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

I’ve been very good, and only ordered 3 boxes to go in the kallax, and a coat rack. But I’ve just spent an hour working on the bookcase, to make space for the boxes, as 2 are going to be for the baby, so need to be empty for a few months, and the 3rd is to replace an old stain box so it all matches up.

How about you?

Out: a load of DVD cases (we store ours in those dvd folders, as we just don’t have the space for 100s of cases) and old CDs that we never listen to. We’ve still got loads of CDs, and realistically I don’t think we’ll ever listen to them again, but I don’t think we’re ready to get rid of them yet.
3 books, with info I can easily find online, so no need to keep them.

We went through the DCs books a while ago and downsized a lot, but they still have too many. It’s tricky as the books we kept we enjoy reading, but it’s just too much to easily keep tidy.

I think they probably could do with just one kallax cube each, but so far we’ve got 6/7 cubes full. And we put their books upstairs but they don’t seem to like reading there, so I don’t know if we should bring them back downstairs, in which case we need to reshuffle everything again!

There’s some really good thoughts in the last couple of pages.

@Medwaymumoffour I think everyone has an area (ahem, or several) that starts off being too hard to think about, and I think sometimes it’s okay to come back to those. I mean if it’s everything you look at then you have to start somewhere, but some things are hard and that’s okay.

I have been and still am totally laid up with a bug, so haven’t done a great deal, but DH did three tip runs yesterday, so there’s that.

Feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been on here but 5 bin bags of clothes to the charity bins, one broken fan & v old dried paint tub in the bin. Supposed to be selling the high chair today but the person buying hasn’t responded to confirm a time so we will see

3 tip runs is good going cold and I would count DH’s efforts as my own (especially for a tip run where I’d have done most of the sorting in the first place!)

You’re doing well owner it’s crazy how quickly clothes can multiply! I also put 4/5 bags in the clothes bank this past week, but you couldn’t tell if you looked in our wardrobes right now!

Out: a commemorative tea towel from the royal wedding W&K. We’ve actually been using it as a tea towel, so 8 years is a pretty good run I think.
I’ve decided that from now on I’ll throw out cleaning cloths and tea towels as and when I notice the holes, instead of keeping them in circulation. We have more than enough spare to not run out for a few years yet!

I'm also rubbish at throwing out old cleaning cloths Times - and DH always says he can use them in his 'DIY room'. We also have about 6 spare tea towels in the cellar, none of which dry up very well, but I can't bring myself to throw them out as I think they might come in useful at some point (am sure DH would have them ).

Hope the potential buyer for the high chair gets in touch, owner. I recently discovered we still have our old high chair in the cellar, but DH wants to keep it for the grandchildren. (Our DC are all still at school.)

coldhands Hope you're feeling better soon.

Out:

• One disinfectant wipe, from an old first aid kit I think - but I can't imagine when I'd ever use it (it's for disinfecting surfaces). Felt guilty about just throwing it away, though, so cleaned the toilet seat with it first.
• DD's lunchbox, as it broke today, and 6 lunchbox dividers, as we no longer have any boxes that they'll fit. Luckily she's said she'll have DS's lunchbox (which he never uses, as he just takes a roll in a beeswax wrap), so the broken one doesn't need to be replaced.

I really love coming on here and reading about everyone's activities and seeing us all supporting each other. It's so heart warming! Thanks everyone!

Anyway, before I get too mushy... Today, I have taken 3 big bags-for-life of clothes to a charity shop and filled another 3 with books. These books previously filled a cupboard which I am now reorganising. I bought a nice box today which is for "Stationery" (I've labelled it, in case you're wondering why I've used speech marks). I'm also making this cupboard the place for games and electricals, which I'm hoping to finish sorting out tomorrow.

Other outs include various papers and bits and bobs.

I've also done lots of laundry. (My mum had a backlog of washing.)

Went through my wardrobe yesterday and have a bag of summer clothes for the loft and a big bag for the chazzer. It was exhausting!

I had my colours and style done by House Of Colour a few years ago which helped a LOT with coming to terms with clothes. I still have big boxes of baby clothes that I cannot pass on though. Every few years I go through them and manage to get rid of one or two things, but I go into a strange state when I look at them so it is hard. My children are 12 & 14. So.

manager I keep looking at the house of colour, but haven’t been able to justify the cost. Maybe I should ask for money towards it for Christmas /birthday, as my wardrobe is very very drab at the moment.

willow I think that’s the biggest difference, between non clutter people, and me, I tend to stuff things in and find more homes for things that are overflowing, instead of thinking that maybe the first home was big enough which means the rest should go! I’m slowly getting there!

sand you’re doing so well! Is this at your mum’s or yours? We have a games cupboard that needs a sort out, as I’m not sure how many games we actually play!

still I like how decluttering is forcing you to clean at the same time we used to use quite a lot of cleaning wipes, but now I just refill a spray bottle of washing up liquid and water, and use that for the kitchen. I’m not sure why we even started using wipes, maybe it was a misguided idea that they would help clear the clutter!

