The decluttering one thing a day thread - part 12

[AlexTheLittleCat]

For StealthNinjaMum

We’re still here.

After 11 threads my house still isn't tidy!

So join me and a lovely group of mumsnetters who simply get rid of one thing a day and report back. Gradually we’re developing good habits, reorganising ourselves, often improving our mental health and having friendly chatter along the way.

So newbies are welcome, just check in with your news and join in the general chat about recycling, organisation and housework.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3799710-The-decluttering-on-thing-a-day-thread-part-11?pg=1

ALSO many of us have set a target to get rid of 2020 items this year and will report on that.

stealth - it was 18 months we were in the car an for. Agree about minimalisim til all our stuff came out of storage 🙈

Hello everyone I’m still decluttering here. I move house in April and then had a baby so progress has been slow plus DH is kind of hoarder and like to keep hold of everything so I have to sneak it out the house when he’s not here. Went to the tip today with an old bucket, broken stair gate, and a load of random worktop offcuts. DH moaned as he wanted to me to keep them but all his shit is in my lovely new kitchen/diner making the diner bit virtually unusable! I’ve also dump 2 x step ladder and a massive cutter thing outside so he can return it to his dads. DH hasn’t done any DIY for over 4 months so there is no point them sitting in my dining room. When we finish off the decorating we can always ask to borrow a ladder for a day!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Don't want to fall off the thread, just want to say I've been tidying rather than decluttering for the past couple of days.

There's a bag in the futility room, for broken electronic stuff and broken phones. So far, it's got a worn cable, a broken keyboard, and two broken phones. And a broken broadband hub.

It might sound as though we're careless with things, but the reality is that we use things until they're beyond repair. Nowadays, that means our things are incredibly old-fashioned by the time they need replaced.

It's not exactly a bad habit, to use things I'm comfortable with, but in the last few months I've realised that this is becoming untenable. Right now, I have two phones and a walkman with radio. Need to replace with a phone that does everything, but it makes me feel al bit adrift, as if I'm being forced into a world where I'll always be trying to catch up, and wishing I didn't have to.

MrsTidy nothing wrong with using things until they break, seems to me newer things are less robust and definitely less repairable. More cupboards turned out today several things for charity bag including some small Meccano type toys, bedding moved into cupboard from airing cupboard

Littlemiss congratulations on arrival of little little. No mean feat to declutter with a new baby.

So, 16 items out today - recycling, rubbish binned and one lego model (think all the bits are there) to be offered to school. But more significant for me is that that is one of my target rooms completely sorted. Say goodbye to the 'playroom'.

1339/2020

it would be fair to say I was having a bit of a moment in the ‘worse before it’s better, bitten off more than I can chew’ state of affairs.

I had also read some posts that gave me sympathetic angst.
But also nice to hear people doing well.

I have to pack up the old house so loads of DH’s crap ‘fell’ into the back of the van and ‘accidentally’ went to the tip.

The stuff cluttering you the house now is the loft stuff which need DH to board the loft and put the stuff in the loft or stuff from renovation as we had new kitchen, bathroom, carpet and redecorated. It’s just that the hallway and living room isn’t finished off so DH has taken that as an excuse to take over the diner bit of the kitchen diner. I was fine with it being there when he was actually doing something with it but now he isn’t. Also due to his hoarder tendancies he has kept empty paint pots and random bits of work - which are slowly ‘falling my in the bins whilst he’s at work. Otherwise I get the don’t throw that out there’s a teaspoon full of pain in the tin argument.

Unfortunately some of the attendance at the tips are being a bit of a jobsworth. I was taking some bin bags of shit from the shed to the tip. We don’t have a shed at the new house as DH hasn’t got round to buying one and levelling the ground. The attendant stopped me and wanted to look in my bags as it looked like ‘bin waste’. At the moment our local council are still saying that we still only tip essential waste months after the tips have opened (e.g. waste that can’t go in the black wheelie bin). I explained that my husband had cleared out the shed and was about to explain that I can’t have a load of shit dumped in my garden as I have small children who need to use the garden!

