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

raspberryblonde I think we’ve got all the food apart from pudding and meat. Dc have been really mature and said they’d be happy to have ice cream and strawberries if we can’t get anything fresh and I have frozen chicken fillets so we could roast chicken breasts if we can’t get a turkey.

I saw wrapping paper on a ‘10 things that will be scarce at christmas’ list. Gah! It took years to use up my stash of Xmas paper and I’m wondering whether to stock up on Xmas paper now or whether to embrace being different and just use birthday wrapping paper if there are shortages.

The house is the usual Monday morning mess. I’m intending to tidy the dining room which has loads of papers, do more shredding and get out all our hats and scarves for a declutter when dc get home.

Today’s out is a hobby horse and any papers I find while tidying.

I usually buy some Christmas bits ahead of time but all I’ve got so far are smartie tubes and one chocolate tub!

I don’t mind if we have a mixture of whatever we can get for the day, might make it memorable lol.

Have decluttered all the logs I got the tree chopping guy to make from a tree we had to cut down. They’ve gone to a local preschool for their forest area as little seats. Plus a hedgehog house one of my builders made.

May get round to dropping off a pair of running shorts to a friend. And maybe return a too small scout shirt and order the next size if I get organised.

Snuck the paperwork in the recycle bin at work. Phew.

Other outs.

A jumper which had developed a hole in the front.
A bat I shrunk in the wash. Bobble hat. Wool. Went in by mistake on a 90 wash 😭

DS is outgrowing his 0-3 month clothes so went to put his 3-6 in his wardrobe and realised how much he has!! Who needs 12 pyjamas??? 😂 defiantly need some thinning out!!

Have found seven primary school reference books so they can go in the next charity bag. That’s a weeks worth right there Email today from one charity they made £161 from selling my donations in the 20/21 tax year and claimed £40 of gift aid too. Fantastic but more motivation to keep plodding on

Sold one of our old pushchairs this morning! Woop! That's a big item gone! Sadly not the big one that I want rid of most but a sale is a sale so I'll take it!! 😁😁
Also got rid of a few more bits of DD summer clothes that I'd kept invade of a random warm day but feeling very much like autumn/winter has arrived here now so cleared them out now too! A few younger cousins that they can be passed onto this week.

Wanted to thank you lovely lot for all the motivation! I've finally started to see a difference in the house and it's very satisfying 🥰🥰 still a lot of stuff I think can go but letting myself take it a bit easier from now on as I can see where the problem areas are now and it's not just the whole house 😂

That's great to hear mommabear just keep going.

I ended up clearing out coat cupboard yesterday and going all over the house looking for winter accessories. So far I have decided to get rid of a pair of wellies, an umbrella, an old school blazer and raincoat and two keyrings. Just need dc to sort through hats and scarves.

Out:
Some tatty old vests not worth passing onto ds2
Some tatty tshirts as above
Running shorts I never sent back passed onto friend
Old broken storage box
Random artwork of DDs 🤫

Nearly out:
New pile of too small boys clothes ready to pass to friend
More textile recycling ready for fridays collection

In:
New school shirts for ds2.

Hello again!

Just catching up on the thread. My biggest declutter was selling a big chunk of my business stock! I can’t have everything at home and I can’t find a new unit that is near to home and/or affordable.

And we have a new roof which has cleaned us out financially.

But I did declutter DD2’s room with her help and it looks much better. Two bin bags of crap gone!

Haven’t been here for ages now . Tiredly plodding along here .we have a lot left after being in the new house for 2 weeks .
DH went back to the rental house to empty it further and took more to dump last weekend again , emptied cleaned up and took pictures of the metal bike box which he will list soon hopefully we could get a few hundred for it it’s in excellent condition and they’re quite expensive new . He dismantled the veg truggs as well and brought rest of our bikes here . As far I understood there’s the load to charity shop and a few garden bits left in garden shed , the bike box and we need to put ur Landlords kitchen roller blinds and lampshades back on plus the cleaning left . The developer will start repairs in the topfloor for the leaking roof . Can’t wait to get rid of the house and stop paying the astronomical rent end of next month latest ! That’ll be a big declutter again abd dealing with just one house would be so nice instead of original 3 …
We are slowly getting more unpacked here . last night we did several boxes in the kitchen dining family room that’s really getting to me by now and today DH is home to get more done . so far he’s done school run , walked the dog and washed him and 4 big deliveries just came this morning . He will try to finish building the study furniture and put on the blinds in there today so we can put away all the neatly packed and labeled boxes finally . Then we will do more unpacking in the kitchen abs the damn kitchen table replacement and the missing mirror are meant to arrive this aft . Dump trips for furniture packaging and boxes all the time and stuff from the old house . Been throwing other things out too as we unpack .

