Join me in getting rid of at least one thing a day decluttering challenge?

[SandSnakeOfDorne]

I am trying to declutter, starting with our loft and garage both of which need some work doing so need to be a lot emptier! After they're done I want to declutter the rest of the house. I've already got rid of loads of stuff but I'm starting to lose motivation alone!

We have quite strict rules for what we can put in rubbish so I'm selling, free cycling, taking stuff to the clothes bank etc. At least one thing a day. I'm hoping to be done by Christmas!

Anyone want to join me?

Thanks, Capricorn! I'm building up to tackling my medicine cupboard next. It's going to be a toughy. (Eek!)

I'm still working on my towels. Sounds ridiculous but I'm doing one load a night, after work, so they're clean when I hide them from my kids. Should be finished this weekend. Then I'm going to cull the crockery.

I completely understand the happiness with a clean cupboard. Last year I cleared out the airing cupboard getting rid of old towels, duvets, bedding and I still get joy when I go in there.

No decluttering yesterday as still no school but we woke to find a leak/ gushing pipe in our garage. Dh stores crap in there so I am hoping to throw out an old settee of his.

@PenelopeFlintstone how are the towels coming along?

@StealthNinjaMum I think it's a man thing to acquire random shit 'just in case'. My DH had a big box full of nails, screws bolts ect. All were just chucked in, no order of contents and it drove me mad. There were rusty ones too so if you had dared stick your hand in to find a screw you'd come back with some sort of disease I threw the entire thing out around two years ago. He still hasn't noticed so they can't have been that bloody important. (However I do realise that 'spares' are good to have so I bought a case with different compartments and filled it with little diy things that come in handy - I use it regularly)

I've put about 15 towels in the wardrobe in the spare room. I've given them a bath sheet and a bath towel each. And the same for me. Surely this must result in fewer towels all over the house? It must do, mustn't it?

I've also culled the crockery. I'm going to hide it in some cupboards in the dining room. They'll never look there; probably wouldn't look anywhere actually. I'm hoping this'll help the kitchen - and my daughter's bedroom - stay cleaner.

What shall I do next?

I'm going to move more stuff out of my junk room that's now becoming a dining room. It's very dark too, so I'll see what I can do to lighten it up
; lamps, mirrors, etc. I've been Googling about that.

Good luck everyone with yours.

Oh! I must remember the goal of this thread! I need to get rid of 7 things today too!!

Yes Capricorn mine is definitely a hoarder and gets it from his father. He is talking about having a week off at Easter if he leaves his job and I keep suggesting he files his paperwork but I know he won't do it.

Yesterday ending up being unexpectedly productive. We started with a leak in the garage which made lots of boxes unusable and soggy including one with a very old computer in it (even older than dh's computer that I got rid of before Christmas!). Tonnes of water came out but luckily we found a plumber to fix it. I spent a happy couple of hours sweeping the garage, clearing crap out, sweeping leaves away (they get blown in a tiny gap under the garage door) and then even sweeping moss off the driveway that seemed much easier to sweep away after being under snow for five days. I have got rid of about 4 bin bags of stuff from the garage (not including leaves) and it looks much clearer without the leaves. There's still loads of stuff in there but it seems more manageable.

Of course the rest of my house is a tip after having two children off school for four snow days but i will tackle that tomorrow!

@PenelopeFlintstone that's great! If the towels and cutlery aren't clean they will have to wash it themselves instead of making more mess!

@StealthNinjaMum that is amazing! It must be lovely to know there aren't any leaves in the garage and the driveway is moss free! That in itself is two massive steps. Now you have your clean base and you can work from that to declutter more of the garage, congrats on getting rid of four bags.

Unfortunately no decluttering for me. Although I am mid way through my Sunday deep clean so I may encounter something to throw out.

Yes, Capricorn. And if all of the six dinner plates are in the dishwasher, they'll have to get one out of it instead of ignoring the dishwasher as usual.
Yesterday, I got rid of two kitchen items, some tealight candles chewed by mice (yuk!), a bowl for floating candles (I don't have any) which was an obvious battered-box, old regifted gift from an old boss who was on shedloads of money (lol) and does the opposite of 'sparking joy' whenever I see it, a truly worn out pair of cheap ballet flats, 2 mugs, and a cushion cover with a mis-spelt word on it (Ha ha -Something about having a great Atti(Missing T)ude).
That'll do :)

Tomorrow once the kids have returned to school I will wash all the walls ready in preparation for painting.

I've got the cupboard under the stairs & the linen cupboard to tackle. I'm feeling sick already.

I like your style penelope. We were moving house about fifteen years ago and it got delayed after I'd packed most of our kitchen stuff. I had a really happy month with only 5 plates, bowls, sets of cutlery. I should've thrown them away then!

Sadly not all leaves / moss removed but I made a good start.

