What are your strategies for getting rid of stuff? I have so much of it that my closet and my office are bursting at the seams- and they are both quite large! I am only two people, how do I pare it down so that I do not have the stuff of ten?

One thing I did when moving across the country was to pack two suitcases a month in advance with the things I couldn't stand to be without. Whatever was left outside of the suitcases went to Goodwill or to friends or the trash.

Of course, even though I pared down my book collection to three small boxes, I couldn't get rid of more than that.

GARAGE SALE

If we're talking about clothes, there's gotta be a Goodwill or some other charity that would gladly take them, no? I'm sure a library would be as accomodating toward any books.

Maybe you SHOULD keep it, just find a better way to organize it.

I put everything I can't fit into/don't really wear too often in a big rubber tub and have kept it there for a whi

Have you tried the old "put it in a box in the bottom of your closet for a month" trick?

Sorry to not offer anything revolutionary, but that's worked for me.

i organize my closet thusly: all the hangers are turned in one direction at a certain time of year. as i wear things, i turn the hangers the other way. in 6 months, anything that hasn't been turned gets "evaluated."

another good tip: try on everything, and if you wouldn't buy it again, full price, AS IS, get rid of it. i'm talking size, fit, color, and damage.

i haven't been knitting either, so i pared down my stash to one tupperware. i kept all the quality yarns of which i had an ample amount, and gave any single skeins without clear purpose away.

if your sewing stash is out of control, you need to clean that out too. and stop adding to it!

@more pepper!: those are fabulous ideas!

I just joined the apartment therapy fall cure and I'm realizing how hard it will be. I cannot seem to let go of craft stuff, or useless gifts/stuffies/nicknacks from the past, furniture that doesn't 'go' anymore... it's weird. And yarn? There is ALWAYS room for yarn. Compounding this is the fact that I'm a thriftaholic, so there's a "to do" pile of stuff waiting to be altered or repaired.

I've uploaded the "before" pics. The best impetus is exposing everyone to my uglyass clutter. The sooner the "after" pics are up, the sooner I can prove I'm actually a decent, clean and creative person.