How I did it: My boyfriend and I moved last year to our second apartment in Seattle. We decided to make the most of the move and get rid of things we'd been meaning to get rid of for ages.

One thing I did, in order to help me let go of beloved clothes that no longer fit, was to take pictures of them and then upload to my Flickr account. I could then annotate the pics and describe the good memories I associated with each piece of clothing.

We also sold off books we had no interest in re-reading to a used bookstore, and took ourselves out to dinner on the proceeds. This provided incentive to find more books to sell. :)

Once we got unpacked and dejunked, we instituted a No Present policy for Xmas, so we wouldn't have to worry about our newly cleaned up place being cluttered by holiday detritus. Instead we took each other out for dinner again.

Lessons & tips: + take pics of old clothes or objects you feel attached to. You can pose with them if you want, but it is easier than trying to repurpose them for another use. Give 'em to charity.

+ Get rid of things you haven't used in six months or so. (A year and a half if item is a seasonal thing.)

+ Make sure your house has lots of little trash cans every where.  Throw away the following as soon as possible: junk mail, opened envelopes, wrappers, tissues, packaging, flyers, expired coupons, non-necessary receipts. etc. It is easier to empty little trashcans than big ones, and you do it more often, which makes it more of a habit.

+ Get a little filing cabinet next to your desk. Make the following folders for the year: House, Car, Appliances/Electronics, Health, Scrapbook, and any Bill folders as necessary if you don't do it online. Store your mortgage payments and loan info on the appropriate folder. Keep doc results and vision prescription info in Health. Keep warranties, receipts, manuals etc in Appliances/Electronics (chuck manual when you chuck appliance) and if you are the scrapbooking sort, keep the baby pics and wedding announcements and xmas cards in Scrapbook folder. This will keep ALL this stuff from building up.

+ Don't let flat surfaces build up junk.

+ Make sure everything has a place. If something keeps getting shunted around, try to figure out its utility in your life. Then get rid of it or make a place.

+ Have a designated place for finished NetFlix and library books near the door. You can put bills and outgoing mail here too.

+ Make your bed every day. It will make your bedroom look ten times cleaner and that will inspire you to keep everything else cleaner. (The bedroom and kitchen are the two most important places to keep clean.)

+ Keep your bedroom minimally decorated. We have the bed, two lamps (for light--no overhead light), two bedside tables, one small table where my jewelry box sits, and one small bookcase. All the dressers and clothes things and stuffed animals are in the walk-in closet as is the hamper. The room looks clean as soon as the bed is made and we go to bed feeling restful instead of harried. Plus the more stuff you have, the dustier it is likely to be, which can cause health issues for asthmatics and people with allergies. You spend 1/3 of your life in your bedroom--keep it clean!

+ do small things. I unpacked a box or two a day until everything was done. Daily chores: Make the bed, pick up clothes, do the dishes. Once the place was clean, we did about one thing a day each: empty the trashes, throw out expired food, scrub one toilet, dust a room, vaccuum a room, do a load of laundry. Then on the weekends, we take half an hour to catch anything that lapsed during the week or do something a little larger like clean the tub or the fridge or mop the kitchen floor.

Jan 13, 2010, 06:14PM PST | 0 comments | 2 cheers