Decluttering 2012, this year, definitely ...

mumoftwo · 30 December 2011 at 11:08AM

I would like to join in too, having too much stuff is wearing me down, I want to adopt the motto:

"a place for everything and everything in its place"

I have too much of "everything" and not enough "place":rotfl:
I am a crafter and card maker so have lots of stuff for that as well. I love kitchen things but just don't have to space to keep it all nice and tidy.

I am not too bad at the paperwork since we bought a recycled filing cabinet and I try to deal with the post as it comes in, filing wage slips and important letters straight away.

It is not the decluttering I have problems with, it is keeping it nice and tidy and not bringing more stuff in that I can't help. I went Charity Shop shopping yesterday with my friend and couldn't resist a few things, a nice glass bowl, a book, some cute plantpots for on my window sill, I didn't really need any of those.

Really going to make an effort, it will make my life so much easier if everything had a place and it would stay there. Looking forward to reading all your successes.

Shortie · 30 December 2011 at 11:17AM

Actually Kittikins, if I'm honest, I do this with jewellery... I can't wear rings on my fingers any more - this extends from cosmetic stuff to 'proper jewellery' like my wedding ring. Withing a couple of hours of the rings going on, my fingers go itchy and red and my skin peels :eek:

I also can wear only sterling silver or gold earrings, and the ONLY watch I can now wear is a Fossil one with a a leather banding that goes right round the back of the watch face. Any other metal that goes in contact with my skin I react to and start ruining the metal (leaving me with scratch marks all around my wrists etc

But, for all this - I have 2 big boxes of jewellery that I never wear and most of it still has the packaging on it! This'll be something for early Jan for me to go through I recon!

squeakysue · 30 December 2011 at 11:20AM

I will definitely be joining in too, would love to have a clutter free house and eventually convert my extremely cluttered loft into a bedroom!

I am doing small bits at the moment while kids are off but plan on getting serious next week with selling on eBay etc

A good tip is to check out your facebook for local selling groups, great way to get rid of unwanted stuff without charges and delivery worries, I have got rid of all sorts on here, toys, books, games, curtains!

hollyh · 30 December 2011 at 11:20AM

I really need to join in again. I had a mass declutter when we moved in August from a biggish house into a teeny tiny one. I chucked loads of stuff and bagged stuff to Ebay which is now in the bottom of my wardrobe and the attic. We're already full to bursting again. :eek:

Ds2 has a very small room and now he can't get to his ladder for his bed without climbing over his toy chest. I need to get everything out from under the cabin bed and sort it. Then put back what's left neatly so he has a little bit of room to play.

I also need to sort my paperwork out asap because i haven't finshed informing people of my move and i can't remember who i have and haven't told.

Kittikins · 30 December 2011 at 11:23AM

That's a fabulous idea, I think the silver shoes will win

In a burst of enthusiasm for the task, I'm delcluttering all my jewellery that lives on the kitchen mantelpiece, amazing how many yukky earrings I have!

jack0212 · 30 December 2011 at 1:10PM

I need to join in too. My problem is that I was made redundant in August and now work from home mainly selling on Ebay but am in the midst of transferring everything to a website too. We have 4 beds but one is being used as my storage room but as my business grows so too does the stock which is now in the loft, at the foot of the beds, in the hall, down the stairs and also in the room intended as a playroom originally! My aim is to get a unit in September when DD goes to school.

I am also a horder! I can't bring myself to get rid of unwanted items because I think to myself "I could get £..... for that on Ebay!" The problem is I just don't have the time. As a minimum I spend 2 hours a day in the car taking my other half back and to to work at the moment, then I have to drop off and pick up my DD from nursery 3 days a week along with taking my elderly grand mother shopping. When DD is at home she will not occupy herself so I try to think of things where she can help me but they seem to take forever.

My OH does not lift a finger with anything. It's all my own doing as I was too easy on him when we first got together. To his defence though he is now in a highly pressurised and stressful job (Wish the pay was brought in line with the stress factor) so when he gets home from work he can't relax or think about anything else but work!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I am completely disorganised too! I start a task, get distracted by something then forget what I was doing originally and then never get the job done! I am going to print off the calendar on mysimpllelife as mentioned in the previous posts. Hopefully if I pin this to my fridge and attempt a task a day it may help me on the way to some organisation in this dreadful cluttered house!

LolaLemon · 30 December 2011 at 2:13PM

Kittikins wrote: »

I'm in too! I'm moving house in January or February and DD (age 6) and I are going to a lovely, but smaller in some respects place.....i.e. a soon to be 2-bed bungalow rather than a 3-bed house. I have taken tons of stuff to the tip/charity shops but it still looks like I've not touched the place

I love stuff and like to think that I declutter well, but a good example is this: I broke my ankle very badly 13 years ago and since then haven't really been able to wear heels or nice shoes. However, I have still kept on buying them from time to time, lower heels etc, in the hope that on a good day I can wear them. Yes.....well, a good day, means I've been able to clatter around the house in them but never outside! I broke my same leg earlier this year and have now been told that I'm going to need to have my ankle fused in the next few years (yes, as gruesome as it sounds) which means instead of pretending I can wear heels, I will never be able to wear heels

So....guess how many pairs of heels I've managed to get rid of? 2. The rest have stayed so far as they're so pretty.....and I should try and wear them before I get the final nod that I'm having the big op, never mind the fact I'm on so much medication to stop me from feeling like my leg is disintegrating it's not true!!

Silly billy.

So, it starts today.....but I might see if there's some biscuits in the kitchen I can declutter first

Instead of getting rid of them all, u could pick a few to keep, but instead of putting them in a cupboard, put them in those box frames and display them like art. Although I'm unsure if that would be just tormenting to u.

wit40iwtwan · 30 December 2011 at 2:32PM

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

something I found on Pinterest which may be of interest to some of you is a decluttering calendar, see http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2011.htm it's for 2011 rather than 2012 but the principle is the same.

Genius! Thanks for this! I have a friend who could do with this sort of direction also - I will make a copy for here too!

Thanks for all the suggestions people around where to start - I think as I too work full time and am in the final months of my OU degree I will use the calendar and do one room at a time! in June when studies are complete I can ramp that up!

parsonswife8 · 30 December 2011 at 3:00PM

We really need to make a start, but there is SOOOO much to do, that I don't know where to start tbh.:o

There's files of obsolete paperwork, 2 drawers full of paperwork that needs to be sorted, some chucked and some to be filed in the empty files, once I have shredded all the old things.:D

Boxes of crockery and ornaments in the loft, need to sort out the linen and towels, shoes, clothes etc that need to be sold on Ebay or taken to the CS, kitchen utensils, casserole dishes and pots that need to be got rid of, material, knitting wool, old curtains, books, magazines, records, cd's....OMG, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.:eek::eek::eek:

I'm going to make a start on Monday.:beer:

mummysaver38 · 30 December 2011 at 4:01PM

Can I join in too please. I read a really good book called "No more clutter" by Sue Kay. It talks about clutter not just taking up physical space but also emotional space. Although something may be out of sight in the loft, you are aware it needs to be sorted so it is sapping your mental energy. To the ladies who are unable to wear high heels / jewellery it could be argued that by keeping them you are constantly reminding yourselves of the past, what you have lost etc which is not helping your postive energy etc etc etc.
I hope this year is the year to really start moving clutter out. I always think "what if" and get attached to things but with two small boys we are running out of space.

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Decluttering 2012, this year, definitely ...

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