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.

4 things out.
Plan to see some family over half term and hand over some of the stuff I've been storing - it's 2 large boxes so will be glad to get that out of the house.
But lots and lots of Christmas stuff starting to come in.

9 plastic sleeves binned due to damage
1 bit of random paper not needed recycled
1 old worn out folder recycled
Total is 2897

@IncessantNameChanger you say it may have got worse but did you take photos of the insides of your cupboards? I bet they’re significantly better. Sometimes things get worse before they get better but are you finding you are spending less time on boring jobs like finding clothes or putting them away?

My decluttering is minimal as I have decluttered so much in the everyday places. I have chucked out another five exercise books of dd1 and donated a couple of old sports tops and shoes. I’ve also advertised a lamp on freecycle that dd2 says give her a headache.

I think we are running out of thread soon!

Out: 2 dried-up sharpies. Total is 1594.

Day off work and have finally shifted ALL my "memory paper stuff" out of what will become my daughters bedroom. Sorted through 15 years worth of it, and ditched 'a few armfuls'. Lots more to do, but this seems to be something that really takes time. Quite a few cringeworthy diary entries perused, still couldn't part with my GCSE Georgraphy coursework (I spent hours on beautiful drawings for it) :s

A couple of decades still to go...

Had a lovely weekend in Devon catching up with DS1 (Navy college for a year).
About to head off to Belgium & the Netherlands for halfterm tomorrow.
Not getting anything achieved around the house atm, and have a busy few months ahead, not sure I’ll have made much of a difference by Christmas either.

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, must put bbq away
5. loads of scout badges onto blanket - found 1 more
6. DS1’s room: wardrobe, chair
7. DS1’s gaming, PC, nerf collections to go through and tidy away
8. bring down the wardrobe; DH & I failed on this, too heavy, need another adult
9. IKEA wardrobe for DD to order; sort her clothes, her wardrobe to my room for DH

Not quite outs yet:
Running leggings to go to a friend - remember to take to next Parkrun
spare tap left from building works - on FB, bumped up
knackered suitcase to put on FB - posted
old duvets bagged up & donated to dog charity - waiting for collecting lady, need to chase
curtains poles - listed on FB free site

Out:
vicks pot OOD 2012 😮
1514+1=1515

Two plastic sleeves and a bit of paper. Total is 2900

Massively drowning in the stuff still, partly birthday related, partly kids clothes, partly just being so busy now I’m back at work.

School are collecting stuff for tombolas and pta fundraisers so I’m trying to fill a bag in every category….!

I managed a few big “outs” today, mainly baby equipment and bigger things like jigsaws. I’m trying to change my mindset about things that can be replaced easily and cheaply but it really makes you question yourself!

Yes @stealthninjamum @Pigtailsandall we will need a new thread soon!

Lots of progress and posts!

New thread!
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/housekeeping/5196379-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-a-tidy-house-decluttering-thread-9?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

I can't tag people!

I haven't bothered counting but I've taken 8 more bags to the charity shop 😁 my donation pile is now empty so time to fill it up again. Need to get up in the loft as there's plenty of stuff up there

We've got rid of the cot, and we've also removed the old toddler bed from under our bed.

So, not much in numbers (that's to come next week as i do a run to the local recycling centre), but it's a big piece out of here.

540 + 1 = 541

Checking back in. I have been busy.

in the last few weeks I’ve spent my time off work (currently having chemo) when I’m feeling up to it doing little daily bouts of decluttering.

I’ve done two boot loads to the charity shop. Have destroyed ds’ wardrobe and taken it to the dump (new on on the way)
have used up a heap of stuff in the kitchen
used up a heap of beauty products

and the most important thing is have tried not to bring anything new into the house.

Posted too early.

today I’m taking a chest of drawers which is falling apart (from ds’ room) and three old radiators to the dump. And some shelves (also ds’ room).

we’re having his room redecorated hence the ditching of his stuff.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/housekeeping/5196379-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-a-tidy-house-decluttering-thread-9?page=1

We have a new thread folks, come and join us over there - this one is pretty full! (Like my cupboards!)

