Decluttering thread 10 - Spring is here, time to get those surfaces clear!

[TidyClutterIsStillClutter]

thread 9 is full, and I can’t find a new thread. Can anyone point me to thread 10?
tia

sold 3 items on Vinted

total outs 542

Wow you are really killing it on vinted!

personally I’d get rid.

yesterday:

garden:

• three huge bags (90litre garden bags) of weeds and plants etc to the green waste dump
• one medium tree chopped down and roots dug up
• bunch old broken plastic pots binned
• dhs wierd fold up saw binned (it broke)
• wire brush binned (not ours all rusty found in the bushes)

house:

• notebook of dds binned
• dd hairband which she snapped binned
• remainder of antibiotics from my surgery in feb binned

Agree. It will be out of style if you ever go back to work and by keeping them now in your cupboard you’re depriving others the chance to use them now when they still are in style…

My decluttering lady came and is going to do me a spreadsheet and talk to me more regularly on zoom. So I'm happy with that.

I'm packing for half term get away today and I really want to see if I could do my clothes declutter a bit differently. So take everything out. Put back in what I regularly wear then I know I will wear this year. Try to ditch 50% of the rest? Worth a try.

I will take some photos

Unless they are something timeless like eg a white button up shirt.

when I got rid of my more formal work stuff after my cancer diagnosis I kept a few bits (white button up blue stripe button up black trousers navy trousers). The rest I donated.

my office is more on the casual side of business casual though.

If it’s truly timeless/universal, yes, although I notice more and more that it’s the subtle details often that go to whether something looks formal or casual, and so it’s pretty difficult to wear things in different contexts. I guess if OP has relegated them to storage already she doesn’t feel they’re wearable day to day… but yes maybe there are a few bits she could pick out to keep… ?

I like to kerp going back to a slob comes clean and the container method. If it does fit in the container what are you willing to get rid of to make it fit?

That's my biggest issue. How much is too much? Depends on the room you have to sore it. I have a double wardrobe. But I've got 150 items hanging up. Is it too much? Yes because it's hanging off the wardrobe doors too.

Ideally it would be nice to think everything in your wardrobe fits and you'd happily wear it all.

I possibly have worn 1/4 of my wardrobe in the last year.

If I was very brave I'd get rid of the rest except for some beach dresses that I only wear abroad and 4 really fancy dresses.

How amazing would it be to hire a professional to thin our clothes with us? I'd love that. But I'd also be like the extreme Hoarders you see on the American documentaries. "Do you ever wear this size 8 90's dress IncessantNameChanger now you're size 18?? Me - absolutely. That's going over my dead body" 😄😄😄

Ie I like the idea of it much more than I can imagine doing it in reality. But I have some versatile dresses I have worn on school run and to Royal Ascot. Arrrghhh!!

I did my own version of the container concept and numbers, my number was 7 (no idea why, maybe for days of the week) for tops. So all of my clothes (apart from underwear and pjs) are hung up in the wardrobe. For tops, I have 7 basics (under vests, under thermal tops etc.) 7 summer tops (sleeveless / hot weather type tops), 7 shirt tops (mix of going out silk shirts, work shirts, casual) and 7 long sleeve tops (mix of work and at home). I have 7 jackets / coats (smart wool coat for work, cycling jacket, spring jacket, thick padded waterproof long coat with lots of pockets that is perfect for standing in cold fields watching various weird sports / training sessions), smart blazer, cagoule type, and a hiking jacket), 7 skirts or shorts, 7 cardigans, 7 dresses and 7 jumpers. If i am tempted by something new, one of the 7 has to be worn out / donated / vinted.

It sounds bonkers, but i barely buy anything new unless it breaks / wears out, I know I have 7 of each category or sub-category, so if boiling hot I can do a week wearing 7 x summer tops, or I can mix and match from the 7 and still have plenty of choice. All the items are hung up and fit in my 'container', so I can see what I have and mix and match as needed.

