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Anyone decluttering right now?

4K views 41 replies 15 participants last post by  Joyfull 
#1 ·
Need encouragement. Working through total house declutter and getting weary. What helps you through this stage?
 
#2 ·
I'm working on a total house declutter too. It is very stressful and overwhelming. I am slowly making progress though. I use the same old tactics as always suggested but I'll say them here just in case.

- Declutter one area at a time (drawer, shelf, type of item, etc)
- Remove big items that you can to see quicker progress
- Start with smaller rooms that can be done quicker to have something finished to inspire you (think laundry room, hallway, or bathroom)

I also like the idea of a fresh start and like others feel that "if I could just start over completely then I could do it." Since that obviously isn't always feasible I pretend. I sit down and make a list of what I'd have/want if I could just start over. Then I take my list and declutter to match my list. So if I'm doing clothes then I toss ALL my clothes in one big pile. Get the list and pull items out one at a time to match the list - a jacket, one sweater, 6 tops, 4 long sleeve tops, 4 bottoms, one skirt, etc. (whatever the list says). When I get my favorites out in order and have my list filled everything left in the pile gets bagged and is gone. * Another popular method of doing clothes is the hanger trick but that isn't enough instant gratification for me. :lol

It helps to have a buddy as well which is why I like the challenges around here so if you'd like back up during your total house declutter feel free to post your goals/achievements in the 10-15 min declutter sessions or the 2014 in 2014 thread. If you'd like someone else focused on a total house declutter to join you then you can post here as well. I'd be okay with posting here and motivating both of us if you'd like.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Yep, small bites. I actually prefer my house to look a bit sparse except for all my books. But,we are a family of four so things do pile up in certain spots. I tackled two of these spots last night and two tonight. If I can keep this up, I'll have things back to the way I like them in 7-10 days and then it will take all four of us several months before I have to do this again.

Keep a donate pile in your garage to help remind you that it needs to get in the car to the donation place. Keep a trash can and recycle bin right next to you as you are weeding/de-cluttering. Use those liberally. Of what's left... try to find those few things a "home" and get them there in your house. Lastly, polish the table you made empty, dust the shelf or mantle you cleared or vacuum the corner that had been covered. That last step is so important in helping you stay motivated not to clutter those areas again.

Good luck!
 
#4 ·
Crazyms and Philomom, thanks so much for your replies, I was feeling a bit lonesome. I would love to keep this thread going and help motivate each other.

I have been alternating between harder and easier jobs. Today I tackled a large box of photo albums. I threw away a lot (photos, albums, pages) but still think I saved far too much.

Then I tackled my sewing suitcase. Again, discarded a lot and still wonder if I kept too much.

In both cases the box and suitcase still exist and take up just as much space as before. So this is quite tough.

Then I tackled the bathroom which is small and I thought pretty tidy. I was actually amazed that I had a whole supermarket bag of products to throw away. Some of them with expiry dates 10 years old!!! Shame on me. The good thing was this led me to cleaning the ceiling and the floor and now the room sparkles.

Unfortunately now I can also see it needs new paint - and this is the most recently painted room in the house.

It''s funny that even though I can't SEE the difference clutter-wise today, I can kind of FEEL it, do you know what I mean? The house just feels larger and I feel lighter so I will keep on.

What's your next challenge?
 
#5 ·
Well I posted my goals for today on the other thread. I just hope to get through those right now :lol

My biggest problem right now is being annoyed at not getting enough done or feeling like anything is completed. I have so much random stuff in the house and right now so much of it isn't where it's suppose to be or doesn't have a somewhere that it's suppose to be. This makes decluttering more difficult when I'm not sure what I have, how much of it or where it is. Ugh.

I have previously dealt with this issue by sitting a box in each room to toss all items that should go somewhere in that room until I can get to them. It is helpful so I guess I need to do it again.

PMS has me feeling not very great this morning though and certainly not feeling like any thing is going to get accomplished in life right now. Blah. I need my morning tea.
 