• clothing to rag bank and clothes bank
• another one of the notice boards
• a chair
• hat
• DS worn out trainers

Made a start on the cupboard of doom today.
4 bin liners of rubbish gone, including old tatty gift bags, old broken toys, just stuff that never should have been put in that cupboard!

I packed the remaining stuff into boxes so we can just lift that stuff out when we move.
I’m going to have my lunch and then put the bin liners in the boot of the car, ready for DH to take straight to the tip tomorrow, no messing about!

The leaves the bathroom, living room, our bedroom and the toys in DD bedroom to be decluttered before packing it all up.

Then the display unit, tv stand & dining table and chairs to be dismantled and taken to the tip somehow…

Managed another ten minutes on DD’s old clothes yesterday - another 6 tops gone in the charity bag. Also decluttered one bag from my stash of gift bags last weekend, as DD had a birthday party to go to and I discovered I’d used up all my rolls of wrapping paper (or moved them somewhere then forgiven where they are!).

6 more items out of DD wardrobe that were in the laundry but are getting a bit small, figured I'd get rid now as she's got plenty of others and will only last another few weeks at the most!

Nothing of note out today, had to buy quiz prizes for a lunch I was helping with so they came in and went straight out.

Think I'm gonna tackle the Tupperware tomorrow! We don't have much but the cupboard is far from organised!
Might also try some rice Krispy cakes with DD and use up some old cereal! Can send them to nanna and grandads with her on Saturday 😂

Damn lost my post but in short …
DH is not quite done with study but it’s mostly done blinds in windows cupboards built etc just tables to go he ordered a nice new chair we are still looking at new tables . Our new replacement dining table and the missing mirror arrived ,both are good thank god . He also did both school runs , two dogs walks , laundry , ordered dog tags with the new address finally and we’re emailing shutter company to get the same shutters put onto the frosted bathroom windows mine is insanely bright in the day and it’s bad with my constant migraines . He’ll also email landscapers to make an appointment to go see tree options so we can get them ordered . I didn’t go unpack downstairs after all but I got some admin done . I booked kids passport app at my embassy , made a address change to my country’s population register , arranged a first play date for DD with a friend from her new school , arranged for kids dog and DH to go to MIL for a few days in the holidays , booked a lovely aft tea for with a friend and a mani pedi after it back in London , ordered a Cook frozen meal delivery . Now dealing with all the deliveries that came . I’m super tired didn’t sleep much and I always wake up at least once and am still on Benadryl so that puts me to sleep too . I suspect nothing much else will get done today except a shower . Livingroom is starting to come together now with the arrival of the table and with less boxes around . getting the study done will be ace . More jobs tomorrow !
Oh yeah , DS came home with his ever slight black eye after early morning basketball practise and then tonight we noticed another Alopecia area on DD head now right in her parting further towards the front so that’s sad . We will start the steroid gel on that too but we are not 100% it’s helping I think I can see little regrowth on the 2 patches we have been putting it on but but it’s not clear yet if it’s any use . I didn’t say to her about it I was just checking for nits someone in her year had them .

morning all.

in the last few days i haven't managed much but today - this morning i've had a bit of a fire up my bum so have done the following:

• a bag of dh's has been binned its been sitting in the garage for weeks and i think maybe he wanted to charity shop it, but its not good enough for that. so bin
• flowers which were wilting have been put on the compost
• cards and recycling have been put outside.

i've opened all the windows in the house to let the bad air out and the good air in. cheating a bit with this one but am wfh today as am not feeling 100 so felt like the right thing to do. -

Nothing out in the past few days but I have cleared a good portion of dds room. I need to thin or put away what I cleared out today.

