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.

My house is really quite tidy and I don't have a lot of clutter.

However I have three Monica cupboards I really need help with to sort.

I have so much stuff there just stuffed in I have no idea how to start to sort it. I have bought a few storage boxes but motivating to start is hard.

there's bags and bags of clothes and toys I had sorted out to sell but never got round to it. I usually do the charity shop dash or bin what's not good enough for charity because otherwise it ends up like now with crap hanging around.

FreshFish - get started, even 15mons will make you feel virtuous

I have gone through all the kids books & filled a big box to go to ds2's sch.
Also a smaller box of some toys I think are too babyish.
Even with the books I've ordered online I think I'm still net loss so that's good!

Started sorting the reusable nappies yesterday, not got very far though.

Also need to freecycle balance bike & baby swing.

JK I did.

I went through the dc bedroom and chucked out broken toys and have a black bag of clothes, and I've done one of my cupboards (easiest one) and have another black bag of coats and a black bag of rubbish.

now on to the next two... I opened the door and shut the door LOL

Maisie - don't give yourself time to think. If it doesn't fit, or you've not worn it for 18 months/2 years, it goes into the chuck bag, then onto the next thing. As soon as you see yourself thinking "oh, but what if/remember when....", drop it in the bag as though it were on fire and pick up something else - you'll then have to think about that item instead. If you can get into a rhythm of Yes/No, you'll be busy with the next thing before you've properly had a chance to waffle.

Also, try not to do extended stretches - you'll flag and lose willpower if you try and marathon it.

Tonight, I'm mainly going on strike. There will be curry and beer and I'm not moving from the sofa. Because tomorrow is Dump Day.

You guys are good... I like the out of the door idea, cos I have been starting to think of different options to get rid of it. Freecycle, Ebay, charity drops, and then I had to think if I could save a few pieces for the fabric in case I want to start sewing. OMG.

Yes, yes, out of sight, out of mind.

Definitely Maisie, the quicker it's out of the house the better!

I've listed the baby swing & swing seat on freecycle.

Hoping someone wants both and can come tomorrow!

Lilly For the NCT sale, I just had to bag/box everything up according to age/type and leave it for the volunteers to put out. I just put the larger items (moses basket, rocking horse etc) in the right place and left the rest.

It was so pain free that I was happy to pay the commission.

wo

woop I did my three cupboards and it's in the bin or at the charity shop.

my only problem now is my books. I have a huge cupboard think airing cupboard size full of books that I can't bare to let go.

I haven't dug around and found an old favourite to read in a couple of years but I can't let them go either

that makes so much more sense at the nct sale. Ours you have to set your own stuff out. which is a bit pointless as the volunteers end up re sorting it anyway as so much ends up in the wrong place. And then everybody helps pack away at the end, hence why mistakes are made I guess. I think if it was as a
simple as yours I would be happy too. I just felt that it nearly killed me!

sorted the crafts drawers, just haven't pulled them out to clean behind yet. Will do that tomorrow though and then that's another job done.

Lol. I am so glad that I am not the only one. I have around 100 books... (says she, in a very quiet voice).

Maybe we could read them all again and any book we don't feel like reading has to be charity shopped maisie

I well and truly fell off this thread!

A while back we had a massiveclearout of books - donated 2 car loads to the library - having checked with them first they wanted that many.
Fiction - I keep ones I will/have reread or parts of a set /series. All standard paperbacks get passed onto family of charity shops.
School also take some for Christmas fair book tables.
Non-fiction more varied but if I think we'll actually refer to it I've kept it. So much is searchable on the net now. And travel books go out of date quickly.

Can I join you all please?

Every room needs attention ...some much more than others

I have a list of things that need sorting out, urgently but just can't get started.

The iPad is about to run out of charge so now is a good opportunity to go and start my first task!!

I'll report back in a couple of hours!!

Hi Hiccup - hope you're not lost under the clutter!

I have at least photographed all the nappies/bundles.
Hoping to list them on eBay today...