I have had such a good morning that I am in Costa having a treat. I took four bags of books and clothes to a charity shop, returned library books and went to the bottle bank. I also did two hours of cleaning and tidying. The house is still a bit untidy but I was actually putting things away in proper places, moving things to clean under them so I'll go back home in a minute and do a better tidy.

Forgot to say I ventured into the cupboard under the stairs and chucked out a coat and some teeny baby gloves.

Ok so I deepcleaned the kitchen & bathroom. Tidied the living room & vacuumed the whole house.

So tomorrow I can sand and wash the hallway walls ready for painting.

I like your style penelope.
It's all very well Stealth, until they realise and then I will have a teenage mutiny to cope with. I will stick with the old criminal's mantra and admit nothing, regardless of pressure.

Helsingborg - you're very ambitious. Maybe break the linen cupboard into smaller jobs - and remember not to pull out more than you can deal with in one hour in case you're like me and go to bed leaving it all out in a big mess

Sounds like you've all had a good few days. I've not done much at all this past week. Although two of my eBay listings sold. A tatty old snowboard bags with holes in but someone still wanted to pay £10 for it. Better than landfill.
And an M&S poncho coat I immediately regretted buying a couple years ago which has sold for £25!!
So pretty chuffed.

I have now ordered a bed frame for spare room at last. Currently just have a mattress on floor (or propped up against the wall). Will be nice to see it start looking like a proper room and not just a dumping ground.

Would like to join

A list of things I need to declutter:

-DS's bedroom. Need to find some sort of storage for the toys and decorate the room. New curtains etc.

-The bathroom. SO. MANY. PRODUCTS. All without a home. Hoping to find some bathroom furniture (under sink cabinets, storage units etc) and have a space for everyone's individual bath/shower products. (Saw a Pinterest thing with plastic baskets for each person holding their personal showering things). Anyone know a shop which has quite small and narrow storage furniture as the bathroom and downstairs toilet aren't big at all.

-Living room. Again, decorating and buying new furniture so would like to have a TV unit with cupboards and maybe some ottoman to put blankets/magazines in.

-Kitchen. Pantry cupboard thing needs clearing out. Full of stuff we never eat. Would like to mason jar it all and start from square one. Also need a small table as the kitchen is teeny and we don't have a dining room. Anyone??

-And lastly the bedroom. Need new furniture (preferably with more storage) and needs decorating. I am overhauling my wardrobe and have thrown out nearly everything. Aiming for a 'capsule wardrobe'. So I will be there for days sorting through shoes, bags, belts and shirts.

Better than landfill. Definitely.
M&S poncho coat - sold for £25!! Excellent!
start looking like a proper room and not just a dumping ground All coming together.

MajestyRoyal - welcome. Did you declutter an item today?

And Stealth - well done on that garage. Sounds like it was a big job.

Welcome majesty

Garage will take many more hours but once the old settee has gone psychologically i'll feel like I've done loads. Must call the council to get it taken away.

So a load of garage stuff got taken by the dustmen today. I am really pleased with that stuff going and yesterday's charity shop bags. I haven't yet found anything to get rid of today so will have a hunt around when dds are in bed.

I've sanded and washed the hallway walls ready to paint.

I've got two bin bags ready for the charity shop.

I've got a bag of old toys ready to take to the charity shop too.

Every time someone on her starts to decorate I feel really jealous but I know I still need to declutter before I decorate.

Today I have organised for our old settee in the garage to be taken away - don't think we've used it for about 12 years! (Dh hoarded).

I’ve hit a lull. I have some wire going to cubs tomorrow night though. Bugger- haven’t put the light bulb in so I’ll get back out of bed and put it in the box to go.

Don't be put off by people's big efforts, Gibble and Stealth!! This thread is about one thing a day. You're winning if you do that - or 7 things at the weekend. And if you get 5 a week instead of 7, that's still 250 things in a year.
Keep it small and keep it going.
That's my inspirational lecture for the year. lol (I have to lol because my emoticons don't work on my laptop.)

Thanks Penelope that's a nice way of looking at it. Even 250 things a year is good (although not if I buy 251 things!). Having said that when I look at my list of things gone I have got rid of the equivalent of 60 carrier bags of stuff this year and the settee is another big thing so I am doing better than I think - it's just the things I am getting rid of aren't really visible.

Today was a good day. I took dh's computer to the dump that got damaged in the flood last week. (This is different to dh's other old computer that I got rid of before Christmas - so I'm pleased that two computers that haven't been used in over a decade are now gone.)

I also paid in a cheque for £50 that I got when I found PPI on an old credit card statement when I was filing last month. I only paid £10 PPI for this credit card back in the 90s.

I also bought some special paint. My staircase spindles are dark varnished wood and our landing is quite dark. I have a big box of books to go on the landing and I hope to go through it tomorrow and sell a load or take them to the charity shop and then start painting maybe one spindle a day. I am a real procrastinator and take weeks months to ever finish a diy job.

If you do one spindle a day, will you have to clean your brushes every day?
It's my weekend tomorrow and I need to identify my weekend goal.