Decluttering Thread 13 - Hopefully Lucky For Some!

[MarmaladeSandwich7]

Good morning fellow sorters, chuckers & sellers! Starting a new thread as No 12 was almost full. This thread is one of my favourites & I find it hugely inspiring. I have a very long way to go as my house still resembles a jumble sale but I have got rid of a lot over the last few months plus made some money into the bargain. Last night I transferred several carrier bags of clothes that are on Vinted into a pink velvet storage chest that, ironically, hadn’t been assembled & was taking up space in DH’s office 🤣🤣🤣 It’s now in front of the storage cubes in the lounge & honestly, the pleasure I get from seeing it & the space created is immense.
I need a day to dedicate to Vinted as I have bags of clothes still to photograph & upload, some clothes to try on which may end up on there too & some TJC rings to photograph for selling. They were quite expensive but I rarely wore them & now they’re too big. I have a huge car bill to pay so the extra pennies will be great. Have a productive day all!

Yesterday - four books in charity bag, three more to DH for his bus journeys.
Old sheet music from school choir and band from thirty-odd years ago.

LOADS of E Mails deleted!

3 x unsuitable dresses
1 x scratchy top
1 x damaged hairband
1 x used up face cream
Total is 4917

Jumper that's scratchy
Jacket I don't wear
Dress I don't like
Blouse that's too small
Worn out hairband
Total is 4922

One big board game sold on Vinted. I haven't told games before so this is a first. Happy as it was a big box
Total outs=501

@IndianSummer78 I'm impressed by your wardrobe ruthlessness. You've decluttered more clothes than I own!

Donate to instrumental service next time someone’s going in that direction -
Violin and music.
Clarinet tutor books and tape.

I need Dilly from Sort Your Life Out! I have looked into professional declutterers before but they all charge such a lot. A big problem I have is lack of storage. DH will often refer to the house as a museum - I do enjoy displaying things eg my vintage brooches but there isn’t the space to keep everything out. Any storage solutions from you lovely lot will be very gratefully received! Need to stop bunging stuff into bags for life or all over the kitchen table.

@MarmaladeSandwich7 i can see a great up cycled picture frame with a padded middle that’s soft enough to pin the brooches to. Maybe in a shape, a heart or a tree. I’m sure Pinterest would give you lots of ideas. I’ve seen it done with inherited and broken jewellery.

Alternatively something like a plain man’s wedding waistcoat hung on a fancy wooden hanger with them pinned to it and hung in a place you can admire them.

pigtails fashion has always been my hobby and I have basically never decluttered my home for my entire life, until now. I wanted to do it before I get too old to be able to. I used to just pack everything up and take it with me whenever I moved, without giving it any thought. I'm a pack rat with an ability to tetris everything in and hide it away. It's amazing how much stuff is in here. Admittedly I do count every little thing, but even so I can't believe I'm about to hit 5k items (6k really, since I started before this thread) and I still have a long way to go. I'm pleased with my ruthlessness coming through in my decision making though, it's taken a long time to get this far, but it's gotten easier with continued efforts.

1 x holey underwear
1 x pair earrings that make me itch
1 x lumpy cushion middle
1 x tiara
2 x hoodies I never wear
2 x cardigans I never wear
13 x joggers too small
4 x jumpers I never wear
1 x ill fitting t-shirt
3 x blouses too small
1 x vest that's seen better days
1 x tank top, failed experiment
1 x dress I don't like
Total is 4954

I put a toilet footrest on a free site a while back (not a kiddies one but one that my gynae physio had recommended I buy ) but there was no interest. It’s going to the charity shop tomorrow.
Sold a pair of Mountain Warehouse aqua shoes on Vinted. I have had dozens of people favourite a Radley bag but no sale, despite sending offers. Paid £12.50 & have it on for £14.

How do I start the week? By selling the Radley bag for £13!

Doodle artwork
Damaged DVD
Too big shorts
Work shirt for a job I no longer have
Swinging crib not needed
Total is 4959

1 x CD I don't like
1 x pair of shoes that caused a bruise
1 x t-shirt I don't like
1 x duvet cover looks dingy
3 x pillowcases not needed
Total is 4966

W/E 21/6 Week 25
Almost halfway through the year.

