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

Well done everyone including mini-cheeseplantfeet.

May isn’t a big month but I binned 36 things from the medicine drawer (not even the big stash upstairs - this is the downstairs drawer which had got way out of hand 😳😱). That takes this year to a round 470 so far.

M

Yesterday evening I suddenly jumped up and pulled out seven German and French revision and grammar books and cassette tapes and put them in the donate pile. I’ve reached a tipping point, and instead of wondering what I can bear to part with, I’m thinking why an I keeping books I know no-one in this house will ever open.

I struggle to accept that DC and other family members will never have the same interests as I did. Sometimes I just want to reminisce about what things meant to me. Sometimes it’s just a way of remembering who I was and who I thought I was going to be. And sometimes that’s just not very healthy and I need to live the life I have, not the one I wish I had.

Ohh I think you are referring to fantasy self clutter.

I Struggle with this too so I need to make some big decisions.

Solidarity @TidyClutterIsStillClutter

We're on holiday and I forgot all my decluttering goals! So yesterday I looked back and found some stuff. I'm missing days 145 to 150 (Sunday to today). Just before we left, I sold 3 French kids books and sent those off before we travelled, so counting those for Sun, Mon and Tuesday. I used up a facial scrub while here (hated it, so happy it's gone), so that's Wed. Then out one pair of pants that are pretty but uncomfortable, and a pair of DC trousers that were comically short and also rather worn. We now only have 5 pairs of non-school trousers so it's trickier on holidays and particularly trips, but we're managing. Trying not to buy new stuff

Cleared out son’s room. To go:

9 books
2 jigsaws
a large poster
finger puppets
5 pairs of trousers
2 pairs of shorts
a toy
an indescribable ‘animal’ (?) made from plasticine

total - 567

Day 151 declutter - miniature hotel shampoo. Just enough for this trip!

1 jigsaw
1 pair of sunglasses
a bag of kids ‘tat’

total 570

IDK cheeseplantfeet, I kinda get it. I'm obsessed with socks too, although I don't keep sentimental ones, I just have way too many and whenever I find more I don't get rid of them because they make me smile. If she likes her old socks I'd turn them into decor. Frame them and put them on the wall. Maybe make a teddy bear out of them, you could even stuff it with socks. Something like that. If she can see some of them maybe she'll not feel the need to keep all of them. Now I'm wondering how many secret sock appreciation people exist 😁 It's not the kind of thing people ever mention.

Congratulations on the mentality shift tidyclutterisstillclutter. "The past is history, the future is a mystery. Today is a gift, that's why it's called the present". Don't remember where I first read that. True though, we only have today.

One pirate DVD that doesn't work binned. IDK why people bother buying them in the first place. Also a leaflet that's dealt with into recycling.
Total is 3534.

Oh, that’s a great name for it! @Thereislightattheendofthetunnel and fits me so well. Thanks so much!

I was speaking to a helpline the other day about the clash between who I want to be and who I need to be. And the impact it has on every kind of clutter. She made a date and time to phone me back to see if I’m finding my way through it.

Heading for the loft. Wish me luck. I’ve unlocked the back door and I’m taking my phone.

About 40 years ago, I got in our loft as a newly married by dragging a chest of drawers into the hall and putting a chair on top. I must’ve been very nimble because I definitely couldn’t get from that chair into the loft today. Anyway, getting out of the loft, I knocked the chair off the chest of drawers and was stuck in the loft. I wasn’t unduly worried as DH had nipped to the neighbours. Anyway, about 20 minutes later there’s a knock on the front door and I shout out. I can’t answer it as I’m stuck in the loft. It was DH he had forgotten to take a key. Anyway, I’m still alive obviously, and somehow I managed to lower myself out of the loft hatch and onto the chest of drawers and we went straight out and bought a ladder 😂😂😂😂

Yesterday there was finally a big enough space in the cupboard shelves for me to take the rest of the old school stuff out of the living-room and shove it in the cupboard out of sight.

Now I have an empty cabinet and don’t know what to do with it. One thing I’m not going to do is look around the house for random crap to fill it up again.

Used up a thing of oregano and black pepper today making gyros.

binned a pair of dds trousers which had a hole in them.

pillow case protector in the bin

small chopping board binned - it had a hole in it.

mattess protector in carboot pile.

fishing net binned. Will be replaced as kids are obsessed with rockpooling at the moment.

Son got rid of a box of toy cars - will class as one lot plus the road map play mat.

total = 572

My plans for an hour a day decluttering failed as I ended up being out more this week than planned! Nothing that I planned to list for free/sale has happened. Have done a quick clear this morning which has resulted in a few small outs.

