Decluttering!

[maymorganlondon]

The one thing I want to do though is buy some different storage boxes to go on top of the wardrobe in the bedroom....As you know I managed to whittle six boxes down to just three, which is great, but they don't look very good cos they're different shapes and designs. I thought, I know I'll buy another four of the same boxes I use for my re-cycling, which are ivory coloured wicker look lidded boxes, they look really streamlined and nice..went to have a look and they've changed the design, yep, they're still quite pretty, but they don't come with lids any more, so you can't stack them - How annoying. I've looked on line for the same ones but every where I've found them, it's says "unavailable" ....grrrr! So I'm stuck with my mish mash of non matching boxes...Just a little thing I know but very frustrating!

If IKEA doesn't float your boat, and it was the Lakeland ones you had before, perhaps John Lewis? They have a range called smart store by orthex which are basket style but have lids. Sorry I don't know how to link on my tablet. Lids are bamboo but the basket is a cream colour or grey plastic. IKEA have Svira storage items which might fit the purpose. I have been very pleased with my wardrobe storage items from IKEA over the years, and as my wardrobes have no doors, they have to look nice!

 

[maymorganlondon]

Today's update: lots of sneezing due to disturbed dust. My wardrobe has 4 sections. One section 100% cleared and sorted. I now have 7 bags of towels, blankets and non-feather duvets ready to donate. I have 4 bags of rubbish for the tip as well.

It might sound impressive, but I have a HUGE way to go!!!

The point is that the grand total of 15 bags of stuff are leaving my house today, on top of the 5 that went out the door yesterday. I have really only just started.... And I have external storage that won't get touched during the present exercise as I have no space to sort through it.

I am looking forward to work tomorrow for a rest :mysmilie_8:


Finding places I can donate to is vital for me, as a significant amount of stuff I've held onto down the years is because I don't want it just going to landfill when it could be useful to someone else. It seems so much easier to seek out lesser known charities and other sites which give your preloved goods a second life.

Having cracked stuff I store for that reason, I now have the emotionally motivated stuff problems to resolve! Anyone got any good tips for that?

 

[iloveshopping]

I will have been in our flat for 2 years in September. The corner of the large bedroom has a section of stuff that has hardly been disturbed since we moved in. I was working really hard for the first year we were here. They say that it should all be junked if it has not been used in 2 years. I will have to start tackling it soon. I also have too many clothes, time to start going through the wardrobe.

 

[maymorganlondon]

I will have been in our flat for 2 years in September. The corner of the large bedroom has a section of stuff that has hardly been disturbed since we moved in. I was working really hard for the first year we were here. They say that it should all be junked if it has not been used in 2 years. I will have to start tackling it soon. I also have too many clothes, time to start going through the wardrobe.

Good luck!

Some of my stuff I just mentally wilt at the prospect. I know when I do it, it will be mentally and emotionally draining. I don't think it's how long it's been unopened, more how much difficulty there is in going through the contents.

I'm not ready for that yet. In my world that's rather advanced.. Just building up to it. Brilliant if you can tackle it, you will feel refreshed after, I expect.

I have things others say "oh, if you've not missed it for x months, years or whatever, it's time to just junk it". That's fine for some, but others need more time to let go.

 

[merryone]

If IKEA doesn't float your boat, and it was the Lakeland ones you had before, perhaps John Lewis? They have a range called smart store by orthex which are basket style but have lids. Sorry I don't know how to link on my tablet. Lids are bamboo but the basket is a cream colour or grey plastic. IKEA have Svira storage items which might fit the purpose. I have been very pleased with my wardrobe storage items from IKEA over the years, and as my wardrobes have no doors, they have to look nice!

Had a look and lakeland only do the lidded basket in the teeny tiny size, so no good...however, the John Lewis orthex ones are quite promising. The largest size are slightly smaller than I'd like, but only slightly and you have to buy the lids separately, but with my staff discount they might be worth a shout. If I buy 4 to replace the three boxes I have on top of my wardrobe, I should get all the stuff in and they'll look more streamlined. Will probably go for 4 of the largest size and buy grey lids. Thanks for that May x

 

[maymorganlondon]

I know I'm still at the clothes stage with my KonMari decluttering programme, but I'm having to fit in some foodstuffs decluttering as well, as I can only fit so much in my food recycling container, so will need to spread it out over several weeks.

