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

As suspected I had to spend the day recovering after yesterday’s efforts and have just slept but we got the puppy daycare set up he start in two weeks , DH took some parcels away ( and attempted to collect one but didn’t have my ID so going back ) , booked himself and my son a sporty post GCSE exam activity in a bit , had a phone consult with a Gp about his shoulder (he’ll try physio first although I though he should try to see a orthopaedic surgeon and do some imaging to see if there’s something visible) . I will try to get back to cleaning / decluttering tomorrow I need to clean first floor but don’t think it’ll happen today .
I’m itching to get rid of more crap but too tired to do the work ... in the meantime trying to maintain and enjoy the areas I’ve cleared ...

My plastic bins/ boxes are the Idesign/ Homeedit ones from John Lewis ( I have food ones too I’ll use in the new house hopefully once I see what my cupboards will be like ) , the wire baskets are idesign from Amazon . I like containers for the stuff we’ve kept !

Kitchen table at Easter . As you can see I’m not big on ironing with my hurting arms so a shabby chic looking tablecloth 😁.
It’s a struggle to maintain this . It’s mess and crumbs galore if I don’t constantly nag about it or do it myself . We’ll get a new table with no tablecloth after we move this one is hiding the knackered looking table . 3 table cloths ,and the mats on rotation seems to do the job with my DD 9 who’s a bit messy still when she eats . And nothing on the bottom shelf since our puppy likes to go there for a rest ...

My bedroom which I try hard to keep clear of detritus but it does accumulate deliveries and other things I have to deal with if I’m not careful since I spend a lot of time in my bed with my health problems now that my husband has been home for the past year ...
If only the topfloor kids rooms were like this ! They need new furniture and a good declutter never mind a proper clean by someone else than a teenager but we won’t get the furniture until in our new house so will just have to think decluttering is what I can do there now after I finish the ground floor .
I got my own bedroom furniture when we moved here a year ago and I love it !

A better picture of the linen cupboard .
The new house comes with a linen cupboard on the first floor landing but we’ll have to see if that’s what we’ll use it for .

Our living room . The other end is now accumulating an increasing box pile of things I’ve been buying for the new house .
We’ve never used this fireplace yet thinking it’s bound to be a disaster ( this is a rental house and it’s completely unused ) .
Only recently cleaned in there as well
, around it was sooo dusty !

Here is is

Just watching this thread for inspiration as I desperately want to declutter but DP is a hoarder and gets agitated when I try and get rid of anything so can only do this when he isn’t around....I’m interested if everyone has a time in the day they set aside to declutter? Or is it just whenever you can? And do you have a set amount of time/number of items you set as a goal each day? It’s all very impressive anyway

Did some sort and tidy in kitchen. Wooden tray and stool now in one place waiting for wood glue and clamps. Some random crap taking up less space in storage tub than it did on kitchen surfaces.

Sort-of declutter today is one small plastic dollhouse with car and people now set aside as no longer played with. LG made this decision with me, and she was far more matter-of-fact than I was. It'll go into the shed until I decide how to dispose of it.

Your house is beautiful nordicmom

DS’s baby bottles went in the bin today plus some random bits of toys.

My DH gets very agitated whenever anything is being sorted out/thrown away and never sorts out/throws things away himself. Wfh is a god send as I can bag things up and do a quick tip run at lunch time. Otherwise if DH spots the bags he will open them and start pulling stuff out insisting we can keep the for a relative or sell them. No one wants clothes with rips in them or broken toys, etc!

Your house looks great Nordicmom - I am envious of your lovely linen cupboard!

I’ve had a bad cold/ virus (not Corona!) over the past week, and it has really wiped me out. I haven’t been able to take time off work (as that would mean I’d meet one of the ‘trigger points’ for sick leave and have to move to a formal warning), so I’ve been wfh with frequent breaks and going to bed straight after work

So there’s been no decluttering until today, when I have put another stack of A Level notes at the bottom of the recycling box. Almost got through the pile now!

nordicmom that’s the sort of house I dream of. So beautiful. Sadly mine is full of kids toys!

Our bedroom is usually kid toy free though.

The dc have signs on their doors “ds’ room. No! Girls allowed” and “df’s room. No! Boys allowed” (the grammatical errors annoy me) but ds is insistant on no girls. So I’ve started being “mummy and daddy’s room. No children allowed”

Beautiful nordic!

