darkemeralds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
darkemeralds) wrote2008-01-03 03:27 pm
darkemeralds) wrote2008-01-03 03:27 pm
Entry tags:
Project Empty
The 2007 winter solstice, according to some mystical calendrical believers, started the five-year countdown to the end of history. Or the end of the world. Or at least the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar. What December 21, 2012 will mean varies depending on whether you ask José Argüelles or Fox Mulder, but I figure, hey, if there's the slightest chance that the world's gonna end, I'd better clean my house.
So began Project Empty: Get Rid of All My Crap.
Here's the goal: By the end of 2008, I have a sparsely-furnished, uncluttered, soothingly empty house containing only the essentials of shelter, comfort, hospitality, and enjoyment.
I figure there are five main reasons why I hang on to stuff that doesn't serve these essentials: it was expensive, it was a gift, it was my [mother's] [grandmother's] [etc.], it's irreplaceable, or someday it will fit again.
I've identified 66 separate chunks of clutter that I think I can clear in an hour or less. That's one for every ten square feet of house. I'll start right outside my front door--the porch, the threshold, the entrance to my domain--and work inward and downward from there to the living room (5 separate chunks), the bedroom (29 separate chunks, holy shit), the kitchen (19 chunks), and so on--bathroom, mudroom, back yard, driveway, basement.
I've also identified some handy Project Empty resources. FreeGeek will recycle my old computer crap for a small fee. The Vietnam Veterans of America will pick up usable goods any time, for free, right off my front porch (also? tax deduction). I can take paint and other toxic leftovers to the Metro Hazardous Waste Disposal Center where they will be properly handled, free of charge. The Rebuilding Center (seriously, one of the coolest places in town) will take usable house parts and lumber.
Next steps:
So began Project Empty: Get Rid of All My Crap.
Here's the goal: By the end of 2008, I have a sparsely-furnished, uncluttered, soothingly empty house containing only the essentials of shelter, comfort, hospitality, and enjoyment.
I figure there are five main reasons why I hang on to stuff that doesn't serve these essentials: it was expensive, it was a gift, it was my [mother's] [grandmother's] [etc.], it's irreplaceable, or someday it will fit again.
I've identified 66 separate chunks of clutter that I think I can clear in an hour or less. That's one for every ten square feet of house. I'll start right outside my front door--the porch, the threshold, the entrance to my domain--and work inward and downward from there to the living room (5 separate chunks), the bedroom (29 separate chunks, holy shit), the kitchen (19 chunks), and so on--bathroom, mudroom, back yard, driveway, basement.
I've also identified some handy Project Empty resources. FreeGeek will recycle my old computer crap for a small fee. The Vietnam Veterans of America will pick up usable goods any time, for free, right off my front porch (also? tax deduction). I can take paint and other toxic leftovers to the Metro Hazardous Waste Disposal Center where they will be properly handled, free of charge. The Rebuilding Center (seriously, one of the coolest places in town) will take usable house parts and lumber.
Next steps:
- decide on the criteria by which I will allow myself to keep something
- get some trash bags and a few boxes
- photograph the 66 zones for before-and-after purposes
- clear a zone or two for warm-ups
Re: Empty House
We probably all have one chunk o' mess per ten square feet of house. I got one section mostly done tonight, and it helped me figure out what resources I need. LIke, right now, a place to put the big garbage till I can break it up and stuff it in the garbage can.
By the way, I ordered up my new 35-gallon garbage can today!
Step by step, it gets done. Good luck to us both.
Re: Empty House
Posting feels like really sticking iit out there.
Re: Empty House
If your entries are public, anyone can look at them, but the trick is finding them.
Add me to your friends list (if you want to) by clicking on the little head next to my username, then clicking on the little head-and-plus sign you see on my user page.
Re: Empty House
Re: Empty House
Hang on: I'm going to go comment in your journal now that you have some posts, and you can start to get the hang of how this works.