#6 ·
Randomness, I get it. There were wine glasses in the laundry, photos in the hot water cupboard, "archives" in the kids rooms, cast iron frypan in the office, spanish supplies amid the music...This is one of the reasons I have to keep rotating through the house. It is nearly impossible to know where to start but I've reached the conclusion it doesn't really matter. Once stuff is gone, space opens up and you can move the remaining things to where they belong eventually. Or at least, that's starting to come true for me now. So just dive in and start flinging, things can only get better. :)
 
#7 ·
:lol Randomness! I love it. That's EXACTLY what I was describing. Everything is everywhere. Luckily I got to feeling much better after waking up a little and getting moving around for the day. The PMS wake up was not fun at all and had me feeling entirely drained and beaten this morning. Usually I have more of a work up to it this time it stalled until it was just like WHAM!

I haven't actually done much decluttering today but we did get a nice amount of cleaning done and have things sparkling a little better around here. I did of course toss a few items here and there during our cleaning though so honestly even though I say we haven't decluttered I still probably got rid of 10-20 items today.

Progress:
- Bathroom is non-randomness.
- Laundry room is non-randomness and has had two dressers navigated from my crowded bedroom to there so that laundry is more efficient.
- Kids' room is non-randomness and they're keeping it relatively clean ... so far.

This really only leaves me 3 rooms to do. I try to remember that but these rooms are covered in randomness :lol

Actually I'm going to go clean out the dreaded kitchen cabinet now since I haven't done it yet and I'm thinking about it. See this thread is helping me already. :)
 
#8 ·
Hey 50% of your rooms non-random. That's brilliant. And by now you've probably done that kitchen cabinet too so making a dent in the other 50%. Cool.

I experienced another random moment today when opening a suitcase that I had stashed under a bed. There was (among other things) the one felted slipper that I had placed there waiting till I found its mate. Well just a few days ago I did find the mate, but at that moment I had forgotten what happened to the first one. So in my decluttering frame of mind I threw away the second one. Now today I had to throw away the first one. Which is a little sad as my mum made them for my dd when she was little and they were kinda cute. And if there had been two they could have been passed down to someone. C'est la vie. At least now I can stop worrying about either of them. :)

Bathroom still looking good, I go in there sometimes just to admire it.

Actually rest of house is starting to come together also, but daren't stop yet.
 
#11 ·
Hey 50% of your rooms non-random. That's brilliant. And by now you've probably done that kitchen cabinet too so making a dent in the other 50%. Cool.

I experienced another random moment today when opening a suitcase that I had stashed under a bed. There was (among other things) the one felted slipper that I had placed there waiting till I found its mate. Well just a few days ago I did find the mate, but at that moment I had forgotten what happened to the first one. So in my decluttering frame of mind I threw away the second one. Now today I had to throw away the first one. Which is a little sad as my mum made them for my dd when she was little and they were kinda cute. And if there had been two they could have been passed down to someone. C'est la vie. At least now I can stop worrying about either of them. :)
I had to smile reading this as I have done this sort of thing countless times! I usually find the matching piece/item after I have thrown the first one away, thinking that I had already thrown away the other half!
 
#9 ·
Lol I've done that with shoes and other items before as well. Oh well at least it's over now. I have gotten most of the rooms cleared by honestly most of it has been shuffled into the remaining rooms just to get those rooms done and give me some breathing room and motivation to work. The remaining rooms are going to be agony. That said I'm working on it though. I doubt much will get done this week as dh is here and we have a million errands to run and take care of before he leaves again for two weeks next week. I will likely not get anything done until after he's gone again. How are you doing over there?
 
#10 ·
I'm (slowly) doing my most ruthless declutter since the last time we moved 18 years ago..mind if I join in for inspiration? My kick in the butt on the motivation front was looking for lost stuff in my Grandmother-in-law's house. MIL lives there, and she is a "RealityTV-worthy Horder"! Four bedrooms piled, no joke, feet above my head with crap. One afternoon of that made me want to burn my house to the ground and start over.;)
I'm getting the car loaded for Goodwill now; hopefully this thread will inspire me to get even more picky about what stays for a change!
 
