Decluttering thread 7 - as the days lengthen we’ll feel more motivated to declutter

[stealthninjamum]

Sorry for the long thread title, I’ve just seen that the old thread has reached 1,000 posts.

For newbies this thread and the old one a day threads are for a group of mumsnetters who are decluttering. We’ll share tips and advice and inevitably the conversation moves on to organisation tips, pretty storage solutions and persuading our families to join in.

We’re all at different stages of decluttering so join us for support and chat.

Out this week:

Scarf
2 winter hats
26 items of baby clothes
Pjs
T-shirt
Trunks
Wetsuit
5 items of DP's clothing
Pregnancy band
Coat
Hot water bottle cover
Jumper

Total for the year so far 556

67. Some outgrown clothes to the charity bag when sorting clean washing

I've decided the exercise bike needs to go. Its just in the way.

I wish she’d decluttered BoJo when she’d had the chance. Yes, I don’t share her politics but like that she owned that label too.

Second accidental declutter of the day as one of my favourite mugs just suddenly has a huge leak-springing crack all down the side. I was making a cup of tea and getting really confused as to why the work surface and then the floor were getting wet.

Making some progress in our loft and successfully giving some bits away thank goodness. Will do a round-up tomorrow or Monday.

Thank you so much for recommending Dana K White, she's brilliantly encouraging and practical.

With one of her upbeat audiobooks playing I'm making progress little by little and facing my uncomfortable relationship with 'stuff'.

Using Dana's method I managed to declutter a small annoying area in my kitchen/family room thats been bugging me for months. It's given me confidence to start on a slightly larger and even more annoying corner and another donation bag is filling up!

Used up a foot cream. I'm now down to one in use and one spare, for those - success! Total is 1933

Keep at it Bean, it does get easier. My own difficult relationship with stuff improved so much in 2023 since joining this thread.

I’ve recovered from my cold, but passed it onto DH, who has been ill all week. I feel shattered from a busy week at work and doing everything at home. On the plus side, DH has been decluttering the several half-used packets of lemsip that I found when I cleared out the medicine cabinet!

Today I’m planning to reorganise the linen cupboard after making space in it last week. I also need to email a local charity about taking some of the baby stuff - two boxes of clothes, pushchair, and stairgate. I’ve been putting off doing it for ages, even though I’m fine with the idea of them going.

I also need to sort out my Vinted account as I have a few things to sell. I downloaded the app and set an account up last year, but it won’t let me log in for some reason.

9 items sold and posted on eBay
2 placemats out
Computer game out

Total for year 568

I feel like I’ve slightly lost track and i think my annual total needs adding up again, but these are my march outs so far

March - 37
2 boxes full of breast pump/ bottle accessories
1 mug
9 electrical recycling
1 bag of train stuff to nursery
2 magazines
12 kitchen declutter and broken glass
6 anti-tipping kits
4 bits of paperwork and old memory stuff (groups of stuff, not individual pieces of paper!)

well done everyone

I've decluttered all the dust from the new room ready for decorating next week. Also thrown away a holey tshirt.

I have a tricky corner in the kitchen where snacks get dumped, I can't seem to organise this in a way that my partner and son keep it tidy. Any ideas ladies?

One book finished and added to the donations pile along with a sweatshirt with too-short sleeves. Total is 1935

I did a very satisfying reorganisation of the linen cupboard (half a built-in wardrobe with those wire pull-out shelves) yesterday - took everything out, sorted it by type, then decided on the best way to store it instead of just randomly putting stuff where we had space.

Top shelf that I can’t reach - baby blankets and linens from my mum’s house (including some hand-embroidered tablecloths that were my grandma’s)

Next shelf: towels (two bath towels each plus two hand towels for the bathroom) and flannels (two each) so there is one set in use and one set in the cupboard. Plus the shower curtains.

Next two shelves: double bedding, which is now down to three sets (one in use and two in the cupboard) - duvet cover, sheets, and pillowcases. Also mattress and pillow protectors (one set in use and one set in the cupboard).

Next shelf: single bedding including mattress and pillow protectors (three sets of bedding, two sets of protectors).

Bottom shelf: tea towels and hand towels for the kitchen at the front, and behind them are the old towels (fraying) and a couple of baby towels (far too small now) that I couldn’t quite manage to get rid of right now … so not a complete decluttering success! But I have created more space by getting rid of one set of bedding, and it looks much nicer, so I’m pleased with myself and had to share it all with you 😊

Oh thank you @Realfastfoodie that's really sweet. I'm always finding good tips and motivation from everyone on this thread.