I sold another baby item today and dropped it off to the new owner on my way to town. Selling is not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm keeping the money aside for Christmas. I don't charge much in the hope that it will sell quickly and that is working so far.
I am adding bits to my charity bag every day and drop it off when it is full. If I haven't used something in a while or if I come across it when tidying and it doesn't have a home then it goes straight into the bag.
I haven't been clothes shopping in ages and this is really helping. I'm shopping my own wardrobe and using things up which is great. I'm hoping to keep this habit up in the future.
Well done everyone - every out is a win and one step closer to a clutter free home!

Having given up my tv time to sort books I'm still not finished, sigh. I did manage to put 2 perished books in recycling, which given that they used to be favourites was a big deal. I'm also bracing myself to give away the big buggy in favour of the stroller now that dd2 is 1. It's a total dinosaur as it was end of line when I bought it for dd1 but I still feel odd about parting with it.
@Littlemissdaredevil congratulations. We moved when dd2 was 2 months old, and it was ludicrously hard. Almost a year on and we are still not unpacked.

Another one here who has been more focussed on tidying as we had visitors on Friday. Having said that because it was wet all yesterday it's just as bad again. The visitors took two gifts from the stored pile for recent birthdays so that got a couple of bits out.

We are hoping to paint the study over the next couple of weeks so hopefully that will help us get rid of a couple of things as we'll have to move stuff around. I'm making some slow inroads in DS's room, all the cloth nappies have made it into a bag in the garage. I need to ask SIL if she wants them for impending baby number 2 but in two minds as she made a lot of noise about wanting to try them for DC1 but then ignored all my offers of loans (I needed them back as at the time I was also pregnant). Would rather they went to someone who will definitely use them!

Hope that you managed to get back on track coldhands, that feeling when you have emptied too much stuff out is awful!

Welcome to littlemissdaredevil and anyone else new. You sound like you're doing great with such a small baby.

Agree on keeping things until they've worn out MrsTidy. One of DH's foibles is always wanting the latest gadget, as a result we have about 10 old mobiles around the house. They're mostly too old to be worth anything so none of the recycling places will take them. Guess they will need to be added to the pile of stuff for dump electrical recycling.

You sound like you're having a bit of a slog at the moment Sing, hope you find your motivation again.

Pollyanna can't believe you finished a playroom! You are my hero!

I think I may have to join those of you doing flylady as it would at least give me an idea where to start. I waste a lot of time not knowing where to start so a focus room would stop me having to think about it!

Hello to everyone else. Sorry for epic post!

I did and actually got downstairs looking pretty good.
DH has been stressed by the mess lately (which makes him storm about scooping random things into boxes, which stresses me out in turn) so it was important to Get it done.
Largely through rearranging things, but there is a big box by the front door of Things to Go Out. Now I need to get them to actually leave.

Need to make a gumtree listing & check on the last one I put up.

I forgot, I did clear out the shed last week & got rid of a lot of rubbish and now it’s all a bit more accessible. It still needs a bit more storage solution, but I’m reasonably confident it’s storing things not nonsense.

My next big aim is two areas in the kitchen - an inaccessible corner cupboard which contains Tupperware, baking things, mixing bowls etc and oh wait, three areas and area of work top in the corner which is used as a dumping ground and the cupboard underneath, also inaccessible and also a dumping ground.

Putting the clearing of the "playroom" in to context - our DC are both now in their 20s. Also, not recommending as an incentive, but some needed doing urgently when DH broke his leg and had to sleep downstairs - every cloud, as they say.
Hope Sunday is a fruitful day, whatever you decide to do.

Thanks times10 I don’t usually stick to Flylady or TOMM but I'm determined this time. It's good to have someone to tell me what to do.

mrstidyhouse you’re like me, I keep things until they die. I still have a video recorder and a couple of rare videos (me graduating 25 years ago which I’ve never watched!) and a DVD and lots of books and CDs. I could probably get rid of all of it but then I don’t want amazon to get all my money if rebuy things electronically!

jigolo snap! I’m also doing the utility room.

littlemissdaredevil that would drive me mad. I got into the habit of picking up clutter and moving it to an area of stbexh’s where he couldn’t miss it – like the computer on his pillow! I just think it’s really selfish. As we all know something sitting there ‘temporarily’ can so easily become permanently and one day it dawns on you that you’ve been walking around an object for 11 years (or is that just me!)

raspberryblonde I haven’t yet joined the flylady thread but it looks very fast moving. You're right, it is good to have a focus.

