I'm going to sort out and tidy up every drawer and cupboard in my house. Want to join in?

[MaryCondom]

This morning I woke up with a kind of itchy compulsion to sort and tidy every single drawer and cupboard in my whole house. I have no idea why but I'm snapping on my marigolds and reaching for the Zoflora.

I don't have a week or a fortnight off work to do one big blitz. I'm going a drawer or two at a time, and saving the big jobs (like under the stairs cupboard) for weekend days.

Today I've sorted out my two bathroom cupboards.
I've dumped all the old, out-of-date medicines, combined all my body cream remnants into one divine-smelling body lotion soup, re-positioned everything in order of actual use, and put everything on 'themed' shelves in one of the cupboards.

I've scrubbed the inside of the cupboards and they're now lemony fresh. Unfortunately, one of them's going a bit rusty and the other one is stained with Harpic 😯But they're clean and tidy.

I am very proud of myself and now rewarding my efforts with a caramel chocolate digestive.

Anyone want to join me? We can support each other, update on progress, perhaps share picture if you'd feel comfortable to do so.

I’m supposed to be helping DS do his room today. He is 19 and a hoarder of epic proportions- what this really means is I’m gonna start him
off as he’ll get annoyed w me after 5 mins.

Morning everyone!

I did no sorting or tidying yesterday. Ooops.

I've been up since 5:30am today with a poorly dog so I'm not sure how much tidying I'll feel like doing today. But I'll aim for some. A little each day.

How are you all getting on?

Does anyone want to tell me their strategy for drawer tidying? Because I have ADHD, dream of living a minimalist life and never quite manage to get beyond pulling everything out of the drawer, losing interest and being overwhelmed and then wandering off leaving worse chaos than I started with!

@MaryCondom ·

That is actually what I call a tidy drawer! Not overflowing at all.

I won't get much done today as I must do the laundry (outside laundrette) when I get Back from work. Maybe tackle the Amazon boxes and bags I need to use the security roller that covers my address with thick ink first. Then tomorrow before work as not in until lunchtime, do a bit of putting clothes neatly in drawer. Ho hum, onwards and upwards!

I did this last year, it was lovely knowing everywhere was so organised. Some areas have remained so, others have crept back into chaos. Too much stuff in those cupboards meaning things need to be moved to get to other things mainly, plus a little bit of not being able to reach the higher shelves so shoving stuff in on lower shelves…

I decluttered as part of the process but have already regretted decluttering several items so am reluctant to get rid of more…

To the poster that mentioned a mouse infestation to help spur you on.
Little sod been in the shed of doom
Perfect excuse then to clear out and bin everything, they munched through my camping gear.

I'm helping my daughter decorate over the weekend then doing my famous cupboard under the stairs.

So far 2 large bags for charity, gave a lot of stuff away
And took all the baby stuff stored her to my daughters.
I still had the pram 🙄

A good clear out is good for the soul

I so need to do this - it was my plan for the Easter holidays but fell by the way completely! I'll join in if that's ok.

The girls, and dd1's best friend, will tell me to not over-exert myself but one cupboard or drawer, or small area, a day is fine I think 🙄🤣

May start in the kitchen, with the cutlery drawer & work my way around from there...we'll see later on.

I’m in the middle of 5 twelve hour shifts so won’t be able to do anything more until Wednesday.😟

I haven't done any more inside the house as I have been sorting out a couple of areas of the garden instead.

I rearranged all the garden furniture, did some weeding and laid a temporary path to the new rabbit hutch so we are not having to walk across muddy grass every day and dragging it into the house.

Garden is looking a lot better so it was quite satisfying.

Now away for the weekend but will be back to it on Monday.

Ok, I fibbed...I started with my random drawer instead of kitchen. Nothing chucked but wires sorted into same types & found an old Samsung tablet in there that I don't think charges any more so going to test that shortly.

I've even put my battery pack on charge in preparation for travelling to an appointment on Weds rather than flap on Tuesday evening looking for it and a suitable wire 😇

I love a good declutter, would love to join! I did my tv unit yesterday as it was driving me mad! Looks beautiful now!

I did a declutter and organise of the bathrooms a few months ago but could do with another blitz!

I've been slowly sorting and listing stuff on vinted, made over £1500 this year so far. Still doesn't look much less cluttered and honestly don't miss anything I've got rid of! Plus taken quite a few bags to charity shops; thankfully I live 5 mins walk from them and the evri/yodel drop off points for my vinted sales! I also put stuff on my front garden wall and got rid of quite alot that way - books, shoes, games, kitchen stuff etc. And olio is great for getting rid of free stuff, just don't browse if you are on a declutter mission!

I've just tidied up my Rainbows and Guides shelves too...now I can see what's what & start to pass things on to the relevant people, who will be taking over from me after summer, without giving the wrong things to the wrong person. Just need to separate some of it into another folder now, but need to find out if my friend who is taking over the Rainbows has one first.

Welcome newbies!!

Drawer looks amazing @lucysmam

And well done to everyone else who's managed to get things done today in the house and the garden

My dog's been sad and sulky all day so I've just been sat on the sofa with her watching Netflix and dozing. So, no sorting today.

