Decluttering one item a day (and counting down til the opening of charity shops!) – thread number 17

[stealthninjamum]

This is an accountability and chat thread for mumsnetters who dream of living in an uncluttered haven of calm and tidiness.

Bit by bit we are slowly decluttering our houses and keeping our fingers crossed that charity shops will open on 12th April – although we’re also adding to the list of places in the second post that will also take our clutter.

The aim of this thread is to help us get rid of just one item a day or 365 a year. We just report back on our progress and then chat about anything and everything. The thread is for anyone so newbies are always welcome.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4144854-Decluttering-one-item-a-day-and-having-nowhere-to-put-it-thread-number-16?msgid=105205665

Lots of stuff out today. Random toys, a couple of incomplete/damaged puzzles, a couple of teddies that DD1 agreed could go (even when I said giving them to DD2 wasn’t an option as she has plenty of her own already :o)

Four tops that have seen better days off to their new adventure via the charity shop.

I’ve attempted to declutter crap (not literally) from a shower with bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. I also cleared out a sink with Mr Muscle drain cleaner. The mr muscle worked better but I’m sure it can’t be good for the environment.

I have also sold some old toys (ie they’ve left the house) and someone’s interested in books. I’ve put my charity shop bags in the car and will try to go later.

Wow DS impressed me - he got about a carrier bag’s worth of transformers to chuck (broken/incomplete) and about the same to donate. He’s also got a little pile to give to his little sister but I might try and thin those out a little. But anyway his keeping pile is much reduced and can go in a smaller box now! Yay!

Welcome, @Ihaveaskedyouthrice!

Well, today, (pause for dramatic music...) I have added my last cardi to the pile!! I was going to wear it but just couldn't stand the feel of it. Thank goodness for this thread because I could never say these words to anyone in real life.

Stealth - How are yr cardis doing these days?

Day 3: bin day and there was a good bit of space left so got rid of a lot of junk from the shed. Lots of Styrofoam, some cardboard boxes that got wet so couldn't go in recycling, old burst footballs. From inside the house I got rid of some old make up that had been open for years.

Well done, Ihaveaskedyou! It sounds like you're going great guns at the moment.

Oops. I decluttered a minecraft mask that was too small for DS... now my 3yo is sad as she’s going to the shops with DH after her jabs and she wants to wear it 🤦🏽‍♀️ I haven’t been making her wear a mask but she wants to be like the rest of us I guess.

sandandsea I never tell anyone anything from this thread, it would make me too sad.

The subject of cardigans is not a happy one at the moment. I love a nice cardy but just can’t shift my covid weight to wear any. Well done for getting rid of your last one.

ihaveaskedyouthrice sounds like a good day. Do you find yourself wondering why you didn’t just get rid of the stuff in the shed earlier? It will help in future next time you store an old box or packaging, you’ll think twice (or maybe thrice?) before keeping it.

I’m having a great day, I have sold lots of books, a big toy and taken old uniform to a friend. That’s the equivalent of three carrier bags of stuff gone. When I started I used to get rid of a bag of stuff a day so to get rid of three is an achievement.

Anyway I’m now going to set a timer for 30 mins in the Room of Doom.

I’m so annoyed with myself, the Room of Doom just feels like Groundhog Day. I have spent half an hour mainly going through stuff I’ve been through already - CDs with no boxes, cd boxes with no CDs, the same with games, teddies, papers that are never filed, incomplete Duplo sets and jigsaws. Anyway I found a load of stuff that could be thrown away - receipts, odd plastic bits, plastic toys from magazines, and I have found stuff that I have put in a charity shop bag - costume jewellery, card games, toys. So this afternoon I’ll take the stuff to the charity shop, with the three bags in the boot that’ll be four bags.

The R of D also had some storage boxes of stbexh which are going in his man cave. One big rubbish sack of teddies can go because dc have looked through it in the last lockdown but they can sort through two other carrier bags full. Anyway there is now much more floor space so it’ll be easier to sort through things.

Dodged the showers to get rid of the textile bag, and also checked out a couple of bath mats to replace the crappy one we have at the moment. It comes with a matching crappy pedestal mat which I don't want to replace, so it'll be 2 out 1 in when I get the new one.

Cleared and cleaned a shelf in the fridge today in between working and goggling at Dominic Cummings ripping the government apart - three jars/bottles chucked, including a jar of mustard with a BBE of November 2018. Given I had DS in July 2018 I can probably safely say I'd had the mustard longer than I've had him

Brought three bags to the thrift shop - clothes, old toys in good condition, miscellaneous including CDs I haven't listened to for years.
Boxed sets of study guides for donation.
I'll do more tomorrow afternoon.

