Anyone fancy a '30 day to declutter the house' challenge?

[purpleducks]

Inspired by the fact I got up at 5.30am this morning to make the house look reasonable for workmen coming at 9am! I came to the realisation the house would be so much easier to keep clean if I didn't have as much stuff. Currently said stuff has been hidden away in cupboards and drawers and rooms workmen will not be entering, but everywhere feels so much nicer (although unlikely I'll ever be able to find anything ever again!!!) Have tried decluttering in the past, but usually lose interest/motivation with no end goal in sight - so was thinking 30 days until the end of November to get rid of as much stuff as possible. Anyone fancy joining me on this challenge? 

Might do. Trouble is we don't have a lot of room to store things and have two small children.
Nothing ever sells on eBay and charity shops don't really want tat so I end up feeling bad about throwing away things.

Maybe I need to throw away one thing a day?!

Yes I'll join you purpleducks.

I'd love to have the house looking lovely by Christmas. I dream of "a place for everything and everything in its place", flinging the door open and inviting people in (instead of needing two days notice)!

I have ample storage but it 's cluttered with unused crap which means I have stuff lying around with no place to go.

I started by clearing and organising three presses in the kitchen over the weekend. Halloween is a big deal in our house so I am busy today but will report for duty tomorrow!

Good luck with whatever you get up to today

I should join this! We have way too much stuff. Loads of kids clothes and toys no longer needed, but I struggle with giving to charity shops. Don't know why. I think it's the anonymous bit. I'm happy to give stuff to people I know, but I used to do loads of second-hand sales when kids were younger so it feels wrong just to give stuff away, as I know it has a value. Have tried Facebook selling pages. Other people sell stuff, but my stuff never seems to go. Maybe because there are less families in our area. Had planned to do a car boot over the summer, but never did. So we have bags of stuff in 2 rooms. One room doesn't get used because of so much stuff.

I'll join in. Got a french student coming in March and by then i need to clear out tons of clutter (from my bedroom- the rest of the house is ok) and also redecorate the bedrooms.

Going to the dump on Fri to get rid of a broken chest of drawers and other stuff.

Yes I'll join!! So much stuff to get rid of and so much procrastination. I'm ashamed with how much junk we have

gallicghoul - I think there is another thread to declutter one thing a day, it just feels like it would take me forever to notice a difference with just one thing a day!!! I understand exactly where you are coming from feeling bad about throwing stuff away - especially when it is stuff I have been given, even though I didn't want it in the first place!

MartinRohdesBellybuttonFluff - I too dream of "a place for everything and everything in its place" :) I would be mortified if anyone saw the amount of stuff I have everywhere and it does worry me that if I were ever in an accident people would come to the house and see it - I know that sounds a bit dramatic and probably wouldn't be my first concern if I were actually in an accident, but it is a niggling worry that I would like to get rid of!

tumpymummy - Join!! The more of us the more accountability to actually do it! I understand what you mean about charity shops, but I just try to think of it that hopefully someone has a use for whatever I have got rid of it and may really need whatever and much better that the item is being wanted/used than neglected by me - and chances are when I need something I can never find it anyway!

Mirali - My end goal is to redecorate too, but just seems like too big a job to contemplate at the moment. Good that the rest of your house is ok though, you are way ahead of me!

Welcome too AandB - I am the queen of procrastination, but hoping because I have given myself an end date to work towards it will help!

Plan was to start tomorrow, but you have all motivated me so going to make a start today. Will come back later and hopefully will have less 'stuff' in the house

I'm in. Won't manage the house in 30 days, but have a very specific goal for my daughter to be able to use her room properly to study in by the Christmas holidays (she's a boarder, has been for several years, and there's quite a backlog in her room!).

We mostly dealt with one bag of outgrown clothes the other day - including an email that has put me in touch with the local women's refuges so I can pass useful stuff on to them.

I want in please...already donated 2 bags full of clothes last week..and feel like I can definitely do more. The freezer definitely needs a clear out.. moving house next year and my goal is to have 50% less stuff than I do now. I have already quit buying lotions, toiletries and perfume etc as I have enough to last a year

Well I now have 4 bags for the charity shop after a quick telephone call to make sure they wanted my cast offs.