I’ve got rid of a fair bit the last few days. Nothing of significance really but finding it easier to get rid of random bits and pieces. I’ve also been adding to my list of things to get rid of (one list of stuff for the tip and another for reminders of things to throw away that I can’t reach on high shelves etc).

I really do need to do a massive Marie Kondo style declutter of books and board games (now we are playing games more often with DS, it’s becoming more apparent which are the decent ones worth keeping) but many of those will be sold as anything educational does well with the local home ed community. And I really need to sort more general clutter first so I can get to everything at once. The last time I went through the books was when I was pregnant in 2017, I can’t believe we have such an insane amount again 🤦🏽‍♀️

Em that’s adorable about the room signs 🤣😍

Oh we’ve spent years with it being full of toys and mess believe me !!!! The big bunch of flowers ( for Mother’s Day ) hides a 6 drawer white wooden toy storage drawers that have lived in our living rooms as long as we’ve had kids so 16 y now !!!! They’ve always gotten to play with toys everywhere except my bedroom or the study and then had to tidy before going out somewhere and at the end of the day . Now kids are 9 and 16 so it’s different. Only my DD room really is more messy unless I go tidy there I can’t wait to declutter and get her new furniture . in the new house kids rooms are on the same level so I can keep a better eye on them where as here they’re on top level with a guest room and I find the stairs hard so they have more free rain . My DD is bad about leaving everything out she touches as in art stuff on the dining table ,homework etc , clothes and shoes on floors , books just detritus in her wake everywhere if I don’t constantly nag her . Normally does lego only in her own room but she had left a pile on living room floor on a weekend while watching tv and the puppy run there past me up the stairs while I talking to my son ,I didn’t know there was anything left we generally don’t leave anything he could eat , and before I knew it he had eaten but luckily spat out a little round brown one that looked like his kibble ! My kids have done the same door signs , I think it’s a rite of passage !

nordicmum what a beautiful house. How do you keep all your linens so white? dd1 would destroy a white table cloth with one bowl of pasta.

blueberry40 join us! I have built decluttering into my life so am pretty good at getting rid of socks/ mugs/ dirty towels/ magazines/ clothes (see above comment about dd1) as I do other housework but I do tend to set myself projects/ areas of the house to do. It's the Room of Doom at the moment but I've been kind of doing that for several years on and off. Before that I've been organising my photos and during lockdown I managed to declutter the dining room and kitchen. I set myself a timer - usually mid morning - for 15 minutes or 30 minutes and clear a space. Usually I end up spending much more than that because once I start I actually quite enjoy it. I think one a day is achievable so I don't really aim to do more. I think I've got rid of so much stuff now it's as important for me to spend time organising the stuff that is staying. I also try to get rid of stuff in as green a way as possible which can take longer. My stbexh was a hoarder and in fact much of the stuff in the house is his. Many of us have found that when we declutter our partners quite like it and are often inspired to do the same. My ex did have a paperwork cull at one point and a shirt cull without me asking.

ellieq you're doing brilliantly with the A level notes even if you have been sick. I hope you're feeling better now.

I've just added stuff I didn't manage to sell last Friday to my charity shop pile so I now have 3 bags of things to go. I'm about to do my 30 minutes in the Room of Doom and some hoovering and dusting in there for the first time in about a year.

And thanks for the kind words ! It helps to spur me on ...

And the secret to white tablecloths is the bleach pen !

Plus no toddlers here . Can’t wait to not have a tablecloth we just need a new table !!!!

Just learned I lost another relative in my home country today , did not help my mood to be honest ... Today’s a day off and am cracking open an old Bellini kit I’ve gotten as a present ages ago . I don’t drink normally but tonight I will raise a glass with my DH in this persons memory .

Finally posted the teddy bear parcel, thank goodness. Otherwise dealt with a pile of gardening catalogues and requested no more. Just hanging on and trying not to drop off thread.

Everyone has been doing great! I haven't posted for a while but have had some small wins.

Outs: Two ink cartridges recycled (sent to a breast cancer charity, as somehow they get credit for them), two boxes of sharps that have been sitting in the cupboard for nearly two years (!) collected by the council, a bin bag of bubble wrap and large box filled with other boxes collected by friend who does eBay, a scarf and new pair of too-small socks into the charity bag, and a small wedding photo album of DH's family member (groom was an ex anyway and is now deceased). We kept one photo that contained family members of interest. I must have caught DH at the right time, as he's another one who likes to hold onto stuff. 20/100