I read somewhere about shopping your wardrobe, so having everything hung up gives that dopamine rush of browsing and selecting items as if I were in a shop, and I enjoy dressing now compared to having hundreds and hundreds of items stuffed everywhere, never having anything to wear as I didn't fit or like the items.

Made life a lot easier :) just my twopence!

MrsBird that is extremely organised. I think my number would be 12 or 14. I don't buy clothes any more and I am slowly wearing things to death now and not replacing but at this speed and the amount I have, I need to live to around 300.

I'm definitely going to get rid of things today. Might as look while I'm packing

I’ve just done an hour of power with the kids.

tidied their rooms. 30 mins each.

I have about 20 stuffed animals for the car boot sale pile and some of ds’ hot wheels.

when I go through my wardrobe for a big clear out I use this method:

• pull everything out and clean wardrobe.
• categorise everything.
• then only put back 50% of each category.
• if I have more than one of something which is a basic/staple (ie black T-shirts) I keep the best looking ones.

The part I like about the container concept is considering your home to be a container. That helps me look around and realise I need to get rid because it's too full. Not much luck with smaller containers though. I'm on my second (I think? I've lost count) year of decluttering and I've literally only now just started being able to do the container thing. Just couldn't make myself get rid of things for that reason before, I'd have to go find a bigger container instead.

Struggling today with letting go of a hoodie that doesn't fit in the box (because I really wanted to add something else to the box). It's soft, it's warm and it's comfortable, but it doesn't feel like me. I've added it to the donation bag.

Total is 3516

Totally understand. And I speak as someone who has gradually moved from smaller to bigger houses throughout my life - it has not helped! If anything I’m even more overwhelmed as there are more places things could be etc and spaces to fill. I really need to simplify my wardrobe for example but struggle to decide what to let go… everything feels useful… wondering about maybe getting a few standard outfits that really feel good and letting go of the rest. Or at least packing it away.

I found separating things as I went along helpful shocked. You could pull out everything related to work that you wouldn't wear outside of work at all, so it has no other possible use. Then if it's too small or uncomfortable or doesn't match anything else, you can get rid. Same with house clothes that you wouldn't wear outside. If you can't do cleaning and exercising in them then they can go. Dressy clothes, be honest about how many events you go to each year where you can wear dressy things. Can any of them be dressed down so they're suitable for work or daily wear. If they can't and you're not going to realistically wear them to an event then get rid. Are any of them uncomfortable and you can't sit down and eat in them, get rid because you're not going to want to wear those ones. I don't keep dirty jobs clothes. If I need to dye my hair or paint a ceiling or whatever, I pick the most worn out/shrunken/stained items from my wardrobe and wear those, then bin after. If you pull out all your summer dresses you might find some similar to each other and might be able to pick the best one out of those similar ones and let go of the rest. That was the only way I could get started, by creating some kind of rules for myself. I've found it gets easier the more I do. 5 years ago I couldn't get rid of anything unless it was worn out to the point it had holes in it. Wearing it all, looking in the mirror and also taking a selfie to look at the next day helped a lot too. The amount of things I had that didn't look how I thought they looked on me, because I didn't have the same body as the model in the picture when I bought them, I was able to get rid of quite a bit that way. The photos were useful for things I was on the fence about.

Had another go this afternoon.

Duvet cover x2
Pillow case x3
Threadbare sheet
Ladder I never use, I always get someone else to do whatever job it is and they always have their own ladder
Broken spectacles
Top x2 I don't like
Trousers I don't like

Total is 3527

I'm now down to one set of bedding in use and a spare set, for each bed. ✨🎊✨

On 1st January every year for the past fifteen years I’ve turned all my hangers on the rail the wrong way round. As I wear things I wash and return to the wardrobe with the hanger the right way round.

then as I progress through the year I actively look at things where the hanger is the wrong way round, do I like it, should I wear it today, etc.

then on 1st January the next year I make big decisions about items still on hangers the wrong way round. If it was an expensive party dress I’ll probably keep it, a cheap blouse it heads for the charity pile.

