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I left my unhappy home in 1999 with my clothing, my hi-fi, the Omega watch given to my dad when he retired in 1980 and little else. Storage space in my new life was not an issue I had to concern myself with.
I was still in pretty good shape three years later when I met Chris. If there’s a polar opposite word for a person who hoards, that word would describe Chris, at least in 2002. Chrissy has a less is more philosophy, I hope that doesn’t say anything about me, but I digress. When we first got together, the only thing in that girl’s basement was the washer, the dryer, and her cat’s litter box.
Somewhere between 2002 and 2026 things changed. There were things of mine that had been at my folks house that found a new home with me. The beautifully organized walk in attic in our two year home was running out of space for our stuff. We have lived in four homes since we met, and it seems we bought things to adorn each place, and stuck many of the old treasures in the attic.
So this week we pledged to purge. The cap and gown from my high school graduation; it could make an excellent drop cloth, but no, it’s gone. A box of old routers and mystery cables, gone. TV stands for TVs mounted on walls; I once used a set to build Covid barrier in my office, but they’re in the garbage now. Enough wicker baskets to open a Pier One store, donated. An inflatable bed, maybe used one time, gone. Christmas, Easter, Halloween decorations no longer used, gone. Some really cool giant candle holders; the cancer society thrift store should make some good money on those. A very manly pair of severe weather boots; homey don’t go outside in deep snow no more. And those 32 inch waist jeans; who am I trying to kid?
Newly emptied storage boxes were repacked with all the donatable items, which now has my SUV bursting at the welds; the thrift store should make a few bucks with all those goodies. Our big garbage tote is stuffed with stuff that no one would be interested in. We also gave our maid some chairs and a humidifier from the office I no longer occupy.
There are no more loose things cluttering up the attic. The 12 big brown storage boxes are now filled with things we can’t part with; many are nearly empty. Chris numbered them with a big white sharpie, and we created a spreadsheet with each one’s contents. I suppose you could say that we made the attic great again. My children will thank us posthumously.
My wife periodically gets a telephone call from my cousin–a confirmed purger–who asks, “what are you throwing away today”. That starts my wife on a hunt through our considerable hoard to collect a load for the trash or charity. I’m thankful, though. We need to get lean. Great post.
We sold our home of 32 years last September. It had a large, moist basement and two attics. When we negotiated with the builder for our new home, I insisted on not ordering a basement. It cost $45,000 extra and one of the reasons we moved was to avoid stairs. My wife reluctantly agreed but it was the right decision. BTW, I found a box in the basement of the old home that we moved in 1993 and had never opened.
Huh,
A spread sheet for storage boxes, you must be a retired engineer.
When we built our retirement home we (my wife mostly) purged a lot of belongings. When we moved in I set a law that the full sized attic would never have a ladder installed so nothing could be put up there. Our basement (something most New England homes have, but I know is not common everywhere in the US) is the only place allowed for storage. Mostly it contains totes of our children’s things. We have been storing a set of my daughter’s grandmother’s dishes for over a decade (expensive to ship cross country). Just this month my sister offered me a set of MY grandparent’s dishes which I showed an interest in four decades ago, but alas no longer. My daughter said she wanted them my grandparents’ dishes, but we were a hard no on storing a second set. She is working it out with her aunt.
Of interest: My grandparents china is nearly 100 years old. My niece declined them because old china was manufactured with lead. I had no idea.
Hmmm. Another reminder to deal with all those pictures downstairs. My sister has done some similar cleansing. I don’t think I’m adding to the pile of stuff, but I’m not decreasing it, either.
Our spouses must be related. We’ve been downsizing our household (or storage unit and luggage) since we combined households.
Ironically, it’s her parents whose home and belongings will be a bear. At least it’s very organized, it’s just a lot.
My wife would probably get along well with yours. She has often said that everyone who doesn’t move every 5 years ought to rent a dumpster (or two) and clean out their home. And having cleaned out a couple of houses left behind by loved ones who passed, I can attest to the favor you have done for your children.
VHS tapes, DVDs, CDs and CD players, old collectibles that I thought would be valuable, old IPODs, useless exercise equipment – and much more.
Dan, we’re maybe some of the lucky ones. We remodeled our 70-year-old bungalow and converted the attic into living space — great for the extra room, terrible for anywhere to actually put things. These days the garage is pretty much it: our storage unit, museum, and last line of defense, all in one.
That squeeze turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though. Years of having nowhere to hide clutter has made us ruthless about only keeping what we actually need. No attic full of “we’ll deal with this someday” boxes, no Christmas decorations breeding in a dark corner — just the garage, holding its line. So no spreadsheet required. When your storage space is basically a shoebox, the inventory system tends to sort itself out.
Christmas decorations breeding in the dark corner? So that’s the reason Chrissy keeps Santa and Mrs. Claus in separate boxes!
Huh Mark, and I have always thought that garages were for storing cars.
David, in nearly 40 years of owning homes with garages, I don’t think I’ve ever actually parked a car in one. Mine have always been far too busy serving their true purpose: storage unit, workshop, and overflow attic, with “shelter for vehicle” a distant fourth on the job description.
The garage is definitely a multi-purpose space, but for me, parking the cars and having a good work space top the list. We Yanks love and pamper our automobiles.
LOVE this post! Good job dealing with all that ‘stuff’. Where we live, I’ve seen entire houses and garages filled–floor to ceiling–with lifetime accumulations of ‘stuff’.
I generally don’t get attached to many items. If I haven’t used something in more than twelve months, I tend to get rid of it. The exceptions, not surprisingly, are anything related to my dogs. I still have every ribbon won by any of my dogs in a competition. I have individual scrapbooks for each of them (past and present). I have tubs of leashes and collars and training tools and toys. But even all of that would probably fill just a single hall closet in most homes.
Earlier this year I parted with two boxes of old report cards, diplomas, letters and cards (from my childhood). I scanned many of the items and they are now stored in a cloud-based drive so I can access them again if I ever want to. It felt good to purge many pounds of paper from my life.
Kristine, I’m glad you liked this one. I think you would like my Christine; she prefers a quiet night at home with Sophie the wonder cat over hanging out with people.
We live in a new 55+ community, and I also see garages overflowing with accumulated stuff. Why would someone want to move it all? Your one year rule makes a lot of sense.
I agree–it sounds like I would get along splendidly with your Christine. I will take a night at home with our dogs over…well…just about everything else.
How do you like your 55+ community? We really like ours and are learning how much we appreciate having so many easily-accessible services. I also adore how much the folks here look after one another.
Dan, this made me laugh, especially the 32-inch waist jeans. I think many of us have a few things tucked away that represent more optimism than reality.
When we moved from Maryland to Florida, we did a major purge and thought we had finally conquered the accumulation problem. Somehow, over the years, the closets and garage began filling up again. Now, as Joey and I contemplate eventually downsizing from our house to an apartment, I’m realizing we’ll get another chance to decide what we really need and what we’ve simply been storing.
I like your last line. One of the best gifts we can leave our families may be fewer boxes to go through after we’re gone. And apparently, a well organized spreadsheet telling them what’s in the ones we couldn’t part with.
Nicely done, Dan. The attic is indeed great again!
Thanks, Andrew, I thought the forum was in need of a little levity, I’m happy to attempt some comic relief.