2018 - No Clutter To Be Seen

Happy_Kitties

I'm trying to sort out the living room ready for decorating and to be more minimalist.

I had ordered 2 smaller sets of drawers more in keeping with planned decor to decant craft stuff into from the very ugly large plastic set ( and breaking) currently in the living room. The drawers arrived today so started sorting and was the ideal opportunity for decluttering.

*240-250 craft magazines x 10 now in recycling
*251 lots of paper scraps now in recycling
*252 small bag of general craft bitty things that I had kept just in case and would never use-now in
the bin

I've also listed 15 items on eBay and the plastic drawers are now ready to go to the tip next week with a few other bits. I've also got a bag of charity bits building up aswell. Pleased it was a good productive day today with crafts more organised.

Rootle

35/52 - my voucher box tidied out and several bits of paper (mainly old appt letters) recycled and a couple of pens binned. I also found an in date, unopened tin of mints which was a nice find. They are now in my handbag to use up at work.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. IF I NOTICE SOME SMALL TASK NEEDS DOING - I WILL DO IT IMMEDIATELY

2. I WILL LEAVE A ROOM TIDIER THAN WHEN I WENT IN - WITHOUT HIDING THE CLUTTER EXCEPT for the wardrobe room which is currently the storage room (sr)

3. THE LAST WASHING UP OF THE DAY WILL BE PUT AWAY BEFORE I GO TO BED

Wow :T everyone has been very busy today

marmiterulesok, you don’t hang around do you? :rotfl: Decision reached, gathered stuff together, cs chap round & collected - all within a couple of days :T And you have sorted the cellar books & DVDs as well :rotfl::T. Also nice to have a friend who will take bits off your hands :T. Curious minds want to know - was it hm marmalade?

Molillie, excellent plan :T I keep looking around for furniture to go but unfortunately I do not have any of my own stuff left there are several bits of DSis’s furniture which I would like to see the back of :rotfl:but my life would not be worth living if I just ‘vanished’ them :rotfl: Re the hoarding husband, if he keeps his ‘stuff’ organised & tidy surely that makes him a ‘collector’ :rotfl:

:j welcome back Guineapigsqueaks, re the plastic bags - I ran out a while ago - now I use the little bags that sms supply for loose veg If the collection point is there I doubt that much attention is paid to who fills it :rotfl:

Well done Happy Kitties :T:T Another one who ‘seizes the nettle’ :rotfl: - 2 small sets of drawers arrive, sorting & decluttering commences & finishes :T. Far more stuff going out than came in plus you have tidy craft supplies :T I probably would have got distracted

Rootle, more success :T & what a nice find maybe it will be cash next time :rotfl:

It was a lovely, sunny & warm day today - hopefully the start of an Indian Summer :rotfl:
I took the opportunity to strip the bed - bedding washed, dried & bed made :T:j Also went through the airing cupboard again - found I had actually been quite brutal 1st time around but decided one set of summer bedding was enough so washed, dried & packed the other set for the cs together with a towel :T
I also revisited my wardrobe - only a matching skirt & top for cs but pleased I have made a decision as it was an outfit I was dithering about - as I had chosen it as part of a competition win Several years ago I won first prize in a Veet competition (only had to send off name, address & telephone number) - the prize was chauffeur to work for a week (not taken up as the traffic would have been horrendous:(), breakfasts for a week (sm delivery of eggs, bacon, croissants etc), a personal shopper with £1,000 of vouchers to spend and best of all a ‘Wardrobe Consultation’ Two Ladies emptied out all my clothes from wardrobe, drawers etc a la Marie Kondo. With two ladies there I was brutal & actually ended up donating 3 bin bags of clothes. They also provided beautiful hangers & little bags for swimming costumes etc & put everything away neatly & colour coordinated. Also gave me a ‘board’ that was useful for folding up t-shirts so they were all the same size:rotfl: As I was so quick they also rehung the clothes in my DH’s wardrobe on new hangers :rotfl: I had completely forgotten the wardrobe consultation :rotfl: when I went through my wardrobe earlier this year - no wonder I didn’t have much to donate :rotfl: I have also written next week’s menu plan :T

DH put together the shelving unit & put up the garden tool rack.

DSis spent most of the day in her room watching DVDs but did cook us a wonderful chicken dish tonight with mash & green beans :drool:

Re my three mantras - stripped, washed & dried bedding & remade bed; filled sugar bowl & teabags jar; did the last washing up of the day; worktops washed down; general tidying

The day to day decluttering has generated

C466 - C472 Non recyclable - 3 plastic trays & packaging, 3 plastic bags, plastic tray - Binned
C473 - C475 Two tin cans, milk carton - Rinsed & recycled
C476 - C482 One king size duvet cover, a pillow protector, 2 matching pillowcases, a towel, skirt & top - all washed, dried, folded & put in CS bag.

