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?

achieved so little this weekend. was a bit sick on Saturday though, and out all day Sunday.

Took a box of my clothes to the charity shop, and put bin bags out into the general bin, acknowledging that I was not going to find the time to sort clutter rubbish into recyclables if I wasn't finding time to even sort the next room of clutter.

Near future target is the downstairs hall and living room to be completely clear, so first stage of re-flooring on Friday pm can go ahead. Have asked DH to do the LR because there is nothing at all of mine in it, but have low expectations... Hall on the other hand should be easy, just some shoes, bags and coats.

Today has been a good day though not a great decluttering day

Downstairs loo is now squeaky clean and gleaming to match the still tidy utility room next door (can't believe it still looks good a week later!)

5 loads of washing through including the load of handwash that's been festering at the bottom of the wash basket for months. House now looks like a Chinese laundry but I'm feeling very virtuous so am rewarding myself with chocolate

Accounts paperwork again tomorrow but am also aiming to get at least some of the clothes put away.

Yes I would think Womens Refuge's would love some bits of baby kit like prams, mrsmuddy

According to this Refuge statement apparently one in 5 midwives has an expectant mum on her books who she knows is suffering domestic violence, and DV is often worse when the woman is pregnant .

The clothes/books/toys that your DC or you have grown out of could make a huge difference this Christmas.

Google women's refuge + your town to find your nearest .

I'm with you as my baby is due shortly after Christmas, I get my dc to do it though......I tell them about all the children who's parents can't afford things so if we give lots to the charity shop they will have a nice Christmas too...I'm always gob smacked to how much stuff they are happy to get rid of
Then when I go through each room I have to switch off and just get rid, if its not been used for 6 months its gone
I love it good luck

Productive evening for me, I managed to go through the basket of wooly hats, scarves, and gloves and find half a dozen miss-matched gloves for the rag bin then had to toss the rest of the things back into the basket and do dishes/hang laundry I know it's a stupidly tiny amount, but I'll be able to declutter the rest later and now at least the matching gloves are together, etc. Also managed to deal with the non-magazine bits and bobs that made their way into DD's magazine mountain!

Thanks for the Refuge info, everyone :)

surfingbabe How do you manage to "switch off"?! (I assume you mean turn off those feelings of "but I might NEED that later") I'll have to try your "there are children who won't get any other pressies" thing on my 3 year old! only child :)

Gutting - I spent ages sorting out and decluttering lots of fiddly stuff, only to wake up and realise was a dream!

What a tease of a dream duracell !

I can switch off when clearing. My problem isn't hoarding tendancies, it's laziness and a lifetime loathing of housework

Can I join in? I got rid of the trampoline yesterday. Owner now 17 and trampoline starting to rust. I let it go, along with 3 rusty old bikes to a man who dropped leaflets round. Not exactly a big effort on my part but its a start. The garden looks better for it.
I have a load of boxes ready in the garage to fill with books so that really must be my next job! (Especially seeing as the first bit was hardly a job, just a psychological breakthrough in terms of getting shot of grown up DC's teenage stuff).

Morning all.

3duracell - dream decluttering doesn't mean you can have a rest day today!

I have Weight Watchers this morning so won't achieve much.

This afternoons plan is to clear the charity bags from garage into car and then move some things from dining room into garage in preparation for decorating.

I did find one side of the worktop in the utility room yesterday. Other side planned for today.

I also did a basket of ironing and decluttered some of the Sky box while doing it!

Catch you all later.

I know Cider but doubt I'll get much done anyway due to mumsnet having a friend of dd1 round for tea. Need to bake some cakes and tidy up, dh has commented that the house is looking a bit cleaner. Having said that in order to get stuff done I have had to sit ds infront of TV, he's watching art attack which means he will soon do a big art attack and dump piles of stuff in the middle of the floor. Oh the futility of it all!

I haven't done any sorting as such today, but I have dropped 3 bin bags of stuff off, sent off some EBay parcels and sold some things on FB.

I need to tackle the kitchen, the play room and sell some last few things on Ebay.

