Out with the old and in with - NOTHING! Further adventures in minimalism.

[MrsPennyapple]

Following on from the Minimalist Journey and Minimalist Quiche threads. The journey continues...

Arti I'm so confused its unreal. And I can only imagine your head is spinning too. So the problem with there being a clinic held on Good Friday so mr x didn't do his surgery was what exactly? I doubt all his surgery patients would have been out back two weeks. Although as you've so often said, this is the nhs.

Righto. Today's decluttering has been the wardrobe. More specifically my side of the wardrobe and the clutter in front of said wardrobe.

I have a bag of play-doh to go to the inlaws, two of those pop up things, one for stuff to be returned to the Dc's room and one for items that should be elsewhere in the house - tape dispenser, stationery, medicine. All sorts! And I've not finished yet. However I do have to go and get the children from school soon so the eldest can help and put everything back in their room.

I also have a bin liner of clothes I no longer wear. Mostly because they are too small for me and while I am of the theory that I want to be smaller to fit in them, and not worry about the cost of replacing the stuff I've shrunk out of, at the moment I am having to buy bigger stuff so when the time comes, I'm just going to buy smaller and not put even more pressure on myself right now.

Oh, and there are several more pairs of shoes I've not worn in an age and am not sure if I'm going to wear again. So I have decided they can go too. Again, if I want that type of thing ill buy when I need them. Honestly, did I really need 2 pairs of brown wedges? I've lived in trainers for the best part of the last few years. And even those are gone now!

Sokmonsta - I think the situation was that Mr x always does surgery say every third Friday and clinics on the others but because of Good Friday, waht the computer thought was say a fourth Friday was actually a third one because Good Friday didn't count. Basically it means someone didn't take Good Friday into account when setting up the appointments!

Hi all. I've had productive day today tackling some of the outside mess. Also did a charity shop run and took a boot full of rubble to the tip. I'm hoping the weather holds over the weekend and DH and I can sort the big pile o'trash in our drive. I'm guessing we've got 3 trips to get just that pile cleared (nevermind the sheds of doom.) It would be nice to have the outside of the house looking less like a tip!

Last night after clearing out the wardrobe it really hit me how worn my clothes are and how difficult it is to put anything together to wear. Nearly everything in my wardrobe should probably go bar my little black shift dress and a couple of 3/4 length sleeve ts. Even my jeans are getting holes! I got online and started researching capsule wardrobes and then ordered few things online. I can't afford to do it all at once, but I'm hoping to replace a few things a month over the next few months and then just add as I need to. I hate clothes shopping, so at least on-line takes the stress out of it. I can always send it back if it doesn't fit! I'm feeling really excited about the prospect of having some new things that will actually mix and match as opposed the 4 outfits I currently wear over and over. I need to find some trousers or something besides skinny jeans that I like so that I can vary it a bit.

After I get my head around that, I'm going to gear up and sort out a meal plan / regular shopping list of some sort. We officially start home educating in the autumn, so I have that as a natural deadline for getting the house / home life decluttered and simplified!

Home educating? Oooh, I am sooo jealous! Can you recommend any gourd websites? Although we don't do it formally I do love doing semi formal home learning as an adjunct to our very good school

Hello all, sorry I've not read through yet but just to say its the end of the week and my car is still clean and stuff free

Wendy - exciting re new wardrobe. Do check style and beauty as well as promotional code threads on mn for deals!!! (If not already)

If anyone is after minimalism and simplicity inspiration, they should check out tiny house images, the simplicity and minimalism that goes on is incredible.

Silent there is a thread for websites on the HE section on MN which is pretty good. I'm just a newbie, so am still reading books / getting my head around how I think we will probably work. I think we'll probably do 'unschooling' for the first couple of years - DS isn't even 4 yet, so far too young for formal learning over here! Mostly my plan is to go to HE groups locally and ensure that I'm surrounding them with quality resources and books.

Loves well done! It is the maintaining that is key.

My capsule wardrobe isn't going so well. I ordered several pairs of trousers to try on and have ordered them all in the wrong size. Good old Next though is quick with the delivery! I'll have to exchange them for the correct sizes.

On the positive side DH is upstairs going through his clothes and making a charity pile!

I have de-cluttered something - a candle I was given 3 years ago and have never burned. It's gone in the charity shop bag!

Here's to getting myself back on track!

Wow wow wow - I just tossed five massive archive boxes of old papers! I am a teacher so this stuff multiplies insanely. It took a while but wow! Am going back in again now! (Am only about a quarter through!)

I am new on this thread. I have become concious of the house bursting at the scenes recently so have started decluttering. I put 3 bags to the clothes bank last week 1 bag to a charity shop and have tried to throw something out every day.

I can't see any difference. But I will.

12 boxes gone. This is addictive! Still in chaotic heap of clutter though :)

Arti, I have some 10 year old unburned candles in my 'give away' pile.