So yesterday I did a bit more on the utility room – but I think the main job will be emptying out a huge cupboard which doesn’t have shelves so I am thinking of buying a small piece of wood for it and making a shelf. Otherwise the contents of the cupboard are a pile of boxes and tool boxes stacked four feet on top of each other. In the end I didn’t get much out but I did throw out a plastic thing – I have no idea what it was. I also have a broken box I use for laundry which is going to go.

So Flylady has me doing a bit of a tetris of moving stuff around. I spent my morning trying to buy shelves for my utility cupboards and have found a timber merchant that might cut some bits of melamine chipboard. There's a precarious tower of tools in a large cupboard so having shelves will make it safer.

So I removed a few empty boxes and a load of carrier bags which was fantastic as I didn't realise I had any. I decided to count how many were in the kitchen, utility room and room of doom and I am shocked to say that I have 32 carrier bags and 30 bags for life! I've put a load in the car for when I do shopping and I will be using them all for charity shop donations. To think last week I was moaning that I'd run out!

I have also discarded a Disney placemat, a cheeseboard and a chopping board.

Not exactly decluttering but I got my final stair gate up this morning, so that's one less box in my own room of doom (aka my future bedroom ). Hoping to finish book selling tonight. 2 boxes are packed up ready to go, 3 more in progress. Then I've got to figure out what to do with the box of stuff which didn't sell. BHF still not doing pick ups due to covid, and there's too many to shlep to the shops in the buggy. Decluttering without a car is hard.

Went to tk maxx today. I think that might solve my storage problem AND help me work towards the nice cosy more personalised space I was on about earlier in the thread. There were lots of nice baskets and boxes that seemed sturdy and looked interesting while being affordable. It’s funny I used to think I wanted everything matching but I realise now I want more of an eclectic feel I guess? Just nice individual things, it doesn’t all have to be coordinated.

Decluttered some porridge oats by making biscuits.
DP announced he was going to sort through his clothes but hasn't started yet. He will now think and plan it out over the coming days before he starts.....

Meg I’m gutted - I don’t think the pegboard idea is going to work for us 😨 due to the shape of the room and furniture locations, I’m pretty sure it would get knocked any time the door was opened, or leaned on by the toddler :( could possibly attach the narrowest one to the side of one of the Kallax units though. Not sure.

We’ve found some other useful storage solutions though, Ikea to the rescue, but I’ll be sad if we still can’t solve our stationery problem!

Sing I feel your pain awful when you think you’ve cracked an issue then you are disappointed. Poured down all day again so more cupboards shelves and drawers turned out. Lots of very old pants into the recycling, an old iPhone and a pedometer unearthed - more suitable for museum than selling I’m sure!

My other half tackled one of his shelves and found a big bag labelled costume jewellery Said jewellery untangled, sorted and mostly put into the charity bag

Aah that’s a good out gassy!

Right I’ve settled on the previous solution as some of you talked about before - the wooden drawers!

DH reckons even the kallax height peg board would be a toddler magnet and sadly he is right. So I’m going for this set of drawers instead and at least I can have fun painting it! I’m tempted to get the smaller one for DD1 so she can paint it for her room.

Thanks everyone for this thread. I've lurked intermittently for ages but rarely been ready to contribute.

Looked at it this morning and decided to check if our local recycling centre opened on Sundays (I had already seen something about it reopening a while back). Lo and behold it was open till 5pm - so I had a goal. I'd also asked DH to get our teenagers to help vacuum and wash the cars (ours and DMs which we look after until she moves back to the UK. the "looking after" bit has been a trifle lacking of late). He went to move DMs car and promptly realised it needed jumpstarting. So that gave me a 2nd push to make it to the dump. Had a bag of worn out shoes already from a couple of months or more back, DD and I managed to go through our underwear drawers and fill the rest of a big bag. My drawer is closed for the first time in ... errr ... too long.

What's more the rubbish is out of both cars and they did get clearned. Yay!

Tomorrow's job - go through the bag of tights I pulled out of my drawer and salvage the wearable ones.

Kitchen plastics cupboard / pile that doesn't fit in it at the moment might be a good next target.