Decluttering challenge

[50degreesnorth]

I saw this earlier and thought of us all;

 

[EllenDeGenerate]

I feel ruddy fantastic tonight. Because today I got rid of a ton of crap - unwanted/old/ damaged stuff from my kitchen presses and hotpress, followed by a thorough clean and reorganisation of both. They are now positively stunning. I keep opening them to admire the fruits of my labour !
This was a massive achievement for me, as I'm a hoarder by nature - likely due to having grown up in a large family where things were often tight financially, and we treasured what we had.
Anyway, im now having a large measure of alcohol to celebrate my 'achievement '.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

I can’t believe I had to look a few pages back to find this thread, it’s been quiet!

Have been making amazing progress with not so much de cluttering but more optimising life? Have made use of those vacuum bags for stuff stored under the bed, idk why I never thought to try pillows/duvets in it but it shrunk them down to nothingness! I then put the shrivelled bags into a standard under storage bag to make it easier to drag in/out, but cut down the space used massively!

Have improved how our bedroom curtains are hung after it annoying me every time I looked at it. Am making a list of jobs like that to just get through, even one a week is great progress. Have sold a lot on Vinted this week too which always makes me excited! Also sorting the dreaded odd sock pile and repurposing any lost souls tonight in front of the tv.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

Sorted out my utensils and discovered 14 excess wooden spoons including this little chap:

I obviously can't bin him, so he's now got pride of place at the front of my ceramic utensils holder - for aesthetic reasons of course!
When out with friends last night I was too embarrassed to mention my decluttering, as I knew talking about it would set me off waxing lyrical about the joy of decluttering, whilst all the while they would be eye rolling like mad.

 

[Glaschelle]

Not that great on the 5 things from.each room. But ive got a bag of clothes, a bag of rubbish (packaging, old wrapping paper wtc) from my bed room and 5 things from the bathroom!

So it's a atart

 

[adviseplz]

That’s such a massive ask. That’s the equivalent of saying “I’m sure I can pack this house up in a week and not move any junk halfway across the country”. *

A little at a time is more mentally manageable IMO. Dumping everything into the middle of the room will just literally create a mountain of confusion.

I think you need some clearer surfaces and space to figure out what’s going on.

I try to make a point of going into each room and finding 5 things which can be dealt with be it bin, charity shop or wrong room. I keep a bin bag in my bedroom for charity shop stuff so it can go from the washing basket to there. I’m also thinning the herd of books but to do all the bookcases in one go is too much - plus the charity shop don’t like it. So 5 a bag is great.

The less I have - the more I can see I have - eg yoga mat!

It’s still very much a work in progress and long-term project - the aforementioned ski boots and treadmill did a 500 mile house move.Tbh I think the treadmill worked before it went in the lorry but whatever… the ski boots boils definitely not made the trip!

With this in mind, and it being Monday and all, shall we set ourselves the challenge that by next Monday we have gathered 5 things that can either go to the charity shop or in the bin.

It can be either 5 in total, or 5 from a few rooms…depending how easy/hard you find the challenge.

 

[Justherefortittle]

I have been plugging away at sorting out all the crap that was dumped in the spare room.

And with that I have gained more mental clarity, really strange shift in emotions & perspective.

I mean it want dirty it just was a tip with clothes overspill, work stuff, packaging you might need and things that had been ‘set out of the way’

Did a major clothes, shoes & bags sort a few weeks ago and left loads to charity shop. Have started a Vinted but I just needed them out of my way to keep momentum going. So donated instead of resell.

Then when I got some space, physically and mentally, I started listing stuff on Vinted.
Have made about £800 so far so delighted with that. And kind of regretting not selling the first 5 bin liners that went to charity.

Vac packing must be in the air
I did all my spring summer stuff and have them neatly put away. In the bottom of the wardrobe.
I have put on a bit of weight this year.
One bag was things that were a little tight that I didn’t get wear of this season. So have that clearly labelled and come spring it will be the first opened and if it doesn’t fit it will all be going on Vinted!

