Anybody want to join me in a mega, whole house declutter?

[LilllyLovesLife]

I am desperate to have a clean and tidy home. It's always ruined my life and I always feel very lonely, partly because I can never have anybody over without a week or so notice to clean up! I am fed up of being like this and want to make a change for good. I know that the biggest step is to declutter, as it will make it so much easier to keep tidy.

I have delcuttered lots of times before, and I then end up filling it up again! I don't want to do this again! I want this to be the last time!!

Anybody up for joining me?

I have already done my girls room (They share a small double and it was always so full that they couldn't ever have space to play in it!). It is so much easier now, I finished it about a week ago but have actually kept it tidy!

I am now moving onto my Son's room. It's a TEENY box room with just a cotbed and one chest of drawers in, no spare space and I have an extra baby to fit in their soon as we are expecting again. Baby will sleep in our room for as long as possible but no idea where the baby's clothes etc will go! So iv culled his clothes and now have 2 spare drawers, and got an under bed drawer now which I can use although not really space to pull it out!

Anyway, would anybody like to join me in my mission? We could support each other and keep each other going? I have also strarted looking into flylady and hope to use some bits from there, but not follow it fully as I like to do my own thing a bit.

Little boy called Charlie (we have a 10yr old called Barney). Black & white. V cute!

So many typos in last post;
Busy so no gardening I think I meant.

Hotpoint mansard he tried to come in he morning (when he was meant to) but a big truck was blocking the road and there was nowhere to park. Nowhere? Not even down the road? Plenty of space idiot!
Then didn't tell me.
I rang to chase found out he was thinking of coming later (when it suited him - I think he was lying about even trying to come in the morning tbh, I'd been keeping an eye out and seen no truck at all.)
Then he turned up, I explained I had to pop out for sch runs but would be happy to let him get on with it.
He said he couldn't stay in the house without me (fair enough as a policy but it was his fault he was there at that time). I said I'm not best pleased about this morning. He said you'll be even less pleased when I get back in my van and drive off!
I said is that your professional attitude he said looks like it and left!

Supposedly someone else coming next week...

wow he sounded like a knobber.

mess mess everywhere :-/

So, fallen off the wagon big time:

• various summer fetes = more tat in the house!
• lots of sports days, plays, teacher meetings = even the basics not getting done.
• went away for a hen weekend & then out for charity midnight walk last night = usual weekend jobs also not done.

Sigh.

House is not feeling any less cluttered than the beginning of the year!

Tomorrow:
Soft toy cull MUST HAPPEN
dry cleaners for dress hanging about since last weekend
assess if we can get rid of the train table as we never use it - except to store others toys on
generally tackle paperwork, esp in the kitchen

advertise train table on a facebk group? Im selling loads of stuff. it's ace!

even old kids' shoes!!

got school fete nxt week, will stick to sweets rather than toys haha. both older dc had/have their birthdays over june/july so lots new toys hanging around. need to declutter dds room again; I want a proper desk... and 2 desk chairs...

Didn't get round to thinking about the table.
Bag of cuddlies ready to go in the car. You can hardly tell though!

need to do something about under the stairs.... family of 5 where 4 wear shoes...
5 yo has 4 pairs, 8 yo has 4 pairs... dh has 6 pairs and I have about 4
= 18 pairs shoes. where to keep them all!!!!!!!!
let alone coats, raincoats, umbrella, 2 rucksacks, 2 football bags, argh.

18? How've you managed so few?!

I'm not even a typical 'girlie' shoe person but I have loads.
We have a messy pile in the hallway.
Without looking:
DS1 school
DS1 trainers
DS1 sandals (he won't wear)
DS1 wellies
DS2 trainers
DS2 beach shoes
DS2 wellies
DD school
DD non-sch
DD crocs
DD flip-flops (won't wear!)
DD wellies
me fit-flops
me trainers
DH work
DH trainers
DH crocs
= 17 I think just in the hallway.

