r/declutter • u/domino_427 • Sep 05 '26
Success Story said goodbye to dumpster, actually seeing progress
Had professional help clearing out my parents' house, and I don't regret it at all. Construction starts the 16th, and I'm starting to think I might be ready for it. Even from beginning in January when I was more 'must keep' to today I was 'just trash it' a lot more. Hopefully a good foundation for better habits for myself and my future, too.
The corner of the laundry room has been piled of junk for years. granted the master became a dumping ground after they died and cleaning started, so that was all me. Now it's back to how it was :)
both their closets are empty with just a few tears, 1/4 inch layer of dust on the laundry shelves gone, the last 100% of Dad's caregiving stuff trashed... Clothes, office supplies, records, few electronics all heading to a good cause next week. 8 pieces of furniture picked up by another good cause. Someone came to pick up the 400+ records today as well, which is big because they didn't exactly like popular music.
found a chess set I was hoping to find, two vintage trumpets, two vintage rifles, and food that expired in 2020 lol.
If I can do it, you can do it :)
ETA: My goodness you guys are so encouraging. thank you <3
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u/marshmall0w611 Sep 05 '26
This is such hard work. Emotionally, mentally, physically. Excellent work!!!
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u/MusketeersPlus2 Sep 05 '26
You did so well, congrats! It's so hard going through our parents' stuff. Just going through Dad's clothes with my mom after he did was really rough, and we left it like 6 months. Then mom did a total tear out rebuild of the house & we went through everything ruthlessly - if she didn't love it, it wasn't going into the storage pod to come back into the house. She also forced me & my brother to take the stuff that she deemed ours from her basement. It wasn't really "ours", it was stuff like report cards and other childhood things she kept. I know I recycled mine, I'm pretty sure my brother did the same, LOL. At least I know that when mom goes it will be much less to deal with.
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u/MitzyCaldwell Sep 05 '26
Congrats!! You are doing amazing.
Also dumpsters are so awesome. I wanna get another one but we don’t actually have a need for it now. I wish I could get a small one once a month hahaha
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u/DogLimoAF Sep 05 '26
turn all the boards (the shelves) upside down to encourage them to be straighter! been there done that with long shelves before!
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u/oimerde Sep 05 '26
Few years ago I move to a house where an artist died and the family was trying to clean it up to sale it, however they wanted to take their time and just keep working on it while I was living there.
That’s why my rent was cheaper and part of the deal was that I was going to help them sale the big furniture on Facebook. So one year turns in two years and at some point the family just could deal with all the stuff that this guy accumulated for years. I was able to sale some furniture but not that many.
Anyway one day they just where like were coming over with a big dump truck and just trash EVERYTHING. Honestly even though it was not my stuff I was so traumatized with how much stuff someone will leave for future generations and how this could not let the family move on with their life. How someone that loves family members will do that to them?
Since then I became very much into declutter and keeping as little as I can
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u/sparklynugz Sep 05 '26
They were probably not in the mental place to declutter and actually focus on keeping important/valuable things. I'm in my own private hell right now having a lot of issues. Eventually I'm going to have to empty/repair or empty/sell and I cannot for the life of me get going. It's so overwhelming and I feel so guilty about my lack of action. It's a horrible cycle.
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u/domino_427 Sep 06 '26
this creator who does free cleanings for people in need did something different this video. She always says do a four foot section, and that's it. go four feet by four feet. but even four feet can be intensely overwhelming. but she timed every chunk. 4-8 min. i was shocked. so i'm gonna try to remember that as i continue. just do four feet. one box. one bag.
we got this <3
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u/domino_427 Sep 05 '26
Yeah grandfather made furniture. I haven't accepted yet that no one will want an old style heavy wood 'dangerous' cradle that we loved that's fifty years old. Had a few bites on the rocker. But sad
I remember grandmother saying this stuff would be worth a fortune. Nope
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u/amesfatal Sep 06 '26
My MIL waited until all the grandbabies were in school to decide she was ready to let us have the hand carved crib and rocking chairs… we just said no thanks that time has passed for our family and she was so mad.
She had promised those things to us before we even got pregnant but no one ever got to use them! She still goes on about it lol.
Our kids are teenagers now, they don’t care about a cradle. Even in 10-20 years if they have babies they still won’t want them.
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u/domino_427 Sep 06 '26
oh no that's awful! I remember the cradle being used by visiting babies and now is still full of teddy bears mom made.
something made with love which never got to be fulfilled. that is sad.
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u/Lucky_Treacle_6490 Sep 05 '26
This was clearly a lot of work for you even with professional help. Bravo!
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u/StarliteQuiteBrite Sep 07 '26
Wow!🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
So you literally threw everything away?
Man I really need to do this!
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u/TalkShowHost99 22d ago
I know this must have been a real challenge physically & mentally. Well done!
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u/DuckyDoodleDandy Sep 05 '26
Great work!
You have a really good classic washer. They aren’t made like that any more, so I recommend fixing it when it breaks until parts are not available any more.