Tomorrow we are are going out for lunch, so I can see a long pampering bath in my future:rotfl: & not much housework or decluttering :rotfl:

May your decluttering mojo continue to be strong :rotfl:

MrsSD
C482/C2018

marmiterulesok

Mrs_Salad_Dodger wrote: »

marmiterulesok, you don’t hang around do you? :rotfl: Decision reached, gathered stuff together, cs chap round & collected - all within a couple of days :T And you have sorted the cellar books & DVDs as well :rotfl::T. Also nice to have a friend who will take bits off your hands :T. Curious minds want to know - was it hm marmalade?

Teere's space in a shipment to Ghana for books and dvds for pupils....the ship leaves at the end of September so I need to move quickly.

Everything in the cellar is 'to go'.

Yes, the marmelade is home made, if Mamade counts as hm, that is.It makes excellent marmelade though.

Molillie

Not much activity today, as I am doing a bit of unexpected pet and house-sitting again. It's such a lovely house to come to, it's like going to an airbnb for a day or so. I might pop up to my house in the morning and work for an intensive hour.

I've had some Youtube decluttering videos playing in the background while pottering, and one US one really made me laugh. It was a university research group, who went into homes and worked out what people had, and then discussed how they felt, made suggestions for change, etc. One couple hadn't realised that they would look in all the cupboards and other storage and itemise everything. They had tidied by cramming into cupboards before the researchers came, and then became worried that they'd injure them with stuff toppling out. I'm going to try and find it again and watch it properly, but it was good in that it was treated as a cultural phenomenon, and the cluttered householders didn't seem to be embarrassed. They would have volunteered, of course.

Shall settle to a little read of your posts now, without guilt, as away from home!

Keep on keeping on everyone.

Rose_Crow

Thanks for the welcome Just had a general tidy up today, managed to sort through and shred a wad of post which has been sitting at the front door. Mostly old bank statements. Oh and i sent off my used stamps to a horse charity, they've been accumulating in envelopes around the house and they're finally on their way. I'm going to count those and 2 items. Have a good sunday everyone

marmiterulesok

A friend is going to buy the table and two chairs on the balcony and also a small rug,so that's four items going out.

somerandom

Good Morning !! I’d love to join the challenge please. I’ve taken part in previous years but had a lot going on at the beginning of 2018 so it wasn’t my focus. And two thirds into the year its showing!!! :eek:

One of the major influencing factors was that a very dear friend of mine died early this year after a long illness. She had been pretty much housebound for a long time and had become an online shop-a-holic and a hoarder of lovely things. I helped her partner clear out her stuff (they lived separately and her flat was rented) and I inherited quite a few things of hers. Her hoarding used to drive me nuts so you would think it would have reinforced my decluttering ways - but bizarrely it had the opposite affect on me! I haven’t become a hoarder thankfully but there was a definitely sea change in my attitude to stuff and I’ve found myself more inclined to hold onto things and acquire more (mostly at Charity Shops). And that’s not how I want to be.

So most of all I would like to shift my mind-set back to how it was previously & I can’t think of a better way of doing that than joining in with you lovely lot. I’m going to set myself a target of 700 items by the end of the year as we have a third of the year to go (rounded up)!! Going to make a start today :j

IrishRose12

Hi guys. Haven't been around this week or so...... I'm back at work now so been running round like a headless chicken for the kids ariving back tomorrow.

Have managed to get another 2 storage cubes down to one, a few items sold on ebay and facebook:T

Am now currently taking a break before I make a start on my drawers. Hoping to cull a lot of socks, t shorts etc.
My only problem being atm that things I have for the charity shop may be here a while. Our Primark burnt down during the week :eek::( and the charity shop that I leave my donations in is currently in the cordoned off done in case the building collapses:eek: hopefully that doesn't happen, but may have to find the . Onet from somewhere to maybe get a taxi to another Charity shop.bwillhave to have a thinks now I'm back at work I don't have the weekday free.

Welcome to any new posters :wave: I'm not long joined in here too but the ladies here are great and very friendly.

Molillie

Hello Somerandom, do you think that your change was partly because you knew what the things meant to your friend? We all still seem to have the urge to keep acquiring attractive things, even when we are actively getting rid of stuff.
Mrs S D, how frustrating for you, it's hard to have surplus from two other adults in the house. My friend's husband is lovely,but would e.g. keep every newspaper in a neat stack. They stopped having one delivered, and their adult children helped get rid of the stock before their last move. They did have a big rural property then, so his tendencies were no problem.
My battery is low, so will stop.