Last week was getting rid of spices and herbs - some dating back from my student days (more than 30 years ago, I kid you not)! This week it was getting rid of a Diet-Chef style diet programme I got so far through then gave up because I hated everything I was consuming. It's shocking really to see the waste because of how much stuff I have had... so much I couldn't even store all food items in the kitchen. It's downright embarrassing to have so much food waste to get rid of, that I can't even donate to a foodbank. If I find I have stuff I know I won't eat that is still in date, that will definitely go to a foodbank.

On the clothes front, I have three bags in the living room to be topped up with further discards. I've also got a pile of laundry items to be folded and put away (there is a folding method in the KonMari process). I'm aiming to finish the rest of the clothes by Saturday evening at the latest, and preferably by Saturday lunchtime (meaning I can take all the discarded items to the charity shop straight away.

Is anyone else trying to use the methods of a tidying "guru"?

 

[merryone]

I must admit I did look up some tips online, and whilst interesting I didn't find too much that I didn't kinda know myself, but nevertheless picked up some tips, and the best one I think I picked up was about storage boxes themselves. For instance stuffing stuff in storage boxes is all well and good, but if the boxes are full of stuff that are unlikely to see the light of day, cause you don't actually know what the stuff's for eg, cables etc, or clothes that don't fit and probably will never fit, towels and bed linen that really need discarding...or the other scenario when you've rationalised the contents of such boxes, got a couple of empty ones...don't keep them to fill up with more stuff, as a box still takes up space and will still contribute to the general clutter! When I whittled my boxes down, I did actually get rid of the spare boxes - It was easy to do 'cause they weren't very attractive boxes anyway...and yes I have ordered more boxes from John Lewis, but they stack together, they will be used and they'll hopefully look streamlined! I'm not so bothered about food, though I have always regularly gone through rooting out the out of date stuff, and stuff with such a small amount left inside its not worth keeping...thankfully, my kitchen is the one room where there's plenty of storage space for food. My biggest problem in the kitchen was all the pots, pans and appliances which ended up cluttering up the work surfaces, but I have successfully whittled that right down and our kitchen looks much better. Still have no idea as to how to calm my "walls of fabric" caused by clothes hanging on coat racks, back of bathroom and bedroom door. Obviously I can throw stuff away, but to be fair it's stuff we wear so it's not really a option. The solution of course would be to get a bigger, or another wardrobe, unfortunately I don't have the room to do either. I've already succesfully stored away some of the clothes, so you can imagine it was a lot worse than it is now, but still it niggles me, especially in our tiny bathroom when there's stuff drying over the bath when the weather's too bad to dry stuff outside, towels on the towel rail and dressing gowns on the back of the door..... You are literally "engulfed". So glad to hear that you're still at it and not only that you're making sure that you're donating stuff as opposed to just chucking good stuff in the bin....Keep up the good work..and remember to pass on any of your tips! x

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

TK Max often have good storage boxes but as with all their stock it's the luck of the draw at the time.

 

[maymorganlondon]

I must admit I did look up some tips online, and whilst interesting I didn't find too much that I didn't kinda know myself, but nevertheless picked up some tips, and the best one I think I picked up was about storage boxes themselves. For instance stuffing stuff in storage boxes is all well and good, but if the boxes are full of stuff that are unlikely to see the light of day, cause you don't actually know what the stuff's for eg, cables etc, or clothes that don't fit and probably will never fit, towels and bed linen that really need discarding...or the other scenario when you've rationalised the contents of such boxes, got a couple of empty ones...don't keep them to fill up with more stuff, as a box still takes up space and will still contribute to the general clutter! When I whittled my boxes down, I did actually get rid of the spare boxes - It was easy to do 'cause they weren't very attractive boxes anyway...and yes I have ordered more boxes from John Lewis, but they stack together, they will be used and they'll hopefully look streamlined! I'm not so bothered about food, though I have always regularly gone through rooting out the out of date stuff, and stuff with such a small amount left inside its not worth keeping...thankfully, my kitchen is the one room where there's plenty of storage space for food. My biggest problem in the kitchen was all the pots, pans and appliances which ended up cluttering up the work surfaces, but I have successfully whittled that right down and our kitchen looks much better. Still have no idea as to how to calm my "walls of fabric" caused by clothes hanging on coat racks, back of bathroom and bedroom door. Obviously I can throw stuff away, but to be fair it's stuff we wear so it's not really a option. The solution of course would be to get a bigger, or another wardrobe, unfortunately I don't have the room to do either. I've already succesfully stored away some of the clothes, so you can imagine it was a lot worse than it is now, but still it niggles me, especially in our tiny bathroom when there's stuff drying over the bath when the weather's too bad to dry stuff outside, towels on the towel rail and dressing gowns on the back of the door..... You are literally "engulfed". So glad to hear that you're still at it and not only that you're making sure that you're donating stuff as opposed to just chucking good stuff in the bin....Keep up the good work..and remember to pass on any of your tips! x

You might be interested in one of the aspects of the KonMari method: only fold those clothes that can't be folded. The idea is to fold items so the stand on their own, and then put them in a drawer on their edge. It sounds odd, but when you open the drawer you can see at a glance what you have. That might relieve some of the pressure on your wardrobe space.
Also in this method, use old shoe boxes etc as drawer organisers. Basically don't buy more storage until you finish decluttering.

