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Mrs. Murfreesboro: Resolved: Accumulated stuff must go this year



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By: JEANNE BRAGG, Post Columnist
Posted: Sunday, January 4, 2009 8:07 am
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Since I’ve been writing this article I’ve said that I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I don’t keep them. But that won’t be the case this year.

This year I’m resolving to get rid of half of the inventory of this house. You know ... that stuff you push aside but never use. And the sooner the better, I’m thinking. I’m putting it in writing so you Post readers will encourage me to stay committed to the task.

Accumulated “stuff” has been getting on my nerves for a while, but when I think about addressing it (ergo: getting rid of it), I get the hives. Not any more.

In the fall Tommy and I took a “road trip.” We drove toward the East Coast to revisit Niagara Falls and stopped on the downward side to visit other sites and several family members. We made a similar trip a few years ago to try to find fall leaves, but were too early. This year we knew we’d miss the leaves but picked the only time we had to get away.

Despite the lateness of the season (early November), the trees and colors did not disappoint us. Not one bit. Niagara Falls and New York were everything we imagined, and when we finally got to my sister Carroll’s house in Maryland I was blown away by her beautifully decorated house and stellar organizational skills. Nobody – and I mean NOBODY – decorates like my sister Carroll. It’s a gift.

When Carroll was in high school, she organized the modest closet we shared together. We had no money then, but she spent her part-time salary on wrapping paper, scissors and tools. She covered cast-off boxes in fabric, coordinating everything in the closet and divided shelves into compartments. There was a place for everything and everything was in its place. In fact, the first place Daddy would bring visitors to our home was to show off Carroll’s closet.

Fast forward to 2008. Fifty years later Carroll’s still at it, working round the clock to keep order – and beauty – in everything.

Her front door decorations are the prettiest in her wonderful, planned community. When we were there, her front stoop was decorated by pumpkins, wreaths and colorful pansies. Even the concrete dog had a wreath carefully rubber-banded around his neck. Friends and neighbors often knock on the door asking if they could copy her, and often did. This year for Christmas she bought a big white “Peace” sign and white doves to use as her theme. I haven’t seen the photos yet, but I’m sure it was breathtaking.

Before we left, I opened her linen closet to replace sheets on the bed. I was yet again blown away by her perfectly organized space.

I tried to tidy up my linen closet with labels saying, “Queen Fitted,” “Queen Flat,” etc., but the reality is that I just stuff in towels and sheets and hope I can close the door. I have good intentions, but they never materialize.

Carroll’s linen closet had matching sheets tied with satin ribbons appropriately labeled. She even had an antique linen towel dropping over the shelves for decoration and a silver tub holding extra soaps and lotion. Oh, my.

I lead my husband Tommy (who CRAVES organization) to her closet and said: “You married the wrong sister.” He replied: “I married the only one available at the time.”

Carroll gave me hints: Have a basket on your desktop that is large enough to handle file folders. Have a notebook (and three-ring hole punch) to handle all retirement papers; have a spreadsheet for magazine subscriptions. (Yes, she keeps a spreadsheet for magazine subscriptions.) Get pretty magazine holders from Ross to store all your Christmas magazines. Have a separate folder for garden ideas, so when you win the lottery and can afford that landscape architect you’ll be able to show her/him what you want. Get photos of what you want Christmas to look like at your house; even if you can only start in baby steps.

The timing is bad because the holidays have gotten in the way, but I’m a woman on a mission.

The first morning we were back from our trip I awoke at 4:30 a.m. and I started tackling my office. It doesn’t look any prettier but it “feels” much leaner. The linen closet will come later.

I’ll check back with you in a month or two to let you know how I’m progressing. And I hope to hear you with similar challenges (and successes!) at jbragg@murfreesboropost.com.

‘Til next week.
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Tags: LIVING, VOICES
Member Opinions:
By: Flo on 1/4/09
Good luck Jeanne! We will await hearing about your progress. Hubby and I are reorganizing the kitchen today (if we just get the pantry done I will be happy).

The best site I have ever found for ridding oneself of things that are good but that you have no need or desire to keep is FREECYCLE.org
Nothing there is sold or bartered.....just freely given or received. We have a very active group here in Rutherford County!
I just gave away the coffee pot to the coffee machine that I broke over the Holidays today.

By: khite on 1/4/09
I also use FREECYCLE.org and love it. Murfreesboro has their own group on yahoo and is very active.

By: kcouncil on 1/4/09
The Murfreesboro Post also offers free classifieds on-line. Just click the Free Classified button on the menu bar.

By: ncsm on 1/4/09
Keep this in mind: If you don't want your kids to make fun off it when you are no longer around to defend its value, you need to toss it. Or, just put it in a box that says, "Do not open; just throw away." :-) Also, never clean out when you are feeling nostalgic. It will be a fruitless effort!The hardest thing is getting your grown kids to take their stuff to their own attics.

By: Duvics on 1/4/09
Great memories and ideas, Mrs. Boro. I think I actually might be able to hold fast to that resolution.

By: ccmp on 1/5/09
My parents give us a gift each year and call it a Blast from the Past gift. We lovingly refer to it as "cleaning out the attic", which is what it really is. It might be a box of report cards or something from our childhood. It has worked well so far. Best wishes to all of us on getting organized in 2009!

By: justdance on 1/5/09

bibmom, me too! I'm starting that this year!

By: ccmp on 1/5/09
It is great fun, it can be whatever from annuals, dolls, to school projects/papers, (even old notes from friends that were confiscated for whatever reasons)to old clothes, whatever Mom and Dad felt the need to keep and therefore now clean out. It is always fun and hysterical to see. Works well at our house, some years they wrap it up and some years it is in an unmarked box.


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