@SootspriteSearcher That's an amazing profit from Vinted. I've made about £20 I think. How have you made that much? Is it the sheer volume of stuff? Or do you have lovely designer stuff that you're selling for ££? Most of my things are on Vinted for £1.50-£4.00 😝

My strategy goes like this:

Get everything out of the drawer/cupboard.

Hoover the drawer/cupboard out.

Clean it out with Flash or similar.

Take each item in turn and ask: "Do I keep this?"

If yes: Put neatly on Pile 1

If no: Put on Pile 2 any old how.

If maybe: Put on Pile 3 any old how.

Once every item's been sorted, turn to Pile 3. Now you know what you're keeping, you can make an informed decision about whether to keep each item on Pile 3. You now know, for example, how many plain white T-shirts you have. So any plain white T-shirts on Pile 3 can be decided on armed with that knowledge.

I always aim to move half of Pile 3 to Pile 2 but I'm not too strict.

Now, I turn to Pile 1. I group similar things together and put them in some kind of logical order of use. Then fold/arrange all the times neatly and put them back in the drawer/cupboard in a logical way.

Now, Pile 2. I sort Pile 2 into two further piles - bin or charity bag.

Repeat for every drawer and cupboard in the house. Come back and update MN.

<I'm aware I've made this process sound quick and clinical which it absolutely isn't. I can spend hours deciding on which pile - Do I keep this?>

I like Dana K White's strategy for decluttering without making a bigger mess. It's completely distraction proof and it's totally life changing!! I have ADHD as well and this has made the biggest difference to me. She's called A Slob Comes Clean and I can detail it in proper steps if you want but look up her podcast/blog/books and see if you like them.

Sorry I know I joined the thread and haven't posted anything, but the kids had hand foot and mouth and then they emptied a beanbag everywhere D: so I was doing some...quite different decluttering than planned!

Junk food drawer done!
All out of date crisps binned
All sticky, leaky sweets binned.
Everything combined into logical tins and boxes.

Wonderful. Bring on the new week!

Thanks @BertieBotts I have her book and it's good but I forgot all about it, ripped everything out of cupboards and am now in the hell limbo where everything is a thousand times worse 😪😢

The key for me with the not making a bigger mess is not pulling everything out. I used to do that and then you get stuck in the limbo - not fun. I know it is sometimes helpful to pull everything out e.g. if you want to tidy/sort drawers individually. But I think if you're vv distractible (due to ADHD or having small kids or only having little pockets of time or getting easily overwhelmed or anything) then it's best to stick to the not-making-more mess method which is basically:

• Start in the most visible space (not the deepest fullest drawer, but a shelf or surface which is visible for example)
• Do the easy things first (go around with a bin bag and throw away rubbish)
• Pick things up one by one and then take it wherever it's going straight away - back in the drawer - into another home that is already established - to the bin - to the donate box/bag.
• When your donations box/bag is full, put it in your car, near your door, on the buggy whatever and take it to charity shop your next free day.

It's much slower and you might not do the whole shelf in one go. But whatever you do stays done and doesn't create a bigger mess in the process.

I would say it's probably sheer volume! At one point I was listing at least 20-30 items a day for a few weeks. (That hour i usually spent after work drinking tea and mooching on mumsnet!) It's been a mix of old toys, technology/computer games and clothes.

We had a mass clear out of items I knew would sell as we needed to raise money for a house move which now isn't happening but still happy with the cash and haven't missed the items.

Tbh Despite a huge clear out its still pretty cluttered and I could do with getting rid of more.

Today I sorted the garden and shed. So lots of weeds gone! And several bags of outgrown garden toys ready to list on olio tomorrow after work. I took a before photo but forgot the after one 🙈

I am enjoying this thread…I may tackle some drawers sooner as a result !

I have had a steady declutter over the last couple of days. Mainly my daughter’s bedroom but a couple of random areas in the house tackled too. Car-full of recycling and clutter taken to the tip. Very therapeutic.
More clearing and organising to be done tomorrow (hopefully).

I've now managed to wash/sort and vacuum pack every single piece of spare bedding and am feeling smug.

I've also sorted out 3 of my kitchen cupboards. The rice/pasta etc is in labelled jars looking beautiful. The tins are all sorted and facing forwards so we can see what we have.

And the 'tupperware' cupboard of doom (all the plastic tubs, old Chinese takeaway boxes, etc) is organised, packed and I've thrown away every random box without a lid and lid without a box!

It has been very satisfying so far! I've a lot more house to do, however.

@SootspriteSearcher Wow, that's a lot of items! I've got about five for sale ATM. When I get around to the wardrobe, I'll be listing more.

@CalmConfident Glad you're enjoying it and it's spurred you on!

@LemonLimeDivine and @WateryDoom Great work ladies!

Nothing sorted for me today sadly because DP has been working from home and generally getting in the way.

And he's been wanting to spend our tea breaks (when I'd usually do tidying) having a chat and doing some crosswords and things. Sounds lovely and it is, but I'm itching to get on with my mega sort and tidy. He's in the office tomorrow and I have a quiet day WFH so will get some done. And update you all.

Morning ladies

Today I had my trousers drawer in my crosshairs. Here's the "Before"....