Keep on getting rid of one thing a day decluttering challenge!

[StealthNinjaMum]

After a thousand posts our homes are beautiful, decluttered places of harmony and relaxation….. or perhaps not?

We’re still trying to recycle, freecycle, sell our unwanted stuff and most of all clear out our houses, garages and sheds.

It’s easy to get involved, literally get rid of one thing a day and report back for support (and sometimes finger wagging if you’ve ‘accidentally’ bought a load of new clutter!)

Please join us and a warm welcome back to

@SandSnakeofDorne @PenelopeFlintstone @MajestyRoyal @Cupoteap @Gibble1 @SandAndSea @Medwaymumoffour @Rainbowqueen @Namethecat @lljkk @CapricornWithAUnicornHorn @Helsingborg @Panda81 @abitoflight @fannyanddick @AbbieLexie

(Apologies if I missed anyone out)

Original thread here

[StealthNinjaMum]

Stavely you sound a lot like me. I have a big house in which loads of clutter was hidden so it could be superficially tidy but I just want to live a more organised, minimal life. Our previous house was bought from a lovely old lady who left a loft and shed full of crap and we didn't deal with it so we moved house with a van full of her crap! It was only when i learnt to drive 5 years ago that I took it to the tip!

Dh is a hoarder too - as are his parents. I didn't sit down on Jan 1st 2017 and say to him "I am going to declutter the house'. I just started to do it focusing on my stuff and the big baby / toddler stuff, we are all living with the difference, and in baby steps I am questioning why he is a hoarder. We have both laughed at ourselves and why we have bank statements that are 30 years old (we don't know) and recently he has been letting me get rid of his stuff - two broken computers and big suitcases took up loads of space. He has started to throw his own clothes away when they get scruffy because I have pointed out he hasn't done diy / gardening for about 10 years so why fill his wardrobe with rags 'in case' he decides to decorate a room? He also noticed that it took him longer to get dressed in the morning because he has to push past the scruffy clothes. I also banned him from putting his gym equipment anywhere other than his wardrobe so he threw away about ten pairs of shoes. I have reclaimed the house and pushed his stuff into his study which is rammed. Sometimes his stuff escapes and multiplies and I push it back in.It sounds like he isn't as bad a some men - at least he doesn't bring tonnes of crap in every day - and very, very slowly he's getting better.

Not sure that helps anyone. Think it just depends on the man.

[StealthNinjaMum]

Bows down to ememem84s superior methods.

[Rainbowqueeen]

Proud of myself that despite having family to stay for the past 10 days I have still managed to make progress - I went through the ensuite cupboard and used up all the sample products I've been given over the years in department stores and threw out the rubbish.

Visitors leave on Thursday and I have a big stack of clothes from sorting out DCs rooms to list for sale.

Then I plan to start on my wardrobe and the top drawer in the kitchen

[IHateYourCarpet]

Stealth I think you're entirely right - it does depend on the person that boards and their temperament!

If I even joke about how untidy DH is he has a strop. I know I'm an extreme minimalist, but it really annoys me that on a shoe rack that holds 24 pairs there is NO room for mine. I don't see why there's a need for four pairs of white converse in various states of falling to bits.

I think I will just start binning stuff sneakily though I'm not sure what his plan is when we move. Because we won't HAVE a spare room to keep all his stuff in. It'll be DS's room and my office. Surely that'll force his hand?

[IHateYourCarpet]

Oh and I popped another bin liner outside with the charity bag with a note on it explaining I ran out of space in the first bag hoping they take it!

[MrsOH2004]

Morning, have just got rid of a manky bath toy, dd2 went to play with it and I quickly took it away from her, it's now gone, this afternoon it's a toss between sorting under the stairs (again) or the teddies in the girls bedroom.

[MrsOH2004]

Oh and this sounds silly but I have 3 online courses I need to get done for my 2nd job, I can't start any shifts until I have done them (bank hca for NHS) this is to get my care certificate, so I will get one done today.

[PurpleFrog]

The weather at the weekend scuppered my plans to take stuff to a Charity shop and other things stacked in our porch to the recycling centre.

I did get a large pile of torn and stained (but washed) clothing bagged up to hand in to the Charity Shop as rags for recycling when I eventually get there. There are probably more things lurking further down the ironing pile that could go, once I uncover them! I also put more stuff in the Charity box proper and a few bits in the bin bag on the landing. Last night I filed some paperwork from the teetering pile on the table beside my seat.