A lot of it is practical good sense, with an interesting way to approach sifting the stuff you want to keep from the stuff which you want to part with.

 

[merryone]

You might be interested in one of the aspects of the KonMari method: only fold those clothes that can't be folded. The idea is to fold items so the stand on their own, and then put them in a drawer on their edge. It sounds odd, but when you open the drawer you can see at a glance what you have. That might relieve some of the pressure on your wardrobe space.
Also in this method, use old shoe boxes etc as drawer organisers. Basically don't buy more storage until you finish decluttering.

A lot of it is practical good sense, with an interesting way to approach sifting the stuff you want to keep from the stuff which you want to part with.

I didn't get what you mean but I looked up Kon Mari and now I see what you mean...genius...I shall give it a whirl! Like you say, it might give me a bit more wardrobe space which would be brilliant...thanks!

 

[maymorganlondon]

I didn't get what you mean but I looked up Kon Mari and now I see what you mean...genius...I shall give it a whirl! Like you say, it might give me a bit more wardrobe space which would be brilliant...thanks!

I can see why you might have been a bit unsure. Why I typed only fold what can't be folded... I was a bit tired and hit post without reading through. Glad you got it and think it might be helpful.

 

[maymorganlondon]

Me again!
I've not done any more clearing out... That will be Sunday. I am, however, getting momentum in other aspects of clearing and tidying - getting other things sorted out that have been lingering undone. So, Sunday and Monday will hopefully set me on the track for sorting domestic niggles with plumbing among other things.

Another benefit is that despite eating everything in sight, I'm losing weight.

So, basically I'm seeing results as a consequence of taking action. Anyone else seeing spin-off benefits?

 

[merryone]

Me again!
I've not done any more clearing out... That will be Sunday. I am, however, getting momentum in other aspects of clearing and tidying - getting other things sorted out that have been lingering undone. So, Sunday and Monday will hopefully set me on the track for sorting domestic niggles with plumbing among other things.

Another benefit is that despite eating everything in sight, I'm losing weight.

So, basically I'm seeing results as a consequence of taking action. Anyone else seeing spin-off benefits?

Yes....Less arguments with my husband, more time where I can "proper" relax without sitting there thinking, I should be doing this, or I should be doing that, being able to find things without turning the whole house upside down and overall just having a nicer enviroment in which to live in!

 

[maymorganlondon]

Another simple thing: going straight to the soy sauce in the condiments cupboard without dragging everything out to find it.

The decrease in stress is pure gold... And no panic when my brother invites himself to stay :mysmilie_50:

 

[DunmowDizzy]

Just decluttered the free box of chocolates that nespresso sent me last time I ordered coffee pods. How good am I!

 

[merryone]

Seems that hubby seems hell bent on recluttering as fast as I'm trying to declutter. Shopping trip yesterday resulted in two lots of bogof moist toilet tissue, we've got plenty anyway, and never mind the fact I don't even like the stuff lol! Then there's the "man bag". Some years ago he had a man bag, and he lost it, he's really good at losing stuff, but he decided that cause he'd lost everything that time he'd never get another one, and that worked fine! Then a year or two ago he said I might try a man bag again...So I bought him a really nice one for xmas, of course it wasn't long until he lost that one! He was quite upset, though thankfully it didn't have much in it this time...so stupidly, for his birthday this year, I replaced it! Guess what, he lost it again, and again it was full of everything including his passport!!! Last week he said he's seen another man bag that he's thinking of buying...and this time it's a great big bulky thing...I said FGS NO!!!! He said no more about it so I thought it was all forgotten...phew! Then yesterday he was moaning that the grinder attachment on the magic bullet isn't very good, I mean it works but it's not very good, I think I'm gonna look online and try and find a separate grinder. I said no please don't we don't need any more ****** appliances cluttering up the kitchen, and how often do you grind things? Not very often!!! He's like "No, I want a decent grinder, oh and I can order that man bag whilst I'm at it!" I am literally gonna scream! Decided I'd go through the attic cupboards and I've managed to get shot of quite a bit of stuff, stuff I'd forgotten we'd got... An old vacuum cleaner, very noisy, run on bags didn't throw it away cause it works, and old picture, old pet cages, kept just in case...got shot of the lot, so now at least my cupboards are free to store stuff that actually needs storing..ie xmas decs, seasonal clothing, luggage etc...and not just spares of stuff you're keeping just for the sake of it. Anyway, I feel much better for doing that...just waiting for hubby's clutter to arrive..to be fair I don't think he's actually ordered it yet...well at least I hope not!!!