Good that the rest of your house is ok though, you are way ahead of me!
When we have people over we tend to dump stuff in my room and close the door.
I'm not saying the rest of the house is perfect though. Room for improvement before the student comes!

Ooo I'd like to join in
We have 4 DC and no loft or garage so stuff everywhere
I really need to go through Xmas decorations and kids sentimental shit that I never look through and photos! Boxes and boxes of photos not in any album or order of any kind
And don't get me started on the kids clothes
🤦🏻‍♀️

I have found my tribe so I'm in!

Back after lunch.

Count me in! One small thing a day... starting with STBEH bedside drawer. I've been putting it off for months, but I have to be brave and sort out the contents.

I'm in. I've been trying and I have been selling/listing stuff. But now I want it to be sorted for Christmas.

Sounds good to me I've far too much stuff.

It's looking like our local tip is going to start charging a fiver per visit soon, so now would be a good time to get on with it before that starts!

Anything decent will obviously go to the charity shop.

Im in!!!!! Was doing wwll over the summer sold/recycled/charity atleast 12 black bags of random stuff plus other bits n bobs. Come to a hault since then but started to sort through some toys and clothes yesterday and realised i need to restart and get things streamlined and decluttered for a clearer mind and to make room for newer items xmas will bring.
Have alot of good quality toys etc will try to sell but it needs to go this month anything left after the 30 days is out the door!!!

Finally made time earlier this evening to go through some stuff with my daughter in her room. Desk has been cleared except for two small piles that need a place to live. A really good start. Next task for me is to go through the books bit by bit and eliminate all the outgrown children's ones. Some we will want to keep, but need to decide the right place for them to live!

I'll join. I'm meant to be doing the pre Christmas declutter of the lounge this wleek but after doing ok on Monday I've come down with some horrible cold type bug. My ears, head, sinuses, neck legs & hips are in agony & throat feels like I've got a 60 a day habit . Hopefully I'll feel better in a day or so & can get on it then!

I had such good intentions to start on a load of paperwork that needs sorting, but the day ran away with me.

Fantastic that so many people are taking on the challenge!!

So officially start today, what are everyone's plans? I actually made a start yesterday as I was so motivated and decluttered both the hallway and bathroom - both easy wins to be fair, but still a start. Today I'm going with the utility room (sounds grander than it actually is, just a very large cupboard with the washer and dryer in and a load of shelves) and I would like to make a start on the kitchen - I'm just finding DD rather demanding today (can't understand people saying it gets easier as they get older )

Hope you manage to get the paperwork done today tumpy!! and hope you are feeling a bit better today Bernard - maybe not the best time to start if you are not 100%.

Well done Python and gallicghoul!!

Everyone else please let me know how you get on today as it is motivating!! I'll be back later with hopefully something to report

I honestly don't even know where to start
I think I'm going to do a general walking from room to room with a bin bag day to start, easy and no pressure

Although a few toy boxes have just been tipped on the floor and the kids have walked away and I'm looking at it and mentally chucking some of it - the playroom makes me itch there's so much crap in there

I'm actually going shopping for DS2s birthday this afternoon so I feel like a bit of a traitor bringing more shit in on the first day of a decluttering challenge 🤦🏻‍♀️

Also our living room rug is disgusting but I've been waiting till I buy a new one to get rid of it...been waiting for about 6 months now so it might be time to just get rid

I'm not feeling so shit today but am baking, wrapping & card making (with the DC) in preparation for DH's birthday tomorrow . We don't normally make much fuss of our birthdays but he's been amazing this year so I'm determined to make it special.

We've got a skip on the drive currently classy so I'm going to sort my under stairs on Saturday!

I have a tip.

Try and recycle same day in those recycling/donation bins you find at tesco/Sainsburys/asda etc I have a tendency of living the bin bag of stuff I want to recycle under the stairs and I tend to take stuff out again and put it back in the house So the only way I've been able to stop this is to go straight to the recycling bins.

If you're struggling to let go, I can guarantee you won't remember the things you've donated/thrown away a week later.