The march towards Minimalism continues...

[MissAnnersleyismyhero]

Hey all, thought I'd make a new thread to encourage us all to keep going on the journey to minimalism!

Harriet you reminded me about Simplicity Parenting which I may have bought too because of this thread! I just re-read the part on toys and have done a big sort of the baby toys downstairs. DD2 hasn't been playing with her toys because they are just in a big jumble. Next step, DD1's room That will be harder.

If you haven't read the book it advises you to really limit your kids' toys. Not for tidying purposes but to allow them the space and freedom to be imaginative.

Get rid of:
broken toys;
annoying or ugly toys;
fixed toys (they do one specific thing and have no room for imaginative play);
toys that are linked to tv, film etc;
toys that are beyond your child's abilities.

Keep:
open ended toys (can be used in lots of ways depending on your child's imagination);
well made toys;
much loved toys.

Split the 'keepers' into 2 piles and store one pile out of sight. Use the toys from the stored pile to occasionally swap for a toy that's already out.

Jimmy that's really timely thank you. I had last night instead of tidying the playroom so I'll do that tonight. No way I can manage before the kids go to bed! I ordered the book just now :)

I still have to sort the study, finish my bedroom, the playroom and the laundry room before DH is back on Monday night. Plus take an enormous amount of stuff to the charity shop.

Yesterday I went through all the clothing that was in storage bags in the spare room. It's all pre-DC clothing I'm too big for and I ditched everything I don't love, didn't fit or needed fixing. I'm slightly horrified at the amount of unworn items in there, at the waste of money, but it simply has to go and I'm trying not to let it upset me. I do feel relieved at it going though and not having to attempt to store it.

I've almost finished the play room!

4 bags of rubbish and a bag of toys for my NDN and her newborn. Still need to do the soft toys and a box of puzzles but it's easily tidy and there is still lots of space for other things (life craft stuff) to be stored there.

Slightly annoyed with myself that I not only achieved it in less than 2 hours but also that DD was awake. Why am I putting these barriers in front of sorting out the house?

I want in!

Come on in Cheerful Yank! We seem to be on a roll at the moment

digger here's a . You must be exhausted!

Digger, I try to not be too hard on myself when I get rid of barely worn stuff. The money it cost is already sunk in the past but the ongoing cost of storing it and feeling bad about it us still there. Get rid if it, feel lighter and then the most important thing is to change habits. I've been working really hard on the habit changing this year - being much more considered in my purchases and not buying straight away. It's helping.

Same here with the waste. I kick myself thinking how much money I've wasted, but you know what, it's been a valuable lesson!

There's NO point keeping something just because you've bought it. It's like forcing yourself to clear your plate when you're already full.

Great words everton and fuzzpig. The konmarie woman says that things come into your life for a reason and if you have an unread book , for example, then the message that book was going to bring to your life is no longer needed.

DH has had a go at his stuff on our wall of Billy bookcases. 5 and a bit towering piles on the dining table and one empty looking bookcase!

I've started to nab toys from DD1's room but she's a crafty minx and 'absolutely loves' the Dora doll she hasn't touched since it was bought! Maybe I'll wait till she's at pre school. I don't like doing this without her but she won't let anything go.

On the plus side DD2 was having fun with her decluttered toy shelves. It was lovely to watch.

I have simplicity parenting too thanks to this thread! Itching to get started getting all our clothes together and identifying which ones bring us joy. I have a feeling the 'joy' pile will be teeny! I agree with our fellow minimalists that it's better just to let the stuff go.. The money spent has long gone and the value of having the empty space/lack of guilt looking at them far outweighs the reasons to hold on to them.
Had a great day out today so when peace shortly descends tonight I will make a start. Feeling motivated. We can support each other to get to where we want to be. Great work Digger btw!

Evening all! Digger I have downloaded the Kindle version of the KonMarie book and am about to start reading it! I'm definitely more a 'do it all in one go' sort of person so I'm hoping it will inspire me to just get on with clearing out some of the bigger piles of crap that we've built up over the years.

It is definitely harder when you're looking after little ones at the same time and I need to accept that there will be interruptions/diversions and not let it wind me up like it usually does. I love my DC to bits and I do often feel like a rubbish mum as I tend to prioritise getting the housework done over playing with them. The Slow Your Home post about that really resonated with me so I'm trying to change my mindset - I'm pretty sure it's something I've inherited from my DM. I can't ever really remember her playing with me and my DB when we were little and though I always swore I'd not be like that with my own children I seem to have done it anyway .

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day and all that.

Arti hope all goes well with your op next week. Rest up and take it easy afterwards!

It's like forcing yourself to clear your plate when you're already full. That's excellent fuzzpig thank you.

everton Thank you for that reminder too. I know you're right :) I'm trying to change habits too (and tracking them, which helps me).

Thanks polka

Jimmy The DC were a joy to watch in the playroom after that was finished too.

Teacake I worry that DD will feel the same, that I'm too busy doing stuff. It's really why I'm so determined to get rid of lots.

My SIL and MIL both have show homes. MIL in particular is amazing. They don't have a lot of money but every single item is carefully considered and chosen. I'd say MIL loves everything she has. She's sold 2 houses in the past where the purchasers have tried to buy everything. However, it takes maybe 15 minutes to clean her house, if that. It's always spotless. SIL is the same in that it's tidy (but she doesn't have the same interior designer gene!) and she has a 7 month old. It takes her minutes to clean. It really is because they have very little in their homes, I'm convinced.

