Part 7 of the decluttering challenge - can you get rid of one item a day?

[StealthNinjaMum]

Back again!

A group of mumsnetters have been emptying our homes, gradually decluttering our homes by getting rid of one item a day.

We’re very green and like to recycle, sell, give away and sometimes eat our clutter I’m still alive after the 8 year old gherkins.

Newbies are welcome to join us. We just get rid one thing and come back to update everyone on our progress, get support when it gets hard, and suggest new household systems and ways of doing things.

The most exciting thread on mumsnet. In this thread @SandandSea will tell us what she’s going to do with her big plastic sheet…..

Previous thread is here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3463110-New-home-for-the-new-year-still-getting-rid-of-one-item-a-day-part-6?pg=40

I spent the afternoon clearing out the garden bar. That is now ready for summer.

DH has promised to take various items to the tip this week, like the broken gazebo... We'll see...

Keep going everyone!

Morning all. Back to this after a hiatus during which nothing has been decluttered! Small (but more than I expected!) work bonus means we are having DSD and DDs bedrooms skim plastered at the end of the month so DP is wallpaper stripping and stuff is everywhere! Made me remember that the decluttering needs to recommence.

A lovely friend recently discovered she's pregnant so I'll pass on to her the very small amount of mat clothes I still have as she's saving for mat leave and there's an ongoing bag of clothes for textile recycling at H and M so I guess that's something. But I've also offered to save my DDs toys for my friend so they will be cluttering the loft room for a while!!

Feel like I need a whole house/life makeover right now!

Hopefully once the girls rooms are finished and we've better storage furniture that will help with the tween/toddler clutter also.

I haven’t done much either here. A bag of the old bedding I had sorted went to recycling. Still have a messy dining table. Well one end of it.

DH put in the extra shelf in the airing cupboard so I will finish that tomorrow. Have a friend coming to stay on Friday so need the spare bedroom sorted.

Then I am starting on my clothes.

GreenWillow - glad your DH is on the mend. Sounds like you need a few days rest for yourself.

Ladies, if you have gift sets and only used part and they are unopened think about local womens refuges. I keep everything like this from the wash puffs to soap/gel/cream even candles, all are very welcome.Have a look on line for your nearest one.

Usually at Christmas I ask if anyone at work if they have a spare and take them as gifts and supply wrapping paper as well so the staff can give to the appropriate people. Children's sets are particularity well received.

Im trying to de-clutter but moving/sorting/stressing its not going very well.....

Hi everyone! I haven't been on here for a while, having had a bit of a decluttering break, but, I've been back on it this weekend and have definitely made up for it. I've got 3 empty, under-bed, storage boxes! Three! And an empty boot box. AND an empty box file!! All of these previously contained papers, stored clothes, mementoes and other "precious things". I wish I could tell you that I've done it all, but sadly, there is more to do and I'm surrounded by mess. Things are definitely moving though.

I forgot a box! It's quite a big, cardboard one. That makes 6 empty ones in all. Pretty good going, I reckon!

Well done sand! 6 boxes has to be a thread record!! That's some awesome going!

I've done nothing here other than the washing up haha. DH is on lates this week though so I have two hours to myself each night after DD goes to bed. Not sure what I can do thats quiet in that time but will do my best to get rid of a few bits.

peridot it's good to have a deadline of Friday to get your spare room sorted.

toodamhottoday thanks we have a few toiletries bank collection points in my town for women in refuges, I suspect the problem most of us have is too much body lotion as no-one really uses it!

That's amazing SandandSea.

I am very halfheartedly decluttering. It's easy to get a few papers out but feels like I'm doing the bare minimum when at some point I need to move house without this clutter. Yesterday I got rid of a sports bag / kit for something dd2 does so that actually will clear a space. I'm also going to have a quick runaround for items that belong to stbexh - I can see some kind of electrical thing (think it's a wifi box) that seems to live on the floor of the dining room and lots of post.

Hope everyone had a good weekend! It's been quite productive here, decluttered a spice rack that never got used and a bag of textile recycling. It's generally getting easier to find things, as there's less stuff to wade through. I'd really like to redecorate, but because our home's rented, there's a limit to what we can do. With any luck we might be able to buy in the next year or two, so I'm going to keep plugging away on the decluttering in the hope that when we come to move, it'll be easier and there will be less sorting to do.

Hi everyone. Been a busy week here, had my daughters 4th birthday and my Mum visiting from interstate. But have managed to sell a pair of shoes on eBay and give a dress to my Mum. Need to do more but a good start.

Hi everyone....rather a lot of things in and not many out here! I went out and spent some book tokens today but spent a lot of time in the shop thinking that I didn't really want to bring more stuff into the house! I still have loads but may use them to buy birthday gifts.

Hope your DD had a nice day Zippety.

How are things with you Willow? Hope you're getting a bit of a break.

Congrats on the boxes Sandandsea. At least your 'precious things' made it into boxes, I have loads of random carrier bags!

