The Great Declutter Part 3 - 2011

candygirl

Yesterday took 8 bags of crap to the tip, along with two bookcases, and also got rid of a bin bag of books n cds to the CS:D:D

FOXGLOVE_2

A double-gloat here.

Few weeks ago, I was walking round to the shops and spotted one of my neighbours round the corner had thrown out loads of laminate flooring, stacked up next to their bin shed.

I had a quick nosey and it all looked ok but was starting to rain. Met my OH after work and told her about it so when we got there we plucked up the courage to lift it and take it home before it got ruined. The 'previous owners' called out the window that it was fine to take it and even gave us a hand!

Only problem with it was that they had laid a carpet on top at one point and some of the underlay was stuck to it. Good scrub with turps took this glue off and I soon realised that we had enough to cover our living room, originally lifted it to cover the hall.

So with a week off work, we have totally transformed our living room and it looks really smart. When we moved all the furniture out we came across loads of junk, most of which is now in bags ready to go to charity shops. Rest of the stuff that doesn't quite fit with the new look will be sold on ebay and money will go towards a new rug to finish it off.

The saying is true: one mans trash is another mans treasure!

Even if you're not doing a complete makeover, a freshen up with paint means you are forced to tidy out and declutter.

BettiePage

FOXGLOVE wrote: »

The saying is true: one mans trash is another mans treasure!

We replaced our old broken down dryer the other week and put it out for the rag and bone man to collect. Next morning we had a knock on the door from a man in the village asking if he could take it, so of course we said yes. I'm pretty sure it was fixable with a little know-how but we didn't want to pay a £65 call out fee just for the man to look it over yet again.

Chucked out 2 old pillows today too. :T

mummyroysof3

Have cleared out DS2 wardrobe and a friend of mine is having 3 toys he has outgrown, just got to wait for her to pick them up

GreyQueen

Had a bizarre phone call with Mum last night in which she said she'd been awake at 5am and she'd decided to.........get rid of the knitting machines- all 3 or them.

Good job I was already sitting down! It was only a few days ago that I was running on somewhere on MSE about being a 2nd generation hoarder and citing Mum's 3 machines (unused to my sure and certain knowledge since the mid-1980s) as an example.

I never thought she'd part with them and after having had my head bitten off for suggesting they might go in the 1990s, we've never discussed them.

Is it randomness or is it like the Quantam Weather Butterfly? (If you don't know what the Discworld is, that will be meaningless, btw). Can you infect someone else with the urge to declutter?

Kaz2904

Well I ventured out to the shed as it's free listing weekend. I know there are a few bits out there and as I'm actually managing to list for free I thought I would get as much listed as possible.
I couldn't see the things that I had gone out there to list so that's 3 things (large ones) which will have to wait a while. I did however, find a set of car mats for my Toyota Lucida so I have shoved them on there. I have listed 20 items so far and am going to continue for as long as I can.
I spotted a really good tip on the ebay board where someone suggested that you list a few things each day and delay the start time of the listing. This will bring up a fee but you just keep on delaying the start time until there is actually a free listing day or weekend. You then go into your auctions and change it to start immediately. You then apparently don't get charged anything for your auctions.
Any items that I am unable to get listed in the time limit will undergo this treatment and will be stored in my cupboard above my bed.
It's 6 weeks since the last free listing so maybe there will be a free listing weekend every 6 weeks? One can only hope!
I have 1 bid on an item and a fair few watchers so I hope I will manage to shift some of it!

2manybooks

Feeling discouraged! I know I didn't accumulate all this carp and stuff overnight and so it will take a while to shift it all, but I feel like i have been working really hard at this decluttering and I'm not seeing a major difference yet.

Over the past few weeks I have rehomed about 500 books, tackled a shredding mountain, got rid of about 8 refuse sacks full of rubbish and I have got 10 sacks of clothes and 3 bags of DVDs for the charity pick-up tomorrow. But honestly apart from 2 clear bookshelves you wouldn't know any of it had gone.

Does anyone have any inspiring before and after stories/pictures to keep me going as I'm getting fed up with getting tired, dusty and sweaty for little reward.

BettiePage

Photos would be good. Wish I'd thought to take some. Especially under the stairs.

juliebunny

2manybooks wrote: »

Feeling discouraged! I know I didn't accumulate all this carp and stuff overnight and so it will take a while to shift it all, but I feel like i have been working really hard at this decluttering and I'm not seeing a major difference yet.

Over the past few weeks I have rehomed about 500 books, tackled a shredding mountain, got rid of about 8 refuse sacks full of rubbish and I have got 10 sacks of clothes and 3 bags of DVDs for the charity pick-up tomorrow. But honestly apart from 2 clear bookshelves you wouldn't know any of it had gone.

Does anyone have any inspiring before and after stories/pictures to keep me going as I'm getting fed up with getting tired, dusty and sweaty for little reward.

500 books!!! How many do you have left now then? I tried to sort out my 10 year old collection of My Cat magazine (yes I know I'm sad) and ended up reading them all and getting nothing else done!

Pics would be nice - I took some of my under the stairs cupboard but tried to upload and couldn't without signing up to some other website - it wouldn't take directly from my pc - I have a very low patience level so gave up. :mad:

To the insomniacs on here - I take a nice sleepeasy tea from Holland and Barrett, think it's only 99p. I find it does help, although I also use meditation cds to relax me when I have time.

nattyt

Evening all.........or should i say nearly goodnight! Have just put 4 things on ebay so hopefully they'll go. Long story but one is my unworn wedding dress....this is the 4th time i've put it on and if it doesn't sell this time i'm going to put it on Preloved. Has anyone else used this site? Or sold wedding dress? Everyone is doing great. I'm getting there slowly but surely! xxx