Decluttering one item a day thread number 19 – running out of ideas for original titles

[stealthninjamum]

Another ‘one a day’ thread. We’re still here.

This is a group of mumsnetters who are slowly decluttering our spaces and organising our lives, chatting as we go.

We all want to live in a nicer, emptier, clearer more relaxing environment and this is our space to talk and moan about our husbands and children who often do not share our desire for such a peaceful, decluttered haven!

We only aim to get rid of one item a day, when we have time, although often we manage more. Newbies are always welcome to join us.

Previous thread here.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4259830-Decluttering-one-item-a-day-thread-number-18-quickly-stashing-our-clutter-in-charity-shops-now-we-can-let-people-back-inside-our-houses?pg=1

*distracting
ffs x2
🤣

Not the busiest of days as I didn't get home until 3.50am as my train was 4 hours late yesterday....

I did manage to clear out the mass of stationery/random jewellery etc lurking on one of the kitchen shelves and packed up a bag of random glassware/vases and surplus crockery and dropped it off at the charity shop. Kitchen is starting to look very decluttered!! Just the rest of the house to do now.

Big bag of mixture of stuff dropped off at a charity collection for Christmas this morning.
Some stuff that I’d bought for them like food bits but also random Christmas paper and bags (we have far too many), some untouched kids books plus some dvds.

Have put other charity bag & old buggy (DD used it for her dolls) in the car, hoping to drop off at a charity shop later as we’ve got a Christmas fair thing near some shops.

Also passed along 2 envelopes of stamps to one friend this morning.

Have other bits to go later if I remember and the people are in when I pop round;
Box of old stamps
Bundle of old postcards
Playmobil last bits

Finally doing some kids scout badges sewing, always leave them until there are loads then get disheartened by the size of the task. Not aiming to finish today, just do some.

livinginabuildingsite oh me too, and sadly the children weren't very helpful re what goes where. I'll be doing every single one as they come in, in future 😝

Finally doing some kids scout badges sewing, always leave them until there are loads then get disheartened by the size of the task. Not aiming to finish today, just do some.

I fell off the thread mainly because there are only items coming into my house, for Christmas and DD's birthday.

I went through the junk drawer in the kitchen today and threw out a few bits (mainly old receipts) and relocated a few bits like plasters back to their proper home. It's still quite full but fairly tidy now at least.

We are delivering the first Christmas presents to their recipients tomorrow as well so that's a few boxes out as well. I am trying not to buy any extra paper this year as we seem to have lots, but no doubt I'll be dashing out on the 23rd for more as DH always leaves his wrapping to the last minute and uses loads!

That sounds like an awful journey londonmummy, hope you have recovered!

Clutter stress overload here today! DS wardrobe fell apart (was an old secondhand one so wasn't great) so now a his clothes and all his and our bedding is strewn all over our bedroom 🤦‍♀️ obviously not stuff I can get rid of but we can't afford a new one at the moment so going to make a dash to my mums tomorrow and borrow some stackable crates to keep everything in one place for the time being!

the marathon clothes sorting session of stuff in the loft has come to an end.
I even finished to sort ALL of DS5 & DS6's clothes (stuff to throw away are in a box, not had time to finish processing them).

So today I gave 201 items of clothing to a friend plus over a dozen football boots and some shin pads. Her eldest daughter has smaller feet than me so she & I went through all the shoes I can no longer wear and she took 2 pairs of boots & 2 pairs of high heels.

I'm so so happy to have finally got to this point, it's taken such a long time!
We got a new wardrobe yesterday for DS6 so tomorrow or Monday we can fill it up - this time with only those things that fit him.
Then I can move on to rearranging the big wardrobe (DS5 & DD share it) and then check what DS2, DS3 & DS4 have & need.

@RaspberryBlonde - it was a pretty awful journey - train an hour late arriving at Liverpool and then got to Euston at 3.15 am not 11.20.... the train crew were brilliant though giving us lots of drinks and we got a free taxi home from Euston

@Mommabear20 could you see if a neighbour could lend you a clothes rail for DCs clothes until you can get a new wardrobe. Might also be worth asking if anyone has one to give away on freecycle?

I haven't managed any decluttering today as DD1 is home for the weekend so we went down to see DD2 in her school show - hopefully Monday will see some more stuff on its way out the door.

Wow Zing. Well done! That's a lot of clothes sorted. Bet you feel mentally better for that too.

@Rowgtfc72

absolutely!
I already sent her 150 pieces of clothing a few weeks ago (her husband was over).
Their youngest is only a bit younger than ours but a bit shorter so whatever DS6 grows out of he can wear straightaway away.
some stuff might fit the older ones, we have 7 kids they have 6 and it's all shapes & sizes & tastes....
what nobody wants she can offer to other friends and hopefully only a small amount will end in a charity shop.

We have a birthday boy in the house today so PILs coming for lunch. I need to clear our 2nd table, which is quite annoying because I haven't finished sorting what's there and don't have time to it. I'm gonna shove everything in a big box then sort it later.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!

Trying to avoid getting any new furniture at all, as we're desperate to move house as this one is absolutely awful! (Rental). Plus our neighbors aren't exactly the kind and considerate type! We have 2 kids under 2, we don't have any other kids on our street, yet we haven't been able to park in front of our own house, not once in 4 years! I actually have to put them in the pushchair to walk them to the car because it's too far to carry them both, especially if I have bags to carry too. 🤦‍♀️

@Mommabear20

that's stressful! if you lived close by you could have DS6 wardrobe. I'm in Surrey. any good?

