April Decluttering Challenge! - Page 4

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

What is wrong with me?? I don't understand how I can get the house looking so good and a few days later I start slacking again and soon it's an overwhelming mess!

Kristi you are doing fine! You have a lot on your plate, as the pp mentioned. You are here and you are working on it.

Plus decluttering gets easier and easier the more you do it. A closet is easy to clean out when you have done it a few times before...it is that first pass through that is the time-sink. After that it is just maintenance.

[becoming]

I'm in!

Here's what we're doing this month:

Master Bedroom
Clean off top of dresser.
Get rid of all unnecessary clothes in dresser drawers.
Clean out & get rid of jewelry box. DONE!
Clean out filing cabinet.
Clean out from under TV table. DONE!
Clean out night table. DONE!
Get junk out from under our bed.
Take back huge stack of library books. DONE!
Take bassinet to Debbie's house.
Take boxes of baby clothes to Tessa's house.

Master Bathroom
Weed out bath toys. DONE!
Get rid of excess towels/washcloths.
Get rid of bulky feminine product boxes. DONE!
Straighten up extra sheets & blankets. DONE!
Clean out closet - get rid of unnecessary clothes, blankets, shoes, boxes, and other junk.
Clean out cabinets & drawers. DONE!
Weed out products in our shower. DONE!

Kitchen
Clean out all cabinets & drawers. DONE!
Clean off top of fridge. DONE!
Clean off top of baker's rack.
Go through mail on freezer & put in appropriate places.
Weed out cookbooks & find better place to store them. DONE!

Living Room
Clean out entertainment center. DONE!
Put all photos in one container. Get rid of envelopes. DONE!
Clean out computer desk.
Weed out hats by door.

DS1's Room
(I'm already halfway done with it)
Clean out closet. Take down winter clothes. DONE!
Clean off top of dresser. DONE!
Get rid of unnecessary clothes in dresser drawers. DONE!
Clean out TV cabinet. DONE!
Take down wall hangings.
Move bed & TV cabinet to DD's room.
Take winter clothes to Brandi's house. DONE!

DD's Room
Clean out toys. DONE!
Get rid of play structure.
Clean out bookshelf & move to DS1's old room.
Clean out closet. Take down winter stuff.
Clean off top of dresser. DONE!
Get rid of unnecessary clothes in dresser drawers.
Move DS2's clothes from dresser to DS1's old dresser.
Rearrange furniture to fit DS1's bed & TV cabinet.

Kids' Bathroom
Get rid of junk in bathtub.
Clean out cabinet.

That's it! I hope to get most, if not all, of this done this weekend, but we'll see how it goes. I quit my WOH job to stay home with my kids, and I want to start with a fresh, clean, uncluttered house!

[Vancouver Mommy]

I would like to join! This morning I've consolidated all the things that I'd selected for disposal, but for whatever reason failed to get out of the house. My goal for the weekend is to empty the storage room and put back only the things we really need. Then dp and I will go through the huge pile of things I need to get rid of and sort them into: garbage; craigslist; freecycle; salvation army and our apartment's "finders keepers" room. We then intend to place ads, and haul as much stuff out of the house as time allows. Then we hope to get to the balcony and get rid of all the containers and plant pots that I had hoped to use, but now know that as long as I live in a condo with small children, I never will.

[lillydilly]

Vancouver Mum, do you know after years of battling with and hauling around pot plants, I finally decided they were as much, if not more work than pets or children, so I decided no more. I bought one big, I mean BIG pot for our patio, planted a palm, strung fairy lights through it, and wow, I wish I'd done that years ago. Ok, I'm surrounded by bushland and have a bit of garden, so that made it easier to get rid of all the pots. But I used to keep them inside the house too. Never-no-more. If I need green now, I go walk in the park or forest.

