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Housekeeping

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

714 replies

stealthninjamum · 21/09/2021 13:36

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

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Mommabear20 · 28/12/2021 19:11

Have made a start on Christmas decorations this evening, mainly just the tree in DD room but intend to do the rest tomorrow before DH goes back to work on NYE.

Bigoldhag · 28/12/2021 20:30

Hope noone minds me joining in, I’ve previously been in another declutter thread!

I took a break over the last couple of months but the new year has inspired me to crack on.

Today I deep cleared my bedroom - mostly clearing copious amounts of dust, but did declutter:

Two dead succulents to the bin and their associated pots washed and out for the donation pile.
One desk fan that makes a god awful noise and is beyond repair.
One decorative tray that just added dust to the room.

I also cleaned out my dining room cupboards and whilst most was rubbish/recycling, I did get rid of:

Placemats
Coasters
One sandwich box
One sweet dish
One old phone case
Box of essential oils and water jug for a diffuser i got rid of a while back.
Four reusuable face masks i don’t like wearing

Tomorrow I will be working in my dressing room, and trying to start listing some worthwhile items on ebay.

ememem84 · 29/12/2021 07:08

I managed to get rid of a pair of ds’ trousers yesterday. Jokes in the knees. He’s 4 and has discovered knee sliding. 🙄

Started de christmassing the house yesterday. Kids Christmas jumpers and jammies which were in the clean laundry have gone back in boxes. Towels in boxes too. Will add some plates etc.

I’m itching to get rid of the tree. But the kids won’t have it. DH has said it must go by next weekend though.

ememem84 · 29/12/2021 08:55

And had to bin a bra this morning as I was putting it on and the wire snapped.

EllieQ · 29/12/2021 09:43

I also feel that sadness about DD growing up too quickly @IncessantNameChanger - I can’t believe she’ll be 7 in April. Sometimes it’s really hard to deal with Sad

Yesterday DD and I sorted through one toy cupboard. We took everything out, put the new storage boxes in, and went through every item to decide whether to keep it or not. Got rid of a few bits of rubbish (bits of paper, old stickers, paper cups she used to play with as a toddler), and I’ve put one wicker basket that was in there in the charity bag. It looks much better and is easier for her to find everything. I feel ashamed that it was left in such as mess for so long.

Was planning to tackle another hot spot today, but I started coughing last night and have woken up with a cough and a high temperature, so it’s self-isolation and PCR testing for me Sad DH is also coughing. Not sure how we’ll manage if we both have to self isolate while looking after DD.

stealthninjamum · 29/12/2021 11:32

MotherWol I sympathise with you, it is very annoying to be given things because they’re ‘bargains’. Does your mum spend much time with you or can you just send a load back to the charity shop? It’s so hard when we have all worked so hard to declutter just to be given crap.

zingdramaqueen that diet book story is horrendous and the sort of thing my mum would do which is why we’re no contact. For my 40th birthday she bought me an electric razor as clearly she thought I was too hairy.

incessantnamechanger I’m sorry to hear about your back.

Welcome bigoldghag you made a good start.

ellieq sorry to hear you and dh are coughing. I hope it’s just a cold and you’re feeling better soon.

I had a lovely Christmas, just the four of us (me, dc and the ninjaboyfriend). Also we didn't have too many presents, just the right amount. Exh hasn't seen dd1 for weeks and she refused to buy him a present which worries me a lot - and means I never get time to myself.

I have almost finished clearing up from Christmas. The tablewear is washed and put away, the presents are largely in a box in bedrooms so not put away but at least not in the sitting room. We’ve also just about eaten the food other than some crackers and cheeses. In my ‘rags’ bag is two pairs of leggings that dd2 has made holes in.
I’m not going to take the decorations down yet because they cheer me up but I’m going to hoover and clean the kitchen floor and make the downstairs better. Unfortunately I never really finished tidying the dining room, it has a few piles of paper sitting around – but it is much better than it was before xmas and it has been lovely eating at a table every day. I might see if we can keep it up, especially when the ninjaboyfriend is here as my kitchen can be a squash.

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LivingInaBuildingSite · 29/12/2021 13:08

I wish I could get on with putting away the Christmas stuff but PIL are here and today is another Christmas Day so has to wait until at least tomorrow. And then everyone moans that I’ve gone all bah humbug. But it’s just a mess!