I managed to clear 2nd table for lunch. It's still surrounded by boxes but there's no point moving them out of the room as I'll be sorting through them asap.

So far I've chucked out:
1x small glass jar, excercise ball I've had for 15 + years but never used🤣, tiny water gun, egg cup & spoon Christening gift that are corroded, pair of shoes

2x plastic boxes, coin purses chewed up by mice

Sorted last bag from loft. Large plastic sunshine lightshade is staying and dh is going to put it up in the spare room.
Also in the bag one brand new tea towel still tagged, 1 pair of nursery curtains from IKEA and matching single quilt cover and pillowcase. They're joining the charity pile in the shed.

Serious work going on @ZingDramaQueenOfSheebaZing & @Rowgtfc72 well done!

Nothing out for me today but equally nothing in, despite going to a Christmas lights thing. Years ago that would’ve meant plastic tat coming into the house. Even my dc are too well trained now plus getting older anyway.

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba that's so kind of you! Sadly I'm at the other end of the country 🤦‍♀️ have managed to get things into crates today so looks a little better and is out of the way but still accessible at least.

@Mommabear20

not at all. glad you found a temporary solution.

I don't know how much I can do today: it will be past 10am by the time I get home after DS4's appointments, and we have DD home with stomach cramps and DS6 with blurry eyes (because DS5 smacked him in the face yesterday and his fingers hit the eyeballs) so I might have to take him to hospital to have corneas checked. Which usually takes 4 hours (bitter experiences).

DS5 has switch & computer taken away. he's been quite aggressive and despite lots of talks and trying to improve the situation and him saying sorry he keeps being a little shit to youngest 2 so I'm not sure how to deal with him.
It's like as soon as we finished talking his brain resets and he forgets everything and carries on as if nothing happened. 🤬 it drives me nuts.
maybe a night spent sleeping in the garden with the foxes? 🤣

Anyhoo, sorry about ranting. I'm just so sick of their fighting.

Oh I hate it when the kids fight, mine don’t so much now but definitely used to.
DS2 went through a stage of whacking ds1 anytime he came in reach, that was fun.
He is autistic though and I think it was a personal space issue.

Have done the first coat of paint on DDs wardrobe. A delightful purple lol. Her choice.
I’ve taken probably a month now to strip the wardrobe and sand it down. I’m determined to finish it today and get her clothes back in there.

Out today:
Found a unopened paint tray with rollers I don’t need.
A lucky dip toy DD got at the fair yesterday (& I said we came home with no plastic tat!)
The cardboard poster tube DDs Christmas present poster came in as I’ve finally framed it (not wrapped anything yet though).

I'm back. Had a stressful few weeks here. The house was a bit chaotic to say the least.

I have arranged a play date for Thursday so that has spurred me on to clean up. I dont think I can do much decluttering until after Christmas now. But there is so much more I could do to put things into their proper homes.

DH has 2 days off work, I told him we needed just one day while he was of to get the house blitz before Christmas, so typically he 'forgot' and has made plans for both days 🤦‍♀️ so not much getting done here!

Annoying when they do that!

Have finished painting the wardrobe!!
Have put it back in place and handles back on, DD can help me with the clothes later.

Also out today:
2 revolting manky baby bottles DD had made some ‘concoction’ in 🤮

Can't remember when I last posted, but have been plugging away with bits and pieces here and there. I just found out that Olio has a "Wanted" section now, so I checked it and someone needed a buggy for a granddaughter - a few messages later and it's being picked up tomorrow!

Slightly emotional as my mum bought it eight years ago when I was expecting DD1 and all three children have been pushed around in it since, but DS is nearly 3.5 now and really doesn't need it, plus it's been sitting in the communal hallway for months and I don't want to get grief from the freeholder about it - although last time they did a check they ignored the buggy and flagged up the four pairs of wellies outside our front door . I'm throwing in a cosytoes as well so double whammy.

Lots of ins in Amazon boxes, some of which may end up being kept for birthdays or regifting. DP returned a giant stuffed toy dinosaur today, which DS is more likely to be frightened of than play with . Tree is up, which for us is mega early, like October for regular people.

Think the airing cupboard might be the next thing to tackle - lots of baby bedding, cot blankets, baby towels that aren't needed now.

Managed to get a bit of decluttering done today - mainly kitchen items and cleared out the napkin drawer - have only kept the larger sized sets (so 6 or 8 that match). Topped that up with some more of the girls old things and took the bag to the charity shop.

One DD has been home over the weekend so has rescued a few things from the box of stuff I wasn't sure they wanted to keep but is going to take them back to halls so it is still leaving the house!!

Packed up an apron I'd made for the girls and their friends to wear when baking but which was never worn to send to a friend for her granddaughter along with a couple of children's recipe books. Booked a Royal Mail collection for tomorrow so that is another "out" in my mind!

DS6's eyes improved by 10.30am so I decided to go to bed. I slept until 3pm.
no clutter was harmed during this time
🤣

Lol @ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba!

DD loves a good clearout, so have tonnes to go from her room. Loads of clothes (she hardly has any left!), books, rubbish, etc. I now need to sort through it and pass along/get rid.
So currently have loads of laundry baskets full of stuff….

@LivingInABuildingSite
🤣

I'm watching "Everything must go". That's my daily contribution, it counts as decluttering, innit?