Decluttering one thing a day - Part 9

[SandAndSea]

Welcome to our 9th thread in the Decluttering One Thing A Day series!

As you might imagine, we aim to get rid of one thing a day (or the equivalent, if we miss a few days).

The idea is that aiming low in this way prevents us from getting overwhelmed. It's also sustainable so helps us to develop effective clutter clearing habits which last.

In reality, many of us have found that once we start, we often get rid of far more than just one thing. (But if we don't, that's OK too.)

Everyone's welcome! We're a friendly and supportive bunch, from aspiring minimalists to full-on clutterbucks! We're also pretty green so you'll find lots of recycling, freecycling, donating and selling.

Previous thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3612006-Decluttering-one-thing-a-day-part-8-the-one-where-we-de-tetris-the-cupboard-of-doom?pg=1&order=

I still haven't thrown anything out but am staying on here to make myself accountable!

I have had so little time over the past year that everything has got pretty overwhelming, so I'm planning to use a few child-free hours a week from now until Christmas to improve the house. Tomorrow is my first day and I'm planning to get rid of some old sheets that don't fit, pack away summer clothes and get rid of ones that will be too small for the children by next summer, and have a look at how many towels I have vs how many I actually need...

Tidying and sorting going on here, but not much decluttered. On Tuesday I made contact with an organisation that may be able to help with my mental health. It’s as if it’s given me more space in my head to think about the practicalities of my situation.

Yesterday I thudded about in the cupboard which serves as a tiny office for me. Swapped around the pc and monitor so that they both sit on the desk and now I have a small surface for ring binders. Got an extension cable off the floor. It’s now hanging from a nail on the wall until it can be fixed permanently. I like opening the door and not having to look down to see what I’m going to stand on or fall over.

Dug out four unused brand-new toys that illustrate perfectly what happens when I shop impulsively and am under stress. I think it would be best to donate them, as they keep reminding me of sad times.

DH is on board with decluttering now. The garage is his domain. It saddens me to see things set aside for recycling that were my dad’s. Maybe I’ll clean up or polish one or two things as mementoes.

DD can take some of my bubble wrap. This should release a very large cardboard box for LG to make a den.

My kitchen has tipped over from chaotic to squalid. I’m taking a leaf out of green willow’s book, and working on it today. Thanks for the inspiration :-))

Pleased to have inspired you, Tidy! MotherofDragonite, remember to keep some child-freetime for you too, or it can get even more overwhelming.

Times, I have no idea what to do about your armchair dilemma. We had a feeding armchair that eventually went to the tip when I couldn't get any more posset stains out of it , although to be totally fair one child did have a vomitting disorder! It was fine upstairs, but downstairs I found the sofa better for feeding on as various other DC could sit with me / show me their book etc. I'm afraid I've forgotten how old your other DC are (can't always keep my own straight in my head, frankly), so don't know if this would word for you.

Right, off to Lidl.

Day off today, so I’m back in. I have a big list of things to do - some little diy jobs, I want to get some boxes & start packing, we still don’t have a moving date, but it could be just 2 weeks away. I’m ignoring the fact that we don’t have anywhere to move to yet.
I have ear marked a few things to go to the tip, they haven’t sold on gumtree, they can go to the recycling sections. Maybe today.

Sorry, I’m just going to check in through the day to keep me going. I’ve put a bit of plaster on a wall & a wash on. Next vac round & strip spare bed then take it apart.

Sofa/armchair update, DH has agreed the sofa needs to go, so we’re going to have to ask FIL to take it to the tip (we can’t fit it in our car). Not sure if we have to pay but it should still be cheaper than the council picking it up. Hopefully we can get rid of it this weekend.

And in the long term, we’ll try to replace the armchair with a sofa, but as our budget will only handle a second hand one, I think it’ll be a while before we find one the right size/colour. Little by little we’re trying to have a colour scheme in the living/dining room, instead of random stuff everywhere.

I was looking on rightmove, (we’re not planning on selling any time soon) and realised we’re still far from clutter free, compared to the houses we see. Obviously I’m not thinking we’ll ever be minimalists, especially with the DCs around, but there’s still a lot of cluttered surfaces that could be improved.

cold good luck with today, hope you manage to get everything you’ve planned to do done!

mother I found child free time was the biggest change in how much I managed to achieve. It’s going a lot slower now the DCs are on half term!

tidy good luck with your kitchen! Mine needs some cleaning too.

Scary realisation that DC3’s due date is in 10 weeks time, and we still don’t have much for the baby!

One job has been cancelled, I started it, but am doing a shit job, so going to leave it. Although I wonder if a smaller nozzle would do it.
Waiting for removals to get back to me.

That sounds like a good plan, Times. If your FIL can transport a sofa for you, then freecycle/fb could be great for you. I've seen many sofas going free on my local groups - people often just want them to be collected.

Cold - It sounds like you're really on it! You've inspired me. I must get on too.

I have sorted out the cupboard under the stairs and posted some coats and other bits and bobs onto a Facebook free site so hopefully they'll be gone by the end of today. That feels better!

