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!!

Some too small trousers into the donations bag tonight. Total is 800

26 more sewing items parcelled up ready to send to a new home Monday. One empty box disposed of in the process. Total is 827

One pair of DD’s outgrown trainers taken out of the shoe rack and put into the donations bag. They are still in quite good condition, so I might donate rather them than take them to shoe recycling.

Well done @EllieQ and @PissedOffNeighbour22 👍

@IndianSummer78 - I’m totally with you, I really need things to go to a good home (unless they are totally beyond use/repair) which definitely slows me down compared to those who can bin things.

I've been decluttering for a few years but I have noticed how much easier some things are now that I have less stuff.

Yesterday we had DS's birthday party at the house and all I had to do in preparation was a 10 minute tidy.

Before the massive decluttering I would have spent the morning running around frantically tidying and cleaning and trying to find birthday cake candles.

It was faintly confusing as I had lots of free time so I made some novelty cup cakes and still had a clean kitchen when everyone arrived, it was amazing!

Wow this is inspiring and very much not where my life is right now! Which things made the biggest difference @CornedBeef451? what kind of areas are worth focussing on the most?

@Realfastfoodie I think anything helps really!

I guess visible places make the most impact, so in my case I can easily not see long standing piles of clutter so chucking pretty much all of that was a big help.

Also making sure everything has a place. I like the slob comes clean question, where would I look for this first? It makes it easy to put things away and I actually have room to put things away easily and so does everyone else who lives here, not that they always do!

(Although on another thread I just admitted I didn't know where my ironing board was, I have since found it and it was in the first place I looked!)

I think I just had to accept I can't cope with much stuff and so kept getting rid of things until it became easier, Minimal Mom calls it your clutter threshold.

It is really worth doing but it is an ongoing project, it's very easy for things to build up again.

19 more sewing items wrapped up ready to post, plus the box they were in. Total is 846

This is the next two lots below, in case anyone is interested. All free. Thread reels various colours, elastic, various thickness binding, hooks and eyes. If anyone wants it PM me your address

We solved this problem by getting rid of the ironing board! 😁 just use the table with an ironing cover when we iron things (about once a year!)

@Realfastfoodie I'd bin it as I never iron but DH seems to think we should keep it for the rare occasion he has to iron a shirt!

@CornedBeef451 Seriously I’m finding your experience quite inspiring. I want to live more like this… knowing where things are rather than wasting time trying to find things!

Another 12 items for the fabric recycling.
Total 593 items.

Another little declutter. One used up biro binned, three empty boxes recycled. Total is 850. Getting rid of some sewing stuff has made a difference to the cupboard, it looks full but tidy now, not chaotically mixed up with things shoved anywhere and everywhere like it did before because there was too much to fit properly. I reorganised it today so I can find whatever I need easily

Huge amount of cardboard packaging out of the door today from a couple of flat packs. I’m only counting it as 1, but am on my lunch break so about to drop off the charity /fabric recycling stuff!

Woohoo! Another 56 items gone to fabric recycling/charity! 😁😁😁

Which brings my July total over 200!

219 total for July
657 total

Another 40 sewing items packaged up ready to send off. One empty tin used as packaging. Total is 891

Great job @IndianSummer78 🎉

70 more things out today. Going through old school uniform. I thought I had kept the boys old school shirts but I haven't found them yet so I think there is going to be more to throw out yet. Its all going to the clothing bank. Or recycling bin if its tatty.

I'm packing for our first holiday abroad in 6 years and I have lost quite a few new items I bought for the kids that I haven't found yet. So dispite getting tid of lots, it's still chaos here

Need to do a proper update ,it’s been a while but just wanted to put here that we have decluttered 1 bigger item today ; DS little Topper was sold for quite a good amount and picked up too ! 2 more boats to go but one needs fixing a bit , and one cleaning and pictures taken off . It isn’t in as good condition either so needs careful explaining of that . DH thinks it’s still sellable so will advertise it hopefully later this summer. Progress in any case !

Well done that’s a huge declutter @Nordicmom !

Don’t lose heart @IncessantNameChanger - you are making such progress!

@Realfastfoodie this getting rid of the boats has been on my to do list for a long time but we were keeping them incase our younger daughter was ever interested in doing the summer sailing competitions like our son but she’s not . After he finished sailing his Topper at 14 there was the pandemic and here we are 4 y after . DH has sold some other ones in the meantime from his parents house . Some of his dad’s old ones and his bikes , his own old bikes , kids ones , a motorcycle in the past ,a couple of cars too. I just have to get him into action that’s the problem and that takes nagging . Then when he gets around to it things can happen quite quickly and often quite painlessly . Now there’s the two more boats left , and a camera or two and lenses to sell since he bought new ones a while ago . He has even found a place to sell to just has to decide which ones . I’ll have to nag at him to get these done . It’s annoying but I feel like otherwise he won’t get around to it .
I do have a few pairs of new designer shoes and bags and clothes I need to sell to be fair which I just have to get around to as well . I think I will ship them all off to Vestiere Collection or something since I don’t have the time or energy lll be happy just to get rid of and get something for them .
Will update with my latest list a bit later . Adding 2-4 kids too small wetsuits at least . The long ones are having their last use right now on our holiday …

Finally decided to let go of a blazer that I previously decluttered then rescued again. It's too small and also was a mistake purchase that I just can't imagine wearing with anything I own

I went through all those blazers again, this time not from a size/fit perspective since that didn't work last time and I brought them all back in. I looked at them based on which ones felt like "me" and identified four more that I probably wouldn't miss. I've still kept them for now though. They match my winter clothes, so I might see if I wear any of them this winter and if not they can go

Also got rid of one long cardigan that doesn't hang nicely on me

Total is 893

Good idea @IndianSummer78! The test I’m using for clothes (because I’m pregnant and have no idea what size I’ll be next year) is “Is this really really useful? And if not, do I really really love it?”

I’m taking a day off to sort a bunch on things today. Not just decluttering, but tidying and sorting too and all those jobs that don’t get done.

I’ve been wondering how @heartbroken22 is. I hope all is well x

A good day yesterday - three toddler toys to the charity shop; sorted through DD’s old board books and have 18 to go to the charity shop; and got out DD’s old dolls pushchair which can also be donated after it’s been cleaned.

I also went through a load of stuff that’s been wedged behind a set of shelves (there’s a gap between the shelves and the wall due to some boxed-in pipes). It was mostly random creations from the toddler years and some packaging, so that’s all been binned/ recycled. One of those things where we’ve put stuff behind there ‘for now’ and never dealt with it - need to stop doing that!