[sarah_bella1050]

So, I got the living room (which wasn't to bad) and the bathroom/laundry room (which was horrendous and took HOURS). So here is my progress so far this month:

*Computer desk DONE
*Filing Cabinet DONE
*The laundry/bathroom DONE
*My bedroom and closet
*The bookcases
*Storage room
*Finish living room DONE

Bags out to YS 3/10 (Got another bag of trash out too). We are having the Yard Sale next weekend so I've got to keep moving

[jessicarae]

Ooh, just found this forum and I'm on a major decluttering kick, so I'm in!
In April I will:

1) Finish purging my file cabinet
2) Organize my office shelves
3) Finish creating filing system for home/shared files
4) Find my spring/summer clothes in the basement (aagh, the basement!)
5) Pack away dishes from hutch and get rid of it
6) Figure out better storage for bed linens
7) Swap out DDs clothes for next size up
8) Donate too-small stuff
9) Send stuff back to Chloe and Emily
10) Paint front door

[lillydilly]

1) The donate pile is in the car ready to drop off next week
2) Sorted through a hat box sized "sentimental box" and reduced it to the size of a
shoe-box...kept just a few precious mementos for our kids to cry and laugh over when we die, then they can throw it away
3) Serendipity arrived at our house. A show on tv over here in Aust. called "Stuff", and DH got to see it... interviews with sad old men standing in garages and sheds piled to the ceiling with stuff that nobody wants and that they have to let go of now because they're moving into units or villas etc. and they're so sad that their "treasures" are just "junk" when it comes to that stage in life.
It hit home to DH, a real clutter bug, so that is going to be a great psychological "shove" when we come to start on his shed next week.. yeaaaayy. That show could not have been aired at a more serendipitious (?) time.
He even suggested ,after seeing the show, that he should have an auction for all his bigger "junk", machinery and parts and tools etc, that he won't need to use anymore.
This is a huge shifting of gears for him. Had more impact seeing those old men than all my years of nagging...:

[battymama]

* Pantry done!
* linen cupboard
* master bedroom
* craft/sewing room
* store room
* Dh's desk
* book shelves
* garden and verandas

Not much but its a start, i need to take it easy at the moment, but i also scrubed our shower cubicle and got the tiles sealed, which is one of those jobs that have been waiting to be done and just keeps on being put of. So i guess i am doing ok, hopefully i get a second wind, baby is engaging so my hips are painful. I am a grizzle guts

[Patrick's mummy]

I did some paper sorting today - long overdue!

Got rid of a breadbin on freecycle and some freecyclers are alledgedly coming to collect a stack of baby blankets and a handheld vacuum tomorrow (I always believe it when I see it - been let down so many times!!)

Registered to sell some of our excess kids clothes and toys on 20th, so now comes the mammoth task of washing/drying/cleaning/pricing it all.

Cleaned out the coat closet but still need to tackle the huge box of hats, scarves etc....... onwards and upwards!

[madskye]

I got rid of FIVE contractor size black garbage bags today--old papers, old horrible ripped slipcover, magazines, and just junk. Also, two boxes of books, one box of odd china closet stuff and a hand bag that has been sitting on a chair in my room, unused, for about two years.

Yeah!

[sunnysandiegan]

I've been busy!

1. Paperwork - devise a new paper flow system & purge filing cabinet - done & other paper collection spots. I also caught up on our finances, so the top tray on the computer desk is just necessary papers. WOO HOO! DH shredded everything tonight, too! I'll tackle the rest of the office next month, but paperwork is my highest priority this month.
2. Master bedroom - unpack remaining 7 boxes from temporary move last Sept & research/purchase new bedroom furniture - I've been to over a dozen furniture stores this week and we've narrowed it down dramatically. & declutter entire room and closet for such purchases.
3. Powder room (also laundry room) - declutter and organize cabinets & install new tp holder/towel rack/wall cabinet - done & frame painting I sketched out how I want to make the frame today and calculated my materials. & set out new decor I need to clean the powder room before setting out the decor and I need to touch up the paint on a few items before I clean the room... .
4. Living room - declutter and organize closet/cabinets/bookcases AGAIN (LOL) & research/purchase new blinds & frame paintings. I have more to do in this room, too, but it'll have to wait until the rest (1,2,3 and this far on 4) is done.
5. Upstairs bathrooms - declutter and organize AGAIN.
6. DD's bedroom - declutter and organize closet and bookcases. (Clothes are decluttered and organized for the new season.)
7. Linen closet - declutter and organize.
8. Kitchen - declutter and organize AGAIN.
9. Playroom - I'd like to declutter and organize it again, but really my main goal is to simply keep it from turning into a junkyard again since it's function is changing into something new (unknown at this moment). We did really well today! We pulled out a bunch of stuff for the powder room and tools to install them and WE PUT THEM ALL AWAY PROPERLY! DH also put away a few things we had pulled out last weekend for the parties we hosted. The room is not a junkyard! Still bare and boring, but not a mess.

