2019 - A Clutter Free Life

Hermia

chocolatelover93 wrote: »

I know what you mean about seeing past things, I do this too!! Sometimes I think it would just be easier to clear the whole house out and then put it all back in again bit by bit. There is actually a show on Netflix called Consumed where they do this. They're only allowed to keep 25% of the stuff they have, it's quite interesting to watch and one lady said it was such a pain putting all the stuff in boxes she didn't realize how much she actually had.

This kind of happened to me. While I was waiting for my house sale to go through I had to put a lot of my stuff into storage for a year. When I got it out again I just looked at most of it and thought why have I kept this and I was annoyed at how much I had spent on storage. I was also annoyed at having to unpack all the stuff and put it in my new home! I have heard several decluttering gurus say if you can live without something to the extent that you are happy to put it into storage for months/years why are you keeping it. I completely agree. I honestly think the only reasons for doing that now are if you are having to move to temporary accommodation and need to store items you will certainly use in your new place as well as a few sentimental items. I had packed away cookery books and tons of clothes. I think if you go a year without needing a particular recipe or item of clothing you probably don't need those items!

chupachups4

today was a family day, so only 2 things
29- trousers sold, 5 euros in the travel pot
30- toy

notmy1sttime I'm not blogging about it at the moment as I Don't know how to do it. But I have a diary.

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Mrs SD please can I join? I need some encouragement to de-clutter - I want to reclaim my bedroom which was decorated including new carpet 2 years ago so for a few brief days was empty apart from a bed; but a few weeks later deteriorated into a clutter filled tip and so it has stayed.....! I want my room to be a peaceful sanctuary! I don't want to set a target but it will help to post my progress and be inspired by everyone else's successes. Thank you Dx

choille

Have started a charity shop bag & already have a few items ensconced in it & am listing some other stuff on Ebay - but not setting the heather on fire at the moment.

cherie1122

I must start listing stuff on here. Today I threw out one magazine and two spiral note books that have been in the bookcase for years. I hesitated about them as there were a lot of unused pages but I really have no use for them so out they went.

Tomorrow I shall find at least one item to get rid of. My bedroom is also full of stuff and I want it to be a peaceful haven like Deni debt-free.

White_musk

Counting down the days until Wednesday, then all the trades people will (finally) be gone. New carpets all the way through will be fitted Thursday and then I can begin to put my home back to rights. As I unpack bags and boxes I plan a ruthless (re) de-clutter. I did a major clear out a year ago when I moved here and plan to get rid of even more this time.

Storage is an absolute nightmare here, so the less I have the better.

Reading all the posts full of wonderful achievements and the satisfaction of regaining spaces once full of clutter is amazing. You all have no idea how reading about each and every single item you've managed to part with inspires many others.

To a less cluttered and more space friendly 2019.

Tfoz

Had a busy week as I was on holiday, away last weekend (declutered a moisturiser pot, finally used up!) then the last few days I've been at my mums which meant finally taking a car load of stuff over to her to sell. So good to be rid, got £130 for a horrible gold chain that's been in a drawer for years so quids in already.
We came home today and I have tackled the kitchen cupboards, a blender/food processor gone, brought it from the old house but not used it in the year we've been in so see ya! All the tatty plates gone and I've reorganised the cupboards with my Marie Kondo head on.

sillyvixen

New uniform trousers arrived on Thursday so have now been washed and the old falling to bits ones will go with the recycling on Monday (we are lucky our council will take a small amount of fabric or small electrical if in bags and put out with the boxes). I also have my hand held steam cleaner to go with the recycling as it no longer works.

I took 5 mugs to work today and will take 5 more on Monday to go into the kitchen at work (we are short of mugs and those we do have are cracked, chipped and just plain minging).

I have a few bits I have sorted for the charity food and toiletries box at church, 3 books I have read for the book stall and a a few toys for the family room .. these will all go tomorrow morning.

I am starting another pile in the spare room for craft materials for the kids at church, I have gone through my craft box and have bits stashed all over the house once a box is full it will be labled and go into the church storeroom (as our craft cupboard needs decluttering) , we were given a lot of craft stuff recently by a lady who was moving to cornwall - but decluttering junior church cupboards is a job for another day!

somerandom

somerandom wrote: »

63 - old silver polish cloth - bin
64 - batteries recycling

Been at a training course all day - was tempted to flop on the sofa after dinner but instead delved into the "tardis-like" trunk at the end of my bed that houses all sorts including bed linen & off-season clothes. Feel pleased to have cleared another 14 items!
I was rewarded for my efforts by ..... drumroll please ...... AN EMPTY DRAWER in my chest of drawers!!! :j

65-76 12X clothing to CS
77 - bag to CS
78 - hideous medicine pink camping towel - to be used for cleaning

I can feel a different energy in the house now stuff is leaving the house again (& a different energy in me for that matter)

phoebe1989seb

I feel a bit of a fraud for joining this thread as DH and I are both proud maximalists, lol! However we downsized to a much smaller cottage almost a year ago and have been attempting to thin out some stuff

We're also very heavily into the Arts & Crafts Movement so William Morris's famous maxim is one we try to adhere to.

I really should have joined last year's thread - but we had no broadband here for 10 months so could only access MSE on my phone (and not indoors) - as we got rid of most of the big stuff then (I kept a list of the main items - 26 items furniture, 2 magazine racks, 4 mirrors, 2 fire screens, electric 'wood burner', 10 pairs curtains, 23 cushions, 26 lamps/light fittings, 2 copper fireplace hoods). Not to mention loads of decorative objects, clothes, bedding, double mattress, old paperwork etc! Then there was all the stuff we had to remove from here!

Anyway, so far this year we've managed -

742 hand made bricks (sold)
7 half-chewed dogs' tennis balls (thrown)
1 dog toy (thrown)
2 old spotlights (thrown)
1 plastic laundry basket (thrown)
2 tea towels, old, had been used as rags (thrown)
21 large pottery planters (sold)
Cast iron wood burner, rusty, left by PO (sold)
Pair small pine cupboard doors, removed during building work (sold)
6 virtually empty lipsticks (thrown)
2 virtually empty nail polish (thrown)
10 small wooden picture frames (sold)

We currently have a skip, which is handy

I'll be back as it's an ongoing process - the house was bought as a [STRIKE] repossession[/STRIKE] project and we've been living on a building site till fairly recently and have boxes as yet unpacked. There's still lots to do, inside and out - for example, the previous owner left a pair of car seats :eek: in one of our hedges, but they're so far out of sight from the cottage we've not tackled them yet!

During the move I came across DS's push along dog in as new condition - he and his partner had a baby (our first grandchild ) in July and this has been set aside as a first birthday gift for her, so after twenty-odd years that will be going to a new home!