Is anyone just starting to declutter? Or hasn't yet.

[LushLemonTart]

I know there's lots of decluttering threads but I'm just starting (again) but this time I mean business.
What's inspired you to declutter now? Mine is clearing out an elderly relative's home and realising I don't want dcs to ever have that much stuff to clear. Plus it's quite depressing having too much stuff.
Dh and I travel a lot,mainly uk, and you realise you need very little to get on in life.

I'm not going minimalist although can see the appeal.

Care to join? I won't be counting items but I will list as much as possible. I should really try and sell some stuff but cba.

Joining in. I have a resolution to sell/donate/chuck something every day, rather than do a big declutter. I find it easier to clear on a whim - yesterday we moved some furniture round, took the drawers out to make moving them easier, and decluttered the drawers before putting them back in. I’m finding very cathartic.

Last week I did the shed. You can probably see the virtuous glow over my house from wherever you are.

Just started as well, so far two weekends on a single room and its not finished! But we are looking to move early in the new year and don't want to take things we don't want or need. In the hopes that the house can be easier to manage and I will be happier to welcome friends round at any time, rather than planned three weeks ahead to give me time to make it presentable.

DH has joined me in retirement. We are later fifties so relatively young to retire. We have lived in this house for 25 years and stuff got chucked in the loft and in cupboards, we have a lot of cupboards plus DH has three sheds. So the house looks ok but stuff was hidden. I’m also unwell currently so a bit stuck indoors. So far we have taken stuff to the tip, given away a few things like a spare garden hose. Chucked away a couple of wheelie bins full of shredded paper and taken two car boots to the charity shop. We are contemplating selling a few things but that does seem a massive effort. The good stuff though like a good quality fish aquarium and designer shoes that I can no longer wear because of my back issues.

We are also reorganising things, we are bulk buyers when stuff is on offer. He is going so far as to totally rebuild the under stairs cupboard. We went though my extensive DVD collection, I know stuff is streamed but I have quite a few foreign language films and slightly more obscure stuff so decided to keep I bought 5 folders and now have 500 DVD taking up one shelf instead of an entire 5 drawers in a large and tall chest of drawers.

The very last thing to do is start on the books, CD and photos, we have at least 2,000 books, probably 1,000 CD and a giant storage box of photos. Most of these are in the loft.

I've only just started ......
it's hard work sadly

Do you also have that "drawer of shame" that doesn't shut properly and contains leads and cables from long extinct bits of electrical equipment? I tackled that yesterday and have nearly 20 of each type (now tied together), old plugs and nightlights from when the DC were small. I'm planning a run to the tip at lunch time and a slice of cake from the nice bakeshop as a treat for a job well done!

@Arlanymor you can do this. Envisage the end. It's just stuff.

Sounds good @Whohasnickedthesellotape I usually have music on when doing chores too. 80s goth was last played.

@Mindymomo excellent start. I hope you can sell some of it?

I want to declutter a lot of my clothes, but my daughter suddenly discovered vintage Y2K and it made me sad I didn’t have more old stuff in my wardrobe. I’m torn between throwing everything out, and liking the idea that my daughter and maybe her kids down the track can find some fun stuff in my wardrobe.
Although the whole house needs a declutter, I need to get rid of half of everything so maybe I should focus on that

@Mindymomo I went through every pen in the house and chucked the non working ones away. The sitting room and kitchen were gone through first as easy. DH has a thing about going for low lying fruit first. We plan on moving in a couple of years as well so that’s a big motivator.

I've stated decluttering DDs toys and childhood books, accepted that at 15 she probably isn't going to play with the Build a Bear stuff again 🤣 or read the Gruffalo and come to terms with the fact I won't be having anymore to pass them on to. So a bit bitter sweet really but I take photos of the more meaningful bits and it's easier to get rid of things going to charity or a school fete than landfill.

@Whohasnickedthesellotape we got rid of loads of old cables, we had three drawers full! I also had an entire present, gift paper and card cupboard. That is now one shelf. We have some old phones and I pads, I did find my original i pod and DH has an original Mac and i phone 2 so may try and sell these as fully working and some old Apple tech does sell quite well.

