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.

Didn’t make it up to the attic today but went through the books In DD room and brought some down to the living room from her full nightstand, and from a basket in the bookcase ( science ones all in one place now ) . We found a few more to go . DH sold his dad’s binoculars for a surprisingly good amount so will ship them of tomorrow . He has gotten my son’s boat completely ready to sell now has to find a place to do that . He brought more of his dad’s camera stuff over to sell ;1 camera and more lenses I think . There’s several of our kids bikes at his parents house that need to go too but the boat is a priority now since it’s such a big thing . It’s all progress though and I
like that !
Out today :

• 1 my book
• 1 old reading light
• 1 bookmark
• 6 books , some to charity ,a few to recycling ( paperbacks)
• 1 book back to grandma’s
• 1 DD stained t-shirt

Always forget my total ! It is 1055

Also realised that soon I’ll have a bit of a task in going through all of DS stuff he’ll bring back from uni for over the summer inc kitchen stuff and of course a mountain of clothes since he has to move out of the halls end of June I think . Moving into a new place in the fall so we’ll have to store everything in the meantime . Thank god for the attic !!! I expect there’ll be a bunch of outs inc clothes definitely and stuff that’s gotten destroyed by now we’ll have to replace .

Sorry to hear about the flooding @Realfastfoodie - that must be so stressful 😞

I’ve had a few outs this week as we finally managed to drop off a load of baby stuff to a local charity.

Monday - cleared the top of DD’s chest of drawers and threw out random bits of paper/ stickers etc

Tuesday - Toddler-sized play tent collected after being put on FB marketplace last week.

Yesterday - all these items taken to local charity:

• 3 baby play mats
• 2 cot sheets
• 1 summer cot duvet
• 2 sets of Moses basket bedding
• 1 potty
• 1 pushchair
• 1 stairgate

I’d been very much focusing on how I felt about donating baby and toddler stuff, with my regret about not having a second, and had assumed that DH was fine with getting rid of it. However, he did say yesterday that he felt a bit sad seeing these things going. It was reassuring to know it wasn’t just me.

Even after 3 DC I felt twinges getting rid of baby stuff. Whatever reasons you have for not having more babies, it signifies the end of a stage of life. Moving on to not being a mum of babies.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures - make some decisions on what is going where; all at least downstairs together for us to look through
2. Take sentimental broken wooden box to a friend who says he’ll try and repair it
3. DS2 paperwork: started blue badge

Not quite outs yet:
more stuff on Vinted - some of DD’s better stuff to list on there (need to take photos and list approx 5 items) - 2 SOLD & POSTED
21 items in a Music Magpie box but waiting for password reset email to actually confirm sale - system is not working for me - need to try this again
old ironing board - this Friday
3 x old duvets to find a home for
butterfly growing net thing on FB
11 clarinet books on FB
karaoke machine, microphones & cds to list on FB

Out:
2 Vinted sales
outgrown school blazer passed along
847+3=850

If I’m going to get to 2024, I’m on track so far in the year, end of May should be 844. Do wonder if I can keep finding stuff to leave, you’d think it would start running out!

One plastic toy and it's accessory. Total is 2218

Yes it's always hard getting rid of baby / kids stuff. It's like closing a chapter of your life.

Three pairs of earrings and one large empty cardboard box. Total is 2222

We collect egg boxes for no reason. 59 out.

Lots more sales on Vinted, I keep listing a handful of things and then someone buys it all - bit weird but efficient for posting I suppose. I'm also intrigued that 90% of my sales go to Bristol, Devon and Kent - I'm in the North East and I sometimes think Vinted are maximising the distance to maximise the postage fees . . .

695 out, I'm going to the rag bank on the way home to make it 700 at the end of May!

Three baby carriers out yesterday - I offered them on FB and they’ve gone to the local sling library. I’ve also had a couple of suggestions for charities to take the baby clothes, so I’ll contact them today.

@IncessantNameChanger does your daughter have a hanging rail in her wardrobe? With dd2 we have a system whereby I put all clean clothes on the left side of the hanging rail so that we know the clothes on the right are the ones she doesn’t wear. Perhaps if you did that with dd you’d be able to wait a couple of months and then declutter the ones she doesn’t wear. This was dd2s idea and it helps us to declutter her clothes.

Half term is nearly ending thank God. My cleaner was sick so it got into a state. I’ve spent my morning getting it back on track but haven’t done any decluttering this week other than replacing flat pillows and organising someone to take the final batch of crap from the garage. There are a few things that haven’t sold so I’m putting them on trash nothing. They include a bicycle and helmet and wetsuit.

Thanks for the good wishes. We are all ok and things could be a lot worse! I really need to use this as a springboard for sorting things but we will be moving out for a bit and chaos in the mean time.

I need to do a big push….!

One blanket, one pair of baby bloomers and one stuffed toy are today's outs. Total is 2225

I've been a bit awol - we went to Scotland for a week and got back this morning. For some reason we all felt like getting the house in order, even dc played nicely alone and found a bouncy stringy thing to get rid of 😃 dh did a big food shop, I put the laundry on and tidied. Then dh tidied his office and binned some stuff - 5 items in total - and even decided he would fo another pass at his old t-shirts tomorrow. I'm very impressed. He really wants a nice capsule wardrobe.