Aiming for at least one item per day.

Recycled/binned
Plant pots to garden centre x 21

Charity shop
New bag started

Vinted
One sale! 1

Week 25 total = 22
Total for year so far = 213/365

For donation/sale - one book, one dvd.

Sorted through a stack of programmes from school concerts, youth music theatre, etc. not sure what to keep, what to get rid of. One shelf now completely clear.

I have lost the will at moment and am just throwing items in the bin🫣. So unless is almost brand new, other than books I am binning!

Don't worry about it Ruby. I don't sell either, I don't have time and energy and I don't need the money. I give away where I can. Realistically this means offering my latest pile to whichever friends/family are visiting that week to pick through, clothes and shoes to clothing bank, sometimes a friend takes some things for the charity shop if they're going there anyway, but a lot is binned/recycled in my weekly recycling depending on what it's made of. I've even put brand new (read once) books in the paper recycling if I've not been going anywhere else where I could drop them. It's ok if the main thing at the moment is to clear your home.

2 x shampoo finished up
1 x conditioner finished up
1 x face serum finished up
1 x trousers with scratchy zip
1 x blouses too big at the neck
1 x stained vest
Total is 4973

DH has just cleared a load of boxes & envelopes which had been dumped on a dining chair near the back door. When he eventually does his tip run he will take a couple of trays, a battered screwball scramble game & odd plumbing bits. We are getting there!

Two games consoles and cartridges sorted into boxes and ready to sell or donate.

Eventually dropped the rest of the stuff in the carboot at the Air Ambulance shop, although I hung onto the CDs as I need to sort through them. An ex colleague was given them & passed them onto me.

I came across the halfway to Christmas thread earlier this morning, and it struck me I must be done with the clutter by then.

We’re on holiday now, and I want to get stuck in over the next month. My mindset is slowly changing to looking forward more rather than being pulled back by nostalgia for something that was really as I think I remember it, or wished that it would be. It’s a bit Field of Dreams without the cheesy ending. Hope this makes sense.

Sorted out more jewellery to sell. I found a pretty bangle I never wear & discovered it’s marked 999, which is more or less pure silver. It cost a tenner & I should be able to get £30 for it. Also advertising a seahorse brooch (only costume jewellery but very striking), a gold tone cuff, possibly a gorgeous ocean blue Sarah Coventry adjustable ring which doesn’t adjust enough to fit me properly & a new in box swivel ring (again it’s pretty but I find it annoying to wear). I also have a cute silvertone round box engraved with “My First Tooth”. Won’t get much for it but it was cheap on Vinted in the first place.
Tried on yet more clothes from the charity shop that have been on my bedroom stool for weeks & as a result I now have a Next skirt with tags still on (£28), a cool Rock Cafe Manchester t shirt & a Joe Brown red flutter sleeve top which is nice but just doesn’t suit me all to be put on Vinted. I never did photograph the bagful of plus size clothes so need to get that done too. Still trying to summon up the “courage” for want of a better word to take some more soft toys to the charity shop. DD17 has plonked a black bag of rubbish outside her room & says there’s more to go in it. Think she might put some stuff on Vinted too.

Also going to upload a lovely teal satin evening bag ( Lua) which only cost a couple of quid on Vinted.

I'm getting so much better at this. Went to fetch something from a box and discovered that what I wanted was no longer kept in there. Decided to go through it since I had pulled everything out and found a pile of stuff that had me wondering why I'd kept it. So that's another bag to go to the donation point. Then I had an empty box that I filled with some stuff that had been laying around with no proper home since forever.

1 x shirt
3 x joggers
2 x jumpers
3 x blazers.
Total is 4982

Have been lurking for a long time … now joining in

Moving around this time next year and realising that we have accumulated a bunch more of stuff in the last 3-4 years and I don’t want to have to do a last minute panic declutter so slow and steady is the plan

2x books that I won’t read again