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.

Gave away a squeaky toy to a friends dd - only one small thing but nothing has come in today so I'm happy with that!
Having the baby here made me get out some other stuff and realise I've still got lots of toys my kids have friends out of. Toy & book sort overdue I feel.

iv had 2 bags of stuff collected today.
However I did buy 3 laundry baskets but they will help me organise upstairs as there is always washing on the floor. Hoping to have one for soft toys in the kids room too.

This thread has inspired me!
I'm on maternity leave now (due in 4 weeks) and I'd quite like to spend about 2 weeks reorganising the whole house, chucking stuff out, ebaying clothes and toys and generally getting the house ready for me spending so much time in it! Normally dh and I work 50 hours a week out of the house, and since we're so busy and have a 9 year old ds, housework and organising household stuff has been on an "needs must" basis. It's not ideal.
The only thing is, I have spd and need to use crutches to get about most days. I can't work as fast as I'd like.

Will gladly take tips from those of you who seem to be well on your way to clean and organised houses!

dobedo - take it easy with your spd, i've had it and it's not nice. Sit and sort through stuff if you can, but not cross-legged (sorry if you already know this!)
My main tip is to get rid of stuff in the quickest, easiest way possible - ebay is great but...stuff tends to sit about waiting to be ebayed for ages - in my house anyway!

DH is only going to take one of the slings to his colleague, think that leaves me with 3 others!

GONE:
ebay; all 5 items gone (some were big too)
ink cartridges from old printer freecycled
charity shop box to charity shop
more toys in 'halfway out' box
spices/sauces/pasta/etc cupboard cleared out & lots composted
toy cars mountain reduced
cot
last maternity bits
other random knackered sofa
pile of garden bits too big for bin
old keyboard
unwanted freebie coffee table
squeaky toy!

Still to go:
more toys to be given away
eBay; reusable nappies to photograph & list; other slings
box for school fair stuff - added to
baby swing seat
potties/toilet seats (as DD doesn't need them anymore, keeping steps for now)
box of girls clothes for friend
balance bike that my kids don't like
try and have a cuddly toy cull
general toy cull for anything too babyish

have achieved a lot around the house today including some decluttering and organising baby things. But I feel like I have nothing to show for it. I think because the kids are off school so there is a constant trail of mess. although I did make them tidy their room before bed.

I have spoken to somebody regarding them doing a deep clean of my bathrooms, which I just can't do with my back the way it is at the moment. scared about letting somebody else in to see my dirt! but it will make me feel better once it's done. Also looking for a window cleaner to do the outside as the whole of the back of my house is glass and looks awful from the dirt. If i do it myself it will be a full day job and days of paying for it with my back.

I'm taking the kids out tomorrow to a soft play that's in a shopping center. I do need to pop and get myself some new comfy shoes but it's going to be a real challenge to avoid buying loads of crap while I'm out. I'm a sucker for pound land etc.

I'm so scared about DDs party. having school friends etc round in 20 days and the kids are off for most of it. how on earth will I be ready?!?

Stay strong, Lily. Remember buying less crap in the first place is much better than any time spent getting rid of the clutter you already have! Just try to picture your overflowing house when you are tempted by any 'bargains!'

Few small steps today. Just put the bag of unsold NCT stuff back up in the loft and had a poke about to see what else there is left to sell next time! I've also bought down a pair of trousers for middle son, an old video to pass on to kids club and a toy that my youngest will play with for a while (and can then be sold!) Baby steps...

Anything gone is good!

Work today so not done anything at home. Had an attempted break in at 3am - why couldn't they have taken some crap?!

Box for friend gone today, nothing new into the house = a minus day, yey!

GONE:
ebay; all 5 items gone (some were big too)
ink cartridges from old printer freecycled
charity shop box to charity shop
more toys in 'halfway out' box
spices/sauces/pasta/etc cupboard cleared out & lots composted
toy cars mountain reduced
cot
last maternity bits
other random knackered sofa
pile of garden bits too big for bin
old keyboard
unwanted freebie coffee table
squeaky toy!
box of girls clothes for friend

Still to go:
eBay; reusable nappies to photograph & list; other slings
box for school fair stuff - added to
baby swing seat
potties/toilet seats (as DD doesn't need them anymore, keeping steps for now)
balance bike that my kids don't like
try and have a cuddly toy cull
general toy cull for anything too babyish

I was pretty good. we only went to 3 shops and mainly bought some summer bits that were needed - hats and shoes etc for the kids.
We did go to a charity shop for the 3rd one but just bought some clothes and let the kids choose one small toy each. its been a long time since I took the kids shopping so was nice to be able to get them some bits but without going overboard.

got rid of a full bag of odd socks today

plus a big bag of towels and bedding. I decided now we have a tumble dryer, we don't really need many spares. now have 2 sets of bedding for each room and 2 towels each.

