The Great Declutter Part 3 - 2011

ChocClare

I DESPERATELY need to join this thread.

We moved from a 7 bedroom, 4 huge reception room house into a much smaller 5 bedroom, 2 reception room cottage. I know it still seems big, but our last house was full of carp and we moved it all here, so you can imagine! We've been here 3 - count 'em - 3 years, and it's no better :eek:

I LONG to be able to answer the door and say, come in, come in without having to apologise for all the mess.

I decided the other day that I would do the 15-minute thing (which has worked well in the distant past, believe it or not) but I couldn't find my timer because it's buried under carp somewhere :mad::rotfl::rotfl:

Good luck everyone. The cards are coming down now (rolls up sleeves)...

phizzimum

ChocClare wrote: »

I decided the other day that I would do the 15-minute thing (which has worked well in the distant past, believe it or not) but I couldn't find my timer because it's buried under carp somewhere :mad::rotfl::rotfl:

.

This is just how my brain works! I have to resist the urge to go out and buy a timer so that I can start decluttering! Do you have a timer or an alarm you can set on your mobile phone? or a timer on your oven?

ChocClare

I'll manage! I was just annoyed because it's a Flylady timer which dates from the days when my (old) house was reasonably tidy (because I used it all the time). I found it the other day and thought, yay!

And now I can't find it again! :mad:

Must get up from sofa and DO something - maybe my house would be decluttered more quickly if I wasn't sat here...:D

lovecrafting

having a quick coffee before i get up again, so far the decs are down, baby blankets are on freecycle (my youngest is nearly four, really why do i need blankets) i am eyeing up a few bits in the living room that are going to be put away for a week, if no one notices they will then go on freecycle, i need to get some storage boxes for my wool and cross stitch kits. and i need to go join the fly lady thread because my house is a right tip, and the windows are properly minging. oh well back to the grind.

leathersofa

Can I appeal to people not to get rid of their children's stuff without asking, even if it's grown-up children's stuff that's driving you mad - I am on a book discussion list and it's astonishing how often people who are now even in their 50s or 60s wail about how their mothers, years ago, threw away their beloved books without their knowledge!

Kitchenbunny

Had a sort through my craft stuff yesterday and chucked out some stuff which I was hoarding "in case I might get around to using it". I also decluttered the fridge and made a lot more room among the Christmas fayre - i.e., freezing any leftover cooked meat, and there's a pan of broccoli and Stilton soup on the agenda today to use up some of the cheeseboard and some veggies which didn't make it to Christmas Dinner.

We were given a few late Christmas presents too - mainly books - so I'll have to make some room on the bookcase.

KB xx

TheDoolallyDilly

BatOutOfhell wrote: »

My other tip is "the 15 minute rule" - another tip designed to cut down on the boredom and keep you on track....
All you do is pick up an ordinary carrier bag, go to the cluttered area or room of your choice and spend 15 minutes sorting, tidying and filling the carrier bag. After 15 minutes you stop, no matter how enthusiastic you feel. Repeat the exercise for a few days - no more than 15 minutes each time.

This is very good I think Flylady (or it might be someone else) also advocates the 'Ten Fling Boogie' (or something!) where you take a carrier bag and go around your house finding ten things to get rid of. I think (unless you are really odd like me, and love decluttering) breaking it up into teeny, tiny chunks is the best way to go.l

I have added another book to the CS bag, and listed one more on Amazon (why do we have a brand new guide book to a country we have never visited, and have never planned to visit?!!).

The Great Spare Room Declutter begins after I've been to the library. Just an aside, but I know on the shelves in there I have some video tapes of the children's nativity plays, shows etc. Is there a company who will put them on DVD? (They'll take up less space, and I have an allocated place for DVDs!).

lola34

Went back up in the loft yesterday and managed to gather 2 bags of paperwork for the recycling - old college/ uni stuff and things from when I left one job and emptied my desk, hence its been up in the loft almost 3 years- obviously very important stuff:p
DS's Christmas presants decluttered from the lounge into the bedrooms and lounge is now hoovered - cards taken down.
9 ebay parcels taken to the post office.

Can't bring myself to take the trees down yet, especially as the real one in the lounge hasn't dropped a single needle yet:)

chocaholic110

Well, managed yesterday to get DS1's clothes sorted. Now have three very full bags for the CS, with only DH's wardrobe to go.

Also had a big sort out of Christmas toys, threw away two big carrier bags of tat, broken stuff and miscellaneous pieces and have a huge bag of cuddly toys to negotiate over later (I want to get rid, DD wants to keep but they just sit in a closed toybox and never get looked at - they have gone to the attic in the meantime!)

Didn't get onto kitchen cupboards so that is the plan for today.

garfield33

Does it count as decluttering if it's your parents' house and not your own? Mine is hardly pristine, but theirs is overflowing with stuff that me and my sister are dying to get rid of!

And I agree with leathersofa - my dad was always trying to get rid of our books and cuddly toys. Yet it's ok for him to have 5 towering, toppling piles of old newspapers in the lounge that he "will get around to reading one day"...?