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

Stealth I know I need to keep on chipping away at it and every little helps. Having had the “what’s the point?” moment we did then actually get rid of a load of stuff on Sunday as DP had a rare burst of enthusiasm and took the car to the tip while I took the girls to a party. Out with the Moses basket, old bin, some old pillows, a bumbo seat, some random piping from when we had the washing machine fitted and an old shelf.

I’ve also filled four carrier bags with outgrown clothing and one for the textile recycling and there does now seem to be a definite clear space in the girls’ bedroom and in the third bedroom/study/general dumping ground. I’ll start taking the bags to the charity shop tomorrow (no car, so multiple trips into town on my lunch break ) and that’ll clear some more floor space. I feel lighter already!

Brilliant sydneycarton it is so amazing when you get rid of those large toddler items, it's an immediate difference. I am struggling to rid of more than bits of paper at the time but it's better than nothing.

Today's item so far is a body scrub that had been in the shower for ages and had grown mould.

Bit stalled here, currently trying not to melt in the heatwave this part of Europe is experiencing supposed to get above 35 today. And we don't have air conditioning!
Eldest DD turned 8 yesterday so a few ins. However all packaging was quickly decluttered! My plan for today is mega sort out of downstairs as she has a sleepover party on Thursday night (no school Friday).

Morning all!

I do hope all this new box buying is only to house the most important, would never throw away ever items and not just to hide things!

Got myself to the docs yesterday, turns out I do have tonsillitis. Hurts a lot to swallow, head is still pounding too. And I'm having what I can only describe at hot flushes between bouts of shivering

Well done sydney, getting rid of baby/toddler stuff frees up so much space! It's a bind you have to use your lunch breaks to get rid of it, but you'll feel better for it! I hope the weather picks up for your walks!

gassylady the bay window of doom?! Well done! That must feel awesome.

We did recycling yesterday, some greetings cards out (I might be alone here, but does anyone else wish they weren't a thing? It's a lot of card that gets chucked after a week or two!)
Also out yesterday was a couple of DDs old leggings and a tshirt that got covered in paint.

Have a great day everyone!

don't mention the boxes sandandsea might see.

Sorry to hear about the tonsilitis. That is miserable. Have you got antibiotics or will it go by itself?

I took a couple of bags to the charity shop today - stuff in my charity shop pile so doesn't really count as my 'one thing a day'. So I'm going to madly run around now and look for something to get rid of. Either gone off food or papers or something in dd2s sock drawer.

Thanks stealth, yeah hes given me a 10 day course of penicillin, it's like 8 pills a day so pretty Intensive! Slowly starting to feel better but still getting super hot and headachy. 🤷‍♀️

Just getting going now and off shopping so I fear today will be more in than out!

One thing out today: some old Lush toiletries that have lurked in the cupboard for too many years. Got a buyer for some bike bits that I don't need, so hopefully tomorrow they'll be gone.

Sorry to hear about the tonsillitis Woogle hope the antibiotics soon kick in. Further inroads into that bay window today. Old boots for charity bag, packaging materials relocated. eBay buyer coming for camp bed later. Airing cupboard tidied and a few towels for charity and rag bag. Having a mega week in desperation before the long summer hols begin

wooglecone that's awful, 80 pills sounds like a lot. I hope you get better soon.

I have found a largish box of slug repellent in the utility room (it's like little stones they don't like crawling on) that is only about 10% full so I thought I'd get the children to put it around our tomato plants and get rid of a big box.

We're being brave, we've started on the loft, mainly to clear out old stuff so we've room to put other stuff up there. So far over the last fortnight 7 bin bags of kids and maternity.clothes have gone to the charity.bins(my youngest is thirteen!!)

Really proud of myself. I have decluttered my two kitchen drawers got rid of lots of junk. My next mission is four drawers in the living room.
Hope to manage that tomorrow

Oh WoogleCone the tonsillitis sounds horrible, especially when you’re looking after a tiny baby and a toddler as well. Fingers crossed the drugs kick in ASAP!

