Less than 3 months to go! It's the DECLUTTERING FOR CHRISTMAS thread...

[fuzzpig]

My house is a state! I am absolutely determined to declutter in time for Xmas this year. I have never managed it before

My main wants are:

• to clear out our tiny kitchen (it's a galley style, so small you can barely swing an atom let alone a cat!) so that cooking is less stressful and we will be more likely to do festive baking etc - another thing I've never managed to do...

• to do a massive sweep of all DCs toys, books and clothes. They have WAY too many, and especially with toys it means that new things don't really get appreciated because they get lost among everything else.

• to completely sort out our living room so it actually looks nice when decorated and there is room to play.

I am unable to do much ATM because I'm not very well, but this could be a long term thing so I don't want to just leave it - I want to do a tiny bit every day. Yesterday I collected a laundry bin full of recycling stuff - mostly pieces from some orchard toys games - some of which due to clutter have never really even been played with properly

I can't be the only one who needs to declutter for Xmas - who's with me?

Path not bath :o

Not much progress here so far this week I have found somewhere to send all the toys/books/games that are piled up in the lounge - the school will take them

This is a lot harder when back at work - on the plus side my bedroom which is the only completed room is STILL spotless

Good news about giving stuff to the school! I donated loads of books to DD's nursery a few years back - it was so lovely to see loads of children looking at them when I picked her up from there. I am going to dig out a few bits of clothing to give to DS's nursery too. Other than that, decent stuff is going to go in one of those charity bags - we have no car so we'd have to wait ages to take it to a shop (in dad's car!) and I'd rather just get it out of the house! Thankfully we have both an NSPCC and BHF one as lots of the donation requests we get round here seem to be scams.

I managed to fill another bag just by picking at stuff in the living room this afternoon - I can't help wondering how I just let so much stuff sit there without throwing it away as I notice it! WTF is wrong with me?! Still, that's 3 binbags full gone today, and I have had a restful evening reading on the sofa, so hopefully I can do more tomorrow.

Well I've done nothing today! Feeling quite sore. Really don't know how I'll manage back at work let alone decluttering too

Well I had to go to school for the first hour of ds's preschool time, the rest of the time I spent tidying rather than decluttering, and I need to do some work tonight, but at least the house is a bit cleaner, until all our guests decend for double play date in an hour!

Hope you are ok Fuzzpig.

Not much done here to be honest but did a good bit of ebay listing of the decent clothes the dd's have grown out of last night while watching the great british bake off.

Might try and tackle the toys tomorrow.

Fuzz 3 binbags gone are 3 bags full of stuff which won't be cluttering up your house ever again

Had a reasonable day today - managed to get the beds changed (all 6 of them!) and the sheets washed through - they're now hanging from various doors and banisters round the house to try and get them dry. Range stove is gleaming for the first time in months nothing to do with the fact it is being serviced tomorrow!

Had a quick scout round the kids room while I was changing the beds and managed another 2 bin bags for dumping and 1 bag of clothes for charity so a bit more done there.

Won't get much more done today between school run and after school clubs but I am going to take dds Beavers jumper with me and try and sew on the million badges that have been lying around for months rather than sitting reading or going into town spending money I haven't got!

True, it is still progress! I also did some cyber-decluttering - I culled my amazon wishlist, which is a pretty big deal :o

I also realised that as we have sticky back plastic I could label the Trofast drawers - I was always reluctant to do this but I think it might help keep their toys tidy...

I'm going to knuckle down and make some changes. I've managed to fall over, get my leg trapped in a toy cut myself and bruise my shin - by crossing the living room floor .

At no point did I swear my head off and throw said toy at the wall in rage, oh no, not me.

So I'm going to achieve A LOT tomorrow. Will take DD out in the morning so I can plonk her in front of the tv for a bit while I make some changes. I am going to set myself a target of 2 black bin bags of clothes, and 2 ikea bags of toys to leave the house tomorrow, and to fill the 3 big storage boxes I have with baby toys to go in the loft - for when it gets boarded out., on the 12th of never at this rate.

Grr I'm grumpy, tired and in pain now. Not a good day. Off to forrage for chocolate.

Tomorrows list:

Sort out dcs clothes currently in piles in my bedroom
Cull out videos and dvds
At least 2 bags of culled toys from dcs room
Deep clean downstairs shower room spider fest room

all the dcs are at schoolor pre-school until 3 tomorrow so should be able to get going

I so need to join you all.

Dining room is first on list - have started it but my plan of doing 15 mins a day has fallen by wayside. Decorator coming on 22nd so need it sorted by then. Also need to pick paint colour.

DS's room needs sorting. He is 11. Has far too many books. Has about 4 years worth of football comics that he refuses to part with. Need to sort his outgrown clothes. I pass them all on to my sisters so no guilt there about not ebaying.

Our room needs sorting. I need to declutter clothes. Decorator also down to do this room. I need to pick paint and wallpaper.

I started sorting airing cupboard a few months ago but never really finished. Need to get that finished and get the winter duvets out to put on beds next bedding change.

We have a 'bootroom' with loads of cupboard space. That needs sorting.

Utility room needs sorting.

Shed and garage need sorting.

Kitchen cupboards need going through.

I have a big dresser in dining area full of stuff I never use. Bought a new dinner service in John Lewis sale last January but haven't gotten rid of the one it was replacing! DH thinks we should keep it! It was cheap as chips from Argos in 1992!

TV room needs sorting. DS wants to sell his Nintendo and games. We have far too many DVDs that we never watch. Lots of board games that look untidy.