I've put everything for the charity shop in my car and my hatchback is FULL to the brim bloody proud of myself though. :o

diggers, those houses sound amazing!

My new house is much smaller (but still a good size) and I'm finding things every day that don't 'bring joy', so despite 2+ years of shedding, there's a long way to go. I'd like to heavily edit the photos we have - there are boxes and boxes - and put them all into an album next, but I want to balance that with spending time with the kids.

Because of my new living arrangement I spend part of the time in a flat which has very little in it - a great opportunity to think very intentionally about what goes into it. I've bought some herbs and house plants and a Muji oil diffuser (I have lavender, rosemary, lemongrass...) and I'm going to frame some postcards for the wall. I want a soft blanket to wrap myself in, but really I have everything I need there.

Still loving this thread.

Back to say - having spent all day in the surgery unit yesterday, my surgery was cancelled because there was no sterile operating equipment - twice! The first pack wasn't sterile and had to be sent off-site ( private company) to be sterilised which took over 4 hours and then the next pack they sent wasn't sterile either and by then there wasn't enough time to get another pack sent. Feeling upset and angry and the delay will have a serious impact on my self-employed business!

arti that's crap. I'm so sorry for you. What a waste of your time and energy.

Carried 13 HEAVY carrier bags of books to the chazzer yesterday. Took me 3 trips (used the pushchair!). Thought I'd spread the love between my 3 local shops but one wouldn't accept books and the other was randomly closed. Feeling pleased they are all gone but it was a sweaty venture! That's 31 carrier bags of stuff gone from a bookcase we thought we'd decluttered already! It's looking a bit bare now but we've ordered half doors from IKEA so the bottom shelves are hidden and I will arrange the open shelves in an attractive way (don't google shelf styling if you don't have time to waste!!)

Have steam cleaned my lounge/diner. Starting to feel the love for my house again.

Oh arti, how annoying for you!
Some great action going on here.

Both DCs have concerts this weekend so I have been a roadie/taxi most of today. I did find time to show one of our microfibre armchairs how much I love it (they're super comfy and I'll be very fed up when they are worn out) by cleaning it. It now looks 1 year old rather than 10 years old.
I'll have to do the other one soon as they look really mismatched but I'm exhausted from running around. So tonight I think I'm just going to just sit in the clean armchair and love it some more!

I have done to dinning room table I feel so good right now

Now I have to do my bedroom (a massive job :( ) and reorganise the shelf in the lounge then I have finished :)

(done the dinning room table)

I have started reorganising the shelves in the lounge (one of those Ikea Billy units) but they are so horribly cluttered I am taking a much needed break! It has taken me 2 hours to organise 3 shelves

Hello, i can see this is a long standing thread. Is it ok to ask people for three tips to help me get started. I want to have less stuff but seem to need it, but do I really?

Oh just read a few about spending money items so you cant jutify getting rid as that would be a waste right? This is exactly what I struggle with.

Hi andsmile.

It is difficult to let things go when you know you spent money to get them. But you have to stop thinking that way. The item has either brought you some pleasure so it was worth the money, or it has not been used successfully so it was a waste of money. Either way you won't get the money back so it's a pointless stress. What will you gain by decluttering it? That is a much better question to ask yourself.

Tips to get started:

• Choose a category eg. clothes/books/DVDs. Make some piles (bin/charity shop/keep/maybes). You will find you revisit categories as you get better at decluttering.

• Find an area that is cluttered eg. dining table/kitchen work surfaces/coat pegs. Remove everything (stick in bin bags) and only put back what you want to stay there. This way you can get to enjoy a decluttered area without the hard work of dealing with the actual clutter straight away. Obviously you will need to sort the stuff in bin bags but sometimes, on the start of your journey, you just need some quick wins to inspire you. NB bags of unsorted clutter are known as bags o'shite on this thread!

*Look at minimalism blogs for inspiration. Some to get you started are:
Slow Your Home
Miss Minimalist
Minimalist Mom

Thnks jimmy. I've done a large bag of clothes.

I think about which dresses to get rid of as I'm driving along. The clutter is literally in my head to.

We'll benefits, I'm thinking

Tidy
Organised
Can find stuff so no stress getting ready for swimming malarkey
Save time see above
Stuff won't get broken, better card for
No double buying yes DH's swimming trunks that reappeared a few days after buying new.

Double buying this may have happened here too

Arti that must be so upsetting and infuriating. Have you got a new date yet? Jimmy wow, 13 bags! andsmile welcome. No tips from me as I'm just starting out, but I'm finding this lot very inspiring:)

Other benefits for your list:
being able to invite people round without having to spend hours blitzing first.
Less time wasted sorting through built-up piles of laundry
DC play with their toys more when they can see and find them.

Hi all, just checking in quickly. Not doing too badly here. I've decided to start Ebaying stuff now that I've charity shopped at least half the clutter, and boy does it slow the whole process down. I've got at least four storage boxes of baby clothes that it would be so quick and easy to just take down the chazzer. I'll give it a month and then decide if its worth the time, space and effort to EBay.

It sounds like you are doing brilliantly Jimmy!

Welcome Andsmile. It was double buying and the frustrated rage it invoked that made me join this thread eighteen months ago. How can you lose a bloody Christmas tree stand? I never have found the original so at least there was a point to the double buying in my case, I suppose!