I thought I might have a wobble when the Moses basket went as DS is definitely the Last Baby, but I was just relieved to finally get rid of the bloody thing . Two bags out to charity on Tuesday and hopefully another tomorrow but it’s my day off and I will have the baby and the 3 year old in tow, so I’ll have to see how much I can juggle.

We're all doing well, very jealous that you are all getting rid of big items as I seem to have got rid of....... one bowl. It's a nice bowl, it was a Christmas present from an inlaw with a jar of olives in it. I like it but I have dozens of little nice bowls that stack and can be used for entertaining so it just perches on top of the cupboard and gets in the way. Anyway it is now in my charity shop pile.

WoogleCone - hope you are starting to feel a lot better now.

I have had quite a good week so far.

On Monday afternoon I posted an eBay sale at the Post Office, then in the evening I listed another item on eBay. On Tuesday evening I (at last) got a summer item listed on Facebook. I still need to put it on Gumtree as well. If it doesn't sell in a couple of weeks I'll list it on eBay.

Yesterday afternoon I started sorting out a collapsed box of dusty paperwork shoved under a table in my office. I managed to bin quite a lot of it straight off and started to sort the rest into cardboard wallets for the filing cabinet. I hope to do a bit more at lunchtime today.

Last night I put some packaging up in the loft. I also did some ironing and put a new filter cartridge in my water jug. I gave the jug a good wash first and washed some of the recycling stuff lying by the sink. I also remembered to wash two beer bottles I found behind the shed, that have been sitting on the back door step for weeks. It looks like they were tossed over the fence, and we suspect they originate from a party the teenager next door had last autumn!

This morning I got an unexpected offer of a lift into work, so decided to take the opportunity to deliver the bulky and heavier items to a charity shop. I took an extra half hour sorting stuff, so managed to hand in a wine box of mixed stuff including the bedding I washed last week, and also a separate kid's bodyboard. I have looked back at these threads and it was 2 months ago I started talking about this collection. Sigh! I still have around 4 other things I have mentally earmarked for this shop, but didn't have enough warning to get them ready for this box.

I don't know why I always feel I have to have a number of full bags or boxes before it is worth handing any charity stuff in. It's different if it is really bulky or heavy and has to go by car and we have to pay parking charges to get close, then it definitely is worth taking as much stuff in the load as possible. But, I can easily take a half full carrier bag on the bus, and get rid of things quickly. I'm currently looking at the pile of 7 books in my office that I sorted out a few weeks ago to take to the local Book Charity Shop. They are waiting for me to bring in more books from home to make the trip worthwhile... except I passed the shop late on Monday afternoon on my way to the Post Office, and I could have handed them in then. Sigh!

I should find a bag for them, so that are ready to go next time I have to go into town.

Today's out: an empty perfume bottle (don't know why I kept it), an old modem, and some toddler art. Turns out you can recycle electricals at PC World, which is good because the tip's moved to a part of town that's only really accessible by car, and who wants to do that for one item?

My moth-eaten cashmere jumper went to Turtle Doves last week, and in return they've sent me a lovely pair of fingerless gloves. I'm almost looking forward to colder weather so I'll have a reason to wear them!

Hi all, I joined this thread a year ago but didn't get very far unfortunately. Working full time, having a toddler and then getting pregnant meant I didn't have much time or energy for daily decluttering.

However I'm now on mat leave with a newborn. We are probably going to move house in the next couple of months so I'm keen on getting rid of as much rubbish as possible. I'm also fed up of all the clutter!
Hopefully I can get one thing done whilst my toddler is at nursery and newborn is sleeping, or if my DH or DM is around to help. I might have to sacrifice Netflix downtime in the evenings .

One thing that does annoy me is when I clear out a space and my DH just fills it with more crap! Anyone else have the same issue?

purplefrog I'm like you. I usually wait til I have 5 bags to go to the charity shop when I should just do 1 bag a week. It's partly because I run out of carrier bags and have to make an effort to buy a couple every week.