I would really appreciate advice about decluttering books.

I love books. I have a lot and I enjoy having a big collection. I enjoy touching them, looking up information, I have good memories with them and I re-read some. BUT (yes, here’s the But), they are getting out of hand. All bookcases are full and there are big stacks emerging in different spots around the house.
We live in a reasonably small house near the centre of a big city, so there are no ‘extra’ spaces - no garage, study, spare bedroom, big loft, space to extend etc. It is a small house with children in it, and we won’t be moving. So we have to fit into the house as it is.

I recently had the experience of clearing out my parent’s house and wow it was an eye opener on the sheer quantity of stuff. They weren’t hoarders or anything but there was a lot when it came to going through it. I read The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning last week, and I think I’m ready to look at my book situation in the house!

So, I need advice about how any book lovers out there reduce their collection. How did you decide what to get rid of? What was your decision-making process? How did you tackle it? Any tips would be appreciated!

(Just to say, there are plenty of places to donate them. No problem there. It is the decision-making. What stays and what goes?).
Thank you.

Sorry, I see there is a new thread. Does anyone know how to move this to the new one? Thanks.

You can either press report or MN will move - or just copy and paste it

I’m just going to say this… it’s ok to not declutter books. It’s ok if books are part of the story of who you are and you want to live surrounded by them! Many of the most beautiful homes I have been in have piled up books.

That being said, if you want to declutter them, I think that’s fine. Maybe use container method and set yourself a goal of only keeping the ones that fit on your bookshelves? I’m not a fan of Marie Kondo generally but would you find it better to gather all your books in one place and choose from there?

@RoseMarigoldViolet I have decluttered thousands of books when changing countries.

The presence of books can make me feel happy. Have you considered bookshelves above doors and near ceiling, going around the room? Can you have one room as a library room with custom made shelves covering all the walls? Do you like all rooms having books or just all in one place?

How are you currently organising your books? Alphabetically? Random? genre? library system?

Another consideration is also whether you want to focus on finding new books and new authors or want to stay with the existing loved books and authors? How many books do you realistically expect to read during the rest of your life?

Are there other bookworms in your family so you can pass on the love for reading?

Hope this helps you get started.

@RoseMarigoldViolet I have decluttered hundreds of books. I would say that I had to learn why I was keeping them and had lots of conversations in my head like the following.

1. i have to keep this book. It’s an expensive book that I bought for my degree. But I never read it. But I found it interesting which is why I bought it. But I never read it in 30 years. But maybe I will read it one day. But if another 30 years goes on you’ll have had it for 60 years. It takes up space. Perhaps someone else will read it.
2. I have to keep it, I bought it for my masters. I may need it for work. But you don’t work. I might work. But it’s out of date. You would need new books for work. Or the internet.
3. i can’t get rid of this it’s a classic. But you read it and didn’t enjoy it. But I might want to read Elliot/ Dostoyevsky again. No you won’t! And they are free online. Are you just trying to look clever having impressive books? Admits to self perhaps this is the case.
4. why do you have four atlases and four dictionaries? I like reference books. The internet exists. But when dc have a question I look to use a book. They like to use the internet!
5. This is a book from my childhood, I can’t get rid of it. You haven’t read it for 45 years. But dc might like it. They are too old for asterisk the Gaul and Rupert the bear is really dated!
6. You have seven Jamie Oliver cookbooks. You don’t use them….

Anyway I am fairly sure that more than half of my books have gone by realising mainly that I’m not the person I would like to be who has loads of intellectual looking books lying around!

Im following the podcasts for a slob comes clean at the moment. I find them really helpful but I am a bit disappointed that I had a week of real progress and then reverted back to old chaos.. so disheartening! Does anyone else have similar experiences? and what did you do?

Hello @dafodill come to thread 10. It’s near the top of the Housekeeping topic 😀. See you there soon!