Anyone want to join a decluttering and cleaning thread?

[QwertyWitch]

I want to get my house clean, decluttered and organised before school starts in September.
I started on the shelves in the living room today which are meant to be for some books and ornaments but have become filled with random paper and objects.
This seems to be the case everywhere I look!
Time to tackle it.

Vets often like old bedding and duvets.

Thanks @4YOWoe, I may stick to barter books and use the credit for what the kids want when we are there or invest in a more special expensive book from them.

It's actually a bit easier as you just plonk them on the counter and they go and do the work for you and and tea room is fabulous!

I've cleared out a lot of old stuff stuffed into boxes and stuffed under the bed and wardrobe. A few good vinted pieces that will be worth while selling. Plus X3 pairs of shoes in boxes never worn (mine, DH and a toddler pair.)

One bin bag gone if rubbish and the growing stack of books.

Not so much today, although I did clear a pile of post that I had been ignoring for a long time.

One more item has sold on EBay and I am impatiently waiting for another to sell (4 watchers + offer sent) so that I can take it to the drop-off in one go.

How's everyone doing today?
I might tackle another small pile of paperwork.

I need to join you all. House is getting me down. I have a reasonable amount of motivation but also a job that takes up a lot of my time, a DC with SEN and a totally disinterested DH who hates to throw anything away.

it feels so overwhelming. We have a tiny house with hardly any storage. But given, that’s not going to change any time soon, I need to figure a way out of this mess.
it’s not just the look of things, it’s the fact that I can’t find anything etc etc that means everything takes longer …,

I've stalled. Feeling overwhelmed. I've done all the easy stuff. I might just read and wait for inspiration i hit me. If I read some of the home interiors magazines that are laying around I can recycle them afterwards.

I'll be getting home today and want to get cracking but can't! My mum will be staying with us for a fortnight, so will need to sort out her room as we hadn't planned for this visit then will have limited chance until she goes home. But I will try to do a wee bit every day!

We’re back from holiday so I’m keen to get going with the decluttering. I went through my jewellery box earlier and decluttered and re-organised it, found 9 things to go.

Also decided to get rid of one of our items of luggage we took away - it’s a massive bag that’s impractical to carry; I’ve been wondering about ditching it for a while but needed to give it one last outing to check how I felt about it!

I often find that happens with things - if I’ve thought about getting rid of something before, then that’s usually what ends up happening. I need to trust my first instincts more!

I don't think there's any harm in testing things in different situations/uses? That can be quite productive at times.

We had an old laptop bag that belonged to a smaller laptop (since sold). However, it turned out to be the perfect size for carrying music books to instrument lessons - I had been thinking of buying a new bag for that purpose.

How many towels do you think a person needs??

Was it Nana in 'Ballet Shoes' who said, 'One on, one off and one in the wash'?

Plus a small pile of stained ones for floods, spills and disasters?

Today: I managed to sort out more papers. Filed lots and lots in recycling.
Three of my listings have sold on Ebay, so hopefully out of the house tomorrow.

In the face of an utter lack of interest in local selling groups I have clicked the 'Marketplace' option on my Facebook item.

I’m away on hols at the moment. Being in a beautiful holiday home with minimal decor and everything crisply white always makes me want to throw everything we own in the bin and start afresh 😞

A dozen books dropped off at the charity shop. Started a third bin bag of clothes, and will be putting those ( and hopefully more) in the car to drop off at the weekend.

@BrutusMcDogface I like the sound of that, it must be very calming.

I have had some weird virus/bug thing so apart my initial wave of enthusiasm last weekend I’ve done absolutely nothing! Am feeling a bit better now so I’ll start with the decluttering again tomorrow. Good news is, I listed a few things on Vinted and some have sold.

I sorted out the spare room. Books and magazines, bedding and blankets, desk. Cleaning and reorganization mostly, not much decluttered.

I did another day of sorting through old toys, managed to declutter a six box kallax unit down to one box. Have got 2 smaller units to do today and then I need to find a charity shop with space to take all the stuff!

Tackled another corner of the living room today. It's looking vastly better in general but this particular area has been transformed from an awful heap into something rather more aesthetically pleasing.

New to the thread but I tackled the kids toy area today and it's looking great with fewer toys and big labelled baskets, Now to tackle the big pile of toys in purgatory .

Welcome BigGreen!

I made some progress, although not what I expected. An unanticipated washing-machine leak saw my DH pulling armfuls of items out of the adjacent sink-cupboard, which meant that I needed to take everything out and give it a much needed sort through. Quite a few things went in the bin or general recycling, a couple of large cloth ‘bags for life’ and a few other items went out to textile recycling this morning.

My three ebay items are still sitting neatly lined up on the bed (sorry buyers!) so I will definitely get those off today.

Have now finished the toy sort out! 2 bin bags of stuff to be chucked and 2 bin bags for charity/after school club! My bedroom is no longer the overflow toy storage space 😊.
Next job is the dining room of doom 😱

Finally sorted through our tupperware cupboard today. Previously it was likely that things would fall on your head when you opened it, and get you could still never find a lid!

Now it's nice and neat and I've freed up a shelf that the toaster can now live on as we don't use it enough to keep it on the surface really.

I have had to take some time out from decluttering and sorting, as I was getting so stressed out with it that it was affecting my productivity.

Instead, I’ve had a few little trips out with my family, and have been reading through my cook books and experimenting, which I find incredibly relaxing and enjoyable.

All I have done since I last posted in terms of decluttering is to clear off the tops of my kitchen cabinets - so much old and out of date stuff.

I’ve also painted the built in cupboard in my children’s bedroom - almost done. Have to give one set of a doors a second coat of paint, and then add the new door knobs. They’re looking a lot more contemporary now.

I've been through the coat cupboard, which also contains my handbags. Nothing to declutter but everything now has a suitable hook. Discovered the moths have unfortunately been at one of my most useful coats, luckily it's not too noticeable.