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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Decluttering before the new year - anyone else?

31 replies

Booksandpens · 28/12/2018 12:07

I've just spent the morning going through my bedroom/study and managed to fill a bag for recycling and one black bag as well as a few storage boxes that we no longer need!
I'm planning on going through the whole house so that by new year the house is neat and we have some breathing space.
I read once that people clear a whole shelf to welcome in the new year. I don't know if I'll manage that, but if we could get to the stage where everything has a place we'll be starting the year in a better position than ever before!
Anyone else doing that this week?

OP posts:

SureIusedtobetaller · 28/12/2018 12:14

Already done some. We do it every year, not intentionally- we just get tidying and it happens. We are pretty ruthless anyway but it’s lovely to have a clear out.
The less stuff you have the less there is to dust

Eatsleepworkrepeat · 28/12/2018 12:19

I hope so, if I can shake off this cold and get a bit of energy! House is overflowing, need some breathing space! Sounds like you've made a great start 😁

SuperDiaperBaby · 28/12/2018 14:20

Woke feeling that I wanted to do a post Christmas 'sort out'. Made a start on my bedroom - not much cleared but most things now have a home. Think I will carry on with some more rooms.

SassitudeandSparkle · 28/12/2018 14:21

I started before Christmas, but it's an ongoing process for me. My big problem is getting the stuff out of the house, I already have a few bags filled

pumpkinpie01 · 28/12/2018 14:23

Im in a big decluttering mood - Im going to the tip next week and the charity shop later. Im going to be ruthless!

umpteennamechanges · 28/12/2018 14:30

I love decluttering in the Betwixtmas period!

Started in the kitchen yesterday going through each cupboard and creating a pile of things no longer needed and cleaning the inside of the cupboards at the same time.

Finishing the kitchen today and testing out my new Vax upright carpet cleaner on the cream rug.

Tomorrow the plan is to do the living room and buy some paint samples to patch test in the kitchen. Then the study which is currently filled to the brim with boxes of craft stuff for a charity that need organising so we can actually get into the room.

Sunday will start upstairs!

Bumblebee39 · 28/12/2018 14:31

Yes then I'll be doing TOMM in the new year

tryingtosortmylifeout · 28/12/2018 15:20

I’ve been doing this over the past couple of months - going through each room, decluttering and deep cleaning. I’m a pretty ruthless person anyway when it comes to clutter, so I haven’t thrown out a huge amount - but I’ve probably removed a bin bag or two of stuff across three rooms. It must be a great feeling if you really do “only have things that are beautiful or useful” in your home, to paraphrase William Morris. I’m not quite there yet! DH also has a load of stuff - papers, books etc - that he refuses to sort due to lack of time and inclination, which is rather annoying. I’m hoping to persuade him to make a start on it soon.

Original poster

Booksandpens · 28/12/2018 17:32

Haven't managed any more this afternoon, but I think I'll have a quick look through our bathroom cabinets this evening.
I go through them fairly regularly so shouldn't be a big job.

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MillieMoodle · 28/12/2018 17:44

I started yesterday and have carried on today. I am a terrible hoarder and really struggle to get rid of things which I seem to form emotional attachments to. DH is off the scale ruthless, so we need to find a happy medium but I know I need to be more pro-active. 2019 is the year I get my shit together!

DH has a tendency to bombard me with things we need to do eg. we need to sort the garage, the spare room, your wardrobe etc and I find it overwhelming, so nothing gets done. We have agreed this year that we will pick one job and then not mention anything else that needs doing until that one job is done. Hopefully this will keep me focused and motivated and mean that jobs actually get finished!

At the moment I am going through the kids' clothes, checking what fits etc as both have had a growth spurt. Have cleared loads from DS1's room and now part way through DS2's room. Have some stuff for charity and some to list on FB. Feeling like I've achieved something!

MunchMunch · 28/12/2018 20:44

Me - slowly but surely!
A few months ago I started on sertraline for depression and I think the saying is true "messy house, messy mind" now that my medication is working for me I feel like I can tackle housework and the decluttering much easier so over the last few weeks I've been trying to get rid of stuff and I instantly felt better for it!

I've got loads still left to do but I definitely want to make 2019 the year I get the house to a standard we all deserve and need.

Good luck to everyone

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 28/12/2018 23:18

I took a load of kitchen things to the Charity shop and I have some clothes to go to recycle (wasn't sure if they be sell or rag though)

I want to treat the kitchen table to a jazzy new oilcloth cover . I have my Christmas oilcloth on at the moment but it will go back into storage soon. Current cover is beige with black pattern so I'm looking for something brighter.