Accidentally posted on the Hoarders anonymous thread instead of here but just wanted to do an update .
I finally finished the awfully hot utility room woohoo !!! Also cleaned the whole of downstairs while minding the puppy since DH went to the office . he’s just started go once a week after pretty much a year of only working from home . Didn’t take any painkillers either so now completely crippled . I just about managed to make it up the stairs afterwards and to have a shower . Tomorrow I can’t do more cleaning or decluttering if I’m this sore , will have to just do admin and laundry I guess . I’ve gotten quite a lot of that done recently . Just got DD birthday party booked and the puppy’s neutering too , we visited a doggy daycare near our new house we want to sign him up with ,and I just heard I’ll get my last week’s biopsy results on 8.6. I’m a bit nervous about them . DD had a school concert she played piano in on Monday that we watched on livestream , was lovely .
I have to take pictures of the decluttered and organised areas to help motivate myself when I’m in trouble . DH thinks I’m crazy . Not labeled perfection at least not in this house but decluttered and in categories so I know what I have . Turns out I had about 10 bottles of drain cleaner and similar amount of toilet cleaner for instance since I couldn’t see what was hiding in the corner cupboard in the utility. I’m chanting to myself that it’s not about being perfect but an improvement since that’s something I struggle with and then procrastinate and get anxious about . I’d like to share some progress pictures for the first time ever . It’s not all like this in our house yet but I try really hard to chip at it bit by bit . Difficult with my crappy body and 3 other people who are not tidy or care plus now a dog too although he doesn’t really make mess just brings in a bit of dirt in his long hair that needs a trim desperately ( going next week finally after 7 w they were all booked up ) .

One of the kitchen food cupboards

My bathroom

Some of my and DH wardrobes

The linen cupboard that will definitely need redoing by the time I get to top floor again . Still have kitchen to finish and then the under stairs cupboard of doom also I do intend to invade the study although DH claims everything is in order in labeled boxes in his big cupboards .he did it when we moved here a y ago but I think there is always stuff that can go !
Pictures give me a boost at times but then I
sink in despair again at the thought of how much there is still left to sort through . We need another dump slot soon and have accumulated a charity shop load again on the topfloor landing so will have to deal with those next week hopefully .

I'm thinking of changing my focus a bit now. From the minute I open my eyes in the morning till when I go to bed I'm endlessly distracted over and over by things visible on shelves. I think I should shut things off from view by boxing up and labelling then stacking in R of D and cupboards. Live with daily essentials only. There are loads of empty boxes around the house, just in case, and now is the time to use them.

It won't result in much decluttering at first. I'm hoping it will eventually help to kickstart a summer declutter.

nordicmom. Your cupboards are brilliant. Well done!

No-one in my house cares either. Although it sometimes hurts that they have no interest in my decluttering. I think they gradually absorb the dea that tidy means calm. I just putter away in the background

I have serious cupboard envy nordic! I really need to do my linen cupboard again. It's too high for me to reach easily so everything just gets shoved in.

Sydney our DS's are the sand age!

Stealth sounds like you are making progress with the RoD plus amazing that the decorating end is in sight!

I've sent a bag of clothes and about 6 pairs of outgrown shoes to clothing collection at school today. Also have 3 big bags for my niece a hand me downs and a bag to be put on textiles recycling as they're not good enough to reuse. Mostly thanks to DH who finally sorted his work suits. He mostly worked at home pre covid so I've been nagging a long time!

Thanks ,I feel like I need the encouragement and the praise externally since no one here cares that much ! They just laugh at my “ obsessions “. visible clutter is my nemesis too . I can’t stand it ,it makes me feel nervous and annoyed where as literally empty surfaces or ones with just a few ornamental or functional items makes me feel calm and good . Ever since I was little I have loved order and cleanliness ( apparently I was already organising my toys into pleasing rows around my baby brother when I was 2 and had to be never told to clean my room ) but something happened in the last 20 especially last 15 y or so of being more and more ill and going from a couple to a family of 4 plus now a dog . It was bad enough just tidying and decluttering after DH but now the kids too especially my DD 9 who leaves everything lying around and wants to keep everything she’s ever touched inc every scrap of paper and even what I’d call trash ... my DS who’s 16 is older is better at keeping his stuff tidy in his room but he just needs to clean better . I make him do the topfloor every week and I think we have different standards . They all think I just care about cleaning and decluttering but I actually hate cleaning and going through all this crap in pain but I just don’t want to live in filth and mess . My goal is to reduce the amount we have, to get rid of what is just not needed by anyone of us and have what we keep in order in storage out of sight !!! I did a lot on the few last y before we moved here but it seems never ending ...

nordicmom I love those boxes and your cupboards, it's so easy to see what you've got. If I were you I'd be leaving cupboard doors open whenever I have visitors Hopefully the 9 year old will get better at decluttering. While I hate that mine have moved over to roblox and minecraft the plus side is that they're happier getting rid of stuff so I imagine it'll get easier if your daughter does the same.

mrstidyhouse my dc have bought into the idea of decluttering and I will often sit with a child and we declutter together but they still don't tidy things away. It doesn't come naturally to me either. On the other hand the house has got worse as I have decluttered more because I leave half-finished projects lying around.

Thanks raspberryblonde I have started to polyfilla the bathroom and will do that next but I'm really focusing on the Room of Doom. I know that I set myself deadlines for this all the time but it really does need to be done before dc break up from school in July. It involves organising my pension paperwork - and maybe paying more in and is the biggest remaining project in the house.

Two laundry baskets gone. Recycling in its proper boxes.

One pair of tights in the bin.

I’m storming through the Room of Doom and by clearing some of stbexh s stuff and toys have cleared a massive bit of floor. So outs include

A remote control for a DVD player that died about 8 years ago
A wire for an old digibox
A my little pony trainset (going to a charity shop)
A shopset (going to a charity shop)
A big cardboard box recycled

I am also sorting through my childhood toys wondering if a toy museum would want some of them. Otherwise, it’s sad but I guess I’ll throw them out.

RaspberryBlonde Snap! He was my surprise 40th birthday present . He is an absolute ball of energy and I'm glad he's the youngest as I don't think I could cope with him and a younger baby

Off to drop some books at the charity shop, since for once it's not raining!