Not much out, just a few random bits but it all helps; two cleaning cloths, a broken LED candle, a handful of bad hairbands and a very old bag of ground almonds in compost. Year total is 338

Thanks @stealthninjamum for the “tidy-up Tetris” concept. I think that’s crystallised an idea for me - I’m currently attempting to collect a few types of items just into random boxes (eg usb cables). I don’t know how many of these we have, in fact we probably have too many, and they probably shouldn’t live in a box that big, but it will help us for now.

@IncessantNameChanger - 32 items! Wow! I need to get listing!

@Realfastfoodie i like A slob comes clean’s idea of putting something in the correct place when you find it so if you find a cable, stop what you’re doing and put it away - and this week she suggested timing how quick it is - it’s always quicker than you think. It seems inefficient to stop a job eg cleaning the kitchen to find a wire and put it away in the study but since I’ve been doing it I find less crap in drawers. And it’s easier to get rid of something when you know for sure that you’ve got four rather than ‘I’m sure I’ve seen a wire, hmmm can’t remember where, better not throw this one out’

I havent been doing much decluttering, but today I’m planning on spending 30 mins in the Room of Doom and 30 mins in the playroom. I’ve had a coffee and breakfast made by dd1 so it’s an awesome Mother’s Day already. Dd2 will forget and get upset if I remind her so we’re going to pretend it’s a normal day.

yesterday I went on a walk with dd1 and the bottoms of my running trainers fell off. They’re being binned and not replaced so it’s an out. I bought them 15 years ago but I have other running trainers and walking boots.

I've been out of the loop for a while, just not had the time or energy recently! Just caught up with the thread though, everyone is doing so well.

Yesterday finally made some more progress! Cleared DD's desk in the living room - on top, in the drawers and then in the box files next to it as well. So now she's got an organised art trolley and desk to work on, and the box files are labeled so that will help with making quick decisions about what to keep when we tidy in the future. Also went through the 'bar' shelf and got rid of 3 bottles that won't be drunk. The living room is actually really clear now as I've done loads of different areas, but I feel like I need a day doing a clockwork declutter to catch all of the areas I've missed.

Wondering what to do about books. We've got a small-ish book shelf full which fits the decor of the room and isn't overflowing either. It's very organised tbh, and looks nice! So can't decide if it's worth going through and getting rid of at least the novels I know I won't read again. Hmm... thoughts welcome!

@daffodil2023 - I like books, I like reading. I’m not going to apologise for having a lot of books. If you like them and they have a place to live which doesn’t cause you problems, then they aren’t clutter imo

Two tops a pair of jeans and two books in the charity bag

Re books. If you’re not going to read again then I’d maybe thing about donating them.

We got a new ottoman bed this week so hopefully our bedroom will be tidier now we can now put more under the bed. Dd was suspended again. Got emergency annual review this week for her so I'm just going to tidy, organise and be kind to myself

@IncessantNameChanger Im sorry to hear about dd. I hope the emergency annual review goes well and you all get some support.

@daffodil2023 i would say that the books aren’t a problem but it you can literally pull a couple of the shelf with no thought than why not? I’m assuming we all want to get to the stage where decluttering isn’t a painful process and we do it as we go so this is like that.

I’ve spent an hour in the playroom and reunited some toys and games parts. So far I have just found one board game to go which doesn’t feel like much. I also realised I have two potato mashers so one is going.

@stealthninjamum @ememem84 @Realfastfoodie thanks all - I'm going to have a look but not put pressure on myself to get rid of any of them. I expect there are a few tatty old novels I won't miss though, so I can replace those gaps with nice new books stored on my bedside table

Hi I'm quite a long time lurker on these threads but have never posted but looking for advice...

I use this thread to motivate me with decluttering and have recently decluttered my kitchen, but all the stuff ready for the charity shop is now sat in my 3 month olds bedroom,which I really need to clear and decorate in the next 2 months. This is because I have ran out of containers to take things to the charity shop in. I feel like over the past 6 months I have given the charity shop so so many bags for life and I really don't want to keep buying them just to take stuff to the charity shop in, but alot of the items are too bulky for the cheaper plastic bags, and then I probably need to purchase bubble wrap too?

So advice on what you put items in to get them to the charity shop please. The constant need for containers is really slowing down my declutterinh journey :(

Gosh, I wish I could send you some of my bags - I've got so many all bundled into one! I also use boxes that come with the dog food in and amazon subscriptions and have also done bin bags with clothes before. I think you can get banana boxes and cardboard ones from supermarkets still?

It really annoys me the amount I spend on carrier bags to take things to the charity shop. Last week I saw someone with a binbag taking a huge amount of stuff in and you could probably use either a fruit box or a wine box. I get them from Sainsbury’s. The wine boxes are particularly good if you are packing a load of books and sending to ziffit or we buy books.