For the next couple of evenings I intend to work at reducing the ironing pile and getting more stuff in the Charity box and rag bag.

[ememem84]

Binned - insulation foil stuff it’s been in the cupboard since dh took it off the walls behind the radiators. It’s ripped so can’t be reused next year. Also my yoga mat - it’s got paint all over it (no idea how...) and is a bit damp and ripped. Can replace this as they’re fairly inexpensive.

[IHateYourCarpet]

Another charity bag and this one takes BRAS AND PANTS!

I'm wondering if I can smuggle a few pairs of DH's socks in ... he has hundreds...

[MrsOH2004]

One online training session done, 2 to go, plus I found 2 mouldy apples in the girls room, dd1 used to be so good at keeping her room tidy, now she's a lazy slob

[IHateYourCarpet]

Ohhh well done MrsH! Hope the apples didn't pong too much 🤢

[MajestyRoyal]

Congrats Sand on finishing the tea cupboard. You've inspired me to clear out my pantry!

Today I will focus on the pantry, and a big box full of spare wires. I know wires come in handy (reading that back it sounds like I'm some weird serial killer - for TV's/chargers/other electrical bits I mean), but we haven't opened that box looking for anything since we moved here so it clearly isn't needed!!

I also need to make a start on the shed. It's full of crap. Broken lawnmower, odds and ends from tool boxes and other crap, and a lot of cardboard boxes from when we moved here. I'm planning on just topping up the recycle bin every 2 weeks so it goes down gradually. And then once it's cardboard-less I will clear the shed out fully. Which will probably be October 2089.

Carpet hater - I just throw it out. DH kept all sorts of useless crap and I just throw it out periodically. He never notices. But I have to admit he asked me if had seen a tool kit with screwdrivers specifically for whatever he was fixing at the time. I said if he organised his crap in decent storage he would know where it was. I didn't tell him that I'd thrown it out months before because it had bits missing and a cracked lid..... oops, cost him £30+ to replace too, but this one has been looked after nicely and stored correctly in a proper tool box

[MrsOH2004]

Done a box from the girls Kalax, great storage solutions but my god they fit a lot of crap in them

[MrsOH2004]

Ihate my sense of smell is crap so couldn't tell, but it had been there a while. I would also just put some in with yours, he won't notice if he's got plenty spare

[StealthNinjaMum]

Emptied a makeup drawer onto floor, googled ways of storing makeup. Got bored so left it there!

[MrsOH2004]

I thought I only had 3 online training courses to do, looks like I've completed one and another has been added, yeah thanks for that

[PenelopeFlintstone]

Lesson learned Stealth? Google first, tip second?

MrsOH - the three courses never goes down. As you do one another is added - again and again and again.....

[Lunenburg]

Buzzing tonight, even if I am exhausted.

Used the rain as an excuse to start on the Garage. 8 hours later and two car loads to the Tip, it is now 1/2 finished.

That included burning 20 year old Bank Statements, all my University Assignments and Mortgage papers from my first ever house.

It is crazy the things we hang onto. I have no idea why I kept broken shower screens, old lumps of plasterboard, broken lawnmowers etc. I am so glad to see it all disappear !!

[SandAndSea]

@Lunenburg - Wow! You've done really well! Well done!

@StealthNinjaMum - Do you need a good finger wag to get you going again?

(I've cleared nothing today.)

[IHateYourCarpet]

Going to tackle under the sink and DH's junk drawer today!

The under the sink area is organised in large storage boxes. But DH just tends to sling stuff in there so it all falls out when you open it 😩

[StealthNinjaMum]

Sand could you give me a virtual kick up the backside? I am going out today and you can't stand by my bedroom window because of the makeup and little sample freebies on the floor! I probably should have emptied a drawer in the bathroom for the makeup first. I am going to leave it there until it's done or I will just put it back in the drawer for another 3 years!

[MrsOH2004]

Well done Lunenburg, today's plan is, another online training, a dd1s clothes that don't fit anymore and to put clean washing away.

[StealthNinjaMum]

Good effort everyone especially Lunenburg.

Some people have just picked up about 6 toys so that's a big space cleared and another £10 to dc's kitty. I am not going to have time to do much today as I'm going out shortly but I might paint my toenails this evening to help reduce the nail varnish mountain still on my bedroom floor.

[MajestyRoyal]

@Lunenburg that is amazing!!