Today I totally spring cleaned my bedroom, and put new bedding on the bed. It looks lovely! (before it was all piles of clothes and books everywhere). It did take the whole day though. I had to keep stopping for breaks.

Tomorrow I'm going to start on the mountain of washing and also ds and I are going to sort thorough his toys and his bedroom clutter. I don't even know if I can be arsed to eBay it!

I'm knackered, spd and hoovering don't mix, but tomorrow will definitely be easier. Decluttering ds's room means I sit on the bed and direct him what to chuck out and what to put where!

dobedoedo - if you are not worried about getting money for the stuff then I would recommend freecycle. Can give away seperately or in a big bundle but people always come and take it all away within a day. I usually just put it on the drive and tell them my address so I don't even have to see anybody or be disturbed.

I'm not on free cycle. Will join up today and take that advice!

I'm decluttering for a move. Threw away four huge binbags of random bits on Monday, freecycled a stack of DVD box sets and a terrifying amount of unwanted books/comics on Tuesday, this morning I sorted through our coats, vacpacked the winter ones and chucked the ones that haven't been worn in 18 months into another binbag to go to a charity shop at the weekend.

Today: Living room. Tidy all the things! Put the cat toys somewhere I won't fall over them, remove all the crud from the table and either find it a home or get rid. Kitchen overflow to overflow into a cupboard, not my bookshelf.

Tomorrow: Bathroom. There is no need to keep bubble bath given to us three years ago when we don't have a bath and I don't like the smell of it anyway. The only things to be in the bathroom are products currently in use and towels.

Friday: Kitchen. Massacre of the unused condiments.

Saturday: Bedroom. Have I used it in 18 months? Will I use it in the next 18 months? Actually use it, or just would like to? If not, into the bin/charity shop bag as appropriate. Steeling myself to be mercenary with it all! Then, actually take the things to the appropriate place. It doesn't count as uncluttered until it's out of the house!

Cleaners are coming on Tuesday, so I want to get as much stuff out of their way as possible. And after that, I'd like to curl up into a little ball and sleep.

Kerosene - wow that sounds like a good plan!

My main mission for today is to list the baby clothes that we don't want to keep for the next ones up for sale. Have done at least half so far. I have just done in big bundles for each size and I am Hoping I have priced to sell quickly.

My next job is to actually aim to get in bed at a reasonable time tonight as I am exhausted. Kids seem to be taking it in turn to have a sleepless night lately. Just as my third trimester tiredness is kicking in

I am looking into getting rid of some stuff through music magpie or a similar site. They don't pay much, but it looks so easy and stuff leaves the house quickly. Reviews say takes forever to get the money, but I don't mind that as long as I get it eventually. Trying to work out if it's worth it or if I should just wait for things to sell on facebook where I get more money and no posting but have to have things hanging around in the meantime.

Big plans Kerosene, good luck!

Lilly - you in bed yet?!

Left the house today: bag of tablets for a charity
Came in: nothing, yey.

Having a friend of DS1 over for a sleepover tomorrow night, sometimes that means I get more time as they all play, other times the little ones get in the way and need policing. Wanting to get on with kids books & toys, esp the books as I've just gone mad and bought loads more online!

JKS - no, not yet. I did get a little lie down earlier though as DH took all the kids to his parents for dinner. But does mean they have not long been home, so they are late to bed, and I haven't eaten yet (my own fault).

I listed the baby clothes today and some have sold (providing they get collected tomorrow as agreed) which is a good start to getting them shifted.