Times - Yes, I'm still at my mum's. She needs care atm so I'm trying to do as much as possible, in anticipation of her maybe moving and also, to help her to get around and to live as independently as possible.

Willow - Me too! It's been a difficult and worrying time and I've really appreciated the support from everyone on here; it's been a real comfort.

Outs so far today:

Another pile of books - about 2 feet high.
A pile of bedding - about 3 feet high but more to do.

Just having a bedding break.

I asked friends and family to chip in for HOC vouchers and got my husband to coordinate donations. So so so so glad I did!

Other outs today: cookbook that is rubbish.

I've finished all my mum's bedding, towels and other linens.

Outs include:

A double duvet.
A pillow.
2 blankets.
3 double duvet sets.
3 flat sheets. (2 over 50 years old!)
2 big bath towels.
A cot blanket.
Several tea towels.
And, a large blanket box.

I think there's going to be more but I will need to buy some new first.

As well as being able to get rid of a large item of furniture, one of the 2 divan drawers is completely empty and half her double wardrobe is now almost empty. The other half is just right, with nothing on the floor of it at all.

I've also (hopefully) convinced her to store double bedding in the double bed and single bedding with the single bed. (I might be fooling myself.)

CanI - Thanks for that tip. I might treat myself when I've finished my house.

Another bag filled: underwear, socks and tights this time.

Well my buyer didn’t turn up & I eventually got a nonsense message at about 9pm. I don’t mind if you no longer need it or can’t come but don’t leave me hanging all day because you’ve said you were going to pick it! Anyway I’ve lowered the price on marketplace & if no interest in a week it’s going to the CS.

Just one out today, broken electric toothbrush.

Out: a poached egg frying pan that I bought recently, but it keeps falling off the hob, and the eggs just end up sticking on the poaching plastic things.

We’ve just ordered a new normal frying pan as our old one has lost its unstick coating. So when that arrives we’ll get rid of the other pan.

DH says he can fix our pancake frying pan, so that’s an out until he brings it back (I’m not convinced he’ll be able to do anything with it, so I’m counting it as an out!).

We do use all our pots (I’ve been keeping an eye on what we’ve been using recently, and they’ve all been used, so that’s good).

So much progress! Not much out this week again. I worked from home yesterday so chucked a few random pieces of paper from the desk. Like you Times we've also got rid of a pancake frying pan where the non stick coating had gone. It may be replaced though, as it's the only small one we had.

The house is still largely in chaos, I need a plan for the weekend!

Nice to meet a fellow redhead Willow although mine is faffing faster by the year and I'll probably pass for blonde at this rate!

Sounds like you're making great progress at your mum's Sand. I like the idea of the bed system, sadly my divan drawers are very much on the to do list still...

Bag of DS clothes , wallet, underwear . I treated him to some Back to University clothes .
Coat and handbag (mine not DS !)

Bunch of stationery & folders & things went after a couple of hours free on gumtree & I had to do nothing but pack a couple of carriers & open the front door :)

5 big bags of books taken to charity today.

I've also sorted out my mum's electricals (she had 2 spare routers and various other bits). These are coming back to my house to be disposed of/recycled (as I've no clue where to do this here).

I've also sorted out several repairs and even washed her porch lightshade!

Ugh, I think DH is getting my lurgy and I haven’t quite finished with it yet
There’s a children’s party to attend tomorrow, I think we’ve spent too much in the gift, but previously spent too little, there seems to be an unwritten code around these things that I can’t read
But that means there has been an in in the form of new party shoes for the eldest,

Today I will plan for a bag of gift bags and a bag of assorted stuff to go to the charity shop, plus three outgrown toys to go to the baby charity & hope the children don’t notice.

Also yesterday in a bunch of Ikea storage bags and vacuum packs which we will need in order to do last decluttering for photos I think.

@SandAndSea 5 bags of books is a major achievement. Reading you list of linen made me quite nostalgic, we have family sheets that have been turned outside in before being used as dust sheets/dog sheets and still lurk as might come in handies. I think some of them must be at least 70!