It’s all encouraging me to take a little bit at a time and sort sort sort!

 

[Jellycat369]

Operation Sort Out House took place this week. We moved our toddler into the guest bedroom and the baby into his bed. The toddler got his first big boy bed and the baby got promoted from the Snuzpod to the cotbed. Rejigging all the furniture allowed as to deep clean and declutter each room as we went. Listed the Snuzpod and some odds and ends on Facebook Marketplace and they all sold within hours of uploading. Uploaded a couple of bundles of baby clothes this afternoon. OH listed a bunch of blu rays onto ebay and he's sold a bunch already. We didn't quite finish all the jobs we wanted to but we managed to work through a big chunk, no mean feat when trying to work with a very clingy baby. Got our office and garage to sort and then it's just a case of keeping on top of selling on the baby clothes as and when he grows out of them.

 

[50degreesnorth]

I use a pretty box for batteries. I think it contained baby socks - he now towers over me… so it’s been a while.

I’m sorry to hear about the retirement of the Looney Tunes flannel - I hope it received a solemn service and heartfelt send off for services rendered.

For “too small” clothes - honestly, I’m divided. I’m losing weight right now and “shopping my wardrobe”. It’s great to have stuff ready to go, already paid for and in my style - but, there’s also stuff that’s kind of tatty and I should’ve got rid of years ago. I have however got rid of all the 6” stilettos - my arse may shrink, but I’m too old for that shit now.

Today I’ve got to load up the car for the tip as I’m off tomorrow. It’s 50 miles away ffs so I’m going to try and fill the car as best I can.

 

[L1fe0nM@rs]

I actually enjoyed the cutlery drawer. Moved onto crockery and have donated excess to my local church for their kitchen stock.

When you do the kitchen drawer you can use the Ferrero Rocher plastic boxes with the lids. I can get at least 3 in my small drawers to separate out things like batteries.
I also use them in my bedside drawers too.
View attachment 2879966

Good excuse to eat Ferraro rocher too

 

[50degreesnorth]

I had a quick go in the shed yesterday as I was planting. Found a paddling pool cover new in the box - my kids are more into illicit booze than paddling pools these days - so I was it it straight in the charity bag and I hope someone’s kids have a great summer with a warmer pool! Also threw out various bits of shite and can even REACH the old paint pots now that need to go to the tip.

 

[Justherefortittle]

Selling some of my unwanted items is giving me the push I need to keep this decluttering and reorganising spree in motion.

I uploaded 4 items on to eBay on Friday afternoon. First time ever using it to sell.
Also had them listed on marketplace all I got was few of the usual random ‘tyre kickers’ and scammers responding on Facebook.

All sold by Saturday evening on EBay with no major bartering and posted yesterday.

After fees a nice little £340 quid landed in my bank account this morning for those 4 items that had been gathering dust on top of my wardrobe.

 

[50degreesnorth]

The bathroom is a really easy place to start as there are usually a handful of lotions and potions which you last used 3 years ago - and are you REALLY going to use the pink box-dye? Plus permission granted to bin the holey face cloths, manky loofahs and pumice stone containing 3649 unique strains of bacteria.

Bet you can find 5 random pieces of shite in the kitchen drawers too. Hello Nepalese hand-crafted salad servers, dog shaped biscuit cutters and a bag of screws left over from an ikea Billy bookcase.

5 things in a week is child’s play. 5 things per room minimum and you can do the bathroom and kitchen today. Boil the kettle and do the kitchen - and next time you go to the loo do the bathroom.

 

[50degreesnorth]

I know some of you were tinkering around decluttering wondering if you could possibly find 5 random pieces of crap to throw out. This just hit my inbox (one of the few I’ve NOT unsubscribed from - yes, you can declutter your email too - should take you less than a minute to unsubscribe from 5 newsletters right now!) - and you could probably put 100 things in the bin before dark.