Welcome back curlyrebel. It sounds like you have loads on at the moment. I found that I had to get rid of a huge amount of stuff before my family started to enjoy the emptiness a bit and stop filling it. Then I got rid of my husband and much of the clutter and ugly furniture went with him but that's quite a drastic solution so you might not want to copy me

Stealth I can only dream of running out of carrier bags, I have a whole cupboard full! DH is useless at remembering to bring them when he goes shopping and ends up buying more. I should probably take a load for recycling.

Hope that you are feeling better Woogle, being ill with a newborn must be hard work to say the least.

Well done on ditching the baby stuff Sydney. DS is almost certainly the Last Baby here too but haven’t quite got rid of the stuff yet, ‘just in case’!

Been an unproductive week here but will see if I can manage something today. I got a terrifying email from DD’s teacher yesterday saying that they are starting to send this year’s work home so goodness knows how much that will be! DH has also had one of his random deliveries of stuff he thinks we need (we don’t) so definitely more in than out at the moment.

I'm another one with plenty of carrier bags. My mum always kept 'good' carrier bags and large clear plastic bags, and I have done the same. Some of mine are probably collector's items. However, I can still never find one of the right size and shape when I need one. I really need to put them all together in the one place and sort into different sizes. Annoyingly, I have stored stuff in the early Tesco biodegradable ones, and I have plastic confetti all over the loft floor and the spare bedroom. That is something I should try to sort out this summer. I should move/empty the stuff in these storage rooms a couple of square metres at a time, hoover and check what stuff is actually there. I know I have craft stuff all over the place and am forever trying to find something or other.

Lol @StealthNinjaMum yes drastic solution but I'll keep it in mind if all else fails

Welcome curlyrebel! I'm on mat leave too, how old is your LO? Mine just 4 weeks, but that has gone super quickly! Ten mins here and there makes a good difference to the decluttering efforts, agreed about the DHs though. Mine does that all the time!
Almost certain this is Last Baby too, already have outgrown stuff but also has a friend who's TTC so will likely save stuff for her. It may well end up hanging around for a good time yet.

So last two days for us has been less decluttering and more DIY. Apparently I do that now. I've been stripping paint from the bannister, all woodwork in the hall needs doing and it's going to take forever because of the sheer amount of layers (at least 10-12) of paint.
I did fill a textile bag of old DD clothes and that's waiting to go to the tip alongside an old umbrella.

Wont get anything done today as were going to a wedding but will get some work done tomorrow!
Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks @WoogleCone. I am super impressed how much you're getting done with a newborn! I had a Caesarian 7 weeks ago so have only recently been able to do more lifting and bending.

I'm also not planning on having any more babies and would like to get rid of some of DC1s girly clothes. I've already given some away to a friend but might sell some too. I'm kind of putting off doing that though as I know it will need more time/effort.

Thanks curlyrebel, I think I've been very lucky in how quickly I've healed from the section. And also very lucky in that DH is at home for 6 months so him being here to deal with DD1 and do the lifting and carrying has allowed me to heal quicker I think.

Aiming to do some more stripping today, nothing done yesterday, didn't get back till after DDs bedtime from the wedding (which was lovely and incredibly hot!!).
Right, I'll crack on!

Hello! I think I have found my people on this thread.

I have been decluttering since moving house in March. We took so much stuff we didn't need/want to the new house :(

We moved to be more financially secure and so I can be a SAHP for the first time in 11 years. DH can't take much more talk of what I have sorted through each day while he's at work...I am boring him to death!!!

I used to have lots of emotion involved in 'keeping stuff' but I have become ruthless.

I have just finished purging my clothes using the Marie Kondo method. I can actually see what I own now and only wear the stuff I really like.

My next task is ds2's toys. He is autistic and a hoarder so it is a constant battle trying to keep his room clear of rubbish and detritus that he picks up daily. He goes to a special school and they reward him with boxes, straws, polystyrene cups, wooden sticks etc for good work. It is a never ending influx of rubbish which he crafts into characters I struggle to bin because they have cute googly eyes and funny faces!!!