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

GreenWillow - lots of people have a second Facebook account for selling - including me.
Also, a friend of mine in the UK was selling on FB. I was getting notifications that she was doing it even though I'm over in Australia, as would all of her friends far and wide!! That happens if the groups are Public, If you choose Closed groups, only your friends also on that group will get the notifications.
As I live in a small place, all my friends are on the same groups so I had to make a second FB profile. If you live in a city, only your friends living in the same boroughs are likely to be on the same groups.
So,

Today I’ve got rid of:
A 60s glass lampshade
Some pink paint (15 year old tin)
A formal dress
Some clothing

I have added to the charity bag, a couple of books, also a bit more fabric recycling. Unfortunately I’m in the stage of worse before better, so every room is now covered in stuff.
And someone is coming to stay today. Sure it’ll all be fine.
I’ve resolved to get a bit brutal and just take the crappy shelves to the tip tho.

And as far as Cupboard Tetris goes, I think I can’t fit anything else under the stairs, which is the most out of sight place there is. There is only one box under there which is stuff I don’t want to deal with yet, and it’s not huge.
Oh wait. Two boxes.

Very normal sentiments, GreenWillow. I quickly alerted my friend to what was happening with her posts and she switched to only Closed groups.

Happy weekend everyone. Just trying to decide what I should go and deal with. DS has decided to go back to sleeping like a newborn and my brain isn't functioning on 4 hours of broken sleep, so I can't remember what my plans for decluttering this weekend were! Going to head upstairs in a minute and look for quick wins in the bedrooms.

Thanks for the tip on FB selling alerts Penelope, this had not occurred to me.

Hope you had a lovely anniversary Willow, are things settling down with the homeschooling at all? I'm a bit behind but the attitude of your DS's school sounds awful.

Nice to see you Keiki. How's the little one?

I took the books/clothes to the charity shop, so the donation box is empty again.

Did a bit of work in the garden, so it looks neater.

Tidied and cleaned the house last night, but looking around now and you really couldn’t tell... and we were out of the house most of the day, so dreading to think how bad it would have been otherwise.

Oh well done, Willow! And no need to apologise for posting - that's what we're all about.

I've had a bit of a rest today (compared to recent days) but have still unearthed some horrors: around £300 of gift cards that may or may not still be in date. (Smh.)

I've taken a carrier bag of out of date meds to a pharmacist.

2 big, like new, board games & 2 watches have also been added to the pile.

I found a couple of foldable crates full of clothes just the right size for DC2, so they had to decide which ones to keep. So there’s another full bag to go to the school’s clothes bank this week.
And 2 empty crates for me to use when I’m sorting the house!

Everyone has been doing so well these past few days! Hopefully some of the gift cards will still be in date! And the Christmas basket is a good idea! We have a draw with sellotape etc but they might need to go in a box too it comes to intensive wrapping sessions.

Drawer! (Argh, sorry about that!)

I'm planning more decluttering at my mum's today. This might sound like she's living in a mess when in fact, her home is clearer than most people's. But, she's elderly now and we're weighing up options as she's starting to need more support. Her home needs to be super accessible which means clearing out all the extraneous stuff. I'm also thinking that it'll be much easier to move her when the time comes.

Willow, she hasn't always been open to clutter clearing, far from it, but I've been working with her on this for years and she's really got it now. When she moved out of our family home, she had to get rid of loads and has always said since that she wishes she'd done it years ago. So, I would just keep doing bits with your mum and with your own place - you never know the positive influence it might have in the long term.

119 things out and only 1 thing in this week! I’m gutted I let even 1 thing in but it was a school skirt and my daughter only has the 2.

Trying for zero in and at least 50 out this week. I’m doing a room a week on big instant wins so it look a better with the aim of revisiting them all and doing a proper job once it’s a better standard. Otherwise I’m just drawing in a sea of clutter

Green willow - I know the feeling! I was disproportionately chuffed when I binned my old prom! Felt like I hadn’t won a competition!

I haven't done too much during the week (seems I never have the time or energy after working every day). Although I did manage to make a gift for my mil using lavender from my garden, and gave it to her yesterday, so that's an out I guess!

Today I have been through my sideboard, I kept putting it off. I told myself I just needed to get rid of one thing.. it turned into multiple things! I had been keeping ribbon that came with some flowers I got last year, thinking I would use them, but of course they were still there, unused, so I tossed those out.

