Decluttering thread 4 - progress rather than perfection

[Pigtailsandall]

Thread 3 got filled up so decided to start a new one - hope everyone can find it!!

I took photos today of the area I was tackling, I didn't get hugely far in the time I had but there is a difference which is reassuring.

I've got the following out's

6 pairs of school trousers and a jumper to the school jumble sale
3 large boxes to the tip.
Old giant advent calendrer binned.
Box of old broken phones and a tape player binned.
2 pans gifted of a free site.
Carrier bag of holey clothes and towels to textiles recycling.

We have also powered up an old console to check it works and it does so that can come out the cupboard where it was laying around.

I'm back to doing before and after photos. I think it does help even when it doesn't really like it.

Really determined not to buy any more shoes or clothes at all now. Ds needs some more new uniform for secondary school but dd and ds15 all still fit. Plus they have too much uniform. Ds15 is in year 11 next year so after that he will be out of uniform.

Sorting out reminds me they are growing up and it makes me feel so sad. I want them to be little forever. But the oldest too haven't been little for a long time in realty.

Aww I hear you @IncessantNameChanger. It’s hard accepting things will never be used by your family again… I like giving to the baby bank though because it means things get a whole new life!

Photos sounds good.

Great work @LivingDeadGirlUK !!

Another 27 items on olio/fb giveaway (three groups of things, not 27 different things!) taking me to:

156 total for July
594 total

BUT I have another 50-odd items for dropping in different directions (mainly charity shop and baby bank).

One umbrella with a hole in it binned. Total is 708

incessant that’s amazing progress. Has dd said she likes it? Do you think it’ll get easier to declutter her stuff? I think when people see the benefit of decluttering they come on board (apart from dd1)

I have a technique that dd2 invented (or maybe she saw on YouTube). Her wardrobe has a rail and we put newly cleaned clothes to the right so gradually clothes that haven’t been worn move to the left of the rail. She says she will declutter the items on the left.

Im also in the process of decluttering dd2s room as she wants a desk. If I get rid of her two chests of drawers I can replace them with one taller chest of drawers and one desk. This does mean decluttering some of the stuff in her chests of drawers. So far we’ve gone through pyjamas and swimming costumes but later I’m going to go through tights with her. I suspect she’ll let me throw them all away as I can’t remember when she last wore them.

I really need to go through teen DD's bedroom but she is extremely resistant. @IncessantNameChanger you are inspiring me to give it a go!

Yesterday I bought a new set of measuring cups and actually threw away the old set where the labels had rubbed off rather than keeping them just in case.

It still made me wince but they're gone.

Massive kick up the bum to pick up the pace, courtesy of my arsehole cat. I could smell something bad in the bedroom but couldn't see what /where it was as there is too much stuff under the bed (thankfully all contained in storage boxes).

It was a dead mouse (brought in by aforementioned cat).

It was disgusting. It was not fresh. There were maggots.

I am so disgusted & ashamed. We dragged everything out, zoflora'd all the boxes and cleaned it up at midnight last night. Thankfully we have laminate floor rather than carpet, so could be disinfected easily.

I only need about 20% of that stuff under the bed. But it has caused my house to become horrendously unhygienic because I couldn't part with it. Its not going back under the bed. I'm WFH today so as soon as I finish work I'm culling 80% of it.

@stealthninjamum That's a good idea about a hanging rail. I used the hanger trick (turned all the hangers backwards, and then when items got worn, turned them back to face the "right" way to see what had been used in the last 6 month period). I excused my 2 occasion outfits as they get rare use but are invaluable when then do. I find this a good strategy.

@AwkwardPaws27 yeah that is gross but tbh I think it happens a lot! My friend in Aus had a family of very big spiders living under her bed - after that I decided I'd never have under-bed storage again.

Not much decluttering here due to illnesses and work schedule. I did drop off expired painkillers to the pharmacy and posted another Vinted sale. it was only a £5 sale but made me feel good that I'm rehoming stuff.

Total is 1110.

A few things have left the building in the last week: two bags of old towels to the cat rescue I volunteer at, bag to charity shop, bag to textile recycling, some soft plastic recycling to supermarket this morning (we keep forgetting it), I'm going to the big Sainsburys tomorrow so can get rid of more. No obvious difference but the bags of stuff aren't lying about. Lots of toiletry/cosmetic and cleaning stuff used up.