Don't think I'll have any time tomorrow, but I should have on Thursday as ds will be at pre school and the other ds will be happy toddling around while I get to it.

Not much done here but I did manage to freecycle an old desk that was getting in my way in my workroom.

Planning to tackle the kitchen next week which is a big task...

nothing from me today, either unless exercise to loose weight counts nor am I likely to get anything done tomorrow. Still, there's always Thurs!

Managed to give the whole house a quick whizz around yesterday, which was much easier as less messy than usual. Still need to tackle our bedroom which is chief dumping area, understairs cupboard of doom, bookcases and the paper avalanche, toy boxes with more plastic than an aging sleb and the kitchen cupboards with their jurassic food fossils. The craft still needs more work, but there is at least a system there now and ds quite liked helping with that.

Only have just over an hour today. Although bedroom is more obviously chaotic am wondering about doing kitchen as I could do one cupboard at a time and maybe finish one or two in that time, which will never happen with the bedroom. Good luck with all the decluttering!

sorted the magazine mountain beside the sofa yesterday while DS was having his dinner. Taking a box full of glass jars to work, already have a customer for some od them. If no takers by end of next week I can just put them in any recycling place I pass on my drive home.

DH home all today, has a task to clear rooms for flooring on Friday. Assuming he does it, I'll be free to sort the Spice Rack tonight.

Little bits often get you there in the end so don't feel bad about only doing small things.

I sorted some stuff in our garage into a pile for charity shop and a pile for Salvation Army clothing bank box thingie.

Completely caught up on ironing. Only ironing left is what is hanging up to dry.

Not sure what I should do today. DH is here although working this morning. Think I might take the charity shop stuff and at least get rid of that. Then might head off in search of wallpaper for my bedroom. Still some tidying to be done in utility room. DH's tools mainly. And dog paraphernalia.

Also have to sort out my desk at some stage.

Still feeling out of control. Need to do a list of everything that needs doing in each room and just tick stuff off as I go i think.

Lists! do lists count? I wrote a list on our dropbox file the other day. All the little jobs all around the house ("hook for wall calendar", that sort of thing). I missed a couple of things though so will have to add them later.

I also think I should write a list per room, not in a format of 'things which need doing', but what in my industry is called 'Endstate'. So, a picture of how each room will function - in my perfect Christmas, which after all is our deadlline!!
e.g.
All X in Y cupboard (any which don't fit, sell/chuck).
Maximum of two electric gadgets on R kitchen worktop.
No shoes on hall floor
No coats on banister
10% space available in all clothes and toy storage for presents and shiny new things
etc

Working on the lounge at the minute. Have some shelves in an alcove I've swept through, 3 big bag for life's for the charity shops, the rest are going in our holiday let for visitors to read. Basically any book not referred to in last 6 months or unlikely to be referred to in next 6 months got taken down. Moved lots of furniture out that wasn't being used, and excess toys are in my little boys bedroom to be which DH is working on.

Now I've run out of steam, feeling very pregnant, need to keep going though.

My life is fairly cluttered with lists...

Have cleared out 3 cupboards and loads of stuff, still a few kitchen cupboards to go, but have more space to tidy stuff into :)

Tonite I burnt a lot of pizza boxes.
"Ah," you think, "Who hoards pizza boxes?"
Guilty as charged, (eco-freak with a wood burner). Amazing how many we had, though.

did an interim job on the understairs area this evening. Nothing actually got rid of, but tidied and rationalised.

Then I chucked out three quarters of our spice jars, basically the out of date ones... most elderly was one marked July 2007 suppose it's obvious, but we hardly ever use spices from scratch really. Going to ask for a subscription to The Spicery for Christmas, from the PILs probably.

DH did his bit today, well, slightly more than I expected out of the list I had "suggested"!!

Hello all - sorry I haven't checked in for a while, looks like lots of activity!

But I have totally decluttered dd's room - well as much as she'd allow - and cleared out two cupboards in kitchen & chucked away a full bag of out of date food. Today am hoping to get some stuff cleared out of our bedroom which is a total tip...