I Rented a Dumpster

Why on earth would anyone write a blog post about renting a dumpster? Well, I was amazed at how easy it was, and I had never done it before.

I de-clutter and organize my house on a regular basis. Maybe I've seen too many episodes of Hoarders. Maybe I was forced to rearrange my parents garage too much as a kid. Whatever the reason- I enjoy it now. It fills my heart with joy to declutter. There's something so freeing about getting rid of things you don't want or need.

It also clears head space for me. I have a hard time focusing if I'm in a space where I keep noticing little pockets of clutter. It's got to go.

Well, at the start of mandatory social distancing, I found myself in my house for more time than I ever imagined. So, I got deep into declutter mode.

Wait... I should probably add the fact that we've also been considering moving into a larger house at some point. I do not want to move items that I don't intend to keep. Even if we don't move, I don't like the possibility of dragging unnecessary items with me going forward.

I started by cleaning out my closet. I'm not a fancy dresser, but I've accumulated more clothes over the years than I regularly wear. Part of this is because I stopped growing awhile ago (thank goodness- being 6' and curvy is hard enough to find clothes) and I've been more daring in the store than I am in my regular life. Has that ever have that happened to you? You think "Man, I am going to look fantastic in this amazing statement piece" and then weeks later you think "why on earth did I get that? I only ever wear jeans and t-shirts." But you're clinging onto the hope that you might wear it someday, so you keep it in your closet? That's me. I have good style intentions, but I gravitate towards function.

From the closet, I got rid of:

• Anything I haven't worn in awhile

• Anything that was worn out

• Anything with stains or tears

• The sad articles that I unintentionally shrunk

• Things that, if I was honest with myself, I'd never wear

• The unflattering ones

• The clothes that had peak moments (you know the ones- you wore to an event, it was a great day, you photographed well, but you know that day was the peak for that outfit)

Then I moved on to the bathroom. The bathroom is a small room that seems to pack a lot in. While I don't have the courage to get rid of old towels yet (they always come in handy) I did manage to get rid of:

• Old make-up

• Scented lotions (I don't really use scented lotions anymore, they were old)

• Unused nail polish

• Lots of miscellaneous items that I'm not sure where they came from

In the spare bedrooms/offices, I got rid of:

• Old sheets

• Excessive board games

• Unused and old electronics

• Old paperwork

• My old desk and desk chair that I got from college

Next, it was time to take on the beasts- the garage, basement storage, and the shed. Why would anyone do these three together? Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but I thought it would be the most efficient. These three spaces are our catch-alls. The spaces that I've honestly chucked items into and looked the other way. Also, a lot of the things from each of these spaces have items that go from one to the other.

This is where the dumpster comes in.

We have had so many things from previous owners of this house hanging out in our garage and shed. Not cool, fun, or interesting things. No. We've had old chunks of wood, Weird wiring that goes no where, and a variety of miscellaneous things. We've slowly gotten rid of what we could, but some things were too large for our trashcans. So, I got me a dumpster.

It was an easier process than I thought. I just called the first highly rated one that popped up on Google, spent $295 for the rental of the smaller size, and scheduled a time for it to show up.

The timing of this dumpster rental worked out nicely too, because while I was taking on the decluttering and removal of junk, Andrew was updating our broken fence.

We ended up filling the dumpster to the top, without going over, with:

• An old armchair that was torn up

• Old fence posts

• A damaged fire pit

• Lots of large old yard waste

• Two old pools

• And a variety of old junk that couldn't be donated

Additional items we donated from the basement storage, garage, and shed, were:

• A big frame that we took off a canvas

• Old lighting fixtures

• Excessive bags- duffel bags, etc.

• Old electronics

Shed Before & After:

Garage Before & During (but close to done):

The garage items needed to be put back, but I added more functional shelving space for paint cans and other chemicals. The large shelf holds bins and totes nicely. Also, I decreased the type of boxes we keep (for our eventual move) to just be the meal subscription boxes we get weekly instead of the Amazon ones- Amazon boxes come in a lot of sizes, which would undoubtedly he handy, but they don't store neatly. Since we don't have an actual moving date, it seemed silly to hold onto every box until then.

We were able to get rid of a lot of things in this spring cleaning, and it felt good to purge the old. Overall, I learned that I should say "no" more often when people gift me things I don't want or won't use. Also, whenever we do move into the next house, I'm going to make sure the previous owner doesn't leave more than we want. Five years is a long time to try and figure out how to get rid of unwanted junk.

If you're nervous or overwhelmed about getting rid of unwanted items, that's okay! It can be overwhelming, but once you get moving on a project like this, it feels great. You'll feel lighter and accomplished. Plus, it feels good to get away from a screen and see real progress on an eyesore. Turn on some good music, and just see where the time takes you. Some progress is better than none.