@stealthninjamum dd is a mixed bag. She likes the space and it being tidy but she hates to part with anything and pulled out handfuls from the charity bag that she never wears. But she has got ASD and is in year 3 do I let her keep what she wanted. It was only about five things. The rail is a good idea, so is turning the hangers around.

My declutter came today but mot sure how that will work out as so far, we haven't done anything!

Today I went through my mums boxes, her stuff needs a proper home. So my task is too get stuff off the living room floor ( mums stuff mainly) then I have a massive list of jobs but I'm going for easy wins. For example both boys now only wear black trousers, so an instant win would to be to get rid of all gray trousers on the last day of term.

Trying to not think about methods too much right now, easy win, volume is right now.

So far only Binned a coat hanger and water pistol today!

When we go on holiday I'm going to take my tatty underwear and bin that. Lots of plans, but no method to get there by area or rooms yet.

Feeling overwhelmed but very confident.

@IncessantNameChanger the grey trousers thing is brilliant. Sorry that your declutterer helper hasn't been much use so far. Ideally what would you want them to do? Offer you things to make a decision on (seems to happen a lot on TV shows) or move stuff straight out when you have decided it is an out or reorganise an area when you have sorted the items yourself or bring you endless drinks whilst you work? It might be that they are not wanting to take charge and railroad you - or they might be a bit shit of course!

Yesterday was good, I gifted an old chair, 2 vases and a candle. Plus threw away another carrier bag of rubbish from the garage.

About to get back on it this afternoon.

The second lot of books that I took off the shelves was nine books, and they can all be donated.

I've also found a charity who will accept the cot bedding I sorted out several weeks ago, but they aren’t open this week so it won’t be out of the house until next week.

@Gassylady the declutter has never said what they will do. In fact I don't think there was ever kind of agreement of expectations. All we have done so far is talk. I will have to ask what the plan is when he next comes.

Done lots of tidying today which hasn't yielded high outs but things look better.

Still debating if I want to donate my entire Vinted listings.

Out socks, bag, waterproof, tshirt
8 Binned
3 handbags sorted
Mums boxes sorted
My wardrobe sorted
One top mended

-----
Total out 403
Total in 31

Too much going on here, but I’m managing the odd thing out of the door here and there. And even just grabbing a bit of junk/ stuff that should have been thrown away. A few more things up on olio.

Out went packaging from a delivery, a trench coat, uncomfortable pants and a fluffy floor rug. Total is 712

Just grabbing stuff as you see it makes a really big impact over the week. I'm constantly picking things up now.

It's early in the day for me but so far I have thrown out three jars of out of date food from the fridge, a pair of my pants, and used face cream. So hit my five for the day. I manged to get ds school trousers down from 13!! To six but still have the surplus ones sitting on the side. Also sold ten items on vinted. So good going for only a few minutes today so far.

So I've given 3 massive bags of carrier bags to the food bank which were taking up space in various cupboards. Also some kitchen utensils that we didn't need.

Having a bit of fatigue now and tbh my house is an utter mess so probably should focus on that for a few days!

I am trying to stay positive. A bit going on here with building works going wrong and pregnancy and work busyness. Maternity clothes have overwhelmed my previously sorted drawers. Will just keep on but I think like you @LivingDeadGirlUK i need to make sure as much tidying gets done as actual stuff out the door.

Will drop some bags off tomorrow or Friday though so the numbers will go up 🤞

An empty box repurposed for donations, two bags with holes in and a broken zip binned. Total is 716

Found a few more.

Too small trousers
Uncomfortable knickers
Stained jumper
Blouse with fiddly buttons

Total is 720

6 things Binned yesterday.
11 things listed on Vinted today.

Got some plastic storage containers to decant lego and clutter into. I'm only allowing one box each for hand me downs.

20th
23 sold on Vinted

-----
Total out 426
Total in 31

Trundling on listing things on Marketplace and Vinted. Sold some big baby stuff so while not many out in terms of numbers, we've reclaimed our conservatory where it was all stored.

Also thrown away three pens that weren't working!

Took some complete but not great board games on holiday and "accidentally" left them in the villas game cupboard.

882 items year to date.