I rearranged some things I had in there, came across a decorative bowl, keychain, fragrance plug in, and dried up paints that I was able to part with.

It is definitely a catch - all spot, as I store my coffee, nail gels and light, crafting paints and sets, as well as some decorations for Easter that I never seem to get out into the garage with my other decorations. I did make it more organised with putting like things together, but I know I still have to go through some more. I think I'll stop while I'm ahead today and reassess another time, when I have more energy!

Ah @IWillWearTheGreenWillow, I bet your house has been so full of love and fun (and the other madness that DC bring ). I was resigned to having only 2 after both births were traumatic. So getting rid of the crib etc was emotional but sensible. However I’ve since discovered that the most recent one was due to the surgeon’s error and not my defective uterus as I thought so now I’m back to hankering after another. DH says absolutely no way. Well done with the bookshelves.

You’ve all been busy! Great work at your mum’s Sand! Hope some of the cards at least are still in date.

medway 119!! That’s fantastic. Well done.

Notable things from me the past few days...cleared out the ‘never going to be ironed’ from the ironing pile and put them where they should be. Cleared one dooket from the kallax in the living room - it was full of birthday cards and children’s magazines. One dress put aside to go to my friend for her DD. Oh and have sold 9 out of the 10 items/bundles I listed on Facebook last week. Money making is my favourite side effect of decluttering!

Had a real eureka moment yesterday morning when I realised I could clean the living room without having to spend ages clearing it first. Wooop.

I’m going to make a plan for what’s to be done in the next couple of weeks.

Medway - 119!
Hazel - that’s why I like this thread. Just one item when you’re tired is still a success.
Mynameisnot- Well done on your selling. Nothing of mine has sold. I might give it a deadline, then out!
Times - I’m happy to say that I’ve never seen a spelling correction on this thread, or indeed any kind of snipe. How good is that?!
My outs are another two old part tins of paint - even then I tried to give them away and they’re still sitting in the porch as I learned you’re not supposed to put them in the bin with wet paint inside. You have to pour it on cardboard and let it dry. But I don’t have any cardboard......They’re out of the house though and destined for the bin so I’m counting them.
Also, an old school sports shirt.

Well on Friday someone collected the desk I needed rid of, then yesterday I took some old storage/shelf things and baby chair to the tip. Today I gave three large bags of assorted clothes, mostly from the baby to a women's refuge.

Survived a trip to IKEA, took my mum and had meatballs for lunch. Managed to get everything I needed to make the most of the new Kallax unit, hopefully I can get that into place tonight and tidy up DC's bedroom. Only came out with some grocery nets and a candle extra, pretty good going I think!

Thank you for the welcome back, and the DC are doing well thank you @RaspberryBlonde

I'm feeling very smug as I managed to get rid of seven bags in two days - four to charity, two of rubbish and one of recycling (old birthday cards, leaflets, paperwork etc). I have another bag of old bank statements and payslips which I am planning to bring into work and dispose of in the confidential waste bin, and three bags of textiles which I'll put out on Thursday as we've just started kerbside recycling collections for textiles, batteries and small electrical items. I am (sadly) very excited about this.

Most of these bags were as a result of going through the built-in cupboard in the childrens' bedroom and clearing out the floor space, which was full of mismatched bits of bed linen and beach stuff like armbands and floats. Everything is now neatly packed away in two small rucksacks, there are three sets of bed linen neatly folded in one corner and I have gone through two cardboard storage boxes full of old paperwork and reduced it down to one box which is barely 1/3 full. I can now use the other one for all the bits and pieces of birthday cards, Valentine's, Mothers/Fathers Day stuff hanging around in other inconvenient places.

I know it's bad form to declutter other people's stuff, but I did get rid of two of DPs old tops - I can't remember him ever wearing them in 12 years and I think they were unpacked from the wardrobe in our old flat and hung up in this one five years ago, I doubt he even remembers them. Also some decluttering of the ironing basket which is now just shirts and a couple of dresses.

Willow - I'm intrigued about the will from 1760! Family history?

Impressive work, SydneyCarton.
I will add one leotard, a formal dress and a pinstripe jacket. All added to the charity pile. I’d like to drop them off now but I can’t as I’ve just decluttered two premixed bottles of Woodstock and Cola

I don’t seem to have had any outs for ages, and today is a day of many ins as I went to Ikea this morning! But I did come out with only the things I went in for, which is an achievement in itself!

I’ve sold a pair of jeans on eBay so will post them this afternoon.