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 put the pile of winter hats and scarves on the settee Monday / Tuesday and they're still there! That's typical me to create a pile of clutter. On the other hand the cupboard under the stairs (which noone sees!) is perfect, very neat and tidy.

Since I last posted a friend has offered to take the big bag of teddies for her school's xmas fair so that's about 50 items to go and I have almost decluttered a big old fashioned lamp that was on the sideboard. There is a charity shop that will take it if I can't sell it on facebook. In it's place I've bought a floor lamp, I know it doesn't sound like decluttering but I've cleared so much space on the sideboard, the whole room looks better.

My mum took another bag of stuff to the garage for me yesterday. The only thing I plan to clear out today is the recycling to the bins. Still full of cold and feeling awful!

Momma bear hope you feel better soon.

Nothing leaving here today, just having a lazy day.

Out:

• a pile of broken random bits of plastic we found when we sorted out the playmobil to sell (which I haven’t done yet). The reject pile had been sat on my coffee table in a bin for weeks until the cat knocked it off today. Forced me to properly bin it.

Must try and sell the playmobil soon, have loads of DDs old toys she wants to pass on pre Christmas.

I am finally taking a bag upstairs and getting rid of the old bathroom bottles that I have been meaning to throw away for a few weeks. Might do the bath toys at the same time!

The teddies and my lamp have gone. That is too massive outs.

Other than that I’m not being that productive - am shredding paper, post, using up toiletries and frozen food/ old pasta jars.

Dd2 is on half term this week (dd1 next week) so it’ll be hard to get much done.

Managed to shred a stack of prescription request forms yesterday (I get monthly prescriptions but request them online so never need the forms).

Didn’t get any decluttering done over the weekend. I did have two ‘slots’ of free time, but spent the first doing day to day stuff (laundry, tidying , cleaning), and spent the second resting and reading, as I was feeling very tired. I probably could have managed another ten minutes on DD’s clothes , but couldn’t motivate myself!

Ins over the weekend include DD’s advent calendar (went for a Playmobil one and it’s bigger than I expected), and pumpkins as we head into Halloween season 🎃

This so depressing but I think I need to get rid of more clothes. I might start a thread on it separately. I have lots of clothes for going out but I rarely go out. A few meals a year with my mates but only the high street so it could be Jean's and a smart top but more likely a dress I could wear on the school run. I go to Ascot once a year so have / need 4 very smart dresses which are more wedding type outfits.

Dh never seems to want to go anywhere and keeps putting off even going to pub.

I dont buy clothes any more. I have really turned a corner there. Not even for the kids. I think the CBT worked too well as I'm.waiting for them to out grow everything now.

But my clothes is hard as its saying goodbye to that part of my life. My wardrobe is for the life I want. Not the life I lead

I have fallen off the thread again, I'm still decluttering and attacked DDs crafting supplies today, there are a million tiny pieces of paper and they are driving me crazy. She doesn't use them and cuts new paper every time. I still have the problem of not enough of storage and I'm continuing to hold out until I have finished decluttering properly.

IncessantNameChanger It's hard with clothes, it's easy to hold onto things you might need/would like to wear but never get the chance.

I read on here last week someone said take everything out of your wardrobe and only put back a few outfits then gradually add to it from the pile. But I dont have a spare room to do that.

I might try putting a sticker on the things I'm not sure about? Then looking at them again in a month or so. Ideally i want to get rid of 50 or 60 items as then at least i would have space to see all of my clothes.

I'm letting my underwear fall to bits as a natural thinning out process but my wardrobe would take ten lifetimes to wear out 🤣

Or just thin out my skirts one week and tops the next? I have hundred of clothes. I have the lifestyle for 20 outfits max. Maybe I need to be brave and write out what I need and thin to that list?

Maybe it would be liberating?

Mommabear hope you feel better soon. Awful cold here too, want to rip off my head! Need a couple of sick days but can't call in sick from kids. Think there is an especially bad cold going round.

Incessant clothes are hard. Not sure what to suggest. Marie kondo does it spark joy helps a bit. I kept lots of pre baby clothes and slowly getting back to that size but my shape has kind of changed so clothes I used to love don't look like they used to. Finding I am starting again but it's hard to be ruthless with items I really liked.

@Pineappleapple thank you! Feeling loads better, it's still not fully gone but it's definitely on its way!

@IncessantNameChanger I hate spring clothes too!! 🤷‍♀️ I can so easily go through and get rid of about 60% of my clothes and say I'll get rid of that but then actually chucking it is impossible and it slowly starts working its way back upstairs 🤦‍♀️ I find doing one section at a time and making sure that all leaves before I start another helps as it doesn't feel like I'm getting rid of as much.

I've seriously fallen off the decluttering and tidying rain this past week with being ill and now the news is starting to get to me so I think today is gonna be a power day to do everything (or as much as I can before the kids decide that's enough!).

This morning I took a bin liner upstairs. My intention was to box up the stuff on the dressing table that doesn’t get used every day. Ended up throwing away empties, 2 winter coats of the kids from two years ago! And a load of DH old work shirts. A full biner line gone, it’s bin day today so it went straight outside. And I boxed up everything else. Just our clothes and the drawers under the bed to go now. I’m itching to sort them but with DH working nights, it’s hard to find a time.