My first goal this month is to do our taxes, then all of the above. Taxes are completed, printed, signed, addressed...just need to take them to the post office Monday morning for postage.

[Hollysmom]

Started our room yesterday. We get to put out 3 extra garbage bags for free this week so I really want to get a lot done.

[SkylarJulesmom]

I'm SO HAPPY!!! Next week I'm bringing my mom's big furniture to her and whatever boxes I can fit in my van!!! My Dh is staying with the kids for the whole day! I'm traveling with my sis (mom has 2 people on her end to help move everything in.) I'm doing multiple garage sale runs to my sisters house during the week! I really feel like everything is moving forward like its supposed to! I'm going into the garage today to shift some things around and chuck out some stuff and try to make things easier for when next sunday comes! Yay! Off to the garage!

[KaliShanti]

I'm In!!

I've already taken a few bags of clothes and shoes to Salvation Army store and purged many CDs and DVDs.

Master Bedroom
Clean out top of closet
Clean out night tables
Clean out makeup box and keep only what I use!

Guest Bedroom
Clean out filing cabinet.
-Receipts DONE
-Bills
-Cards
-Paperwork
Clean out closet



Bathrooms
Straighten up closet
Clean out jewelry box DONE
Clean out cabinets & drawers
Clean out and organize stuff under the sink
Replace all cleaning products with 'green' stuff
Clean out products in shower
Put baby locks on cabinets

Kitchen
Put baby locks on cabinets
Clean out all cabinets & drawers.
Replace all cleaning products with 'green' stuff
Clean off top of fridge.
Clean off mail/flyer/junk from on side of fridge. DONE
Weed out cookbooks/recipes

Living Room
Put baby photos in baby albums

Tor's Room
Store too small clothes for giving to sister
Get rid of clothes that he will never wear
Clean out drawers and top of closet

Office
clean out closet, everything to it's place
Continue to burn CDs to computer and sell the CDs
Clean off computer-save all pictures to DVDs and Snapfish DONE

If I got all that done, I'd be amazing!!

[ollineeba]

Originally Posted by ollineeba

ME! I'm going to include everything I did this weekend, because it was the beginning of my spring cleaning/decluttering fest
A friend was able to take a large appliance this weekend that we can't use in our new home, so that was a big space saver =1
Plus a bag full of clothes to the donation box= 30-ish

=31 so far
with 3 things waiting to be picked up from freecycle

Plus:
rubbermaid full of toys- 75
wicker hamper- 1
toys to my mom's house- 10
bag full of clothes to neighborhood center- 25
bag full of clothes freecycled- 15

= 160
And still going strong!

[battymama]

* Pantry done
* linen cupboard done
* master bedroom inprogress
* craft/sewing room
* store room
* Dh's desk done
* book shelves
* garden and verandas

Yay for nesting, i have a bag of clothing ready to go, and 2 boxes of random bits and pieces from around the house.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

1. Downstairs Closet -- Finished
2. My Closet -- Finished
3. The girls' clothing storage bins -- Finished
3. Picture files on my computer -- in progress
4. The Filing Cabinet -- in progress
5. The Kitchen -- in progress
6. Cull some unloved books
7. The playroom
8. My jewelry box
9. The garage
10. The storage shed

My goal is to sell 20 items this month:

6/20 items listed to sell
0/20 items sold and out of my house

I can tell the kitchen and the filing cabinet are going to be hard jobs for me because the filing cabinet is just so boring and whenever I'm in the kitchen I'm an easy target for my distractors (ie. my children)

[anthasam]

Everyone's been really busy so far this month!

We hit the road yesterday and returned a bunch of stuff my MIL bought for us (how many times did we say that we didn't need anything for the baby?? )

8 items returned

I also did a post-birthday clean-out of DD1's toys. I bagged about 15 items, but I'm saving about 10 for her sister.

5 items tossed/recycled

I'm going to call the charity pick-up organization tomorrow to schedule a clothing pick up for the week after. I'm starting the piles now to bag up...

14/200

[Surfacing]

I am NOWHERE NEAR as ambitious as you mamas, but I am subbing to get inspired....I know I need to do more but eeps. I am overwhelmed with the daily stuff of keeping my toddler and newborn looked after. You are all an inspiration..... last month I did some good clearing out though.

[mommymc]

Have to! We are moving from a good size rental to our very small dwelling at the end of the month. I'm really looking forward to gutting the house..just slightly overwhelmed.