#12 ·
Hi Stormborn, good on you for getting ruthless, Nothing like getting that first carload to Goodwill to start you on a roll. it's a pity that sometimes we need that shock of seeing someone else drowning in their stuff to make us realise we are headed there too. Welcome along on this ride to a spacious house.

Hi clutterwarrior, I suppose we can take comfort that we're not alone in our foibles. But it's annoying to have half-pairs isn't it?
 
#13 ·
no, am still not decluttering ... the best i seem to manage for today is ... reading about other people decluttering !!!
+ last night, i watched more than half of one of these TV shows about extreme hoarders ... (hoping it will help me ...)

i got DD2 new slippers (pink ones) thinking that the second one of the blue smaller pair she had beforehand would finally turn up -she's been keeping on loosing one or two or even two pairs at a time, and our flat is not that big either ...- but it hasn't happened & now i cannot remember if i threw away one half of that blue pair or not, & if the second one went missing too ...
at least, she hasn't yet lost any of the new pair (i do break stuff in the kitchen and try to oblige the children to come and eat in the kitchen with slippers on, in case i missed a shard when i swept pieces ..)

hesitating now between cutting paper snowflakes or playing Uno card game with DS and DD2 .... (= still no decluttering & then it will be meal time soon !!!)
 
#14 ·
Isa, sorry about the slippers. Snowflakes or Uno both sound far superior options than decluttering, I hope you had a nice playtime with the children.

That Hoarders show, whoa. I could barely stomach 20minutes of one episode - that's what sent me to the bathroom to clean like a maniac. I felt so dirty. Anyway, if it helps you get started - great.

My dd has been home for a flying visit and taken away two enormous suitcase loads of her belongings, and discarded loads more (left for me to recycle, donate or bin. But that's ok). The leftovers that she still wants pack neatly into two plastic wheelie bins and can be hidden away in back of darkroom.

Now I have a room of my own back for the first time in 23 years which I'm very happy about.

Keep on creating open space around you everyone, you'll be glad you did.
 
#15 ·
watching these extreme hoarder shows ...doesn't quite spur me on ... it encourages me to crochet baby blankets whilst sitting in front of the TV and "robs" me of my sleep ... i don't have a precise baby in mind for the present blanket but i know it does help me to relax ....

i did snowflakes and Uno ...
but made it up this morning when i started DD1 on one small area then carried on myself cleaning up two drawers then turning out everything out of the toolboxes, asking DH to take a look, pair things together and toss what he could & cleaned the boxes inside and out and but stuff back in ....

am glad i've done it ... but i know i'm still skirting around what i find hardest ...
 
#16 ·
Isa you're doing great - games AND decluttering AND getting husband AND daughter into it! Once you've flexed your declutter muscles on the easier parts you will build up the strength to tackle the harder jobs. I tend to alternate them, holey undies are easy, ancient photos are hard, possibly needed items somewhere in between. Keep at it and I hope you have a great day.
 
#17 ·
found a easier card game (for playing with DD2) which i must have baught about 2 years ago whilst decluttering = i now have a drawer with easy games options (just above my newly cleaned and cleaned up white sorter, that is a pleasure to look at every time i pass by, i need a shot now and then LOL)
also planning to sort out some colored thread i was given 3 months ago and just shoved in a cupboard at the time (after retrieving one color thread which i used on one dance costume though ....)
 
#20 ·
Very random items left the house today - one ice-cream scoop, two hair brushes, 13 bottles of perfume and a stack of old records that never belonged to me in the first place.

If I'd found a partridge in a pear tree then I would have decluttered that too.