Not sure what my next plan is

Just found out I'll receive £50 from my proceedings at the NCT sale. Will definitely do the next one in September and clear the loft!

mum2jakie - glad your pleased with it I personally found it too stressful to be worth £50, but I did volunteer all day and I had a LOT (7 seater car load) Of stuff to bring.
They haven't told us how much we have earnt yet, but have said there were a lot less buyers and a lot less takings at the till. I did the first round of label sorting though on the day and there was a decent size pile of labels in my bag.

Other sales I have earnt £150-200 but they were VERY busy sales with more buyers than I personally found safe to have in the hall, and a que round the car park. I don't expect to earn anywhere near that this time. I also priced my items a lot lower this time round, in a hope to just get rid, so I guess even if I sold nearly as many items, the price still wouldn't add up as much

On an average week facebook selling I earn between £30-60 ish and keep all of it, don't have to carry it anywhere and can go at my own pace. Plus obviously if I have a big item go then I earn more. There is a woman HOPEFULLY coming tomorrow to buy my double buggy tomorrow which will be £100 and a big space in my dining room!

I must admit though, when selling my unsold items on facebook, I did keep the labels just in case as I do have a bit of a week spot for the NCT sales. Which is why I have always ended up doing anyother one, after swearing never again

We are taking the kids swimming this afternoon so wouldn't be mega productive. However this morning I plan to do general cleaning/tidying and then to start decluttering the kids crafts, providing DS goes down for a decent sleep. Need to pull out a couple of units and clean behind them etc. It gets very damp in that part of the house so it's not going to be pretty but needs to be done.

Have a look for other sales going on too. There are mother and baby table sales in some areas where you just rent the table and handle the cash yourself.

My tip for the day is to get rid of all your DVD cases and just keep the actual discs in a disc wallet.

When I say 'mother and baby' I am trying to convey that it is for maternity clothes too, not that it isn't for parents in general...Gah, bad night's sleep.

Hi everyone, had fab holiday now tryin to get back into swing of things!!!

Have cleared bathroom and kitchen windowsills this morning and last night finally managed to sort through photos and put them in frames and display them.

Playroom, living room, small toilet, dining room and kitchen all remain presentable which is fab!

Dd's room still isn't ready for her new bed so will crack on with that tonight, ds has a friend to play later.

Also really need to sort through ds's room, it's tidy but there's loads I could get rid of and I need to make it more grown up thinking a Lego theme.

Re: the NCT sale, I just dropped everything off in the morning and picked up the unsold stuff in the afternoon so it was well worth £50 for the effort involved in labelling stuff. I don't think I would have £30-£60 worth of stuff to sell every week!

I kept most of my baby stuff and reused it for all kids (3 boys) so there were only a few bits that I bought new for my youngest.

Sounds quite dramatic, doesn't it? I managed most of the living room - still got to sort some kitchen overflow - but took 20 minutes to clear out the most obvious bathroom crud. Then I got pouted at for throwing away a bottle of showergel that we'd been given in 2010 in case the givers asked after it. no wonder we've got so much clutter!

I need help. Hehe. I knew I will find support here. I've moved back to my house around August time, and I said to myself that I need to throw away my things from like childhood days ! (Yes, I am a hoarder.)

Each time I come across something of memory, I would stop and reminisc, and this is driving myself nuts! I cannot figure out what to keep and what not to keep any more. But in terms clothes, I am throwing away a lot. As I cannot have that "oh, this may fit one day". Even when some of those pieces are like from my early 20s ??! (I am now 36.) How do you find the will power ? Help.

Mum2Jakie - Did you not even have to put all your items out?

Maisie - Can you maybe have a box in the loft of stuff your keeping because it's special and from your childhood etc? And then you will have a set amount of space to keep for that and then get on with the decluttering? Sounds like you have the right idea with the clothes though.

I decluttered one chest of draws in the extension yesterday full of crafts/cards/wrapping paper and general kids crap stuff that gets bunged in there. Now have a pile of crafts to do over the easter holidays (And then I can get rid!) and some tidy and clutter free drawers. All the stuff from on top now fits inside it neatly. Got more to do in the other drawers though but need to clear some space in the room first as really I need to pull them all out, which I was going to do yesterday but realised as we were out all afternoon it would turn into one of those jobs that I start, make a huge mess with and then run out of time. So I think it was sensible to leave it.

DS was then sick last night so didn't get evening jobs done.

Trying to decide on a plan for today...