Decluttering 2013, the saga continues ...

purplevamp

SwipernoSwiping wrote: »

- An attic full of school projects. I am surrounded by pictures and "Space ships" the kids have made. They would be so cross with me if I outed them. Still it's tempting.
Love the feeling you get when something you would have thrown earns a few on ebay, well done.

mrs-moneypenny wrote: »

we have 5 and the youngest is in his teens so we have an attic full. Ive hung on to it for quite a few years so hoping im not coming across as heartless but some on the things ive kept are little more than a splatter or line on a huge sheet of paper, also they been badly stored so are now pretty battered and creased.

someone gave me a tip to help with the guilt of culling childrens masterpieces, photograph them then once they've been displayed for appropriate length of time they can be culled to make way for the new one and you have them stored on a memory card which takes up far less space. was told a bit too late to help me but could be helpful to others.

I too am guilty of hoarding children's work. I feel so bad if I throw anything away, almost like I don't love them as much as I should. This is really silly but I know that a lot of people (mostly Mums) feel like this. We have a "gallery" on one of our kitchen walls of the children's art work and over the years a lot of these have faded but I still cannot throw them out . The children don't care! I heard about scanning the pictures too but still haven't done this with a single one :cool:.

Still waiting to hear if our offer has been accepted on a house...:think:

System

Out :

One pine chest of drawers no longer needed.

Huge pile of bamboo canes out of the garden.

Pile of unwanted clothes out of sons bedroom.

Pile of old software disks that we no longer need.

silvasava

slow start to today as DH was doing some welding in the garage on Monday & got some metal in his eye (he was wearing a proper mask but we think it was probably in his hair!) Would he go to the eye hospital yesterday? So he had an uncomfortable night & I took him this morning & all sorted AND I didn't say I told you so!!
Managed to clean all the front fascia & guttering on the house. We have a tiled overhang that runs along the front of the house & garage & I reckon its spider heaven underneath - haha. I used my Lidl floor mop & Star Drops & it looks great but I'm now kna**ed!

silvasava

Just a thought on the collections of 'artwork' - Put all the old stuff into a folder marked with the child's name & present it to them on their 18th or when they move out? They'll think its lovely that Mum has treasured it for so long for them

andymandy

silvasava wrote: »

Just a thought on the collections of 'artwork' - Put all the old stuff into a folder marked with the child's name & present it to them on their 18th or when they move out? They'll think its lovely that Mum has treasured it for so long for them

I made a gift box and card and put all my sons school reports, first lock of hair and first baby tooth for his 30th birthday. His wife thought it was wonderful as her mum had kept nothing, not quite sure how my son felt though although he did seem to appreciate it. He did get another present by the way.

mrs-moneypenny

ive got more than enough left for a selective gift box each.
thats the stage i want to get to so that each child has a box (it will still be a large one) of things that make them smile and evoke happy memories. at the mo the attic is stuffed to the rafters of everything, and its taking me days to weedle out the special treasures as they are so hidden by clutter and tat that that you get fed up of looking before you get to them.

mrs-moneypenny

been in attic again and brought down a massive pile (if i stood them all on top of one another it would be 5ft tall!!!) of folders and files full of work related paperwork of DH's. its now on the landing and ive asked him to go through it over the weekend and see if any can be culled (or returned to its place of origin!)
while up there had another punch the air and shriek YES!!! moment. i found a folder with most of my baby scan photos in some birth related papers and letters and my medical card that i thought id lost years ago. it has been driving me mental.
this is exactly what i mean about keeping so much stuff that you cant find what you want when you need it.
Darent venture into the attic again until the paper mountian on the landing is cleared.

but i have decluttered 5 really nice but i wont use them cookbooks from the kitchen and put in the CS pile.

i did make a neighbour smile this morning, i found a front page of a newspaper id kept from 1998 about a local girl, it was his daughter so ive given that to him and made his day.

got to contact a lady off freecycle as ive got some more jiffy bags for her so they should be decluttered later today.

started another ball of wool from my stash as well last night

have a good day all

editted
busy morning
decluttered 8 shirts from DH side of the wardrobe for SC, a broken belt binned,load of old newpaper clippings recycled, pile of carrier bags found stuffed in a spare cupboard tatty old ones can go in plastic recycling, decent ones can be reused. load of old coathangers can go in the recycling bin at Ts

editted again
busy afternoon
2 CS bags filled for troop aid collection tomorrow morning
2 carrier bags in clothes bank
pair ratty high heels binned
another bag of paper/card recycling out - that makes 16 bags ive put out this week

mrs-moneypenny

charity bag, all rubbish and recycling bags went out this morning and have been collected.
took a long handles dustpan and brush set round to mil this morning, the handle wasnt quite long enough for me and i flet like i was stooping to brush. so that been decluttered.
finished the blanket square i was working on so thats 3 balls gone from the wool stash.
found a cardi i started knitting in 1989 for one of my daughters, id done the back and one front then forgotten about it, im going to finish it and donate it to a good cause so that will hopefully be decluttered soon

pollypenny

My first post on this board, but I am pleased with myself!

I have sorted a huge bookcase, getting rid of all those Penguins, as I can't se the print and they are almost all available free on Kindle.

Also been selective and kept only other paperbacks which I know I will read, David Lodge & Margaret Atwood.

I am hoping that this will encourage OH, who keeps everything!

mrs-moneypenny

pollypenny wrote: »

I am hoping that this will encourage OH, who keeps everything!

i've got one of those;)

welcome to the thread pollypenny