Decluttering and organising thread 8 – it’s nearly summer

[stealthninjamum]

These threads are accountability threads for mumsnetters who are decluttering and organising our homes.

We’re all at different stages of decluttering from the beginning to the maintenance phase and use different techniques. Join us for support and chat .

We discuss all things to do with decluttering, the things that stop us decluttering, how to get over them, where to dispose of our clutter, how we can encourage our families to join us, and pretty storage solutions which is the fun part.

I’m doing one last big push to get rid of loads of stuff before the long summer holidays when it’ll inevitably turn to chaos again.

Useful tips
Some of us have found the Toss app (on apple) a great place to start with decluttering.

Many of us love Dana K. White (A Slob Comes Clean) on youtube and podcasts.

Many of us at the start just take a timer for 5 or 10 minutes to just make it seem less daunting. I used to start by clearing surfaces.

If you want to make a big impact quickly then increasingly charities will pick up your furniture, books and clothes so you don't even need to leave the house. Or if you have hundreds of books / CDs it's really easy to use the Music Magpie, ziffit or We buy books apps to get them taken away and earn a (very) small amount of money at the same time.

The BBC TV Program Sort Your Life Out is particularly inspiring.

When I do housework I listen to podcasts from a Slob Comes Clean, Clutterbug, the Declutter Hub and The Art of Decluttering. If you think you have ADHD then Clutterbug talks about this a lot as she has ADHD, and Amy from The Art of Decluttering did an ADHD season about 8 or 9 months ago which gave some good tips. My dc have ADHD so it’s something I’m very interested in.

That's really great job from everyone, seems like it was a productive weekend for lots of people! I'm still buying stuff of course (growing DC) but far less than before. The toys seems to get smaller too. we have gotten rid of the bulky toddler toys and now have more lego, games, figurines etc which is nice. So it feels roomier.

I've also worked on reducing my own wardrobe, so I have had 2-3 outs for every in I have had. it's not perfect, and I probably still have too much, but I don't feel terrible about it. I'd like to reduce the overall wardrobe by about 20-30 items so stuff could really "breathe".

DH did some tidying last night and I must say, he is becoming better and better He still struggles with sentimental stuff, but can let go of stuff he thought "might be useful one day" much easier. He got rid of 2 large booklet thingies, which he got at a conference; a supplementary blade to a blender; expired medicated cream; set of bookcovers; broken coat hanger

I also listed and immediately sold a Halloween outfit on Vinted which I will drop off today. Very pleased, even though it's only £3.

Total is 1481. Little short of September goal so need a last push this weekend

@IncessantNameChanger i like that thinking!

DH has gone to the tip but I don’t know everything he’s taken, old bin and lots of cables I think.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures
2. DS2 paperwork: blue badge started
3. my British passport application - need to get on with this
4. garden generally tidied for end of summer - started
5. loads of scout badges onto blanket - 8 left
6. DS1’s room: ongoing…serious cracking on will start tomorrow!
7. bring down the wardrobe for my room, sort my clothes
8. IKEA wardrobe for DD; sort her clothes, her wardrobe to my room for DH

Not quite outs yet: Running leggings to go to a friend - Need to message her to meetup spare tap left from building works - on FB, bumped up knackered suitcase to put on FB - posted old school PE shorts to a friend DD to return borrowed flute to old school, oops Ds1’s army kit back to his old school my long gone mother’s recliner that DS1 was using for gaming 🙄 (need to get downstairs before listing on fb) old duvets bagged up & donated to dog charity - messaged the collecting lady

Out:
7 odd socks to recycling
1 tatty fabric bag to recycling
stained tshirt ditto
random rubbish from DD’s room to bin x 5
old desk organiser to tip
old cat scratcher to tip
old bin
cables x 10
1365+27=1392

One face cream used up. Total is 2798

Lovely early dinner out with friends, posting quickly before I forget what I did earlier.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures
2. DS2 paperwork: blue badge started
3. my British passport application - need to get on with this
4. garden generally tidied for end of summer - started
5. loads of scout badges onto blanket - 8 left
6. DS1’s room: ongoing…serious cracking on will start tomorrow!
7. bring down the wardrobe for my room, sort my clothes
8. IKEA wardrobe for DD; sort her clothes, her wardrobe to my room for DH