On a side note I am using up lots of tins and not going to replace then until they get until zero of each type. Possibly not sensible while we are seeing shortages but I need to make sure nothing else goes out of date.

I'm going to do the same with the freezer as I want to use things up draw by draw so I can make room for Christmas food, which I have started to buy.

Writing today off as a lose as I've come down with the cold DH as had for the past few days (naturally he's been incapable of moving because of it, yet here I am looking after 2 babies and 2 dogs but hey!) the Tupperware cupboard can surely survive another day or 2! So today it's copious amounts of tea, cuddles and Disney films to get me through!
DD has cheered me up though by walking the full length of the house by herself! It's the first time she's taken more than 4 steps and the first time it's been unprompted! Super proud momma bear right now! 🥰🥰

Currently working my way through my new flat lots of moving and just shoving stuff in boxes to take with me. Finally starting to see progress although I did pay someone to wash half my laundry mountain it’s made such a big dent the rest seems manageable. Tomorrow I plan on tackling the boiler cupboard and create some shelving for tools and spare paint cans. New dyson hoover has also really helped spur me on some more I want to Hoover behind all the furniture and can’t do that if there is stuff everywhere. Also must stop collecting carrier bags I had over 100 in side bags full bags took all the plastic ones to the bag bin at Tesco’s feel much better.

Ah well done baby bear! Now the fun really starts! 🤣 I think all four of mine walked out of the house at some point. Make sure your gates are shut....

Been pottering downstairs all morning since school run , feeling insanely tired so once my Starbucks arrives I’m going up to sleep . I’ve done lots of laundry and cleaned and tidied plus unpacked the wineglasses I found need to look for the rest later in the box pile . Not sure if I’m putting our wedding china in the same dresser in dining room so won’t unpack those now but these glasses are going in it for sure so I want to find the rest . Been trying to figure out the layout of the dining room now that we’re thinking of putting the piano in the study on first floor . Thinking I might be able fit the bigger table I wanted especially if I’ll put a glass display cupboard that’s still to arrive to the tv room instead I think there’s space there for it .This is all so slow going in the downstairs and the attic is a mess the bedrooms are Pret much done except for some more furniture . I need more organising bits ,baskets for linen and towels hopefully coming somepoint . Had to throw out my new plastic bowl it was cheap but annoying it was cracked since I was soaking things in it to remove limescale from glass water bottles etc . Ironing board came and it’s good . Need to organise food now that I found more . I ordered more home edit bins .I have more containers in the storage locker DH needs to get for me . I decanted two cereal boxes it was very satisfying ! Have shoved some of the dog , and kids snacks into bins too but the shelves need proper organising . Can’t wait for the rest to be in order it’ll take a while . Happy we’ve now got a proper a dining table at least . I need to bite the bullet and order the second sofa I’ve been agonising over the colours but I think I’ve now decided on the lighter grey …
Going out :

• a cracked plastic bowl ,I will replace it though

Earmarked some old sheets once I get my big baskets .I’m organising the linen cupboard and removing some sheets since we’ve gotten lots of matching new ones . Wish I wasn’t so dizzy I’m in horrible pain today I’ll need codeine but it’ll make me more sleepy so even less will get done . Tonight DH and DS will change beds .I’ve asked DH to clean bathrooms and to wash the floor downstairs. He still needs to build his second table and set up his computers for working from home tomorrow .

This is sooo satisfying 😊!!

Ooh nordic I have cereal containers like that too, they are great.

I am trying to attempt to get one thing a day out but is slow going at the moment. Today it was two cardboard boxes and a broken party bag toy.

Stealth I need to go through our winter hats and things, I've just realised I've not bought DD any gloves for years and they must surely all be outgrown.

Out:
Couple of broken takeaway lids

Think that’s it, bins emptied ready for bin day tomorrow.

Need to get on with listing DDs old toys pre Christmas.