Decluttering one thing a day part 8 - the one where we de-tetris the cupboard of doom!

[WoogleCone]

Welcome! This is thread 8 of the declutter one thing a day challenge!

This is just holding the discussion open until @stealthninjamum gets her computer sorted and back in action :)

Everyone is welcome here, new and old. We implore you to join us on our mission to clear the cupboards, swipe the sides and declutter all debris!
We recycle, reuse, give away, donate or just plain chuck it out to help clear our spaces.

If you're new, start with a small mission - can you tackle one small area at a time? Be it a bedside table, a bathroom cabinet or The Kitchen Drawer?
Just one thing a day is all we ask and report back here with your outs for the day, or week at a time. It's very easy to get the bug when you start small and have success!

Will we find any more big bags of change? Can we sell more big ticket items? Will the school books all get returned? Will the happy meal toys ever stop multiplying and just how many books can we say goodbye to?!

Previous thread here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3525812-Part-7-of-the-decluttering-challenge-can-you-get-rid-of-one-item-a-day?msgid=87790915#87790915

Out: more underwear, most of it at least 8/10 years old, and a few sizes too small!
I do need to buy new bras, but they’ll have to be breastfeeding ones, as I’m due baby3 in a few months time.

It’s funny, the socks and underwear have been annoying me for months (years) and I still wasn’t getting rid of them, when it only took 10 minutes all together to sort through them.

I've been wizzing round, putting things away. I've got a box and some packaging to go out.

I've got a friend coming round later who has various charity connections, so I'm going to be getting rid of more later.

I was away for a few days recently and have now emptied my case. I'm going to give it a clean before I put it away. I've gotten pretty good-ish at packing in recent years but still, I've taken note of everything I used or wished I'd packed, so that I can be even more efficient next time. @Times10, I think you were asking on another thread about how to clutter clear etc; well, I think this sort of thing has really helped me. It's not the list per se, but about being conscious of what I use and need and noticing that and acting on that on a more regular basis. I also find that, having lived well out of a case, I'm primed when I get home to get rid of more clutter as I can see it more clearly. And, I feel more detached from more of my non-essential stuff. I usually delay unpacking so that I can do some clutter clearing before things get muddled again.

Similarly, having decorated my bedroom recently, I emptied a lot of it out which then gave me the opportunity to choose what to put back in. Honestly, it's just lovely now. I feel great every time I look at it. (I've just got to work out what to do with the stuff I don't want to put back in there.)

I also find that time away from the house really helps me focus on the bits we don’t need anymore. And interestingly enough we’ve stayed at people’s houses that were on both extremes - one almost hoarder level, and one really minimalistic, and both have inspired me to get rid of more stuff. The more cluttered one because I could see how stressful it was to find anything, and the minimalistic house was so peaceful. We were heading towards the hoarding levels, but then I read Marie Kondo, and learnt that less stuff=easier to clean, and housework was/is my nemesis, so we’re now slowly slowly going towards a more minimalist house but we still have a ton of things that we need to make difficult decisions about.

On another note, the bin men have emptied our bins, so I can finally fill them up again!

the Stuff That Needs Decisions

I can so relate to that. I have lots... I really need to reduce the amount of stuff that is just waiting... for something to decided to be done with it.

Last week I attacked one of the shelves in the food cupboard. I haven't emptied it yet - just raked around and removed stuff that was very out of date. The 4-year out-of-date drinking chocolate up-thread is nothing! I found an open pack of pumpkin seeds dated 2008 and also a pack of Dennis the Menace cupcake mix from the same year! I also disposed of boil-in-the-bag rice and other things that were at least 3 years past their use by date. I have piled up the pasta and put the oldest bags on top. I now need to empty the shelf and wash it and re-organise, perhaps with a plastic tray to stop things falling off the front edge of the shelf.

Unfortunately I was hit by a bad cold at the weekend, so most of my plans went out the window. I seem to be on the mend now, though.

I have also thrown out my slippers which were getting rather worn, replacing them with a new pair I bought earlier in the year.

Halfway through an Ikea bag of kids magazine tat... having a break as it’s so boring and endless. Three bags for life so far filled for going Out.

I've given away 2 boxes of clutter this afternoon.

I've also been tinkering with our bills again. I've saved us over £120pa on our house insurance!

Well done Sand!

And Emma, all that will be worth it in the end (so I say when I’m losing the will)

I’ve also gotten rid of old custard powder, and cornflour that was years old.

The DCs decided to go through their clothes again, so we’ve now got another box of clothes for the baby if it’s the same sex, and a big bag of things to take to the clothes bank at school. We can now close their drawers again. (I’m sure the clothes multiply in the night)

Thanks, Times.

I forgot to mention that I got rid of another box!!!! (This is big news for me.)

I've been sorting through my insurance docs. I've decided to keep a bit from most years, in case of another PPI (or whatever) announcement, but I've still got a small pile of papers to shred.

I've also discovered some unfiled docs which I need to find a home for. I think I will try to get that done tomorrow.

Not totally caught up with the thread, but have been reading some inspiring things.
I lost two weeks to illness between me and the kids, and didn’t even get the basics done in that time.
However yesterday and on Monday I have laid most of a plywood floor, which decluttered the sheets of ply, and yesterday went through my drawers (have next to nothing left to wear now) and lots of shredding. It’s not left the house yet, but that’s today’s job. I have also listed some drawer sets for free and hoping they’ll go soon.