Hi I've been reading all the posts and would love some support. My 3 bed house is filled with stuff and it seems to be my life's mission to declutter it. Trouble is no matter how much I do it is still a disorganised mess. I hate living like this but in between working p/t and looking after dc's including a very feisty two year old dd, I find I just have moments here and there when I can declutter. Do you think it's really possible to get on top of it? People say to me it's a phase as the dc are so young but when I go to other mum's houses they are not in this mess.
I'm starting to resent it all as I spend every spare moment clearing up when I want to sit and play with my dc. That is after all why I decided to be p/t at work. There is always endless amounts of clothes lying about in every bedroom waiting to be washed, never get on top of it. I never iron as don't find time. After dc have gone to bed I eat my meal and fall asleep on sofa, exhausted so get nothing done in evenings.
I don't want to live in this chaos but just can't seem to sort it out. I've even wondered if I have ADD as I just don't seem able to focus on a task and see it through to the end.
Sorry to be so depressing but I'd really welcome any advice as to how sort myself out.

jemster I think it's doable but you have to force yourself to be disciplined, before you sit down once kids are in bed do 15 minutes, often I find I continue after that once I've started. Also be ruthless. I have given loads away that I could have sold but I just needed it out that day.

Am impressed by the craft drawer decluttering Lily, I find it so hard to sort all that stuff out.

Kids are back at school and nursery today so am hoping to make some progress, dd has a cough and had me up during night though so I'm shattered.

Sorted through dd's clothes yesterday - she has so many because my sister gives me all DN's old stuff which is usually in perfect condition. Have weeded out all the stuff she's outgrown and put most of the other stuff away.

Can I join? I am a bit flakey with not returning to threads i post on but will try to remember to check back in.

I de-cluttered the living room last week, didn't throw much out but it looks very tidy now.

My aim is to get at least the whole of downstairs done before the easter holidays are over.

This includes: Emptying the two huge downstairs cupboards and getting rid of one uneccesary and ugly wardrobe.

Clean and decorate shower room.

declutter and deep clean kitchen.

declutter dining room which is so full of junk i can't even put my table up.

do-able?

We did a bit at the weekend. But it was punctuated by ds - "what's that? That's mine, I want that, you can't get rid of that" to almost everything whether it was his or not and even if we were just moving it. So I am guessing I won't get anything done over the school holidays!!

He is also expecting a large haul of Easter presents as my Mil treats Easter like Xmas. Sigh

I decided not to list yesterday as we're away at the weekend. Need to think when do I want the listings to end ?

Jemster- I am only starting to get on top of things and my youngest is 3 this week. Helped by her growing out of toys and books so I can feel justified passing stuff on.
It is tough but one good tip is just do 15mins out a timer on if necessary. Even if you don't finish something you are 15mins further ahead than you were.
Also - electronic devices given to DC give me time to get something done

Runner - doable depends on DC I think!

Like Starfish my eldest DC can't let anything go.
And it's dd's birthday this weekend as well as Easter. Pil will be giving the kids loads I'm sure.

Can I please join? We are just about to move and although our house is not completely cluttered there are places where stuff just MUST GO! I am determined to cull as much as possible and not move anything unnecessary to our next home. Our house right now is actually pretty big which I find a problem as the cleaning and tidying is so daughting.our new place seems more manageable. I did help one DC clear out her room on Saturday (and it has about 50% less stuff now!) and started with my son's yesterday. I just find I grind to a halt so would appreciate some cheerleading to keep going.

What I plan on doing today (kids are off school) is boxing up for donation , gifts or sell. The stuff is sorted but in plastic boxes and it needs to be in cardboard to leave the house. I have the boxes in a room outside. Please encourage me! I need to do some more in my son's room but I think that will have to be later after the kids and I have done a Big Shop for food.

Jemster - Have you tried to move things to their designated areas and then blizz them as you go ? Like toys in the baby/child area. Books in a dedicated corner. It may be easier then to blizz it section by section.

FriedFishAndBread/JKSLtd - Thanks for your advices. I will have to remind myself as I do them and come back to re-read the thread. I have come to the realisation that I have a memory of a goldfish. Lol !