a thread for making 2017 a cleaner, tidier and less stressful year?

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

I need to declutter, organise, deep clean, and potential redecorate the house as it gets me down. I love the principles of Kondo, but can't quite get the house to the place where I can properly sort one category at a time, so I need to chuck stuff from all the different areas first, before there's any chance of finding eg all stationery bits in order to see which post-its bring joy .

Less crap in the house will clear my head a bit, and let me focus on some health stuff (I'm about to be starting a treatment plan which will make me feel worse before I feel better I suspect), and making everything a lot calmer and more peaceful.

I meal plan and bullet journal sporadically, so I know I need to be more organised with that, I WFH part-time and have piles of paperwork which need clearing, and I really really need to cut down on spending and start properly saving to remodel the house (or move which seems a less stressful option as EVERYTHING in the house needs redoing from roof to floorboards via plumbing, electrics and plastering ). Plus I'd like to free up time and energy to do something about the garden.

Anyone else up for motivational nagging and bum kicking? Or alternatively just posting photos of beautiful minimalism for me to drool over?

@CheerfulYank are you wanting to declutter?

semi-forgot about this thread

OK, half time check in:

health is pretty shit and not likely to improve much as far as I can work out, so we're planning to reorganise life to spend chunks of the winter somewhere warmer. I also can't manage the garden (and DH isn't interested) so we're downsizing to a flat either this summer or next year (depending if a particular work deal comes off or not). Which means DH has agreed that the Garage of Doom can be cleared out (where he had stored lots of useful bits of wood and pipes, and chisels and drills which might work someday and every paint pot from every bit of painting we've done in this house, and ignored that fact that the roof leaks, so everything has got damp and rusty), AND that I can chuck out the majority of the contents of the loft, as he's finally admitted that his old university notes probably aren't much use theses days as we have the internet now. Bless him really.

But, I have cleared half the study and a lot of the kitchen, and decided what to do about some bigger items (like admitting that my hands are too painful to let me play the piano any more, at least to the standard that I want to be able to, so that can go on ebay). I've sourced a chap who will not only do the house removal, but will also do a clearance of the stuff which quite frankly should have been replaced years ago, and a storage place which has vans you can use for free to move the stuff I want to keep in storage, as it's sentimental stuff for the DC when they have their own places and/or DC (cot and toys built by my dad for me, and refurbished for the DC, that kind of thing).

So although I've not made a great deal of physical progress, I am feeling less stressed. The tupperware cupboard has got away from me again though .

@MyVisionsComeFromSoup - sorry that your health issues are continuing but its seems that you have made some good decisions around making life less stressful and dealing with some of the stuff of life. Welcome @CheerfulYank what are your plans - if you are in the mood to declutter and organise life then a great place to start is with the 'why' rather than the what and the how.

I've getting inspired by listening to these guys www.theminimalists.com/podcast/

Sort of managed the CDs - I should really digitise the ones I want to keep but I'm not sure that I have a device that will let me do that. Manage to get about 20 to the charity shop. In truth I should probably say good by to all of them as I listen to music mostly on Spotify! This is day 24 of the 30-day minimalism game so 24 more items will be out of the house by tonight - I think i;m going to tackle linen and bedsheets.

So - what are your plans?

Yes I desperately need to declutter! It makes life so stressful having so much crap lying around. :(

I'm a childminder and don't have a dedicated space yet so that complicates things somewhat.

A black bin liner has been filled and chucked in the bin! Yey! I'm feeling lighter and lighter each time something goes out the door! And you can really get a momentum going and it feels easier to make decisions the more you do it! My MIL has asked if we want some summer clothes bought for the girls and we're definitely going to say no thanks:) I hope HOPE hope she listens:)

Hello, I'd like to join!

We're pretty decluttered here, and luckily my husband shares my passion for living neatly. Our main problem is that our house is tiny and storage is sometimes an issue.

Also I am not great at keeping on top of things so bigger jobs like oven cleaning or - the worst - the fridge, get left for ages.

I'm finding life a lot less stressful now we have A Plan, and there's less stuff - even though I never went into the Scary Garage of Doom, it was always there in the corner of my eye, laughing at me , so now it's tamed a bit, it's much less of a daunting prospect. I was able to go out there, collect a ladder to reach some top cupboard, and put the ladder back without risking life and limb.

Now it's just the loft which is the big challenge - a lot of stuff went up there before the current ladder went in, so it might not all come out.

BigYellowJumper - I'm ignoring the fridge too - maybe we should have a joint challenge? The oven is going to have to be left to a professional though

have done my fridge - over to you BigYellowJumper

I've done one shelf and the veg drawer of the fridge. I'll do another shelf next week. Sometimes I can trick myself into tackling a big project by allowing myself to stop after doing a portion of it. I say 'I'll just do one shelf ' and then do it. But if I said 'I'll clean the whole fridge' I'd never even start!??

We've had a letter today saying we're due an inspection on 10july so I'm really relieved that we've started decluttering! It's school holidays so I know I can sort a few more areas before the inspection.

I'm eyeing up some shoes and a jacket to send to the charity bin.

And I've found zip lock bags have helped keep the insides of drawers much more organised! I just need some smaller zip lock bags!

How's everyone else getting on?

Well done for getting started - in June managed to get of about 500 photographs which did not add value to our lives and did not spark joy!! All photograph negatives have been binned as well. Lots of worthy books that i will never read again now leaves space for all the thrillers that I do!! A 20 item clothing cull and ruthless extraction of crap from the kitchen. All achieved through the 30 day challenge. The biggest block for me is getting over the sentimental stuff and the 'but it came from my mother' Now going to take a bit of a rest from decluttering BUT realise that some proper cleaning of the apartment needs to happen (dark corners now exposed).

Another update - the garage is empty of everything other than a few things we're going to keep; the loft is empty of everything other than christmas decorations, some of the DCs toys and baby stuff which will go into storage (at their request), and some stuff which won't come down the hatch, so no idea how it got up there in the first place.

The majority of the doors are repainted, the radiators are painted, two third of the downstairs wall are painted, and we have A List for what still needs to be done.

I can't take any credit for this, as DD2 came home from uni over the summer and got stuck in . My contribution was to buy Hippobags, and hold the ladder when she climbed up. DH took carloads to the various charity shops in town, and we've heard back from one they've raised over £100 from tat from the loft, mainly balls of wool .

Still some stuff to do before DD comes back home for Christmas and nags me, but massive massive progress over the summer. I have loads of stuff boxed up in preparation for a move, although that might need to be postponed for another year as finances have got complicated.

Healthwise, i'm still struggling, but am making small baby step changes in an attempt to improve things. Something is better than nothing .

Can't believe the progress since my original post though

Well done! (Or is it well done DD ) it must be a massive relief you've managed to get rid of so much! And if you're moving it'll make the process so much easier!
We've just moved and the house does feel tidier, but it was still a hectic experience, so we probably need to get rid of quite a lot more in the near future.

That's fabulous!
Please keep updating