Hope everyone is ok, not suffering with Covid (although if both parents are positive, and have small DC, just hunker down indoors and live together as normal I’d say).
I have a tickly cough and dreamt I’d tested positive but negative this morning. I work in a care home and someone tested positive there yesterday. Plus 2 staff that I know of. Hope we hang on through it and don’t lose anyone…

Re presents - not too much tat from the PIL this year so maybe they are improving. Socks, smellies that can be used, chocolates, etc. worst was probably excessive cosmetics for DD which she’ll fiddle with the bin probably. Still wasteful but not as bad as when they were younger.

seperatedmum · 29/12/2021 13:29

I spent over 3 hours cleaning because someone's popping in later for non-social reasons 🤦🏽‍♀️ ended up steaming under the settee I realise this is more cleaning but also a load of recycling and wrapping paper went out, library books out etc

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 29/12/2021 13:32

I was wondering if anyone would be happy to start a new thread on 1st January (you know, fresh start & all) and link it here, please?

stealthninjamum · 29/12/2021 16:18

zing I’m going to be busy the next few days but I can try and do one - if I do t get round to it can someone else? I tend to post a lot on my phone and can only really start threads on my old whirring laptop.

A pair of dungarees have now gone in the charity pile.

I’m wondering if I should set myself a challenge. Maybe 100 items a month would get me back on track? Or 2021 items. I had a fantastic start last year when I used that app - I forget what it was called. I did put the untuck your habitat app on my phone a few months ago but I’ve never used it. Might try it now.

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Mommabear20 · 29/12/2021 16:31

@stealthninjamum @ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba I'm happy to start the new thread, was actually thinking of suggesting it but didn't want to step on anyone's toes 😂

We've taken the Christmas decorations down today and I've also managed to get 1 of the 2 bookcases dismantled and into the garden 🙌 it's not gone but it's out of the house so I'm counting it 😂 I'm hoping to get the other bookcase and a unit from DC bedroom out of the house before Saturday and start completely fresh in the new year on the decluttering front.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 29/12/2021 16:59

yes please @Mommabear20
or whoever gets there first!😄

seperatedmum · 29/12/2021 17:32

@seperatedmum

I spent over 3 hours cleaning because someone's popping in later for non-social reasons 🤦🏽‍♀️ ended up steaming under the settee I realise this is more cleaning but also a load of recycling and wrapping paper went out, library books out etc
some cat bowls I was keeping are gone. the cupboard was manky so hopefully whenever we get a new cat we'll get the poor thing new bowls
ememem84 · 29/12/2021 18:00

Bags gone to charity shop. Yay! Although they didn’t take the toys. Booo. But still things gone.

Cupboards emptied of Christmas things. And the decs will come
Down over the weekend.

Big win today. The phone co came round unexpectedly and moved our fibre connection into the under stairs cupboard freeing up wall space. Yay. I say unexpected. But I had asked them to do this in January. But they had time.

Bigoldhag · 29/12/2021 18:00

I decluttered 5 items to ebay and vinted today:

Some new hair products
Make up beauty box (new)
Two disney products that seem to sell decently (why do people keep buying me disney tat??? I am 35 and childfree, endlessly baffled)
An earring set.

Got a few more things to list but too dark to photograph tonight. All items for sale have to sell by Feb or they get donated.

One bag packed for the charity shop. Hoping to make a trip in the next couple of weeks. Mostly homeware.

Also booked a tip trip for next week. Got some larger items to get rid of that don’t fit the bins.

londonmummy1966 · 29/12/2021 18:32

I took a bag of stuff to the charity shop as it is open again today. Also a neighbour came and took away DDs ukulele. I decluttered one of the shelves in the laundry room and put a load of old tea towels in a bag for textile recycling and some bits and pieces in a new bag for the charity shop. I have wicker baskets in the laundry room so now that they are not overflowing that shelf looks very tidy with just baskets and my neat rows of zoflora that I sorted by fragrance yesterday.

It is very much still Christmas here as DH will not agree to decorations coming down until after 12th night. It does all look very pretty though as the decorations other than the tree are mainly ivy from the garden and lots of lights.