I have in my cupboard
3 x heels
red shoes (a whim a few years ago)
flip-flops
black court
Ugg boots
wellies

DH has other work shoes x lots
brogues
dunno what else

DD also has ballet shoes & some silver ones she was given that she hasn't worn yet.

Oh and PIL came for the weekend with extra plates (big & small) and bowls.
And a cuddly toy for each child.
Sigh.

Getting nowhere fast.

PIL taking DS1 away for the week, DS2 still at school, so just me & DD most of the time. Hoping to rearrange the spare room & then the play room.

I have more in my wardrobe
a red pair I never wear.. brown boots, black boots too small, 2 pairs flats, silver sandals, agh. will sell black boots in autumn on fb, kerching.

ds doesn't help with his normal trainers, his football boots and his football trainers for indoors, his swimming crocs, and 2 pair school shoes - he actually has the most

as far as tidying goes was chuffed with self for hoovering/tidying before the plumber came on Friday. A few more bits have been sold, too, but we're doing major works in the garden so need to clear a lot more so we can lose the 2!! sheds we've already lost the 2 greenhouses...

My parents moved into a bird breeders house - think powered/heated sheds for chicks - lots of sheds to get rid of.
And prev owner seemed v keen on buying compost & keeping every single plastic bag it came in.
Lots of trips to the tip!

Have cleared lots from spare room (to mil's refuge) & moved train table to there along with ds1's toys (well the other two may play with them but not much) - lego, playmobil, action figures, etc. so he can have chill out time away from pesky siblings.
Playroom is mid-chaos but a lot emptier so hoping I can set it up more for the younger 2 to get to all their appropriate stuff.
Still want to give most of it away but trying not to be too mean!

I took some stuff out of the attic today and heartlessly listed it to sell ! tough luck. they have enough stuff & new stuff tomorrow for his birthday

Feeling I can join in at last. Yesterday I had a day off work. As well as doing 2 loads of laundry and 1 dishwasher load, I got rid of a bin-bag's worth of stuff from just my dressing table alone! A small bag for the charity shop as well. I went through every single box, make-up bag, purse, envelope etc. Found a few things I'd forgotten about, paired up some earrings, found receipts dating back up to 10 years ago (for things I no longer have!). Co-located other things: all those spare buttons are in one bag now.

The above took me the same time as a normal working day: frightening! But the clear surface and tidy drawers were worth it.

All I need to do now is tackle the rest of the house and when that's done, do phase 2: go through everything again and be even more ruthless, eg why I am keeping those buttons? At last half probably don't belong to clothes I still have.

I'm on a roll now and have started on the kitchen. DH has even joined in!

excellent stuff!
re buttons - have you got dc to count/sort/make them into patterns/glue onto pictures? buttons ace for all that kind of stuff summer hols prep for rainy days

Chaffinch - lovely idea, but youngest is 20, not sure it's really his thing (and he doesn't live at home) I on the other hand may well use them myself on a craft project ... if I can only work out which ones I can safely use.

'That drawer' in the kitchen yielded 9 (yes nine) pairs of scissors and I can now confidently say I will not need to buy any permanent markers, highlighter pens or sticking plasters for the rest of the decade. Any why would I have needed 2 nutcrackers? This is cathartic!

DH has binned lots of unread professional magazines, and is now tackling the paint lake in the attic.