120 Things To Remove From Your Life (and you won't miss them)

Working on this list of 120 things to declutter will help you create space in your home, your heart and in your mind.

bemorewithless.com

 

[Chocolategoggler]

I finally got around to sorting my clothes to see if I could do some kind of capsule wardrobe.
I dragged an empty rail into the room and filled it with stuff I wasn't sure fit or suited me and left behind in the wardrobe all the things I loved and wore.
I packed all my winter stuff away whilst doing this, but only packed away the things I loved and used. The rest went on to my rail.
Then I had to lie down and rest as I was aching and shattered!!
Looking in my wardrobe now I can definitely see a capsule wardrobe so I think the next tasks will be to:
Gradually try on the stuff on the rail and decide what I'm keeping
Write a list of all my clothes I'm keeping....
Then I'll sit down with my list and work out what's missing that I need.
And then I'll go shopping!!!

 

[Sketchy]

I recently had my garden shed cleared out - completely - by a 'dump-run' guy. Years of clutter. I know there were probably loads of items I should've rescued but just had a little talk to myself; let's face it, once something goes out to the shed, it rarely ever comes back in.

It's my guess a lot of us on this thread are of the 'I can't get rid of that ... sentimental reasons' brigade. Sometimes it pays to be ruthless and just not think about it too much.

Now it's the house-junk's turn. Be prepared, house-junk!

 

[klarakluckbag]

I've sorted out the cutlery drawer. It's a really easy way to get rid of 5 items, nearly every home has loads of random knives and forks from long-ago cutlery sets, assorted chopsticks, bottle openers, weirdly shaped spoons, pastry brushes with 3 bristles or less, rusty can openers, etc, etc. I treated myself to a new drawer divider, the spare teaspoons have been donated to the work kitchen, everyone's a winner!
Next stop...that kitchen drawer where the string, sellotape, screws, nails and fuses, assorted elastic bands, and those little plastic bits of tat that you get in Christmas crackers, are all kept. Wish me luck, I'm going in!

 

[Jellycat369]

Sorted out my medicine drawer and chucked out any expired products. There wasn't much as I don't tend to keep a large stock of things.

Bought some acrylic drawers and used them to tidy up the undersink cupboard in my ensuite. Haa made the space much more usable and reduced the clutter.

Following on from sorting out my son's art cart I bought a storage box for his playdoh so all the little pots and tools are all stored together so I could chuck the broken boxes. Plus I bought some zippable plastic wallets and have put all his puzzles and smaller games in them so, again, I could chuck the broken boxes and reduce the space everything was taking up, making it easier to store.

Sorted out my airing cupboard and managed found a random duvet cover and a couple of threadbare towels to get rid of. Bought some storage boxes for the remaining bedding sets to tidy up the shelf as it was annoying me that they kept getting in the way of the laundry basket.

Still have loads to do but making slow progress while baby naps Hoping to have everything decluttered and sorted ready to sell up and move next year

 

[Roarquaver]

This is my first ever thread so sorry if I have done anything wrong..
I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in starting some sort of minimalism/decluttering challenge? Being on lockdown is the perfect opportunity but I always get so overwhelmed with the sheer amount of junk in my home, and seem to spend half my life moving piles of clutter from one place to another. Im single with two young kids so I really feel like I'm paddling frantically to keep afloat sometimes! So I thought I could start a thread for anyone wanting to do the same? A place for motivation, support, ideas and mini challenges? And by challenge I mean ones that are genuinely achievable and not 'clear out an entire room in an hour' etc!!
Sorry if there's already something similar about, I did check but I've also got lockdown brain fry so..X

 

[50degreesnorth]

I thought I’d bump this as I know a few of us are looking to simplify our lives.

Got to the wee nook under the stairs and dug out the treadmill which has gathered dust for 3 4 years. Doesn’t bloody work. So that can go to the tip. Moved a mystery box from there to my bedroom which I think contains sports clothes I can finally fit into again.

I’m also going to take 2 pairs of ski boots to the top when I go because it’s been so long, the plastic will have degraded and won’t be safe anymore.