Great tips - definitely going to give them a try. Have tried various methods but always have too much, and I’m not even a big shopper!

I have a capsule everyday wardrobe- two pairs casual trousers, five tops, a handful of jumpers and Cardigans, four sets of gym stuff and five dresses for work. Not counting e.g. walking trousers, shorts. It makes life a lot easier.

We have quite a lot of space and MIL has even more space so the container concept has its limitations. Does MIL have space for six sets of matching crockery, each for 12 people? Yes she does . . . .

Few Vinted sales and passed on some bits on Freecyce, up to 1,043 outs. My target was 1,200 for the year but looks like I might hit that by the end of June! Perhaps I should aim for 2,025 - I managed 2022 and 2023 but we now have a lot less clutter to lose.

I like the clutter threshold/ the idea of not being able to handle it even if you have the space …

plus… can OTHERS who use the space (communal areas of house) handle it…?!

Gah! I made zero progress on my wardrobe yesterday. I have packed a few outfits that I'm going to wear as I thought one was looking a bit threadbare but it seems OK now? It's a thin viscose dress so if it is looking threadbare once on, it's going on holiday abroad and staying there. I washed a dress which is faded. That's destined for the same fate. Another dress that I think the pattern which is printed seems to molt in the wash. I'm doing a trip to France on the ferry with dd and one budget trip to Ireland with ds so I'm going to leave some clothes ( trying to be mindful of the environment). I always pack too much and it bearly fits back into my case. Last time me and ds went to Ireland we had a 10kg cabin case each for the hold and I almost had to wear 5 layers to get under 10kg for the return.

DD went in the Loft of Doom and found bags and bags of baby toys, accessories, sleepwear and clothes that I'd hoarded, plus kids clothes. Next, Gap, Disney, hand knitted things & some lovely bits I bought in Australia & they don't look at all dated. These are being washed, sorted and boxed up. We discarded quite a lot, put them on our wall outside and they were taken.

Boxed dd up today. She’s been misbehaving and I was verrrrrry close to taping the box up. 🤣

bagged up more green waste from the garden. Drove it to green waste place. To find it’s not open until Wednesday. So that came home again.

also noticed that the jeans I’m currently wearing them have a hole on the outside of the thigh. I was debating getting rid of these ones anyway so once they’re off tonight they’re being binned. Good for the rest of the days clean up though.

Why don’t you try a “shop your wardrobe” like they do on Sort your Life out? Pick some good outfits from what you already own? I always liked that idea.

One of the few things that is really decluttered and has stayed that way is my wardrobe, once I decluttered I could stay on top of it because I just buy the odd extra thing when I really need it.

i am really rubbish at even making outfits. I have no sense of style at all. It’s always not comfy, or the sleeves are the wrong length, or the cardi is too long for the jacket so it hangs down below etc etc

We sorted through a box in the loft today, one of those sentimental graveyards! Managed to get rid of about half of the contents. Also looked through a filing cabinet of old papers we keep up there. Found bank statements from 1997 and a whole lot of stuff that's equaly useless. We have 3 more small filing cabinets up there still look through! And a lot more sentimental boxes!

Charity shop: 2 x mugs, teddy from my old uni , 2x bag tidies, bible

Bin / recycling : floppy disk with uni essays on, my aunts birthday book from 1947, hankie souvenir from a cathedral I visited as a child with my grandma possibly, plate with my artwork from 1987, photo frame, 2 pile of papers for the bin, 3x diaries, 3 x piles of papers shredded

Total 1127

I have far too many clothes, and really do need to get rid of more. I tried the backwards coat hanger thing, but wasn't brave enough to follow through and get rid of what wasn't worn. I'm managing to get rid of maybe one thing a week as I'm getting dressed and realising it's poor quality, doesn't suit, or I can't style it.