We are terrible here and it doesn't help that we inherited lots of my parents stuff. It isn't clutter to others and I'd like some money for some bits as they treasured their things.
The stuff we have collected over the years though I am getting through slowly but surely.
I'm not sure if this will work for others but I'm looking at just clearing a couple or few carrier bags a day to rubbish bins, perhaps one bag for charity. It is difficult with sentimental stuff, the rubbish are the easy bits.
I would like to get the whole house de cluttered during the holidays and have text eldest ds to come home and pack his room. He only uses it for storage now and I could do with the space.

morethan - ah yes, I feel your pain. My parents' things, the ones which I didn't want on display but which I couldn't bear to throw out, have been living in our attic, unseen for about 18 years. My parents were hoarders. PILs are also hoarders (but they are still living among their clutter!). However, around the time my parents died, DH lost a relative, his parents cleared her house and dumped half the stuff with us! It's in the attic, beside my parents stuff. DH has almost cleared a path to it now ...

yep we've inherited a fair bit of stuff...some useful, some not so much.
Ive been selling stuff on FB groups, but it takes time, and I think a carboot would be faster, just impossible with a 3mth old...
my other 2 dc would love to do one though

decluttering here is a constant battle. I need storage for lego now, after ds birthday it's fecking everywhere

Chaffinch - Lego is such a difficult one! It lasts for ever, too (still have it in the attic, of course). Someone (on another thread?) suggested a large, shallow under-bed box. It can be pulled out, and rummaged through, with no need to tip it all onto the floor.

You are brave even contemplating a carboot with such wee ones. I did the occasional one, when mine were older than yours, but with little success. The best ones in our area require you to turn up about 5am to book your pitch (people queue from earlier!) with no guarantee of getting in. We are not morning people at the best of times! Yes I realise this is a pathetic excuse, but there you are. I do take stuff to charity shops though, and when we first cleared my parents' house I did sell some things to antique shops and dealers (no eBay then!).

Good luck selling online. Every item is one step closer to the clear house you want. Maybe I should get into that, but once I've decided to get rid of something, I have to do it there and then before I change my mind. May try it with small things which are not taking up much space.

I prefer just to get rid once I've decided in something too.

Have intended to do boot sales many times and never got round to it.

Dh away with the kids so ive been doing bits and pieces. Need to start finishing things before they get back!

Sorted dd's clothes - bagged up stuff to pass on & rubbish bits in recycling.

Done all laundry & ironing so I know there's nothing left that doesn't fit.

Have rearranged toys but not finished or got rid of any yet so it's a mess in there!

I started this today, ds room and box room. Currently box room is a tip and ds won't have anywhere to sleep tonight if I can't get arse in gear! 4 boxes for the garage, 3 bin bags and 3 boxes for charity. But still cluttered! Didn't think it was that bad to start with

*meisiemee" - I think clutter breeds in the dark. Also, it seems to expand when you take it out and put it in a bin bag. I was pondering this myself when I filled a bin bag out of just my dressing table! Your haul sounds really good - a very productive day, I'd say.

hippity liking the shallow box idea...but would need firm subdivisions for the diff sets so as not to mix

Hello!

Are newbies welcome? We are quite a way through a major house declutter and I am in need of some fresh ideas. :)

I have had a read through a lot of your previous posts. .. so nice to know I'm not alone!

Hello!

Are newbies welcome? We are quite a way through a major house declutter and I am in need of some fresh ideas. :)

I have had a read through a lot of your previous posts. .. so nice to know I'm not alone!

Hello another newbie here, I'm in desperate need of decluttering, have 4 dc's 18,8,6 and 17 days so doing a huge de clutter is not going to be easy so it'll have to be little steps for me as and when I can, but I'm back to work in November and really want the house to be mostly sorted so I can keep on top of it.

Job 1 for me really has to be the living room, book shelve, and all the crap that's in there.

Then my bedroom, god I need some motivation!!

Thanks Hipperty, I got there in the end! Ds room sorted except for wardrobe and 2 small boxes. Spare room almost empty (needed to be to make it into a guest room) and even tackled ugly shelves in our bedroom!!! Feel .
Now for the bookshelves downstairs, air cupboard, all cupboards in fact and coat place, then I will be super .
Once you start it seems endless but when you complete a section it's so rewarding! I know I won't feel so embarrassed when people pop by without notice and I expect the cleaner will be happier too!