Where do I start with decluttering?

[YellowSparrow]

Every room in my house needs thoroughly decluttering. I have a young baby and no one to help so I've got to do this on my own.
Where do I start? How do I start?

Help!

I'd say start small, pick a shelf or a drawer and don't move things around if it's leaving the house put it in the bin or take it charity shop/put it on eBay.

I'm listening to Dana K White's "A slob comes clean" podcasts (recommended here), having started with the first one and going through them in order. They're good to listen to while you're actually tidying/ decluttering and I love the psychological aspect of it. Yesterday I took a bin bag full of clean but tatty old clothes, labelled them "rags" and took them to one of the clothes banks that does textile recycling. That is the first time I have ever got rid of a binbag's worth of clothes in one go, and I'm in my 40s with young children.

A slob comes clean is brilliant, I second that recommendation. She's got a YouTube channel as well.

The hallway. It's what visitors see first and everyone room opens into it.

Which is the one thing - or type of things - that's doing your head in the most?

Wardrobe / floordrobe?
Kids toys?
Paperwork?

I picked my wardrobe first. Got everything out onto the bed. Went through it BRUTALLY, bin bagged different piles - charity shop, sell, bin - and hung up / folded everything I kept. If it hadn't been worn in a year, it went (except posh frocks etc). If it didn't fit me right now, it went. Stained / needing repair - gone. Then I took the bags to the respective places the same day so it was all done in a day.

Then move onto the next thing - maybe not even in the same week, but do one job at a time.

I'd start with the bathroom as it's (I assume) the smallest room. Then you get a quick win and it should be easy to keep on top of.

There are two main ways IMO, one is bit by bit and one is more planned.

1. Set up three boxes: store, donate, bin. Pick one small area - a drawer, shelf or one kitchen cupboard - and sort everything either back into the drawer to keep or into one of the boxes. Move onto the next drawer etc until all is done.

2. Decide what you need and get rid of everything else. This is minimalism rather than decluttering but is very effective. So decide objectively how many plates you need - get rid of the rest (donate or bin, no store option usually!).

Either way, you can't ever finish unless you start. Good luck (radical possession reducer here, I did method 2).

I always recommend A Slob Comes Clean!

Also Mininal Mom. Both very practical and straight forward, none of this sparking joy nonsense.

I'm a former hoarder. I'd start with getting a bin (or carrier bag tied up out of reach of baby) and a cardboard donate box in every room so if you see rubbish/something to donate you can just place it in the bag or box right away. You might want a sell box too, but be realistic about your time and the actual value of the item. I decided my item donations would be instead of my usual cash donations, so I didn't feel that need to sell to recoup money. However everyone's circumstances are different and you might need to sell it all. Local FB groups are a good, usually fast way to get it out.
Do the rest in short blasts through the day. Junk drawer annoying you? See of you can find 5 things for the bin. Too many clothes to easily fit in your wardrobe? Pick out your least favourites to donate. All those short blasts add up. Most importantly, it dosent make a mess!

So many great YouTubers to listen to as you do it. I like a slob comes clean, Erica Lucas, secret slob and minimal mom.

Kitchen first. Start by going through with a binbag and getting rid of actual rubbish, it's amazing how much there is hidden in plain sight- envelopes, elastic bands, nearly empty bottles.

Put the baby in the bouncer and listen to meditation music. Then group everything together such as books in one place, medicines in a box, all kitchen things in kitchen only and then get rid of broken items, pens that don't work, reciepts, clothes that don't fit(actually could be put away in a storage bag).. Then get appropriate storage., I prefer cardboard boxes as you will get the bug for decluttering and it will feel wasteful buying plastic boxes only to get rid of them.

Lots of approaches and ideas:
If you are tight for space then start with an area that will give you some wiggle room. Eg ‘just in case’ stuff in a spare cupboard, anything large that you can make an easy decision on.
Stand back a bit and think ‘what annoys me most about this room’ and start there. Or think about where you spend the most time, eg on sofa and start with that bookcase that you stare at for hours whilst feeding.
Group stuff together, eg all your coats as easier to make decisions.
Do not go and buy storage (eg plastic boxes). Declutter first.
Do not become obsessive about repurposing the item. You’ve already spent the money and the earth’s resources have already been us. If you nee stuff out then do.
Freegle and Freecycle are great as people come to collect the stuff. I’ve seen people put job lots of stuff on there that others collect to sell at car boot sales.

Be more of a gatekeeper over what comes in to your space too.

I love the minimal mom on youtube but when I was first getting started I found Joshua Becker a great inspiration on youtube.

Short videos, very interesting.

My first success was my bathroom. I went from having shelves crammed with stuff and towels piled high in the dryer to having neat containers on each shelf and nothing on the dryer. And feeling great about it everytime I went in the bathroom.

Next success was my highly used junk drawer. 70% was junk but the rest was used regularly. Once I cleared it, it felt so good everytime I opened the drawer.

Pens are a dead easy win - that pen thats almost run out? Bin. Those 10 pens that you never choose to write with as they aren't comfortable to use? Bin

I would start with whatever would make a difference and what you have a home for. Clothes are good because lots of charity shops/clothes banks will take them.

I have a cellar, and that was a good place to store boxes and bags of 'stuff' that was going to be sold or donated, but now that's a WFH space, so it's more difficult. Avoid keeping the unwanted items hanging around too long.

Join us on the decluttering thread.
Helps to keep us all going.
Will find the link.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/housekeeping/4526704-Decluttering-Club-thread-2-2022-trying-to-reduce-stuff-a-little-at-a-time

I would start with your bed. Strip it, hoover thoroughly , and remake it with ironed linen. Commit to making it every day. Then as you begin decluttering and your home gets worse, as it will, you have somewhere comfortable to be. Then I would continue with the bedroom, 1 area at a time, clear the surfaces, then your makeup, jewelry, clothes and shoes. I have found it helpful to ask if I would want the item if I saw it in a shop. My tshirt drawer was a tangled mess of horror.I would not have bought anything for 20 pence at a jumble sale. Now it’s 3 colour graded lines of vests, T-shirts and long sleeved T-shirts, all ironed, all in good condition. It took ages, but it was worth it.
I would also do the Flylady sink thing. Just make sure your sink is clean and clear. Eventually it will spread and you won’t have piles of washing up or cluttered work tops.
Thirdly, try to touch things either once, so post is opened, replied to and filed or thrown, items are returned immediately after use. Or not at all, so stop buying junk or things you already have.
I am not a tidy person, but my home is slowly evolving into something, beautiful and more efficient. It makes me feel so good.
Good luck.

Even choosing a method is overwhelming isn't it?

I found the decluttering game threads helpful. The original game is you declutter 1 thing on day 1, 2 things on day 2 etc up to 30 things on day 30. It adds up to 465 things over a month. I prefer to run it backwards so you start with lots of easy wins while you still have the enthusiasm, and the number target gets easier as the easy wins drop away. You can keep track of extras too - maybe you'll manage 500 or 1000 things in a month. There is something very freeing about not having to finish a drawer or cupboard completely. You can just pull some stuff out until you hit the number. Once you've got rid of the easy stuff you can easily tidy what's left or declutter some more. My easy wins were kitchen and bathroom, and by the end of the month I found myself tackling Drawers of Doom (plural). There's lots of