Enough is enough - the great declutter

PoshPaws_3

It must be spring or something - we can't all be nesting! :laugh: I've been in de-clutter mode since the beginning of the week. Yesterday I got cracking and tackled the bookshelf wall in our dining room. I've now got two bags of books for freecycle and today we took the following dead items to the dump - a t.v., a monitor, a scanner, a keyboard, a stereo and a big black sack full of dusty paper rubbish.

Oh, the relief when you walk back in and there's clear space where a dead thing (nothing organic, you understand! ) used to be sitting! I can't believe the increased light levels in there now that I've taken down the net curtain and washed the window, too! Lovely.

charlies_mum

Well, I didn't get as far as my wardrobe, but started to tackle the dining room instead. Was doing really well until I found a huge spider hiding in the bottom of a box !

Mind you, I now have several empty boxes, a bag of rubbish for the tip, and some items listed on Ebay.

Well done everyone who joined in today, I might venture upstairs tomorrow

Shortie

charlies_mum wrote:

I'm worried that I'll start will all good intetions, and then give up - maybe we should be like Weightwatchers, declare what we have achieved each week and then maybe the shame of failure will keep me going

Oooo.. I love the idea of this thread, and declaring what I've decluttered.... Might help kick me bum into gear!!!

Righto... Baby hopefully on way for August so spare room (aka junk room) is being de junked. Soooo, on saturday I...
- threw 2 rubbish bags (out for the bin men tonight for tomorrow morning)
- sorted a bag of recycling
- started finding bits for the charity shop (don't 'do' ebay for selling... I'd never get round to putting it up :rotfl: )
- buggy, car seat and moses basket, and partylight 'keeps' in the loft

To do:
- throw or give to furniture collecting charity the HUGE old wooden drawers that we don't need and is getting in the way
- go throught remaining bags on the floor
- paint and wallpaper room

Lets see ham many months this'll take me! :rotfl:

redspot24

Just found this thread and I'd like to join too! I always get an urge to declutter at this time of year plus I'm moving in a few weeks from a large 1 bed flat to a studio apartment. Move is due to break-up with bf, and I guess my urge to chuck things away is connected to that too!

Really love the idea of having a bag/box of ebay stuff - I find myself keep moving Ebay bits around. I was also delaying listing some bits until after I moved, but don't know and now feel inspired - will try to list them tomorrow.

My de-cluttering suggestions are:
have a little basket, box or tray that is large enough for two bill-size envelopes to sit side by side. I open my post every day then just put anything that needs dealing with on one pile, ready for when I have a spare have an hour to sort it out. When I do attack that pile (deliberately have a basket that isn't very deep so it forces me to deal with it!), stuff to keep goes in a black concertina file (each section can be labelled mobile, bank etc) then anything that needs shredding goes on the other pile. I then just blitz the shredding every now and again as haven't really the appropriate space to leave the shredder out all of the time.

also, when I file bills away, I always take the oldest one from the back of the pile and put that on the shredding pile, so the back copies never get too huge (I just keep 12months worth of correspondence for each thing). It's an easy habit that saves time and hassle. I do the same thing with receipts - keep them in a lovely retro Jacobs cream cracker tin.

OOo, I can't wait until tomorrow evening so I can get cracking!!

Shortie

Hi everyone, just wondering how you're getting on? We'v just broken down the chest of drawers and put the wood outside. I had a quick hoover. Still boxes to go through but I think I'll start again tomorrow evening now. OH has been attacking the bathroom again this weekend and he's plastered nearly half the walls and we bought the tiles today.

Oh, and I have my dyson back to it's original self. Woo hoo!! I had it second hand (free from the charity shop my Mum works at - it had a broken part that cot a tenner from eBay to fix but the shop wouldn't sell it and were going to throw it). Anyway it kpt cutting out on me after hoovering last week after the tiles were taken off the walls, and I washed the filter. Oh the water colour was gross, but it's cleaned better than I've ever seen it clean!

nodwah

Decluttering sucess today: 4 items sold on ebay, only 1 newly listed as it kept crashing on me + 1 manky old barbeque freecycled - the young guy who took it seemed so happy with it I was embarrased that it was so minging.
2 sons put items into the ebay box and then came back later and took them out again - but it's a start

charlies_mum

Going to start upstairs today, there must be loads up there that I can sell or give away.


Know what you mean Nodwah, my DH will retrieve loads out of the bags if I leave them lying around - the trick is to get rid while they're not around

hex2

Great idea - I did this before we moved late last year - it is a great feeling when you finish the last room. I do need to start again, children are a bit bigger so more toys and a cot to go. Freecycle here I come.....

Clinging hang ons? Contents of the garage, my OH flatly refuses to part with anything including rubbish and off cuts. I got him to take a day off pre move purely to sort the garage. I even sorted him out wiht the four box system. He just couldn't do it! I did some for him and he waited till I had gone in and got it all out again. Net result, he has a lovely new workshop that he can't use because it is full.

I have to hide his old clothes in the coal shed for a few months to see if he notices, at 8 weeks it goes out to the salvation army stuff......

Firehorse

Would you all mind if I joined in.....the house feels so suffocating, am knee deep in clutter. Keep meaning to deal with it, but am a great procrastinator. Will be going back to Uni in October, so if I don't deal with it now, then it'll still be here in 2 years time :eek:


Ok, today I pledge to declutter my dining room and understairs cupboard before collecting dd from school.

charlies_mum

Firehorse wrote:

Would you all mind if I joined in.....the house feels so suffocating, am knee deep in clutter. Keep meaning to deal with it, but am a great procrastinator. Will be going back to Uni in October, so if I don't deal with it now, then it'll still be here in 2 years time :eek:


Ok, today I pledge to declutter my dining room and understairs cupboard before collecting dd from school.

Well done Firehorse, let us know how you get on. Sorted out a couple of big boxes from upstairs this morning, listed some things on Ebay, and taken others to the skip.