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.

Love this. Hope you can find your sanity again soon…

Well done. I know this is one of your big focuses, it sounds like you are making amazing progress.

Hi, I’m new here. I had a big declutter a year ago. However, some of the motivation was moving stuff to accommodate the visiting German exchange student. Also, since then my dear father has passed away so I have lots of extra jobs winding up his estate/probate.

Looking on the bright side - I had to make room for the paperwork from my father. He was well organised and his organisation of photos has helped me to start on sorting out our photo mountain.

Looking ahead - we plan a new boiler in October. It’s going to be located in a different place. Three things to aim for 1. Good access in the room where works will happen. 2.Re-homing linen until work and carpentry are complete. 3. Loose 1/2 an airing cupboard, gain a cupboard where existing boiler is and make sure that’s a declutter win win

Welcome @New2024 good luck with the work. We extended our house about 5 years ago. We didn't live there at the time but it's stressful. The dust is still in some places to this date so you have a good plan.

Thanks @Realfastfoodie I don't feel like I'm doing well. Swimming in circles right now. I think all the SEN stress has caught up with me. I was trying to scroll through ds paper EHCP with my finger just now.

So much of my problem is life and kids not turning out as I planned. Dd is the only girl and youngest of four. Not very girly girl. But has lots of nice clothes. She has been this size for about two years so I was just buying stuff on auto pilot.

I bought her some jeans on Vinted today. She never wears them but likes to fit in on mufti days. Feel guilty. I want a nice capsule wardrobe for her but I'm incapable.

I need to remember my pfb was a school refuser but has still been offered a Russel group uni.

I just want them all tiny again. I hate change

One pile of wooden sticks binned. Goodness knows what they were being saved for! Total is 1907

I'm trying to give a mirror away and gosh people have been messing me about, 3rd time lucky today hopefully.

Thank you IncessantNameChanger. I’m certain I will find something to keep worrying about despite pacing myself and planning. Our house is a cottage with little scope for further extension but we always have a lot of stuff on the to do list as older property.

Can I ask contributors here if they find themselves buying storage with thoughts of how to use it and then not getting to the specific job it was supposed to be for anywhere near as fast as hoped for?

Today is a work from home day so I’m eyeing up a little job for post work. So one of my recent storage purchases has been a wrapping paper storage bag. So the job is - top of the gap between wardrobe and wall where the wrapping is. Paper recycling bin emptied yesterday so 👍🏼

The seemingly-never-ending repair work which our freeholder is doing to our block of flats has reached the stage of painting and renovating the balconies, so DP and I have taken off the old screening and trellis which the previous owners put up for privacy. Also swept it down and emptied the old yucky sand from the mini sand/water pit we have out there. Once the painting is finished we'll take most of the stuff out there to the tip, clean down the outdoor table and chairs which are still out there and get new cushions for the chairs.

We might replace the trellis which they attached to the top of the balcony rail, as it's quite low and the DC are still small-ish. Have two bags of textile recycling and one for the charity shop but can never seem to muster up the time or the energy to actually get them out of the house 😩

Can I ask contributors here if they find themselves buying storage with thoughts of how to use it and then not getting to the specific job it was supposed to be for anywhere near as fast as hoped for?

Story of my life!

3 x Vinted parcels posted

• cat to vet, dog walked. Time for a sit down before a work meeting and school govs visit and mums taxi service later. Not so much a day off really!

269+3=272

51. Pair of outgrown wellies
52. A slipper sock. Just one.

I think I know the answer to this...
I graduated from a vocational course 25 😱 years ago. I still have my notes/handouts in the loft. I should get rid of them shouldn't I?

@TheWayBackHome i think you can safely part with those!

exercise mat thing collected

272+1=273

plus there is some interest I the last 2 dance costumes on vinted
and I’ve decided to part with a pair of heels I never wear - I hardly wear heels anyway and never pick these ones. So will list on Vinted soon.

