothers (ok, texting him now to let him know they need to be reclaimed); and that one of the shelves were old family records (“old family records that need to be kept?”).
He managed to reduce his keep pile from two shelves to one. During the process, I tried to gently encourage him to evaluate them with these things in mind:
- Does he love the record?
- Could he get a digital copy of the record?
- Getting a digital copy of the record would enable him to listen to the album frequently, versus practically never.
He made a good point that the reason why he has them on vinyl is because they’re not available on cd or digital download. I’m not positive that’s true, but I’m pleased that we were able to free up some space.
After
Future Art Projects
We also talked about the printers and scanners in the shelves. They are for an art project my husband has a vision for. My husband’s brother suggested awhile ago to set a deadline for the projects that he wanted to do. If he didn’t complete them within that time frame, then he would take that as a sign to get rid of the items for that particular project. My husband is open to that idea.
Progress
We filled up two large black trash bags and 1 large bag of recycling filled with student artwork and our children’s drawings from years ago. My husband was able to let go of things he had been holding onto because they were functional in the past. He realized that they were no longer useful in the present and he was able to release them.
Before and After Bookshelves
Before and After Records
I was really proud of him. He recently said, “You know, I used to come down to the basement and think – ooh, ooh, space (to store things in clever ways)…now I come down and think – ugh, stuff that I now need to deal with”
I love your husband’s comment about the shelves! I too used to feel that they were places to put things, and now I just want to get rid of things. I have two rooms in the basement to attack: My sewing room and the spare room where there is a huge shelving system (wood, 2×4’s, heavy duty and full.) I have a lot of “just in case” stuff that I need to part with and realize IF I need it in the future, it is not going to cost much to purchase.
That’s great Lisa! It sounds like you too are changing the way you think about your stuff. So freeing.
I absolutely love the whole idea of this blog! Decluttering and simplifying is such a great message in a world where we are told to acquire more and more! I am currently working on organizing bits of my home and plan to come back here for further inspiration!
Thanks!
Thanks Jelica! I’m so glad you dropped by – I would love to see you back here!
Great- you are making progress!! And he’s starting to change his thinking. Hurray
Thanks for the encouragement Melinda! He is indeed starting to change his thinking.
It’s amazing how getting even one shelf straightened out can give you a little momentum and piece of mind.
It’s true Jill. Thanks for seeing the value in one shelf! I appreciate your encouragement!
I have been thinking about “progress not perfection” as I unpack, because I want it to be all done right away but it takes a lot of time to figure out where everything should go. If i get a few things unpacked each day, it’s progress! You are definitely making progress on the basement! I have to say that I agree with him about the vinyls though. There might be a few available for download but when I was getting rid of our tape cassettes, I was surprised about which things weren’t available online. Old kids recordings, classical, and anything that hasn’t been sold since the 70s isn’t available digitally. That said, I’m rethinking whether to keep some of the family dishes I have as I’ve been unpacking them.
Susannah, have you heard of the Minimalist’s idea about keeping things in boxes to figure out if you actually need/use those items? I think I might do that if we ever move. That way it’s all packed up for donation or trash. One thing that’s very obvious is that I’m much less sentimental about things than my hubby. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Angela, I think there definitely have been things that were out of sight and when I rediscovered them, I realized that I didn’t want them anymore, but I am much more likely to decide I don’t want something if it’s in front of me daily and I still don’t use it. With clothing and kitchen items, I feel like I will use whatever is ready to hand, so I don’t feel like putting it out of sight means I wouldn’t use it if it weren’t easily accessible. But if I bring it to the forefront intentionally thinking about whether I still want it or not, some feature that I don’t like about it will become more obvious and it’s easier for me to get rid of it. I’m not sure if that makes any sense, but I’m a little leery of the idea that putting something in a box is a way to see whether I need or use it. I definitely won’t use it if it’s a box, so it feels like I’ve already made the decision to get rid of it if I decide to store it that way. Maybe it works better with items other than clothing for me.
That makes sense. The “keep it boxed” method might be one for people who just pack things up before a move without really regarding whether they want to keep it or not. It’s an interesting idea anyway – but one I haven’t tried! Thanks for your thoughts.
It helps to keep me motivated when I hear that you are moving at different paces but that compromise and movement come with patience.
Thanks Theresa. It helps me to know it helps you! Decluttering our basement together has been eye opening on a lot of different levels. Thank you for commenting!
One step at a time, hey? 🙂 Decluttering is so overwhelming when you try to do too much too fast. We have busy lives. Don’t despair, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel… or at the end of the basement! 😉
Thanks Julie! If only I had a magic wand…but then I’m sure I would be missing out on valuable lessons if it all suddenly disappeared and was organized. Thanks for coming by and commenting!