What do you do with old cables?

Random bags of old cables are surprisingly popular on freecycle.

If not, then however you recycle your Small Electricals. Ours can now go into our main recycling bin but otherwise there is a dedicated bin for them at the recycling centre.

Thanks, they do electrical recycling at our community centre.

I'm starting little by little to declutter as the piles of clothes and toys and general crap are affecting my mental health. When I lived on my own I had no clutter but since my DP has moved in (practically a hoarder!) and I had DS we just have so much STUFF! I'm dreading Christmas and all the stuff that comes with it, I know people will buy DS things that he won't use or play with!
Anyway today I threw out lots of out of date food, old sweets that have gone sticky and chocolate that no one likes. At least it's a start!

Can I join? I’m not bad at figuring out what to get rid of. I’m terrible at actually getting it out of the house. Charity shop stuff is doable but I get completely stuck with things I feel have some value and I ought to do something more with. Current examples - large bag of Duplo, half-size violin, tennis rackets, a brand new stair gate I never used… I should eBay maybe but it feels just too much work??

Definitely too much work for me! I’ve only ever managed to sell a few books on eBay and have made my peace with giving away a lot of expensive stuff like Duplo (even though I could do with the money). I’m never going to transform into a person who can sell stuff. The only exception is selling through Ziffit/World of Books, which I find incredibly easy. I generally find it hard to get stuff out of the house, mainly because I hardly drive anywhere. (We live in a city so it’s usually walking/public transport.) I’d like to start routinely visiting the charity shop on the day I DO use the car. And maybe I could book in a dump run regularly, too - we have to book for ours and can’t just turn up. (Sorry for the long para - my return key has decided to stop working!) We don’t have a HUGE amount to take to the dump, but it’s not far away and even shifting that bag of small electricals would feel good.

Same here! If I even got rid of just these things would look much better!

I'm too tired after work to do much today but there's never a good time really so I might just set a fifteen minute timer later.

@BloodyHellBob well done on throwing that stuff out.

Welcome everyone.

I'm away until Thursday but promise to start. We can do this.

Every one no matter the size of their house or social class has a drawer like that in their house . Shamefully I have two 😂 but plan to downsize soon !

I have found the Space Maker Method videos very inspiring https://youtube.com/@spacemakermethod?si=sDxxW7cu_PRfOpDO

We have house guests staying for two months so I have been decluttering for 6 months in preparation. Sometimes I feel like I have done nothing as we still seem to be overwhelmed with stuff but actually we are getting there, slowly slowly

How's everyone getting on? I've been working and working tomorrow but Monday I will definitely begin.

I am due a Christmas bonus payment and I'm going to use it to hire a skip! As PP, we are thinking about moving next year, and if we don't move, I'd like a clutter free house. My mantra is, "If I moved house tomorrow, would I take this with me?" If the answer is no, it's going in the skip. I've got stuff for the charity shop but I CBA with a car boot sale or Gumtree. It's not worth the mental wellness of just being free of the stuff. We've been in our house for 15 years and it's just due a sort out.

We have a street Whatsapp (100 houses) and it looks like a couple of our neighbours are decluttering prior to moving away/Xmas.
I recently offloaded an old working lawnmower to a neighbour, picked up a couple of preloved unread childrens books for DNephews Xmas stocking, and NDN has just got a free sofabed that's moved 4 doors down so no van required to move it!
Might be a similar option for some PPs on here?

@JamMakingWannaBe that sounds fantastic you'll get rid of loads.

@Whohasnickedthesellotape we have a village Facebook page and everything that can be given away goes on there. Plus freebie pages. Also just putting stuff outside and then saying on there. I've got rid of some stuff in the past on there. Also a quid bid page. I got rid of a load of home brew kit but didn't get much. But it's gone.

So I have started then haven't I?

I have done nothing! But to be fair to me I ended up volunteering this weekend so was busy on Friday night and for most of today (yesterday was a rugby day, so I was never going to do anything then anyway). But it’s a new week and I am raring to go from tomorrow night after work.