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

My item today is going to be an empty box I spied in a drawer recently and have been thinking about. (I was keeping it in case I needed to store the original item in it again, for God knows what reason.)

Yesterday I ate some vegetable curry I found in the freezer. I also listed some coat hangers for free collection, but little joy so far. I want to Marie Kondo my socks and underwear tonight, but I am dog tired so might give it a miss!

SandandSea you have an endless supply of empty boxes haven't you? You've just reminded me I have one on a chair in my bedroom that I can get rid of - then I can SIT on the chair! Think it's quite unusual to have chairs in bedrooms that aren't clothes racks.

Greenwillow your poor dh seems to have been sick for ages, hope he's better soon.

I have done loads of shredding. Also admin - school forms, updating the diary with parties and other social occasions, replying to emails. I have also started to arrange my CDs in alphabetical order after giving a load back to stbexh.

A loyalty card for a cafe which closed.

Some plastic, nameless things which I've been keeping in the cutlery drawer. No one knows what they're for.

I've also been tinkering in my clothes drawers. I've got big spaces in there now. (This might sound like showing off but if you saw my dining room, you'd understand.)

@StealthNinjaMum - Well, I wish they were all empty but sadly, too many are full of sentimental crap. I'm also hoping they're not endless, though it seems like it sometimes.

Stealth, I also have a chairdrobe in my bedroom. We can never sit on it! Frankly, even if it was clear, this would be such an event that we would have to stand and admire it! I saw a minimalist video on yt recently - the woman recommended getting rid of bedroom chairs as they are such clothes magnets. I can see her point.

Can I join you? I took a deep breath yesterday and admitted that I really couldn't fix a rather well-loved inflatable yellow canoe that the mice ate, so it's gone to the tip.

RIP, Banana Boat. DD and I loved you.

Not much out yet today, just some paper to recycling and a few bits and bobs put in the bin as I go. “Why?” You ask. Because I have started gathering electronics and putting them on the dining room table. This is going to be a hideous job and I am dreading it. So much so that I have been putting it off for weeks and am still doing so as I have brought DS to the barbers for a hair cut rather than continue to declutter 😳

Welcome twokitties! And farewell banana boat!

Started to clear out the nursery this afternoon, work to be done for new baby that I have desire to do when on mat leave. Found a bunch of odd socks and vests behind the tallboy so they've gone into the textiles sack with the rest.

Also cleared out the cupboard under the sink and a few half filled bottles of things that have been open for years have gone in the bin. That gave me some room to put the candles from under the stairs into that cupboard. It's like bleeding Tetris in here today!

Welcome, @ATailofTwoKitties !

You all sound like you’ve been really busy. Today I got rid of two cracked plastic bowls (turns out that they are not baby proof when said baby flings them repeatedly from the high chair) plus a couple of tops which I had put away when pregnant and haven’t missed. I’ve also dealt with a couple of admin jobs that have been on my to do list for ages and managed to get rid of a few unwanted pieces of paper in the process.

Welcome twokitties, sounds like a good start.

I do love a good alphabetising session Stealth. My CDs are all in boxes in the garage and have been for three years so I should probably gear myself up to get rid!

Good luck with the electronics Gibble. I keep thinking that I have largely dealt with them and then finding yet another stash of cables...

Laughing at the Tetris idea Woogle, I know just what you mean.

THank you all for the inspiration- have just charity shopped some GCSE guides from the Cupboard of Doom.

Tetris went to a whole other level after that raspberry, giving DD her dinner and I look down to see the tumbler dryer is leaking. And it's made a puddle next to the large unopened box of soap powder, that soaked it all up . Naturally the box disintegrated and so I had to very quickly find a new box to house 8kg of powder and manage to get it in without making a snow mountain. The lid of the box helped!

So my organised under sink cupboard got reorganised again to fit the new box except the new box is too long and I've left it hanging out in a fit of annoyance for DH to deal with.
I'm done with today haha!!

Well the electricals has kind of stalled. We’ve got rid of a few items which are broken or useless (when I say got rid, I mean I have put them in a bag to go to the tip).
There is a huge cupboard upstairs which I am pretty sure has more electrical items in it.
The trouble is, I have commandeered our dresser downstairs so I can use it for cubs stuff so I now don’t have anywhere to put the stuff we are keeping that’s electrical. It’s getting on my fluffing nerves now. This house is just full of shit!
Sorry. Rant over. I know it will get sorted one day.

Wow willow, a month hope he’s on the mend soon!

Sounds like everyone’s Tetris is moving along.. I keep going in fits and starts but did the too small clothes out dd room while she was napping and also got rid of kids of coat hangers and stuff so tidier if not a massive amount gone... pair of pj bottoms that I remember I don’t like after I’ve put them on went into the bin as well...

I’ve done some metaphysical decluttering. There are far fewer emails in my inbox than there were this morning. I think I need to do a pass through the shoe rack this weekend. I bet we have several pairs of outgrown shoes/trainers/wellies still taking up space.

Lots going on here atm. Only one thing out but quite a few extra household jobs done on top of the usual cleaning.

Just a quick check in tonight, been at work all day so nothing out. Other than a nice empty inbox and my out of office is set!

Annual leave starts now so hoping for some good updates in the next 9 days.

Have a great weekend everyone!

IWill glad that DH is slowly improving that sounds dreadful. The weight loss is some compensation I guess. Why not try eBay for your dress up stuff- if it’s clearly described as home made might do well. People may relish the chance to have something different, perhaps even claim it as all their own work😬

For my own update a few books dropped at work for a charity sale. Two bags (still) waiting to get to charity shop. But kitchen surfaces tidy for a whole week and two wooden mug trees got rid of.

That sounds hard work GreenWillow, hope that nobody else gets it.

Quite a lot of small bits and pieces leaving here including a dozen desiccated conkers I discovered in the playroom. I’ve also just discovered a box containing our wedding cake decorations which I need to decide about. People coming over tomorrow so most of today will be cleaning etc though.

Enjoy your time off Woogle

Another box of books charity shopped, and half a treble recorder binned on the grounds that if we haven’t seen the other half in the past five years it’s probably lost for good.

It’ll turn up in the next cupboard now.

For small dressing up clothes, might be worth putting a photo in a local Facebook page?

Today I am going to tackle the spare bed. Which currently looks like this. I’ll post an after picture later so you can all see the difference.

You lot have been busy!

GreenWillow - DH had ‘proper’ flu last year and it took him a good month to feel back to normal. He also wasn’t eating but that gradually came back. He found Berocca good to help with the tiredness.

Oubliette - good luck with that pile.

Yesterday I put a fitted sheet in the textile recycling pile. Has a big rip in it. Also have some more towels to give to my friend on Monday.

I have a duvet to go too. Might need to go to the tip. It’s an odd size one.