Tidied out some storage boxes & found tatty, tacky old vintage clubwear in one that I'd look like Hyacinth Bucket's sister Rose in now so off to charity shop for the better items & grotty stuff in rag bag. Loft of Doom: A big bag of old mobile phones + chargers, grotty extension cords and loads of random leads into electrical recycling. Old lampshades & lamp bases , a suitcase filled with dingy foam rubber for the tip. Bag of old clothes for charity shop. A couple of items I put out on our wall have been taken. Next load to go from the loft will be a big box of books for charity shop or local dumpster.

@IndianSummer78 ooh what about a Phoebe Buffay sock bunny? That would be be within my skill set!

@Hasthisreallyhappened getting stuck in the loft sounds terrifying! That was a funny story though, glad you made it out in one piece. I don't know what I'd have done!

We had some electrical work done on Friday which went on into Saturday morning 😱. So we had to empty the little cupboard under the stairs where the DH stores DIY stuff, as that's where the electricity meter and fuse box are. I suggested to DH that this would be a fabulous opportunity to declutter his tools and assorted important DIY odments. I also suggested that it would be sensible to give the cupboard a hoover before he puts anything back. 😗

Charity shop: 2x tshirts, 1x plug

Bin / recycling :
2 pieces of card, 1 cloth, 3 expired tubes of silicone sealant/caulk, 2 school cloakroom coat hooks, 2 packs curtain hooks, 3 pullswitch nubbins,1 light switch box, 7 pieces used sand paper, 2 pieces Wendy house instruction, 2 random bags, 1 used bubble wrap, Half a picture frame, Pants, 1 grout pen, 1 box of plastic screw covers, 1 net curtain cable, 3 bags, 1 ribbon, 2 pencils, 1 BT phone box, 1 pair glasses (broken), 2 door handles, 3 coax connectors,
5 cork tiles, broken paint brush

Vinted/sold locally: Bbq

Total 1190

I made it safely out of the loft but having got up there couldn’t find the one thing I went to oust - wondering if I did it a few years ago and forgot I did it, then found something randomly been looking for ages which pleased me. Decided it was too much as hadn’t realised how much of stuff in loft is DH’s so decided against doing more. (But have made a plan to go up weekly and sort four things at a time).

on a different note, really cheesed off I have to make my own cups of tea, we had a teasmade but I can’t find it so may have binned it. Does anyone know if you can get a Wi-Fi type tea maker?

Saw a bloke taking the bag of phones, chargers and random electrical leads I'd left out for recycling tomorrow. It was quite funny, he was very furtive, ducked down, reached over our wall and slunk off with them! Oh well, if he can make use of them, good job. Loft: Another big bag of books for the recycling bank as they were damaged, more clothes for recycling, more old grotty lampshades crushed and ready for tip, ornaments for hospice shop, hoarded magazines in the recycling, assorted empty boxes on Freecycle and Nextdoor. Spotted more old books to go, I'm getting ruthless now and on a roll.

That’s so insightful. Thanks.

It’s this process - over and over - that has helped me get rid of more stuff, and is slowly helping my other half get on board. If I have so much crap I can’t find the thing I actually need when I need it, how is that different from not having it at all? Except the crap taking up space.

Gave away 22 books and 2 toys

total outs this year so far - 594

Day 152 declutter (yesterday) a facial mist that had a bit left but tbh I didn't think it did anything

Day 153 (today) one baby board book

@Realfastfoodie I agree, it's the iterative over and overness of decluttering that works for me. I can't face getting rid of everything that needs to go from one area in one go. But little bites consistently are making a huge difference

I had another go at DD's room today. I did under her bed and then together we did the storage boxes on top of her wardrobe and then the random non-clothes clutter at the back of it. Also cleared out the stuff that hasn't sold on vinted to the charity shop

Charity shop: Jacket, 3x skirts, 2x dresses, 2x trousers, face mask, 4x teddies, handbag

Bin / recycling : 3x gift bags, 2x coat hangers

Vinted/sold locally: jumper

Total 1210

Ds’s pe trousers in the bin.

he somehow managed to split the crotch at school. Oops.

Last night and first thing this morning I found myself wondering whether I should put that old cabinet in my bedroom as it might be useful.

Came to my senses, and decided that the only way to stop me filling it with random crap is to get it out of the house.

It’s now sitting near the back door waiting for someone stronger than me to get it into the garage or someone else’s gaff, I don’t care which.

Also discovered a string of fairy lights that don’t work. Will keep some of the bulbs as spares, as they will take up very little space in the decorations box.