Do we have a Christmas 2014 decluttering thread yet?

[Titsalinabumsquash]

I wasn't sure if this should go in Good Housekeeping but I know people get twitchy enraged at the mention of Christmas in non designated topics!

Anyway, it's only 3 months away and my house needs a decluttering and sorting, would anyone want to join me in doing a small space at a time?

I'm a list maker, I'm planning on splitting my house into zones and doing one at a time and sorting into keep and lose piles and dealing with them there and then rather than sorting into new piles and leaving them to gather into more clutter.

Right I made the mistake of reading on into the discarding bit of the MariKon book and now I have the fear Wish I had done the proper vision of your perfect life bit. Last night I was all set to bin everything but now I am desperate to cling to my clutter . Anyone else been through this?

OneSkinnyChip you've made me very curious about that book, I think I might buy it if there is a hope of it making me part with some of the clutter - I seem to find giving away the DC's things harder than anything - like tiny baby grows and newborn mittens etc.

I love your idea of flogging the extra Christmas presents - I often hate the stuff they buy and it is never what the children are into. One year one of my DH's aunts bought a massive Thomas the Tank engine train set for DS - it was so big it wouldn't fit on the floor of his bedroom so could only be set up downstairs - such fun!! I waited a year and then gave it away. I find giving the things away to charity easier than flogging - it lessens my guilt!!

Skiinychip could you do the visualisation now? For me I just want to be able to invite people around without having to spend 2 days cleaning and tidying beforehand. I also want the house feeling less cluttered, fresher and cleaner by Christmas. DH has offered to decorate the living room so I reckon our glorious leader she must know something

Just about to drop another bag off at the Charity shop. Luckily we've got about 5 so I keep alternating which one I use so they don't start refusing my old crap

Julie I'm going to try and do it now. I may even leave the house so I am not sitting feeling guilty about not tidying!

I was determined to make a dent today and as I have so much stuff everywhere I decided not to concentrate on one particular room but to just try and get rid!! Progress so far:
dd's wardrobe - bagged up some for charity and some bits for a friend.
dd's books - made 3 piles - friend, school & charity
Listed 4 bigger items on gumtree
Boxed up some other toys for charity shop
Unpacked 2 box's and sorted through/put away

Feels good but when it's written down it doesn't look like I have done much
I need to make sure I go to charity shop tomorrow and drop off other bits.
I'm also hoping to sort craft cupboard, unpack another 2 box's & go through ds's wardrobe and books.

How is everyone else doing?

That sounds good Don't! You are right about getting the stuff out of the house though, that's where I fall down.

So I used the book today and made a dent in my clothes. Not nearly enough of a dent but I'm distracted by family arriving tomorrow to stay until Tuesday! So I did loads of laundry, only to end up chucking some of it straight into the rags bags for the charity shop :( One thing I have found: the whole 'do I feel joy' thing works better in daylight. I was trying to finish up tonight to get the bed cleared but I couldn't see the real colours of the clothes under the electric light. I think I need to be realistic and maybe get little bits done while visitors are here but really get ready for next week when they leave. In the meantime emergency cleaning is needed!

Oh dear.....I keep marking my place on all these threads without actually contributing anything! I've got my sons bedroom to decorate before Christmas, as well as sprucing up the other rooms. Just looking for cash, energy and enthusiasm now!!

Great to hear of another week's progress all round!

I've had a go-slow this weekend as at the last minute we decided to go away overnight. Therefore a mass scramble for laundry last night and homework and not much decluttering. I did go through two big drawers in the living room, chucking out plastic tat and broken pens; also collected up sewing things scattered around the place and found a new tidy home for them in the utility.

Specifically for Xmas, I turfed out my box of wrapping paper rolls and have confirmed to myself that I don't need to buy ANY this year (nor gift tags).

Well our visitors leave tomorrow so I will hopefully be back on the wagon then! I have finished reading the MariKon book and am feeling a bit too inspired. I am in danger of leaving myself with no clothes at all other than a handful of tops and jeans

Sorry for going quiet - wish I could say I've been busy decluttering but I'd be lying! Have messed around with the spreadsheets a bit though.

star we're in Wiltshire unfortunately. Hope you find a home for them though.

Right. I'm feeding DS at the moment but as soon as he's done I'm going to make a start on the junk craft room.

Afternoon all
I am in dire need of decluttering and this could be the thread I need to keep me motivated. This year I want to be sorted for Christmas by the first of December, thereby allowing me to spend 24 days drifting airily about sipping mulled wine and nibbling on homemade canapés (obviously in a floaty dress and with obligatory tinkly laugh as well)
Sadly we have a tiny cottage, three dogs, DS, the cat and a logburner so the constant drifts of dust and hair are a huge problem
DS and DH are inveterate hoarders so I have to do things on the sly. Today however, the purchase of a new iron has allowed me to begin to scale the mountain of clean laundry. I have an hour under my belt already and am going in again- wish me luck :o

Hi Fox - love your plan! Might have to follow suit.