The basement is a bit clearer but only because we have re-built the trampoline today. It takes up a lot of space in its boxes!

I have put a maternity top(not getting preg again!!) that I randomly found lying around in a drawer, and a pair of trousers I first bought post dc1 into the charity bag. Without much thought . And a couple of bits that kids have outgrown into the bag for friend. Found old sandals from my DS which won't fit him anymore but may fit friends son. So will hand them on.

This is such an inspirational thread - has spurred me on to doing stuff I've meant to do for ages
I was contemplating buying a book about decluttering but honestly would that just be another book to find a home for and procrastinating while reading it?!
I love the idea of doing the car as a starting point (today hopefully) and thank you all for sharing tips.
So far I've tackled several bags of rag/pass on that were lurking in front of my wardrobe, although still looking for something I promised to a friend
I too have moved and seem to have lots of stuff I need not have moved because I haven't needed much of it and I still have many unopened boxes 5 months in.
Have a friend coming on Friday to my shoes shop for her baby DS!
Most importantly I have resisted the urge to buy new stuff.
My reward will be buying new furniture for new house to store reduced stuff in and knowing if I actually need to buy anything for upcoming holiday or if I can manage it in re-discovered stuff!
Onwards and upwards.

I too have found maternity stuff - youngest DC is 3.6 think I've held on to stuff that was actually comfortable as we all know that is difficult to find in pregnancy and I'm finally letting go of ever having more babies.

Well I have done the bathroom... Not much but a start. Dying to take a couple of days off and do more... Hope everyone has had a lovely sunny Sunday

Does anyone have any ideas for bath toy storage?

Cristiane I use a plastic wastebin for the bath toys.

mazzi does it have holes in bottom to drain?

Trying to get some motivation and energy together to make a start today! I am "decluttered out" after going at it for 2 weeks non stop! Made so much progress though, my main aim is to get the loft clear of all the c**p bar xmas decorations and to get rid of wedding stuff since i am now divorced! will keep updating, however for now, sitting with cuppa :-)

I had 2 of those net bags with suckers on it that attach to the wall tiles for bath toys

Cristiane I use a coloured woven basket for bath toys. I think designed as a waste paper basket - woven out of plastic strips to it can handle the water and drain and be easily cleaned. I had a bath toy cull and now only toys that fit in the smallish basket remain. They haven't missed a thing.

I put ONE thing on ebay. ONE BLOODY THING! and now it has been 'decluttered' - somewhere in the large pile in the corner of "stuff remaining to go through" (I hope) - its an unused Pregnancy Yoga DVD. I have to find it tonight to post - buyer has paid already!!

Yesterday I returned the too big Muji drawers and came home with a car full of right size drawers. They look fantastic, stack well, hold so much. For the first time DD2's clothes are in the bedroom (they used to be in living room - don't ask).

Put piece of furniture on local FB page to sell - need to get it onto Gumtree too. Once that is gone I will be able to get DD's low table from living room, into bedroom.

Goals this week are to declutter my way to the DVD I sold, and finish off the paperwork.

There is so much energy on this thread - it's amazing. I'm so happy to have such wonderful company on this journey.

Ha - decluttered an old fleece top. Decided it is a) slightly too tight, b)has been washed so often the fleece is no longer very soft and c) has some marks on it that don't come off in the wash! It can go into the "rag for charity" bag.

Still quite slow on the decluttering front but glad to have managed to do those 2 bits!

So I bought myself a vegetable steamer today which I've been meaning to get for the last couple of years but haven't - I was sort of 'scared' of buying it because it would mean something else in my kitchen cupboard. I know that feeling isn't 'normal'

Anyone else felt like this about shopping since 'finding' minimalism?

I feel like I want to reject anything coming into my house! bc I find living with less so much easier.

I haven't been able to catch up properly after being away for a while but I'm glad to have found you all again. My mission this week is to rid the house of the bags and a bags of clothes I have decluttered. Easier said than done when I spend all day going back and forth to nursery and school and clubs or feeding various children. I'm going to look into collection companies today.

Our 3rd dc is in a bedroom which was previously a sibling's and an office prior to that. It has a sloped roof so when we girls moved in we covered a wall with shelves to maximise the storage space since there is little useable wall space for furniture. But now these shelves are a clutter magnet. The room is half the baby's and half a play room. My kids are appalling at tidying up despite my best efforts and I think the shelves add to the problem because more stuff is visible and that ends up on the floor, and when tidy up time comes it gets shoved in any old place and looks awful. I am loathed to replace functional furniture because it seems like a waste of money but I am coming round to the idea of beautiful being much better for the soul. Does anyone have any reasonably priced toy storage ideas? I'm thinking tubs or baskets, perhaps. Plastic tubs are cheap and practical but not beautiful!