I need to give my DS three bags ( Bin/Recycle/Charity Shop) and make him tidy his pit, I fear for my life if I go in there

Teacoffeechoc · 29/12/2018 11:15

I’ve started this morning. I’ve cleared two bin bags full out of the kitchen and one black bag out of our bedroom so far. I’m having a quick break then onto the living room.

Rowdythree · 29/12/2018 11:19

I'm doing this, this morning my dd (8) and
I watched consumed on Netflix, she was so inspired she immediately wanted to declutter her bedroom. She got rid of 2 bags of clothes, toys and books! She's usually a real hoarder so I'm surprised she was so keen to throw stuff out!

Now to put all the new toys away

Original poster

Booksandpens · 29/12/2018 20:36

Consumed was a great series! I would love to try it myself, but we can't afford the storage fees (nor the removal vans, when we're not actually moving!)
We managed to get the living room looking more presentable. Our DCs seem to think we live in a bin though as they throw litter all over the place. I'm not quite sure how to get them to use bins, it's very peculiar!

I daren't open any cupboards downstairs though. I do know we have plenty of shredding to do, but I think that might be a project for another time.

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cowfacemonkey · 29/12/2018 22:55

I started this between Xmas and new year two years ago and would say over that time I’ve sold, donated or thrown out about 50% of everything we owned. I still have regular clear outs and have just filled the car with stuff for the charity shop. The benefits have been numerable over the past two years, financially (i shop very little these days) mental health wise, time wise (keeping the house clean and tidy is so much easier). The mission for 2019 is to go fully digital and get all paperwork, photos, kids art stuff scanned and uploaded. My home office is the hell hole in the middle of my minimalist oasis!

louella99 · 30/12/2018 09:43

Very inspiring @cowfacemonkey !!

SuperDiaperBaby · 30/12/2018 10:57

Made a start again today. Dining room which is usually a dumping ground is clear - everything rehomed or in the charity pile. Onto the living room now. Tree and decorations coming down. I have made progress in the last couple of years with 'stuff' but never can face my paperwork and photos. cowfacemonkey living the dream!

Pascha · 30/12/2018 11:14

We've already been to ikea for more storage for the utility room. I've been cleaning out an old cupboard in there that's being by replaced with shelves and boxes. It was full of old craft stuff which the children have long since abandoned. DH, being helpful without looking properly, has been glitter-bombed chucking a cardboard box in the recycling .

He's been watching youtube reordering the loft and has quite an impressive pile of tat to dispose of.

cowfacemonkey · 30/12/2018 13:24

It’s been an ongoing process, it’s taken a long time. I think if you try to do it all at once you lose steam. I read a lot of minimalist blogs and a lot of what they said struck a chord with me.

SuperDiaperBaby · 30/12/2018 13:37

cowface where are you going to start with the going digital process? I can never make a start but agree about the benefits of being surrounded by less so would love to tackle my paperwork and then maybe the photos and videos accumulated in various formats over the years.

cowfacemonkey · 30/12/2018 14:09

Superdiaperbaby. I’m going to use Evernote to scan any important documents as pdf’s e.g. house insurance policies, mortgage statements, MOT certificates etc, anything that I don’t need paper copies of. Then I will just scan new stuff as and when it comes in a shred any paper copies. I think with most things as long as you have policy numbers/references you’re fine not to hold paper copies. I’m self employed so want to try and get as paperless as possible for this too.
Not sure what the plan for photos and artwork is yet, think paper work will keep me busy in January! I think I’ll research the best way to get high quality scans of photos, although I think places like snappysnaps offer a photo scanning service so from a time point of view I may use something like this if not too expensive

SuperDiaperBaby · 30/12/2018 17:12

Thanks cowface - I have had a look at Evernote and think I will give it a try. I do almost all my utilities etc online already so like you it is things like insurance and MOT that need a home. I have got 7 or 8 years of photos in the cloud but boxes of photos from before that which need to be scanned - I think I need to decide to make a start and be ruthless.

Original poster

Booksandpens · 01/01/2019 15:00

I started the new year by going through the DCs clothes, and filled a whole black bag for recycling/charity. A good effort, but rather scary as I already sorted through their clothes before the Christmas holidays and got rid of 3 bags worth! We still seem to create a mountain of washing so I think we'll have to be even more ruthless!

We have too many books, but I find that the hardest category to sort, as the DCs are at different reading stages. Might have to find a different way of creating space.

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Original poster

Booksandpens · 01/01/2019 17:17

We've been through all the children's books, and have got a huge bag for the charity shop and another one for the bin. Our bookcases look a lot more manageable now. Next will be our books, I think.

I found even more clothes so my job isn't finished yet, but I did make a substantial dent into sorting the clothes.

I did konmari a few years ago, so things are somewhat in categories, but the piles are just too big for the space we have in the house.

OP posts:

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