Half term.started on Monday for one of my kids so I am entertaining a few of his mates on a sleep over and had a sen appeal on Monday so literally nothing has been done.

I am starting to realise my dh does nothing except cook and wash up housework wise. If I'm not around he also only cooks nuggets or pizza and chips.

The house is a tip again and piles of washing to do. It can feel extremely pointless most of the time.

I am going to go through the wardrobe and get rid of ten things today and bag up for charity. Then do one item.at least every day until everything fits back in there.

I'm also going to stop washing DHS clothes. I have 4 kids. Three with SEN, one in appeal, one useless disability SW to constantly chase up and two schools to find for transition and I do all of the kids things with zero input from dh.

I'm going to priorities finding the schools and decluttering. I need to mentally bin things off to. Time for a priorities list I think.

@IncessantNameChanger oh my god! I so sorry DH isn't helping! But I can relate! I've literally just text my friend to rant about DH! He works 5 days a week, but once he comes home he does absolutely nothing unless asked and even then I get grumbled at 50% of the time! It's so draining being the only one who sees the mess, or worse is when they see it, moan about it and do f**k all about it!!!😣

incessantnamechanger I'm sorry to hear about your dh, stop doing stuff for him. Do your dc help? My older one can cook a meal now and tidies her clothes away. Even it's just doing stuff like chopping vegetables it really helps.

On the subject of wardrobe I completely agree. I have a wardrobe for the life I want not the one I have. In perspective I have got of about half of my clothes but my wardrobe is still full of smart dresses I'll never wear. Covid and exdh leaving has really screwed up my social life and the ninjapartner is a very casual dresser.

Not much decluttering going on here, just papers. I found some recipts from 2016/ 2017 yesterday so they've gone.

I'm having a problem with clothes and shoes too. I have a 4 year old and a soon to be 8 month old. Not sure whether to keep the 4 years old stuff for the baby. We just don't have the room. My 4 year wears everything out till she possibly can and some of it doesn't look great. But her current clothes won't survive the washing machine and dryer this autumn/winter. Then there's keeping babies clothes for the next one....

@ememem84 DH bought a Batman balloon for DS' birthday but somehow put it together wrong. It was all splayed legs and crotch on display, hanging over the tv. I couldn't stop myself from muttering "Look at my crotch" in a Batman voice until we finally disposed of him.

Yours looks much nicer!

@faithfulbird20 I did and still do keep clothes to hand down. Have you got a loft? Buy some of those big plastic boxes and just choose say the best condition outfits for the loft. But try to have a set number of boxes and no more. I could get a whole years worth of clothes in one of the bigger ones about as deep as a cushion

Dh has turned into aold man recently. He is 47 but might as well be 87 as he is happy to go to work and for excitement maybe Costco once a month 🤣 he gets the older two up and dressed in the morning. But then that's it as he works and I dont. I'm a computer programmer by trade and could earn tonnes more but cant see myself ever returning to work as I would have the house and the kids and a job. No, sod that.

My eldest is 17 and I might say as soon as he finished college I'm not doing his washing anymore. He cooks. He never cleans up after himself.

Try sorting the clothes into groups for each type (smart tops/casual tops/trousers/skirts/dresses etc) within the wardrobe, then pull only that section out together and decide what you still need? Like Marie Kondo, without covering the whole housein clothes. I can't do the Kondo sort by type not room method either, for that I would need to know where everything is. I've found it useful in small parts, just not with every item of that type in the entire house.

Sorry DH isn't helping out, it's not fair on you. If you went back to work, you would have to outsource the cleaning etc. There are professional declutterers, I think that might be my dream job.

I have hired a professional declutter and she was amazing. Worth every penny. I have never felt so comfortable and unjudged while decluttering.

Right, I'm going in now. I will aim to get some outs and then chip away at a more steady pace

I have earmarked 25 things to go. A few I will try to sell but most will just go to charity. I think I need to keep on with my in / out tally and then I know I'm still on target. I still have a few things hanging on my wardrobe doors and a small stash of things in dd wardrobe.

I have a silk cream Monsoon wedding dress I last wore to my 14 year olds christening. And a brand new unworn dress i bought when pg with my 9 year old.

I'm sure i can get rid of another 30 things so i might do one thing a month in November of just my clothes.

My DH is helpful when he’s here, but works away a lot.

Went to the shed for something else and realised the smallest bike is too small for my youngest so have put it out the front with a free sign on. Hoping someone takes it!

DD is redoing her room so more stuff has come in, like paint and drawer organisers but she has got rid of loads so I can’t fault her.

And I found the previous bag of paintbrushes and rollers so saved myself buying more which is almost as good as getting rid of something!

Three winter coats out today. Colleague said that a local church was collecting coats for charity. So one of dhs and two of the dcs have gone. Yay.

Nothing in. So that’s good.

I’ve also used up a couple of beauty products. So again thinning the stash out.