I need some decluttering rules

[wish]

I need to go through lots of stuff, but I'm feeling like I need some rules to go by so I can be ruthless!

Perfect example of my need to declutter: My parents were just here and helped me get on track with all of the laundry. Now that it's all actually put away I can see we have waaaay to much. DD2 has at least 20 pairs of pj's, ugh. I just didn't realize it because all of our clothes are usually in laundry baskets. Obviously I need to pare down, but I need some guidelines. So I'm thinking get rid of:
stained
too small
never wears

For other objects:
don't use
broken

Any other guidelines you use to declutter??

[ASusan]

For the PJs and similar, I'd try this approach - Empty the PJ drawer and pretend you're shopping for PJs for the next 6-12 mos. Pick out 3 summer pair, 3 winter pair (if you have some that will fit next winter), and 3 shoulder pair. If you think she'll be a different size by the end of the summer, allow yourself 2-3 pair in the larger size, assuming you have an assortment of sizes.

Toss the rest.

Same with her shirts drawer and pants drawer. Empty totally, select the 7-10 favorites - those she tends to wear once every week or so. Then select out a couple that are a little larger and better condition, for growing into. Select 1-3 "nice" (church-quality or for your activities that require slightly-better-than-average clothing) Toss the rest.

For books, I tend to do the opposite. I go through the shelf about every other month, and I pull out books that we haven't read in that time period or a little longer. Maybe pull out 5-6 at a time. I try to retain a one-in-one-out ratio, and we get about 3 new books a month, on average.

ETA - I just noticed your DD2 is a month older than my DS.
Do you rotate your toys? That helps me declutter. At any one time, at least 2/3 of DS toys are in the basement, in about 6 Sam's Club sized diaper boxes. Every 6 weeks or so, I take the new diaper box (yes, we still acquire those!) and fill it with toys that I'm tired of tripping over or I haven't seen him play with recently. When I take the box to the basement, I quickly go through 1-3 other boxes and take some toys upstairs. He usually goes to his "new" toys quickly and plays with them in ways that he hadn't before. I also start to recognize which ones aren't favorites or are outgrown, and they get left in the basement. My plan is to set aside the favorite toys for (possible) future child, and get rid of the rest. But we had VERY few toys until this past Christmas, so we have very few infant toys to save.

[Bad Mama Jama]

wow! that is ruthless. this is where i need to be. i have two large laundry bags of clothing ready to donate and get out of the house. i know that i have at least five more bags that i could fill up. i think i will be working on this during the weekend. whew!

[nd_deadhead]

It's a very satisfying job!!

This winter my Mom gave me 5 or 6 new long-sleeved shirts, and when I got home, I discovered I didn't have room in the closet for them! I took EVERYTHING out of my closet, and got rid of everything that either didn't fit or I didn't wear any more. Our church recently had a big rummage sale, which made it a little easier to get rid of things. I tried to do the same in DH's closet - I tossed clothes that were in really tough shape, and left the rest for him to sort - he threw out a grand total of ONE shirt! At least I tried...

It was SO nice to be able to not only put away the new clothes, but have a little room to spare! Hopefully that feeling makes the next room a little easier for you!

I completely agree with ASusan that the best way to do it is to completely enpty the drawer or closet. If you haven't seen something worn for a while, get rid of it - and if you donate, think of it in terms of giving someone else the chance to use it.

[wish]

Ok, between both girls I just got rid of a bag full of pj's!!!

[zoebird]

my husband, DS and I all have one set of PJs for winter and one for summer. i wash them every 3-4 days, sometimes once a week.

we have clothes that we brought for DS to grow into 2T, 3T, and 4T. those are in vacuum sealed bags to keep them good. one pair of PJs for two seasons in each of those sizes.