I’ve been watching queer eye episodes which I find quite motivating while I do it.

My poor ds is sick today so I'm staying home with him. So hopefully that means I can get some things done that I've been meaning to do. Plus disinfect the bathroom and everything he may have touched - no-one else wants it! I'll let you know how successful I am.

Good work @IWillWearTheGreenWillow I’m not surprised you need a lie down!
I’ve been at it all day again, mostly sorting, but a carrier of stuff into the bin & quite a bit more to recycling and shredding pile. The drawers have gone - turns out if you list things for free you get eleventy billion replies in about five minutes.
Still to go to the tip, and somehow the flat looks miles worse than it did before which is a bit disheartening.

Good luck with the germ dodging Hazel.

Hope the homeschooling gets easier Willow, am I right in thinking that the intention is for it to be temporary for your DS3? Hopefully it’ll get easier as you get into a routine.

I should probably take my own advice as I’m struggling to keep on top of things being back at work. I have a long commute so it’s straight into bedtime when I get home and by the time DH and I have eaten I’m shattered! So not a lot going out at all right now. I think I’m going to have to really focus on the ‘one thing’ and be happy with that.

I'm still here but this dropped of my threads I'm on list! I'll catch up in a minute.

I am in the phase where I am madly decluttering small areas and neglecting other areas of housework so generally living in a mess. This week I have been emptying out dd2s drawers and wardrobe. She had about 50 pairs of socks - and it was a battle to get her to throw out the tiny ones that were probably toddler sized! She squeezed her big feet in them like one of the ugly sisters trying on Cinderella's glass slipper desperate to prove they fitted!

Anyway I have got rid of a mountain of clothes and her drawers and wardrobe are much clearer.

I haven’t even managed to get rid of one thing today, but did catch up on housework so I guess it’s still a positive. Tomorrow will be hectic, so we’ll see how that goes, especially as the DCs are overtired.

I have been at it for three days and got rid of 17, 4 and 5 items of my daughters clothes.

I need to go back onto big instant wins as it’s making little visible difference. Kids are disappointed in my progress 😭

I have a family support worker coming to help me ( as my son is disabled and under disability social care) so I’m hoping s she can gently guide me and set me on the most urgent area.

I talked to my eldest and said at least I do not hoard empty cans and he said I shouldn’t compare myself to those worse than me as my bar is too low comparing our home to a house rammed full of cat litter and bottles of my own wee 😂😂😂

But he’s right. Just because it’s not hideously unsafe doesn’t mean mean its ok. So feeling a bit deflated today. And panicked

Outs yesterday: 2 rolls of carpet leftover from when bedroom and living room were carpeted. I’d made noises about carpeting a cupboard in our room with some of the spare but it was never happening and the space created was more appealing! Also some wooden floor beading which had been on marketplace for ages. For free but at least someone is getting use!

Today 2 bags of DH clothes to charity. Also DH cleared the things belonging to him from the baby’s room and started painting. So off to the dump tomorrow with some more ‘stuff’. And will soon be decluttering my bedroom of a cot and baby

Times10 I find it’s a balancing act between housework and decluttering. Too much of one and the other seems to go to pot!

Medway be kind to yourself it’s all progress whether you can see big wins or not. Hopefully the support worker can point you in the right direction.

Hi MedwayMum,
it’s hard to know where to start sometimes.
Some people pick the hallway or living room, as it means that quite quickly they’re able to have people over. They won’t see the other rooms!
Other people choose the kitchen, or even the kitchen table, if it means that by doing that mealtimes can function better. Eat together for a change, etc.
Another popular choice is the bathroom because it’s small and can often be improved quickly by taking a bin in there and throwing/recycling all the old bottles.
Yet another choice is to choose an item, rather than a room: for example, go from room to room with a bin bag and fill it up. My house isn’t too bad at the moment but I can still get a load of empty drink bottles if I go around the house!
Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose

Raspberry I think I got the germs evicted from the house! I actually deep cleaned a lot today, including the windows on the front of the house, so now the whole house has clean windows, until the next storm rolls in tomorrow!

I did get some paperwork filed, some papers thrown away and the rest ready to be shredded, so that's a win for me today.
Oh and I threw away a blown light bulb from my wax melt, I had bought a replacement bulb a while ago and went to put it in but it's the wrong size ahhh! So it's now on the list, another in

Medway I can understand being overwhelmed. I find if I look around each room and make a list, of either things I know that can go or a space I want cleared, then I have more direction.

Try giving yourself 15 minutes to work on your list, see how much you can get done, then take a break or be done for the day.

Everyone works differently so try a couple different approaches until you find the way that works for you. Hopefully having someone from the outside can help point you in the right direction.

Can I join you all please? We moved house a few months ago and have just finished decorating upstairs, but it turns out decorating doesn’t magically get rid of all your crap so desperately need to declutter. I have two children so everything is painfully slow but hoping to make a little dent each day

Nothing yesterday but on Tuesday I also decluttered the fridge and chucked away a bag full of Halloween sweets! It was just sitting on a top shelf away from the kids.

I’m ashamed to say I threw away food. Mother in law hands me bags of coop ‘bargains’ almost weekly at the moment. Things I have neither planned for nor want and I find it very difficult sometimes I use them up, especially when the expiry date is usually that day. She means well but I should learn to say no!