Peridot you've reminded me I need to get our spare room fit for guests too. It currently has no curtains so that's the first priority!

Lovely day here so going to aim for some garden decluttering this afternoon.

Do I really need four bottles of oven cleaner? I guess I'll be cleaning the oven today then.

Thanks @RaspberryBlonde she had a lovely day. Certainly didn't help the decluttering (haha) but we are lucky to have many generous friends and family who love our kids.

Tackled the under sink cupboard today and kitchen windowsill ... Both are now a lot clearer

I had double the usual amount of recycling today after the efforts of the last couple of weeks.

Well, my downstairs area is looking a right state at the moment! It just never gets old.

But the good news is, my upstairs area is looking better than it has in ages! One day, hopefully in the not too distant future, I will manage to have both looking good at the same time!!

Other good news:

• I have several clear or almost clear surfaces in our main bedroom.
• One of our bedside drawers is now completely empty!!!!!!!!!
• I'm on top of the washing. (I've finally got into that 'one load a day' habit.)
• Today, I've decided to get rid of an old, wicker, rubbish bin which looks like rubbish. I've had it YEARS. Possibly over 30 years. My excuse for not noticing it before is that it was hiding under a desk and blended into the colour scheme. Another reason for getting rid of it is that DP keeps putting rubbish in it - as though we have some kind of magical disposal system!

I'm on a roll! I've just been through another box. To clarify, this one is a very nice and organised box, but, it is still a box. Anyway, I've sorted out quite a few things to get rid of from it including a like-new, decorative, candle holder, which I'm going to try to sell or gift to someone.

Your poor DH Willow,glandular fever is no fun. One of my friends had it as a teenager and still remember how long it took her to feel ‘normal’. Must be reassuring to have a diagnosis though. I need to join you in getting better at planning...I also have a scaled down bullet journal but am only managing meal plans at the moment.

DS still full of cold here so am functioning on about 3 hours sleep! Got a couple of pieces of paper from the never ending pile in the study out yesterday but nothing else.

Does anyone know what you’re meant to do with cancelled passports? I’ve just renewed mine and they’ve just returned the old one to me.

Oh, poor MrWillow. Give him our best.

I've been through a box of old magazines that I'd kept because they'd published bits and pieces of mine (cartoons and articles), removed the pages of My Stuff and binned the rest, not without a slight pang. God, I haven't done any of that stuff for years!

Wow Sand I feel like I need to hand you a crown (or tiara?) for services to the thread. You are doing incredibly well whereas I have stopped! Yesterday I threw out 2 bottles of really old nail varnish and that was it. I also used up some Mr Muscle oven cleaner.

Oh willow that's awful - but at least you know what it is. What's the recovery time like?

willow raspberry Have you bought a bullet journal or have you done your own one? I watched some youtube videos recently on them and wondered whether to try one or whether it would be another piece of clutter.

Today I have a pile of papers to shred.

I’ve not done well at all this week. Friend cancelled so no urgency on spare room. And I’ve been completely distracted by Brexit shit.

I did take a bag of plastic bottle tops into Lush yesterday only to be told they are no longer taking them although they did take my bag. Apparently they’ve collected 8.5 tonnes apparently and are backlogged.

Today I WILL clear the dining table.

Willow - no wonder your DH felt so rotten.

I just use a blank notebook Stealth and it is not in any way 'pretty' like some of the spreads you see online. It's basically a monthly overview, weekly meal plans and rolling to do lists plus anything else I want to keep a note of like holiday activities. I used to have to do lists etc on bits of scrap paper and was always losing them, so a notebook is less clutter for me as everything is in there other than shopping list which is on a magnetic pad on the fridge.

Speaking of scrap paper have chucked a few more bits from the study and have another pile to shred. The latest charity shop bag has made it to the front door ready to go in the car boot. Have people coming over tomorrow so need to do a general tidy up this afternoon.

I love the idea of Bullet Journalling. Bought a lovely notebook and lots of pretty stationery. Lots of lists started nothing actually achieved!

Now the meal plan is a piece of paper on the fridge usually done by DH.

Shopping list is a notebook in a kitchen drawer that we both add to and then DH re-writes in the order that the supermarket is laid out.
I use my notebook just as a general daily to do list by day.
I also keep loose papers in the back of things coming up, a general house jobs list etc.

Willow- hope your DH feels better soon.

I love the idea of making lists etc. Unfortunately I find it a great way to procrastinate... So lists get made, nothing gets done.

I've been continuing my mission to declutter the kitchen. And I've had a bit of an epiphany... Less clutter is making me calmer and more likely to do things like wiping down surfaces and unloading/reloading dishwasher straight away instead of leaving it to build up. My kitchen is starting to feel bigger.

And despite my doubt he will do it... DH has taken a car load of stuff to the tip on the way to work. He's also managed to run over the microwave so we are currently without one... Which is again making more room in the kitchen temporarily.