 

[maymorganlondon]

Nightmare that you and OH are not on the same page. I wonder if your decluttering will turn up one of his lost man bags?

Keep going, anyway. After a while he may take the hint and follow your example!

 

[merryone]

Nightmare that you and OH are not on the same page. I wonder if your decluttering will turn up one of his lost man bags?

Keep going, anyway. After a while he may take the hint and follow your example!

Yeah, it's weird 'cause back in the dark old days when it was clutter city central (about a month ago lol!) It was mainly him who made the most "noise" about it...how depressed the place was making him feel, how fed up he was bumping into things, tripping over things, how chaotic the whole place was! He does pretty much all the cooking cause he's brilliant at it, and enjoys it, and the rest of the housework's down to me, but I didn't do very much, or if I did, you couldn't really tell, to be honest there was always so much laundry and ironing to tackle that I rarely had much time and energy to do much else! Apart from cleaning up after himself in the kitchen, he did little else, but if he were to say give the dining table a good clean, or clean a mirror, or window, he'd never just quietly get on with the job, there'd be a tirade of "look at the state of this slum"..."we can't live like this any more" etc etc, but what angered him the most is that "I didn't seem to care!"...and largely he was right, also I didn't think it was that bad until the rare occasions of which I've spoken of where I've got up, thought OMG what a state and blitzed the place from top to bottom. I suppose now 'cause I've actually given so much stuff the heave ho, and rearranged stuff, the place looks so much clearer that he thinks that a "little bag and a new grinder's" not gonna hurt...but I've got to the stage now where I'm paranoid it's gonna go back to its former "glory", so I'm thinking on a one in out out policy, ie, if I want something new, I've gotta get rid of something first. Anyway I'm hoping my new and improved slimline kitchen trolley will arrive today to replace the scuffy old one, and my storage boxes too, can't wait to shift out the old ones, they look terrible! It's just silly stuff too, for instance we used to use a really nice roomspray from poundland in the bathroom, you can no longer buy it, so he bought a different one, it's no so good, but it'll do, but no, he bought another one, again not as good, then another one, so that's three more things on the bathroom shelf and just to add insult to injury, he's just bought this hideous plastic thing full of coloured pearls that sits on top of the cistern, it's supposed to freshen the air! Just to let you know our bathroom smells no worse than anybody else's, he's for some reason trying to find the "holy grail of room sprays/air fresheners, but I wish he'd wait until one was finished before he buys a new one! Any I'll keep progress posted. Guess you're still working hard?! Well done!

 

[maymorganlondon]

Reporting in.

I took everything off the wardrobe rails yesterday and cleared all the drawers. I finished rehanging and folding at 1 am. Actually I've got some to revisit as I desperately wanted to go to bed and had cunningly piled it all on the bed.

There are currently 7 further bags of discarded items to go out of the house. There will be more!

I've also got a broken door lock fixed, and organised to get a leaky tap fixed and my boiler thermostat too.

There is a ton more to get done, but I have momentum now, so I'm confident I will get it all done this year. I mostly have to grab a weekend here or there as I'm frequently too knackered after work of an evening.

I just have to plan all the rewards for when it's finished!

I will have to guard against exactly what you describe, Merryone, only I will likely be both victim and perpetrator!

By organising everything so all items of the same type in one place I expect to avoid duplicate purchases, like the mouthwash I bought on Saturday. All mouthwash now in a single location so should be safe as long as I don't think fill up the current location with so much carp I have trouble finding stuff again. I am so used to being amidst clutter I suspect I will feel the urge to recreate it. I will have to fight it. We may need a "decluttering g and how to fight it" thread by then :mysmilie_17:

 

[iloveshopping]

LOL. I have ended up with 2 lots of cereal because I went to 2 supermarkets in the same shopping session and did not remember that I had bought some in the first supermarket