Decluttering the home

[ChubbyMummy12]

Help! Where do I start? How do you all declutter your homes? There's just stuff everywhere- kids toys, games, clothes and just general stuff etc and it's stressing me out, dh is finally on board to do tip runs, but now I'm sat losing the will to live while trying to figure out where to start and the kids are trying to kill each other. Too early for cake and cocktails?

Pip I do have a charity pile too any good quality clothes are in bags to be dropped off Monday.

I think dh is a bit of a hoarder, he keeps bringing things back from his parents and they kids are always getting new toys from them too. I prefer minimalism, feel like I'm fighting a losing battle though!

Inspired by this thread I am going to clear out my hot press today, it's full of crap that never gets worn. Well done op!

Good work so far. Keep going. Agree with PPs to get rid of stuff asap.

Work to get DH, and his parents, on side, to reduce incoming crap.

Op your probably well into now but I find get everything to hand... Charity shop bag, bin bag... Tip etc so you don't break the flow when you get going!

Tackle one area at a time.... Don't overwhelm yourself...

I found 2 methods helped

When I felt utterly over whelmed I used to follow 365 things less. The idea was decluttering one item a day. I would often end up decluttering more but when over whelmed it was much easier to think ‘I just need to declutter one item’

Another one I find works for me is putting a song on and seeing how much I can declutter in that song. Have a charity and a rubbish bag and get rid of everything straight away, it goes in one of the 2 bags. I sometimes have a box for homeless items I want to keep too.

I’m doing Marie Kondo with clothing but I just have too much junk and can’t face being able to make an even bigger mess so for now it’s just getting rid of as much as possible. Maybe when things are more manageable the method will work for me. I think it’s a good idea, I had no idea I owned so many black skirts until I put them together but I would spend so long finding items to put together that it just wouldn’t work for me

Yes. I have a charity pile and a tip pile. But the important point I was making was that you don't have any piles at the end of the day.

Tip and charity shop. Today.

Ohio I won't be able to get to one today before they close, I'll have a google and see if they're open tomorrow though to drop off first thing & im Carrying on with it all tomorrow too! I'm determined to get rid of the crap in this house and reorganise and find homes for stuff. It's looking so much better already. But for now I'm off to reward myself with an Indian takeaway and a glass of blue lagoon.

Daisy I've had the radio on all day, definitely motivates me to keep going while singing and dancing terribly off to google this Marie kondo though!

OhioOhioOhio you have inspired me and I'm busy sorting and getting rid of stuff! In my head your voice sounds like professor McGonagall , very strict and doesn't take any messing!

Thanks to this thread three bags of stuff have made their way to the charity shop. Two of the bags were sitting waiting to go. Now they are gone!

Mmmm. Not sure I want to Google this professor.

I'm a single mum who has learned that it really is easier if you declutter. But your vision of achieving a perfect outcome will not happen immediately. Slow but steady progress. A couple weeks off. And continue...

I am a bit frightened of Ohio! In fact, I think she might be my sister!!

I am though going to clear two shelves tomorrow. Not much, but a start. And will continue, albeit slowly, on Monday.

I'm decluttering before a house move - need funds so have asked my much more savvy sister to help me sell stuff! She said ebay which I've only used once and totally messed up the postage so item ended up costing me to send it. Never tried again . Any ideas how to sell a 3 seater leather sofa nearly 4 years old £50? Tried gumtree but no response and there were hundreds on there. Will give it to charity if I dont sell but need every penny I can get tbh.

Blobby have you tried your local Facebook selling sites??

@ChubbyMummy12 yes I tried that as well and still no luck. I thought an evening dress worn once for 4 hours as well as 2 mens suits both worn once would be snapped up! I think I lack the presentation skills so hoping my sister can help with that

Joining the thread. I really need to clear my boys' room. They have loads of stuff they don't play with any more. Made a very small start and binned some junk laying around the room. I've also set aside a couple of old games to donate to the school's kids club before they break up for the holidays.

Thanks Ohio, just what I needed. I'm going to do shoes tomorrow.

I did this last week and freed up loads of room in my wardrobe. I made a pile of things to sell, things to chuck and things for charity shop. Anything I was unsure of I hung up in the wardrobe with the coat hanger the other way around. I have a bag of stuff that doesn't quite fit so I've given myself a year to lose enough to wear them or I'll get rid. Charity stuff got dropped off on the next available day.

Only DS clothes, spare room, office, toys, kitchen and lounge to go

I still have to do the other half of the lounge, the utility room & the kids rooms. I've done my shoes & our clothes and the toys from downstairs, feels so much better to have it all gone. Going to potter around with a bin bag later when the kids are in bed and do the 10 things again in the other half of the lounge, then tomorrow il start with the toys in their bedrooms. Hoping to have a good improvement by the end of tomorrow

When I did a (slow) entire house Declutter a couple of years ago, the bit I found really hard is when you open a drawer which is a jumble of stuff and crap and it's very daunting trying to sift through deciding what to throw out. It's very negative.
What is much easier and feels more positive is say "everything in this drawer is going out apart from...."
Then just pick out the stuff you really want. Once you've picked over half the drawer,, you'll normally say ENOUGH and bin the rest. Also very good for shelves.

My whole house is cluttered. DH is a hoarder. And I'm pretty messy. And we have lived in our house accumulating shit for 18 years. It's quite overwhelming. I'm going to try and do a little bit each day.

It is so wonderful getting rid of the clutter.

Wonderful.

It's a skill and you get better and better at it.

And the cluttered parts of my home that need sorted. These days it's a 40 minute job.

But it has taken me 2 years of hard work to get to this point.

Pick up a bag. Put 10 things in the bin.

Don't worry about the charity stuff. Leave it.

Just 10 things straight in the bin.

Opwn your worst drawer and put 10 things right in the bin.

That's enough for today.

You are decluttering.

The bags that have been in my boot for a week were taken to the oxfam bin in the supermarket, with 2 large bags of papers.

I hope I'm on a roll!

It is so satisfying.