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.

So much lighter, thank you! I'm going to do the spare room last and take my time with it - it can even be a January task for when the weather is crap and money is tight - perfect time to tidy and eBay happily away!

@Arlanymor yes you deserve to have a break from it.

Hello Fellow Declutterers 😊

I started a few weeks back, 6 months of dillydallying and finally got on with it as the house just depressed me so much.

Several skip runs and a mass tidy up ensued ...

Both DP and I have managed to sell a load of clothes on Vinted, money in the bank (yay). House is slowly starting to feel loved again ♥️

Thank you - sounds like a plan doesn't it? All the other areas done by the middle of this month, then a break, and then back to it in January.

@Foreverhope1 so Vinted is worth the bother? Glad you've made some cash.

Hi @LushLemonTart, it certainly is for clothes which I'd barely or never wore 😅
I still have loads to go through, takes a while to take decent pics and post, but if done well, quids in

@Foreverhope1 that's brilliant

I sold a few things at the tabletop sale. Not as much as I would have liked as the weather was horrendous due to the recent storms. It was indoors, but it still puts people off from coming!

Might try a few things on a FB group before Christmas.

@BadSkiingMum good luck.

I'm going to another go of decluttering at the weekend.

Hope everyone is getting organised for Christmas? 🎄

I am not organised at all. Gifts & food are pretty much all done, but clearing the house has been an epic fail. I'm so disappointed - every year I aim to be organised for Christmas then every year I run out of time, energy and motivation. Same this year. Next year I'm starting to declutter, clean and organise slowly and steadily from the start of the year and accept it's a huge job.

@FabYuleHouse at least youve done that. I haven't got any food and still have presents to get. I'm finishing gifts tomorrow after work. Food being bought Monday.

@FabYuleHouse I'm not really any further forward either 🥺 Christmas holidays, more tat. Slow and steady whilst I'm off.....

Ds2 and me are tackling the spare room today. Well it's dss and dgss room really. Mainly full of ds2's things. He's only home occasionally as in the forces.

I've paused decluttering now until after Xmas. My teeth are starting to itch at the clutter of xmas decorations, cards and presents under the tree etc. I've calmed down by making a list of what's going in the new year as I feel I'm then making progress - one drawer at a time!

Merry Xmas declutterers! 🎅🌲

I don't like clutter at all. I have just finished some storage areas. I started when I got down the Christmas decorations and noticed two areas (storage areas) that were just too full. Now my older children have their stuff that was in my 2nd garage which for a short time has been fairly clear, last week I moved 16 boxes of my youngest sons' stuff -mostly boxes of course notes, childhood stuff and 4 bags of teddies etc they want to keep (I never throw anything out unless the person agrees although when they have their own houses they move into all their stuff must go then to them).

The 16 boxes went on the garage floor and the teddies in bags etc on higher shelves (in case of mice in garage). Yesterday I cleared the duvets etc storage area. I think so many children coming back from university with extra duvets even though we cleared this out a few years ago is the issue. We have cut it down to about 5 or 6 spare duvets and pillows (my son has 11 friends coming to stay on NY for a formal dinner he likes to put on so we do need a lot of duvets sometimes - or rather he does - I don't)..... I moved all their tents - there seems to be lots of even just that kind of item to the storage area cleared and basically you can see what we have now but with fewer things and one son helped me choose which old or broken suitcases from the suitcase area he must keep. That is better too.

it is quite satisfying even though every area I have done is hidden behind a closed door in a cupboard over 1st floor eaves. I am sure it less of a fire risk too having done it. Today I gave spare clothes to a charity bin in the supermarket car park (not really worth selling that stuff as my son was going through his old school uniform from 2017 - saved blazer, bag, rugby and football boots etc but not boring school trousers and what he did save I moved to 2nd garage. i think I have a kind of plan that all their stuff ultimately will bit by bit be in that second garage as we move to their next life phase in next 5 years like their siblings when they move out to permanent homes [ when I sit looking at the walls of an empty house crying - --.. only joking....]

My decluttering is on hold over Christmas. I find the days far too short and dark, the tip closes early, my energy is depleted as I sort of go into hibernation mode,and I just want to have lie-ins, chill and nap and get cosy on the sofa with box sets. The kids are home from uni with all their stuff everywhere, washing, the tree and other decorations just make everywhere feel more cluttered. There are bags of presents everywhere that need wrapping, extra bottles of wine eblah blah blah. Plus there is too much new crap coming into the house, too much reycling to sort that I have to prioritise. Decluttering of the stuff that was already here before is just not going to happen, I have to be realistic.

