Decluttering / organisational tips?

[LittleFriendSusan]

So we have decided that this is the year we will get rid of the cupboards / loft full of crap we (I) have been hoarding for the last 15 years +.

Got off to a reasonable start: I have cleared DD's room and got rid of a good 4-5 bin liners full of stuff. Have taken most to charity / binned what was broken / damaged and am left with 4 boxes of her books / toys which I plan on selling (have listed a few games / unopened craft sets on eBay). I also have a huge pile of books they have outgrown over the last 5 years which are stacked in a cupboard. Quite a few DVDs, CDs, DS & Wii games. Also lots of my books (mainly paperbacks) that I will never read again. I have put some on Green Metropolis but am way down the list of sellers so could be waiting some time. Tried MusicMagpie but CDs were worth about 30p each - hardly seems worth the hassle!

Soooo - where's the best place for me to try to sell all this? I did think car boot sale, but could be waiting a while for the weather to warm up and want rid of it ASAP. Or do people still do car boots in winter?? Can't move for boxes at the moment . We also have a playhouse full of boxes of toys and stuff we sorted out to sell last year but never got round to it...

Also, I really need to sort the mountains of paperwork (think there a probably at least 4 large plastic storage boxes full ). Realistically, what do I need to keep? I'm talking house stuff, insurance docs, car stuff, pay slips, bank statements, etc.

What about kids' stuff: old schoolwork, pictures, certificates, etc? What do you keep and where do you store it? At the moment, I have a drawer full of certificates and badges! Couple of boxes of random bits of paper and more in a bag that have built up over the last 6 months or so.

What else? Shoes and bags? How do you store these? Again, I have several plastic storage boxes full - no room in my wardrobe for anything but those I wear / use regularly. Would love floor to ceiling wardrobe in our room with decent storage baskets etc, but that will have to wait!

We have a double built-in cupboard on the landing which I'm sure could be put to good use, but at the moment it's jam-packed with crap. Including several years-worth of Good Food /Olive / Delicious mags which I can't bring myself to throw away... I know, I know, I need help...

So, words of wisdom anyone? Where do I start? DP has also very helpfully (!) emptied the loft into our bedroom / landing, so I have very little room to work with. I know the theory: 3 boxes - keep, bin, sell/charity, but that means finding room for another 3 boxes in amongst the others that have invaded my bedroom & landing! I can barely make it from my bed to the bathroom without tripping over stuff at the moment...

The motivation is there, but I can't see the wood for the trees!

Oops that was longer than I intended .

I think it is probably a "how do you eat an elephant?" approach - in small bitesized pieces.

Tackle one box at a time. Be ruthless. If you want rid of it quickly, you are going to have to chuck stuff. Start with those magazines. If you really can't face chucking them all out, spend an hour going through them, rip out any recipes you LOVE and will use then put them in a ring binder (limit yourself to just one though). No point keeping all those pages of adverts is there?

When you've cleared a space - fill it with a box of something you HAVE to keep. Remember if it's not useful or beautiful, it has to go.

If you want to sell some stuff, you may have to climb over it till spring but there are some indoor car-boot / table top sales around. Check out your local shop for adverts.

Good luck.

Thanks Crikeyblimey. I know you're right - the magazines have to go...

Dare I admit that I have 2 project display folder things and a drawer full of torn-out recipes too? That's after I culled them last time . I have a bit of a cookbook addiction going on too. I fear there may be no hope for me.

Have you heard of the Internet? You can get all your recipes on there. Or - scan them and file on the pc. They'll take up much less room amd be easily "get at able".

I do understand, cos I loves a good cook book but I try to only keep the ones I use regularly or have sentimental value.

Shall I pop round with a bin bag / skip?? :)

Sorry - sounded a bit like smug mcsmug up there.

You can do it and you'll feel so much better for it. Watch you don't over face yourself though. Little and often is the key.

I "try"'to have a One in, One out rule. Every bag of stuff that comes in the house, another bag of stuff must leave. Don't always achieve it but hey, worth a try.

Think a skip is called for rather than a bin bag

Scanning recipes v good idea - don't know why I've never thought of that! I do use the Good Food website quite regularly anyway, but somehow it's not the same! I've actually got rid of lots of cookbooks already - we put 2 big shelves up in the kitchen for cookbooks and I had a sort out and kept only those I use. Though I do seem to keep acquiring more .

I will get there I know... Just seems a long old process and patience is not my forte!

RE: toys and kids books. Don't bother selling unless actually valuable, the little they go for (if they go) isn't worth the hassle. Particularly if you've already got a playhouse (!) full of stuff you haven't sold. The money was lost at the purchase point. Donate it to your local toy library, children's ward at hospital or charity shop. You can check ebay to see what is selling and how much for - bigger items like playhouse and large baby items may sell for something. I ebayed loads of baby clothes / toys when I first started my big clear-out. It was totally not worth the hassle, trips to post office, annoying questions, non-payment. Just get rid - you'll feel great and you can use that high as motivation to keep going through the smaller annoying stuff.

Shoes and bags: get rid of the ones that you don't use regularly (in the last year). If designer sell, if not, charity shop.

DVD's, CD, books etc: Music magpie or similar. If they don't want it no one else does, unless rare / obscure. Charity shop / recycle centre. Rare / obscure put on Amazon.

Kid's stuff: Pick the very best artwork - a few pieces a year, meaningful certificates (not ones for attendance) and maybe badges that they worked very hard for and are likely to be meaningful/memorable to them later. Get a nice box for each kid and put them in there. I have some plywood ones from Ikea. I've seen people put folders in for each year, which is probably a good idea so it is clear how old they were and so you don't save too much (limited by folder size!).

Paperwork: Little and often. I just cleaned my paperwork out by doing one file folder a day until it was done. Some days I got into it and did more, but I always did at least one. Maybe split your bags up into bite-sized chunks? I made sure that it was in my way though, so I stayed motivated to get it done and out of my way!

You can toss the magazines. But you may need to spread it out. My hard one was all my notes from uni and post-grad. Organised by each course, in ring binders. All done in the same order. It was hard to do because it was letting go of my previous self. I started by recycling the handwritten notes from classes - kept the tests / papers / assignments. Went back to them a few months later and culled everything but the things I would need for a professional body accreditation. I now have everything in 1 ring binder - from about 20 (huge) ones.

Good luck!

Try selling stuff on facebook, they should have local selling groups on there in your area. I have got rid of a lot of stuff this way :)

re the recipes - all those Good Food/Olive recipes will be on the website - I think there might be a "binder" function on there or you could use pinterest to collect together links to the ones you love. Be a bit tough with yourself though - how many of them do you actually cook?

Ikea has a good storage range for inside wardrobes/cupboards called Algot - might be worth a look? Can either be freestanding or attached to a wall.