MotherWol · 29/12/2021 18:41

@stealthninjamum thankfully mum probably won’t notice if I discreetly charity shop the stuff we won’t use, and the baby bank will be thankful for the kids clothes. They really appreciate clothes and toys that are new, as so many of the kids they support never get new things, so I feel a bit less guilty passing on things that way.

It’s difficult, because I know that she likes there to be an abundance of gifts, and that’s how she shows affection, but we really don’t have the space and often it’s just not to my taste. I’d rather have one gift I really liked rather than five that get donated, but I think we’re past the point of being able to fix it, so I just have to accept it.

Today’s out: nothing yet, after yesterday’s epic tidying session. Might put away a few more Christmas decorations once the kids are in bed.

stealthninjamum · 30/12/2021 00:42

@Mommabear20 you’re not stepping on toes at all, as you can tell by the thread title I have run out of original things to call the thread! I’m sure I’ve probably started about 16 of them.

@MotherWol it’s good she won’t notice it. I can completely identify with your mum though, It’s hard only buying a couple of presents because you’re always worried the recipient won’t like them so with people I love I have gone a bit over the top in previous years. This year I seemed to get the balance right.

I’m jealous of those of you who went to charity shops. I have got a mountain of stuff in the playroom that I’ve been adding to every day. I am going to try to get rid of it tomorrow. As well as the dungarees i mentioned earlier I have also just added a beach towel that looks like it has a bleach mark on it.

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MrsTidyHouse · 30/12/2021 05:44

Yesterday I sorted through three cardboard boxes of LOs' crafts and drawings that they had given me over the years. Tidied up, the items took up only two boxes. Two items put where they belong. The extra box broken up and now in recycling trolley, to avoid temptation of filling it again.

Caspianberg · 30/12/2021 06:52

Due to postage issues this year, we did a local Amazon wish for Ds that if anyone asked what to get him we directed to. I know some people don’t like that much, but it saved everyone huge postage hassle and costs, and Ds received lots of little bits he actually needed and no duplicates.
Mainly books, and things to go with what he already had ie extra brio accessories, and various schleich animals

It’s the first year after Christmas that gifts easily just went into the baskets we already had, and no large charity shop purges.

Our local charity shop now also does a free food donation every Wednesday, so out went some biscuits we had been given which had nuts in ( allergy household)

stealthninjamum · 30/12/2021 11:56

I’m so pleased I have dropped off four big bags of clutter to the charity shop. It contained clothes, books, rags,toys, craft sets. I am so chuffed, it’s been a massive pile in the play room since before Xmas.

I looked at the unfuck your habitat app and it has asked me to do 20 minutes on that ‘invisible corner’ ie shit that’s been there so long you don’t notice it. So I’m going to spend 30 minutes tidying the dining room.

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LivingInaBuildingSite · 30/12/2021 12:38

Well done on the charity shop trip @stealthninjamum

Have binned a few small bits of broken Christmas decorations.
Started taking down some Christmas cards and sorting into DH work ones vs everything else.
Started putting some Christmas kitchen bits into the new kitchen cupboards (the ones under the breakfast bar so not easily accessible, but better than the loft!).

Bigoldhag · 30/12/2021 13:04

6 more items in ebay/vinted today! One sold within a few minutes for a quick and easy £4.

Bigoldhag · 30/12/2021 13:07

Also got one more full bag packed for the charity shop - it includes:

The bag - a travel holdall.
Dog bowl (new in box, far too big for mine)
Dog toys (gift, not safe for my chewy beast!)
More placemats
Trinket dishes
Some small costume jewellery
Another bag
Playing cards - sealed!
Other odds and sods.

I have also sorted the various chocolate gifts and cheaper end toiletries I got for Christmas. Not things I eat or use so have packed up for tbe food bank next time I am in Tesco.

stealthninjamum · 30/12/2021 14:46

Thanks livingonabuildingsite

I decided to do the unfuck your habitat challenge and made my dining room look worse! Anyway I chucked out a big pile of homeschooling stuff, and found some certificates and a play ticket for the dcs memory boxes. So very slow progress.

In the kitchen I decluttered a broken milk frother, a herbal teabag that belonged to exh.

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