2017 - No Clutter To Be Seen

noelphobic

noelphobic wrote: »

317) face pack, used
318) old toothbrush, binned
319/332) out of date medication, taken to chemist
332) name badge, binned
333) Vicks, binned
334) dead pen, binned

Took another box to cs at lunchtime. Will list later.

335/342) notebooks/jotters
343) Learn Spanish CD
344/345) Packs of birthday candles
346) plug adaptor
347) umbrella
348) trolley token
349) oil burner
350) ruler
351) blank unused cassette tape
352) citronella candle and holder
353/354) candle holders
355/356) pencil sharpeners
357/358) tea lights
359/368) candles
369) fragranced shimmering granules :eek:
370/371) A4 pads
372) Emery boards
373) ice scraper
374) tennis ball
375) necklace
376) paperweight
377/378) watches
379) video
380) mobile phone case
381/382) mobile phones

All to cs. And the house STILL doesn't look any better :eek:

I have a large cage containing an African Pygmy hedgehog 'cluttering' one of the bedrooms. DS has gone on holiday and I am hedgehog sitting :eek:

I'm hoping by the time Huckleberry is collected DS will notice the house looking better.:T

Saver-upper

noelphobic wrote: »

I have a large cage containing an African Pygmy hedgehog 'cluttering' one of the bedrooms. DS has gone on holiday and I am hedgehog sitting :eek:

I'm hoping by the time Huckleberry is collected DS will notice the house looking better.:T

This made me giggle :rotfl:.My 15yo and 10yo have been pet-sitting for different friends over the school holidays,and we had a friend's beautiful dog stay with us for 10 days while the family went away.
Hedgehog sitting,however, has never occurred to them.Sounds like a niche market :eek:.
Actually,I was sitting in my front room watching tv late one night afew weeks ago,when I heard the most unusual noise outside.It went on for a while before I finally go up off my lazy butt to see what it was.Only 2 hedgehogs playing/fighting on our front footpath!I was so excited I woke up our 8- and 10yo to show them.They were thrilled.8yo,in particular,went to be for the next few nights saying "Don't forget to wake us up if you hear the hedgehogs" .

Only a few items out,but today I have spent alot of time going through my shelf of cookbooks.I have not touched most of them for yeeeeaaaarrrrrs.I will count them when I take them to charity tomorrow.

Items counted out today:
1653-1656:a colouring book and 3 notebooks given to neighbour's children.They were thrilled to receive them
1657:Morrison's magazine from Jan 2014(!).Obviously kept intending to use the recipes within,but I never have.
1658:brochures from an old Slimming World new members pack
1659:a pair of kid's boots.I actually put them out on SUnday night for the recycling collection,but didn't mention here,because I didn't know if they would be collected.Our council is supposed to collect shoes (and small electrical items,and other assorted bits) in our weekly recycling collection.But sometimes they don't bother collecting them,so I was waiting to see.

somerandom

[QUOTE=noelphobic;

All to cs. And the house STILL doesn't look any better :eek: [/QUOTE]


@noelphobic I found that this stage carried on for a while and then there's a tipping point where it suddenly starts to look better. Just trust that if you are moving in the right direction - you will eventually reach your destination. :T

beautiful_ravens

Im finally sseeing some visible clutterless results after nearly two years of getting rid of stuff!

I just emptied the shared kids room and decorated/changed beds to bunk beds/put all stuff outside, we decluttered, organised and sorted through each box when it came back in...my youngest has two plastic storage boxes of stuff under the bed!! Couldnt believe thats all she wanted to keep. Its all of her stuff! They do have a lot of soft toys they are much more reluctant to part with than other things.

I changed a wardrobe from a wooden one to a canvas & pole one. Im a big fan of solid long lasting furniture, but in this house, lighter and easier to move furniture seems to work better, as I have to clean mould and damp problems up quite often.

The rest of the house is looking less cluttered, and when I have to properly tidy up for some reason, it doesnt take a day per room any more, it takes maybe 20 minutes per room! YAY! I still put things on clear surfaces though, and they start to build up...

I still have some problem areas.
A corner of kitchen worktop where I put my random items and many, many lists on bits of paper [tried digital lists but still end up writing paper ones]. This pile grows from small to big very quickly. I tend to put things there to sort out later, anything from receipts to hand cream to phones to dog lead...

The sideboard in the dining room has always got 'stuff' on it - at the moment its a load of GCSE books that will be kept for the next child [somewhere] and a folder of all different paper for everyone to use, plus oddments that have been put down for a minute and left.

Some other problem items are the dogs bed and the birds cage that tend to get moved about to other locations instead of sorted out. Theres not really a good place for them, but they are essential.

The bathroom is a magnet for piles of clean washing and the hall still gets overrun with shoes.

All 3 kids went away for a week last week, and it stayed tidy, so I guess some of these things are just symptoms of having a house with a lot of people in it.