I have been chipping away at projects since January so its not nearly as bad as it was but i still have a lot to do.

Have MIL coming for Xmas and want to be sorted and tidy and organised well before she comes.

I also have started my Xmas shopping so need to clear a cupboard to stash stuff.

So I will see you all tomorrow. Raring to go.

Actually if you look on my profile page there is a pic of one of my 'projects' from earlier in the year. When the rest of the house gets me down I open the under stairs cupboard and fell better about it all when I see my nicely organised wrapping paper!

Ooh I love that cider

fuzzpig hope you are ok

And well done to all! Have achieved very little this week- as well as work I have been out at various meetings every night but the books and jigsaws go this morning - so I will get my lounge back as the bag of clothes went yesterday as did the bag of dvd's and videos! Hopefully make some more progress this weekend

That looks really good cider do you mind me asking where you got the organiser from, although the cupboard of doom understairs cupboard is the least of my problems at the moment.

3duracellbunnies - I got all the stuff from aplaceforeverything.co.UK. It's from a shelving system called Elfa.

I love an American blog called Iheartorganizing and she had linked to someone doing the same thing and I ordered all the bits and put it together. It wasn't cheap though! About £60 I think. . DH was a bit bleh about it. You can buy other wrapping paper organizers that hang on the back of doors much cheaper from amazon. The aplaceforeverything website is good too.

I sorted the paperwork on the kitchen counter, filed (in the basket on the dresser, not yet in the paper files upstairs) the old stuff, dumped the junk and took the 1 outstanding bill with me to pay at work today. And found coupons for the grocery shopping at the weekend I'd forgotten about.

It mightn't be a lot of progress, but every little step counts (in my head at least)

Right I have finished up stairs (dd's need to sort a few bits out) but I have 2 big boxes, bag of shoes,2 stair gates and a bed guard to go the charity shop. and 3 bags of rubbish.

Tomorrow I will go through the toy cupboard and toybox down stairs tomorrow.

can i join?

I have 3 kids and more toys than you can shake a stick at.
we moved house in January and despite moving to a much bigger house we seemed to have filled this one with even more stuff....

so far this week i have listed about 10 old baby toys on eBay. i have 4 bin bags of baby clothes to list too. so far i have sorted them by size to make it easier to list.

DS1 Is 4 next week and will no doubt get loads more stuff and DD is 6 on the 27th. with Christmas only 74 days away I'm getting all antsy at the idea of more toys to clutter up the place

anyway onwards and upwards

Thanks cider not sure dh will want to invest 60quid in making the wrapping paper look lovely, but will look around and see if anything else will do the job.

Ds and I have just sorted through 3 drawers of craft. Only tiny bag of rubbish, but loads of little boxes full of goggly eyes, beads and gems, plus should we ever have a national pipe cleaner emergency then I can put my hand on 20 or so of different shapes or sizes!

Well I haven't even started yet. Am going to now, but am seriously lacking in enthusiasm today still tired and grumpy.

DP has gone back to bed for nightshift so I can't really go upstairs so will have to find something to do downstairs - I won't have to look far there is plenty to do, just more a case of what I can face. Am abandoning the livingroom untill I feel more energetic!

Two bin bags of clothes and two bags of shoes are inn the boot to be dropped off at the recycling bank tomorrow.

I also have two bin bags of baby/toddler clothes to drop off at the woman's refuge next week. I think I'll also see if they would like some soft baby toys that i no longer need or want.

I tackled the shoe and coat rack. Unfortunately there wasn't much that I could get rid of. I think I'll just hang the lighter coats in their bedroom cupboards until they are needed in the spring. The coat rack still looks a bloody mess though.

I still haven't tackled the kitchen .......

3duracellbunnies - mine too! I had ordered it before he knew though!

He rolls his eyes at me a lot. My organising project started with me ordering that lot, some other bits and pieces and 3 books on decluttering, organising and storage! And a desk. And various boxes and baskets. Then I got bored!

Have been a bit productive here this morning. Although morning didn't start well as on the way out the gates this morning I noticed a package that had been delivered yesterday and just thrown over the wall and I didn't see it. The rain didn't do it much good. It was a La Redoute order of clothes. Thankfully the clothes were dry but all the packaging was soaked.

On the decluttering I did some more sorting in the dining room. We only moved into this house last summer after many years overseas and we had far far too much stuff. The dining room ended up being the dumping ground for anything we didn't know what to do with. I have been gradually clearing it and it looks much better. This weeks task is to open and sort all our pictures that haven't been put up yet.

Framing was dirt cheap in Asia so we framed lots. Some I still really like but DH doesn't and vice versa. So am opening them up and making decisions. That's the hard bit. Not good at the decisions on stuff like that.

I also decluttered the sky plus box by watching an episode of Home and Away while sorting out some games in tv room!

Mixed today-had a rare day completely at home and was full of enthusiasm, only to be struck down with a migraine. So after two hours sleep and strong painkillers I am ready to start again!!! Cleared whole kitchen this morning- going to start on dining room- it's open plan downstairs so can't just shut door on it- will make that my target this weekend!!

Got nothing done again, falling very behind on the regular housework too!

But on Thursday I have the use of my dad's car in the morning so I need to get as much stuff as possible ready to take to the tip/charity shop etc.

Nothing achieved here today either. Well I did my regular Friday tidy up so that the cleaner could clean! Then I went into town and got my hair cut and coloured and did some shopping.

Won't get anything done tonight but may get a charity shop run done in the morning. We are away tomorrow night and not back till Sunday afternoon so weekend is a right off.

But I will keep chipping away.