Tried to go to the tip.
Its closed on Wednesdays. I know that....

@New2024 im sorry for your loss. It sounds like you’re doing well with decluttering and you have some deadlines which should give you purpose. I seem to have been aimlessly decluttering forever. In answer to your question about storage I’m sure I got bored with buying clothes 25 years ago and replaced that activity with researching and buying storage items. I’m selling / donating loads of them because I don’t need them. I actually find simple things like plastic food bags in a drawer are as handy as a professional solution. So I have a wires / small electronics drawer with a bag of camera wires, two or three phone wires, generic chargers. USB sticks, camera memory sticks. It probably looks crap but is really organised.

@IncessantNameChanger im sorry things are hard for you, you’re doing really well with dd’s stuff. It was lovely to read about the success of your eldest son. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned on Mumsnet before but I have had problems with both dc school refusing so I love to hear examples of success. Dd1 is now back at school and doing ok bur they go from ‘ok’ to ‘overwhelm’ so quickly.

@TheWayBackHome I threw out all my uni notes but kept the assignments as they fitted in a small plastic folder. I’m probably ready to throw them out but I have other areas I’m focusing on now.

im still waiting for people to get back to me about taking furniture, car batteries, other metal stuff, video games. I’m currently having a break from the artwork to declutter / organise my computer and emails. My photos are in lots of folders so I want to organise them and back them up.

Can I join in, please? We have to move/downsize in a couple of months, so need to do some some robust decluttering.

So far I have got rid of unwanted books and CDs through WeBuyBooks and have taken a dozen bags to various charity shops.

I dread attacking DS' room, though. Any tips to get a grumpy teenager to cooperate?

Yup. And also giving up on complex storage that is meant to help in favour of going back to basics.

Hi @GlassOfPort - no tips from me. I need similar tips for recalcitrant toddler! 😅

@TheWayBackHome - yup, those can go!

No major progress here but helped DD go through her arts and crafts bits the other day (initiated by her!) and managed to sneak a few bits out I knew she wouldn't miss, and consolidate some bits into better storage.

Really busy with work atm so struggling to find the time and Toss keeps giving me areas that don't need a lot of work. Fridge shelf I managed to get rid of a few condiments, but the fridge is fairly organised anyway. It just gave me books which are pretty organised too, or at least look neat on the shelf Feel obliged to have a scan of what's there though, just in case, so end up stuck on that task for a while!

I have a few books to declutter but I'm stumped because the charity shop doesn't want them and there's not enough for online shops to buy. So they just float around....

For decluttering with teenagers, someone said that money works best, so if you can afford it and are willing, you could entice your teen to declutter by promising them an item they've been wanting. It's the old "you can't have anything new till something old goes" -ruse.

It's been a busy week here too. All I decluttered was a pile of kids art, including a pasta necklace that I'm pretty sure mice had nibbled, plus 2 more tealights that smell bad, a picture frame I broke and a scrunchie I lost. Pretty sure those count as I'm not replacing them. Oh, and sold a t-shirt on vinted for £1.50 😂

Total is 318

Hi please can I join this thread! We desperately need to de-clutter! We've started, but I find it so difficult to part with things, and our house has zero storage areas (no closets etc)

Today I a binned a pair of knickers that had suddenly fallen apart at the seams! I think for me, organising is going to be as important as de-cluttering. Stuff is just all over the place, not organised. I cant find anything.
Progress is slow lol, however it is better than standing still or going backwards, and I actually do feel a small sense of "space opening up" where "stuff" used to be

@Pigtailsandall i had books like that - I gave them to a "little library" nearby, are there any near you?

Pigtails paperbacks can go into the paper recycling

Welcome to all the newbies.

One smashed glass binned. Seems to be a theme. Wondering what else I'm going to break before the week is out. Total is 1908

@Pigtailsandall - are these guys operating in your area? I know a few people who have used them for collecting things and they definitely take books. https://anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/what-we-collect/