Out today: stringy toy, 5 things from dh office, holey socks, shampoo which I hated, body wash which ditto - I couldn't stand, set of thank you stickers, a legoland badge.
785

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures - make some decisions on what is going where; all at least downstairs together for us to look through; have started going through them & ordered shelves for some
2. Take sentimental broken wooden box to a friend who says he’ll try and repair it
3. DS2 paperwork: started blue badge

Not quite outs yet:
more stuff on Vinted - some of DD’s better stuff to list on there (need to take photos and list)
21 items in a Music Magpie box but waiting for password reset email to actually confirm sale - system is not working for me - need to try this again
old ironing board - this Friday - GONE ✅
3 x old duvets to find a home for
butterfly growing net thing on FB
11 clarinet books on FB
karaoke machine, microphones & cds to list on FB - Listed & GONE ✅

Out:
850+1+6

@Realfastfoodie im sorry to hear about that, it sounds so stressful.

Today I threw away a document folder that had a dead spider in it. I shook the spider out but if left a mark and I feel terribly ungreen but it made me feel ill.

I was thinking of starting a new thread if I get time and I wondered if we could call ourselves a name. It used to be ‘one thing a day threads’ but most of us weren’t doing that. Can anyone think of a name that makes us sound cool? (I realise that might be hard!)

And I’m really happy if someone else wants to start it too.

One stuffed toy going. Total is 2226

Over the past week we've been trying to clear more stuff out as we had the health visitor coming so wanted to make the house more presentable. There's still far too much stuff but it looks better. DP has taken a load of stuff to the tip and to the donation point there:

89 CDs
DP's suit
Kids wellies
Book x2
Jigsaw
Router
Freeview box x2
Pram cover
Xmas bag
Storage bag
Framed picture
Canvas picture never opened
Photo frame
20 ornaments
40 cosmetics
14 pieces of jewellery
3 make up bags
Lamp
Cat litter tray
Automatic pet feeder x2
Scart lead
Aerial cable
Mugs x2
Part of a drum kit
Hydration pack
Baby shoes
Fruit bowl
Extension lead
Blanket
Pet items x3
Thigh exerciser
Xmas decoration
Book bag
Box of stationery
Hair straighteners
Set of radiator valves
Large baby toy
Baby feeding sets x2
Baby toys x 21
Large soft toy
Top n tail baby bowl
Packs of new tights x2
Board game
Baby cot mattress
Potty
Electronic cat groomer
Coat hooks
Motorbike gloves
Holiday souvenirs
Pram umbrella
Baby gym
Baby mobile
Baby cushion
Car seat liners x2
Flip flops
Baby gloves given to SIL
High chair given to SIL
Pair of my boots
Kids shoes
DP's crocs
DP's shoes x4
DP's wellies
Baby toys x7 given to SIL
Baby car seat liner given to SIL
Baby play mat given to SIL
Baby feeding pots x6 given to SIL

I've also had another 13 sales on eBay. Just started selling on Vinted a few days ago and have had 2 sales so far.

Honestly don't understand how all that crap could be just laying around the house and we didn't even know most of it was still there. It felt good to get rid of all the baby stuff we no longer need. Surely we can't find much more!

Total for year 1121

Got a load of stuff over to the charity shop today which has felt great!

7 puzzles
A bag of clothes that hadn't sold on Vinted in the last year.
Carrier bag of kids shoes
Massive bag of carrier bags, still keep finding carrier bags everywhere though!

Worn out knickers and face mask gone. Total is 2228

@PissedOffNeighbour22 well done on all that work pre HV visit (remember though they are not there to judge your house and won’t know the difference!) 👏

I have a few days off so hoping to get some big stuff done.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures - make some decisions on what is going where; all at least downstairs together for us to look through; have started going through them & ordered shelves for some; put up shelves hopefully and put smaller photos/pictures on them
2. Take sentimental broken wooden box to a friend who says he’ll try and repair it
3. DS2 paperwork: started blue badge
4. clear out summerhouse/shed - Started today

Not quite outs yet:
more stuff on Vinted - some of DD’s better stuff to list on there (need to take photos and list) - crack on with this
21 items in a Music Magpie box but waiting for password reset email to actually confirm sale - system is not working for me - need to try this again
3 x old duvets to find a home for - need to contact local dog charity place
butterfly growing net thing on FB
11 clarinet books on FB
box of crap from the summerhouse to go through - currently in my living room!

Out:
approx 20 shells returned to the beach from the summerhouse!
857+20=877

@LivingInaBuiltSite no they never care about the state of the house but pretending they might did help us shift a load of stuff 😄. It's the last time they'll visit as it was for my sons's 2yr check so I'll need to find another reason for another massive clear out.

We're on holiday next week then I'm working away so it might be a while before I can find the time to keep decluttering.

@PissedOffNeighbour22 that's a fantastic effort. I know that health visitors don't care about the state of the house, but I personally feel so much more confident and relaxed when people visit and the house is clean and decluttered.

I have started a new thread

Decluttering and organising thread 8 – it’s nearly summer | Mumsnet

Thanks @stealthninjamum. My DD who is 4 said the house is so much tidier and she prefers it 😄

I still don't understand quite how we've managed to own so much stuff that's unnecessary. Every time I think it's getting better we find yet more stuff that we forgot we had.

I keep hoping that once we've finished the renovation of the stairs/landing/hallway we will be able to have a clear out of some more stuff, but the project seems never ending.

fell off. this weeks decluttering.

• all of my cardboard boxes went to the dc's school for ds's class to build a castle. win.
• i've got 15 things for boots recycling which i will take tomorrow
• one huge primark bag to charity shop.
• binned a load of plastic.
• the dc have new shoes so the old ones are out of here.
• have a stack of returns to take back tomorrow. win.
• and i've just decluttered the dc's art cart. so much scribbled on paper and pens that dont work. binned.