Not quite outs yet:
Running leggings to go to a friend - Need to message her to meetup - sent a message
spare tap left from building works - on FB, bumped up
knackered suitcase to put on FB - posted
old school PE shorts to a friend DD
to return borrowed flute to old school, oops
Ds1’s army kit back to his old school - ready at the front door, maybe tomorrow
my long gone mother’s recliner that DS1 was using for gaming 🙄 (need to get downstairs before listing on fb)
old duvets bagged up & donated to dog charity - Collecting lady checking her diary

Out:
15 uni booklets recycled from DS1’s room
15 clothing items into recycling
1392+30=1422

Also went through the clothes from Ds1 to Ds2, then went through DS2’s clothes.

One top and trousers donated, the wrong cut for my body type. Total is 2800

I’m still quietly binning and reading everyone’s posts for motivation. Bin bag of rubbish out the spare room yesterday and tackling understairs cupboard today - three pairs of old boots and three pairs of old flip flops gone in the bin and a pile of shoes to sell for me and my DD… will give them a week or two on vinted which is slowly chipping away.

Just the mountain of bags for life I don’t want to put back in the cupboard.!

4 toys (part of a set) sold.
Duplo set to be listed but am missing 1block! I'm sure it's somewhere - annoying that I can't get it gone yet.

Listed some more things on Vinted, mostly dd outgrown shoes. Sold five things on Vinted. Still not feeling great so not really doing much of anything. I might get dd to try on a few more pairs of shoes that are all size 11. She insists they fit, I can't see how as she said a brand new size 13 schoolbshoes don't fit.

I am toying with buying her some winter boots on vinted but I might not. It's something I always buy but maybe it's not needed?

W/E 22nd September
Decluttered
Master bedroom now very tidy and clean, everything in its place or removed to its new home or in the donation pile. Added a few jobs to DH snagging list and new curtains to my shopping list. I might have a look for a rug for my side of the bed too.

Finally finished digitally decluttering all my passwords so no need to renew my paid for password manager.

Donated
Growing pile of things in study to go to charity shop. Will bag them up ready for when I next go into town.

Binned
2 x pair socks
2 x knickers

Recycling centre
Old metal hanging baskets and brackets
Old petrol can for lawnmower we no longer have!
Bag of plaster
Garden waste
Wine bottles

I should be making a start on the main bathroom but DH is doing some plumbing in there so I am currently working my way round the kitchen.

I'll catch up later but I have 2 conflicting pieces of wisdom I've been meaning to impart;

(1) there's always something that can go when you revisit an area
(2) you can't have two good days decluttering/tidying/cleaning in a row

@Riverswims I agree with your pearls of wisdom.
Item gone via Freecycle today.
Cleared out some out of date medicines/first aid stuff today.
I've noticed all the charity shop near me have signs saying they can't currently accept any donations. Hoping this is a temporary thing!

Been busy in DS1’s room; binning rubbish, rehoming things in the right places, and adding to the charity box. It’s starting to look a bit better. Need to get all the books off the shelves for a good clean next. Plus he has some eaves cupboards which I peeked in today and are rammed 🙄

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures
2. DS2 paperwork: blue badge started
3. my British passport application - after half term trip to Belgium
4. garden generally tidied for end of summer - started
5. loads of scout badges onto blanket - 8 left
6. DS1’s room: ongoing…
7. bring down the wardrobe for my room, sort my clothes
8. IKEA wardrobe for DD; sort her clothes, her wardrobe to my room for DH

Not quite outs yet:
Running leggings to go to a friend - Poss next weeks Parkrun
spare tap left from building works - on FB, bumped up
knackered suitcase to put on FB - posted
old school PE shorts to a friend DD
to return borrowed flute to old school, DONE ☑️
Ds1’s army kit back to his old school - DONE ☑️
my long gone mother’s recliner that DS1 was using for gaming 🙄 (need to get downstairs before listing on fb)
old duvets bagged up & donated to dog charity - Collecting lady checking her diary
charity shop (maybe tomorrow)

Out:
pile of rubbish (1)
pile of recycling (1)
approx 15 significant items to the bin
1422+17=1439

One pair of worn out pyjamas to recycling.
One used up candle binned.
Two scratched up DVD's binned.