Arg. Everything is terrible.
The man has dropped in boxes, so I can start packing. We need to find somewhere to live. I am somehow convinced that the house I wanted will fall thru & come back in the market. I need to convince myself that this is not going to happen.
There is stuff everywhere,I need to finish the ironing. And then do putting away and decide what’s for tea, and also at some point I need to defrost the freezer but that’s probably not today.

Since I posted last week I have sold 2 items on eBay - both items of clothing that have never been worn, one still with tags.

Willow - I feel your pain over packaging clothing as "Large letter" for eBay. In the past I have also flounced out of the Post Office with my parcel when my package was too floppy, or it refused to go cleanly through their slot without some help. I have some A4 sheets of thin card I now use to fold the clothes round, then seal in a plastic bag with sellotape or a large ziploc bag after squeezing/rolling all the air out. I use plastic mailing bags as well.

Anyway, I have managed to throw out some more stuff that was lying around the dining room, and I have a couple more things I want to get in the bin tonight for collection tomorrow.

I got the chance of a lift into work this morning, so quickly sorted out some more stuff for the charity box in front of the wardrobe, and got that handed in along with the trench coat I washed a few weeks ago.

I'm hoping to take tomorrow off work, so intend to get some more stuff organised for eBay or Facebook Marketplace. I intend to have a big push at that during November.

Please may I join?

I have started de cluttering the house, bits at a time, and I’m finding this thread an inspiration.

The bedrooms have become my first victims.

The spare bedroom is 99% done. We just need to move the stuff from the top of the wardrobe either to the bin or loft ( 👀 at dh) Oh, and we need a collapsible laundry bin. That’ll be it for that room.

I’ve cleaned out 80 % of our main bedroom drawers/storage, and need to finish the rest of it this weekend, so I can start on to something else.

@nailsathome, I’m dreading doing the cupboard under the stairs.
I keep looking at it. Then shutting the door.

Today- more bits of tat. I actually asked my dd to tidy the playroom and she filled half a bin bag!!! I didn’t even want to know what was in it! That’s progress for me (and her!)

Three- welcome. Sounds like you’ve made a fab start!

I'm sure we fill a bin bag a week with McDonalds tat and we don't even go there very often. It must multiply by itself!

Welcome to the thread, @Threedaysaweek2019! It sounds like you're doing really well!

@RoseyPeas - Are you new too? Forgive me if not; but if you are, welcome!

@MotherOfDragonite - How are you doing today? (You mentioned accountability.)

Times - I love that phrase 'thudded about'. It paints a wonderful picture.

I haven't had any outs today yet but have deep cleaned the shower. I've also bought a new, super cheap (eBay) cushion cover to replace a tired one. I'm hopeful that this will be as nice as it looks. (Good reviews and I measured the cushion.) Fingers crossed!

Thanks @BrutusMcDogface and @SandAndSea.

There are only two of us in our house, but with the amount of stuff we have, or at least need to get rid of, you’d think there would be more, but no.

GreenWillow, I've just reread your post about preserving the kitchen in amber and being a House Elf. Making me laugh.

I just want to say that I read all your posts very late at night in bed in Australia so sorry I don't always comment on others as it's hard to type on my phone in the dark.

Thanks, Penelope, I should have preserved it in amber, it's slipped again because no-one else puts things away. It's nice to have some of you in other time zones, it keeps the thread rolling 24/7 so it really feels like we're all moving forward!

Hello three, good to have you here! Good luck with the understairs cupboard.

DH got to the charity shop yesterday with a big bag of clothes. I shall try to go today with books and walking boots. We had far fewer trick or treaters last night than in previous years, so the DCs will be decluttering sweets for weeks! They've bravely agreed to do this, I'm so proud of them .

Today I shall declutter my very last bag of lego (that was the childish hobby) to have built Hogwarts in time for Christmas. My older DC are beyond lego now, they have decided, so I shall disassemble some and sort it out for the Toy Bank. That's almost as much fun as building it (yes, I'm a nerd. Sorry!). They're having the dolls house this year too, but it might need a bit of smartening up first (well-loved over 4 DC and the 2 years in the garage...).

Cold, please breathe. Yes, there is lots to do, but it needn't all fall to you, and sometimes you need to put it all down and lock yourself in the bathroom for 10 minutes (been there!). Hope today feels better.

Purple, I gave up in the end, covered the prepaid postage and just paid what the post office wanted for my parcels. £3 each! That's put our total profit at £3.80 over 4 items. I'm not bothering again!

I'm going to attempt my workshop today. I'm going to have to be strong and get rid of stuff I don't use in there

I’m still by the sea. Went shopping yesterday and bought a few more things. But I have totalled everything up. I didn’t buy pretty girly things for my toddler, only what I know she will wear. I’m still feeling confident I am being less impulsive and can get rid of twice the amount of ins so it’s all good.

Nice to see some new people. Remember it takes years to clutter up so you can’t fix it in a day/ week / month. But we should be a bit less cluttered by Christmas.

A good place to start is every time you go to the kitchen or upstairs grab five things out of place and put them in their home. I find just that helps to adjust my mindset slightly, but it’s a ongoing battle to change habits

Willow- so jealous of your hogwarts!! Woop woop! My son is saving up for it. He has the whomping willow bit and is getting a few more HP sets for Christmas 😊