Last 2 weeks -

mattress
2 mid sleeper beds
old kids books
old kids toys
bedside cabinet
wardrobe
small shelf unit
much paper to recycle
various electrical items [broken]
a few soft toys
a lot of rubbish from kids room

Saver-upper

Beautiful Ravens I agree with things looking bad for months as we declutter,then suddenly it all starts to come together.I started this declutter in October last year.(I spend my whole life trying to get my house under control.)
Every year I start a new decluttering session,but it is only this year that my house is finlly looking the way I have always wanted it-clear surfaces,belongings/toys/clothes etc that are not used,being donated.Even stuff that I always thought I could never part with has gone.And stuff that I thought I would try selling,I have come to realise is not worth my time to photograph and list items,answer enquiries,agree a time for potential buyer to come over,be messed around a few times,have potential customer change their mind........I feel alot better after I have loaded up my car and driven it to the charity shop-the buzz of getting stuff out of my house is brilliant,and the empty space that results in my house,lasts indefinitely :j.

Out of the house today from tidying a side in my kitchen (the one that is a bit of a dumping ground):

Binned:
1660-1662:loom bands
1663:paper mache creation,never finished by 10yo DD (i asked her what she wanted to do with it-wasn't quite sure what it was,weather it was finished with,etc)

I also decluttered:
1664:mail -holder of old school notes,invitations,etc

and 1665-1666: 2 of the piles of papers that I have lying around the house.Some stuff set aside to file,the rest out for recycling.

Chocolatedrinker

4 tins gone to food bank collection - bought quite a few tins of the same thing then decided I didn't like it, now in food bank collection at work.

Saver-upper

Ooooooohhhhh.Great big lots to charity shops this afternoon.:jI love the feeling of getting stuff out of the house forever :j:j:j.

Donated to local charity shop for sick children:
1667:litter bugs game
1668:set of plastic drawers
1669:Doodle Design colouring book
1670:grey cardigan
1671:bag of marbles
1672:purple bouncy ball
1673:box of 4 crayons
1674:Imagination Station colouring book
1675-1678:4 cookbooks,mostly aimed at cooking with kids,or cooking healthy recipes for them

To Clic Sargeant -first time I have donated there,and the girl was lovely and friendly:
1679-1683:5 cereal containers with lids
1684:latch hook kit
1685-1686: 2 rock samples.Not really sure what they are,but they are "slithers" of rock that have been polished.8yo wanted to donate them.
1687:Adult colouring book
1688-1690:3 adult jumpers,one with tags
1691-1703:13 cookbooks

noelphobic

noelphobic wrote: »

335/342) notebooks/jotters
343) Learn Spanish CD
344/345) Packs of birthday candles
346) plug adaptor
347) umbrella
348) trolley token
349) oil burner
350) ruler
351) blank unused cassette tape
352) citronella candle and holder
353/354) candle holders
355/356) pencil sharpeners
357/358) tea lights
359/368) candles
369) fragranced shimmering granules :eek:
370/371) A4 pads
372) Emery boards
373) ice scraper
374) tennis ball
375) necklace
376) paperweight
377/378) watches
379) video
380) mobile phone case
381/382) mobile phones

All to cs. And the house STILL doesn't look any better :eek:

I have a large cage containing an African Pygmy hedgehog 'cluttering' one of the bedrooms. DS has gone on holiday and I am hedgehog sitting :eek:

I'm hoping by the time Huckleberry is collected DS will notice the house looking better.:T

383/388) bottles of Lucozade - gave to DS - he has type one diabetes and Lucozade was the best hypo treatment, until they halved the sugar content. I'd been stocking up when I'd seen the older higher sugar variety. I've still got a couple of bottles for when he visits.

389) poster - in recycling bin

390) hat
391) belt
392) nightie
393) jeans
394/395) socks
396/397) t shirts

Some of the above belonged to DS. All went in the Shwop bin in M and S and I got 50 Sparks points :T

398) hand cream sachet - used up.

Saver-upper

Tonight I have spent time sorting out "little messes".Bundles of random tat,mostly papers (drawings by the kids,old mail,birthday cards,photos).It has taken me a few hours-looking at each item,deciding what to do with it,and finally doing something with it,instead of just putting it in another pile to deal with another day.
I am counting each pile as "1" on my list (though deserves more......),so that is decluttering items number 1704-1706.
Another thing I came across is some plastic toy animals,which the kids can take back to grandparent's house when they visit on Sunday.It reminded me that last Sunday I also sent them over there with 4 other animas that belong with the collection.It is all clutter out of my house,so counting them as items 1707-1711.

somerandom

somerandom wrote: »

820. pin board
821 & 2 2 x duvet cover sets

DS' room upgrade is nearly completed :T

A few bits from yesterday:

823. tape measure
824 -6 - 3 items of clothing covered in paint from my recent bout of decorating. sheer sloppiness on my part