As soon as the days start getting longer, the first signs of Spring appear, kids back at uni with all their stuff, I get a burst of enthusiasm for decluttering and sorting the house. And the garden. Green bin collection will start up again in Feb etc etc.

This is my hibernation time. My winter pause.

Realistically, though, will the children ever look through their childhood things once they have to find somewhere to store them in their own houses? I moved round a bit when I left home, so boxed some things up and kept them in my mum and dad's with the idea that once we were settled in one place I'd take them off their hands. When settled, the house DH and I bought needed doing up and then we had children so the last thing I wanted at that stage of my life was more stuff to find a place for and by then I had little time for that sort of chore anyway. My parents felt they couldn't throw the stuff out but I'd forgotten all about it till a couple of years ago when my mum mentioned it while sorting stuff out when Dad died. I got some mild amusement for about 20 minutes from going through my old stuff but mostly thought "what the HELL has this been kept for?" and a lot has now been chucked. No regrets, only that it it was kept for all that time with no-one missing it one bit.

The combination of having a demanding job with little free time for years, a large house and disposable income meant that I accumulated loads of… stuff.
Far too much.
So I have been seriously working on it, slowly, for about eighteen months.
I can see where I've been, but I'm not sure anyone else would be able to.

I have a dressing room bulging with clothes. I can't be bothered to sell clothes on eBay or Vinted; I would really resent the time parcelling it all up and going to the Post Office. So it goes to gatherings of my friends to pick through, and the remnants go to charity shops or the clothing bank. I think I must have got rid of around fifteen large rubbish sacks so far and there will be more to go soon.

As I'm old with a dodgy ankle, so many of my beautiful high heeled boots and shoes are going. Breaks my heart.

So many walls in my house are lined with books and they are going nowhere! And I have loads of pagan paraphernalia and a room dedicated to my dolls house collection (Although I have given some of the latter away)

I have tried to follow the “place for everything and everything in its place” dictum for those things that I refuse to part with.
And now I am going through bric a brac, unwanted presents, pictures whose frames need attention but haven't been hung for years, ugly vases, strange and seldom used kitchen implements..That sort of thing.

What else should I get rid of?

We have had a bit of a disastrous week with DC unexpectedly having to go into hospital for day surgery. The surgery went well but it has been difficult and, to be honest, rather humbling to see how quickly the experience of having a sick child can cut through all your plans and systems. I generally pride myself in being quite ‘switched-on’, but three days of being with my DC in hospital (due to NHS waits) plus the need to be constantly chasing up and attending follow-up appointments had me almost on my knees by the end of the week. I was ill in bed myself by Thursday evening. The house was chaotic, washing wasn’t done, my work had completely gone by the wayside…I managed to do one meeting on Friday and even that I hadn’t really prepared for properly. It’s really made me think about the families for whom this is a way of life.

Anyway, we have had to cancel a planned holiday after Christmas (due to them not being able to travel) so I am hoping to use the time constructively with a bit of decluttering of our spare bedroom (aka my work-room or office). I’m fed up of it being a dumping ground for old items and also want to get a proper item of storage furniture.

Watch this space and I’ll report back!

@BadSkiingMum things like that put house stuff into perspective. I hope dc is ok?

Thanks, once the surgery was done they felt a lot better but it’s now a question of healing.

@BadSkiingMum that's good

Christmas Holiday time has meant the entire loft has been sorted. Decluttered and organized. 2 tip runs and and about 5 car loads to the charity! It was an epic feat but done. Now to work our way through the rooms of the house top to bottom.

I got pushed into a declutter through deciding to decorate the living room and having a mouse issue simultaneously. I sorted out stuff I probably wouldn’t have tackled (big under stairs cupboard) without having to clear out mouse hiding spots. Mice are now gone, under stair cupboard free of clutter. Now I want to decorate the kitchen and have a good sort out in that room next.
Areas to sort - pantry - check for anything out of date.
kitchen cupboards for unused items - for example I think we have excess lidded cups.

Mostly it needs to be better organised! Then I will be able to paint it.

I would like to join the Mumsnet decluttering club please! I need a fresh start.