Total is 2805

ive Just tidied a few drawers in my bedroom and got rid of two scarves and three pairs of old knickers.

I have sorted a big pile of shoes today. Decided I'm not going to hand down any more shoes between my kids so there are two big bags to sort and dispose of next. Ds12 could do with new school trainers so I might pop to sports direct with him and my vinted profits.

Bit more painting tomorrow and ds16 gets the uni ones room which is very exciting. Still missing the eldest but it's getting easier

Started tidying up my stationery drawers, small things but they are cluttered with goodness knows what and some are full to bursting. Am also putting new labels on the drawers so I know where things are!

4items listed. Got covid so drifting in and out of work and resting today/yesterday. Haven't hit my 3listings per day target but I'll cut myself some slack.
Plan to finish the present cupboard today and write a list of what we have

Ooh, lots of good stuff here. @IncessantNameChanger - you’ve inspired me to be a bit more ruthless about shoes. No need to keep anything other than the best condition things!

I’ve had a big load of vinted successes and just needed to post them now! I also withdrew £100. I’d previously left it there and used it for other purchases but this seems more final, less tempting to buy things.

Maeploy I also have covid, it's totally wiped me out. I had it first pre vaccine and it was a non event ( apart from losing taste and smell some of which I don't think has fully come back but had none for 9 months!)

Painting almost done, feeling smug. Being up on a ladder has just shown me more dust and new dirt but I'm on track. Found yet more shoes. Weirdly dds primark boots are popular on Vinted but her Adidas trainers aren't. Will be a nice donation if they don't sell.

I can't wait to finish my sons room. Once the kids shuffle around I think I might have a WOW transformation moment ( let's see!) If it's amazing I will post a picture.

Sometimes I feel like I have cracked this but then I look around and there is tones more I could do.

I normally leave my Vinted profits to get to £200 but I'm going to withdraw at the end of the month this time. Dd said she wants winter boots, she will ask. Sensible girl.

7 listings ✔️
No sales yet though. Anyhoo listed early so can easily be donated for the right season if they don't sell in the next 2weeks.
Broken electrical item has been put into the tip box.

Sorry you've had it bad @IncessantNameChanger . Yesterday was my worst day but feeling much more with it this afternoon if still a bit achey. Looking forward to an early night.

It's been ages since I have posted on here. There’s been a lot going on over the past few weeks (work stress, MIL illness, unwell cat) that’s taken up a lot of time and energy.

My total for August was 35, which brings my total for the year up to 512. This included some of my clothes, outgrown school uniform, and working my way through the box of my mum’s paperwork.

In September I’ve gone through the last box of DD’s clothes, which contained a variety of sizes, and donated or recycled most of it, donated two bags of uniform to the school, and taken a bag of clothes etc to the charity shop.

One of the things that slows down my decluttering is wanting things to be reused or recycled - throwing stuff in the bin seems so wasteful. But I know this is slowing me down. I am so frustrated that I still haven’t sorted out the ‘stuff’ on the shelves in DD’s room to finish redoing her room. We got her a new bed back in May to start off her room being redone, and I’m disappointed in myself that I haven’t finished it.

Out goes
One dress that doesn't fit right
Two pairs of worn out knickers
One DVD nobody watches
A leaflet
Total is 2810

More outs this week:

1 broken wardrobe to the tip
1 under cot drawer to tip as no takers on freecycle
DP's bike sold on Facebook
40 costume jewellery donated
1 bib binned
35 clothing items for donation bin at tip
2 clothing items sold on eBay
2 small furniture items sold on Vinted
30 items sold on Vinted
Wooden storage chest to tip
6 clothing items donated
11 old pieces of jewellery binned

Total this year so far 1796

My “to go” piles are getting out of hand again, so a push on those is needed!