DS has fallen asleep on me so I'm decluttering some old episodes of masterchef I've got recorded.

I'm in.

I moved into this house in July but with 4dcs on my own it's not so much declutter for Christmas as unpack for Christmas. I love Christmas with a passion and so I'm hoping to make this (the first one in MY home) a proper glitzy affair. The dcs aren't with me Christmas week so I have to make it lovely before they go and make sure it stays lovely for when they get back!

I'll read up later.

Just coming back to this thread. My pre Christmas declutter operation is now back in full swing and is now running at 2 houses, mine and my DM's.

Dad passed away last week (cancer, blessed relief tbh) and we are now in the process of throwing his hoardy old clutter out.Yesterday me and my sister got rid of 4 black bags of rubbish he wouldn't throw away, 2 carrier bags of drugs and 2 huge bags of dressings yesterday. Huge amount more space now!

And I have spent this morning waiting in for a delivery so have had the chance to go through DD's wardrobe whilst she's at school so that's all hung & ready to be labelled for the NCT sale.

Really feel I'm making progress so that helps a lot

Blondie sorry for your loss. How is your DM? Glad you are making progress (in both houses!) - it feels good, doesn't it?

Made some progress in the craft room on Monday. Unfortunately a lot of the clutter in there either needs to be somewhere else that hasn't been sorted (e.g. Christmas presents that should be on top of the wardrobe, but the top of the wardrobe has stuff that should be in the loft, but the loft needs sorting out and more boards put down...) or projects that need to be finished. DH and I are going to ask my Mum to have DS for a few hours soon so we can sort out the loft, which should push my decluttering up a gear!

I've got an awful lots of bits and pieces hanging around that need DH to do something with them - like a set of hooks to go up in the porch, a shelf to put up in the living room and so on. It's making the place look cluttered but I don't want to hide them all away or he'll NEVER get around to doing the jobs. Grr.

Thanks Let

Ah have you tried the "we need to get x done, could you do it by [date] or I'll get someone in to do it" trick? And YY any sorting out is much harder with DC around.

I have removed 9 bags from my parents house in 2 hours . Mum is ok, will be glad to get the funeral done. Seeing the registrar tomorrow at last.

I have 3 bags of bedding ready for collection tomorrow.

On Friday, I'll start on the shed !

Very Blondie it is difficult isn't it?
My Mum cannot throw things out, so when her parents (my Grandparents) house had to be emptied, it all came to her house.
All the memories are difficult to part with , but sometimes if you get help from someone a bit 'detatched' they can be more practical WRT what stays and what goes.

My mum gave loads of their furniture to the Salvation Army.

I'm marking my spot for tomorrow, going to start on our ensuite, probably smallest room in the house but at least it will be a start

cupcakes we have that problem too
My solution is to make a list, a proper Things That Must Be Done list. Then DH and I spend a morning cracking through it with no distractions (we are awful for "just having a quick bacon sandwich" or "just taking the dogs up the fields" when we should be gainfully employed)
We set a time limit and promise ourselves a treat when we are done eg. a pint in the pub it's amazing how quickly DH works when there's a drink on the end of it :o

DP and I are starting this weekend. I've started putting things on Facebook to sell but to be honest I'll probably just charity shop what doesn't go quickly. am selling at NCT sale in October so piling stuff up for that.

I love the idea of not needing to tidy constantly so getting rid of stuff is the only way!!!!

LetThereBe, not sure what your situation is, but is there a reason it needs to be your DH who does the jobs? Could you just get on with them? I do this, and either its a job that I do, or if I'm bodging it, he just 'swaps jobs' ie I have the kids and he takes over rather than watch me bodge it. If its a job I can't handle, I say I'm getting a carpenter / my Dad in. Either he expresses relief coz its beyond him, or he cracks on with it. I've given up waiting for people!

can i join in? my dc's main presents arrived today. dd has a bike ds has a 2ds. he i getting hi bike for his birthday. his dsi has a software issue so occasionally needs resetting causing him to loose all his pictures resulting in a upset 4yo. sooooo i have nowhere to put dds bike and so im planning a big de clutter very very soon. also we have a baby due march so deaperatly need some more space in our house. i just need motivation to make a start because this de clutter is looooong overdue

sorry for all the typos cant edit post on my phone

Can I join in too? I don't have much time as DC4 is only 5 weeks old, but we have so much clutter this thread might help provide the motivation I need.