Then I placed some tidy shoeboxes inside my top dresser drawer to create dividers between my socks and knickers. Feeling organised :)
 
#21 ·
Cleaning out the car today over here. You'd be amazed at the crap that has collected in the storage area of the van. I'm decluttering some items straight from the vehicle. I've got the trunk area finished and have to finish the other two sections still. Lots of cleaning and it's taking forever but I'm getting the vehicle detailed as I go. I want it sparkling before we have to take that long drive in it for vacation in a week! I'm also considering some storage/travel items for it too so I want to see what we need and get it organized. Lots to pack for a week long camping trip!
 
#22 ·
Joining.

I did a massive declutter several years ago, and then kept it up pretty well until I went back to work and school. I didn't figure out how to maintain an uncluttered state while having time intensive outside commitments, so things started to accumulate.

Today I'm decluttering my freezer. I started by taking all the bags of bony chicken parts and putting them in the crock pot. I'm actually making the broth that I've been saving for. I also throw out some rather scary things.

For me, I have to set a timer and work in small steps. If I thought I had to do the whole thing, I would never start. I can do anything for 15 minutes.

I hoping to get to the bottom of the freezer today and actually wipe it out.
 
#31 ·
This thread hasn't been active for a couple of weeks. Anyone interested in reviving? Aroha Jade - how is it going?

Joining.

I did a massive declutter several years ago, and then kept it up pretty well until I went back to work and school. I didn't figure out how to maintain an uncluttered state while having time intensive outside commitments, so things started to accumulate.
This is my problem. When I am busy and tired, I just let things drop/pile up. That leads to a big mess that takes much longer to clean up than if I had kept up with everything regularly. Trying to remedy that by participating in the 10-15-min. cleaning thread, too! Papers are a particular problem. And now we are trying to convert my office into a bedroom, so I need to reduce the stuff in there maybe by half, plus consolidate my remaining craft stuff to put in the basement (still accessible). My desk, computer equipment, and books will go in the living room, so piling and clutter will be a no-go. Nervous about committing to changing that habit!
 
#23 ·
I just finished with 4 boxes of misc clutter from the bedroom. I moved the stuff around and got it to the areas it should be in currently in the house. Lots of items went to trash and donation piles though too. I eliminated a box from the bathroom and got one whole shelf in their cleaned off from it. I've managed to almost find my bedroom which has been a state of boxes and clutter since we moved in here! Lots of donation items in there that need to go. I'm hoping to FINALLY load those up and get rid of them this week sometime (now that my car is cleaned out so the stuff can fit).

Have a headache so not sure how much more I'll do tonight. I hate to give up the small amount of momentum though!


-- Ha! I thought this sent and it never did. I have gone through 4 more boxes in the bedroom now which ends the file boxes in there. I have boxes to go through in there and stuff to be put away but that was a massive chunk of stuff gone through. I feel worse now though then I did so I'm off to bed. Hope I'll feel better in the morning and can get more done. Night all!
 
#25 ·
Crazy, that's a great effort. I hope you sleep well. It's great to finally be moving things into their right homes and the unwanted stuff OUT. I hope I can follow your example today and get some more decluttering done. It's getting harder as I go because I feel like I've dealt with the obvious or easy and now I have to tackle the physically difficult (e.g. old microwave) and the time consuming (more photos, tiny sewing bits etc). Keep it up, let's keep inspiring one another.
 
#26 ·
Still decluttering here - sewing bits, stationery items, plastic cups and bottles, a bread maker. I keep finding drawers that I overlooked and items I'd forgotten I had. Like how could I not remember a set of golf clubs? Still trying to decide what to do with them now that I have rediscovered them.

Good luck to everyone still pursuing this seemingly endless journey.
 
#29 ·
Still decluttering here - sewing bits, stationery items, plastic cups and bottles, a bread maker. I keep finding drawers that I overlooked and items I'd forgotten I had. Like how could I not remember a set of golf clubs? Still trying to decide what to do with them now that I have rediscovered them.

Good luck to everyone still pursuing this seemingly endless journey.
Funny about the golf clubs. :) I think that's part of the reason my house gets so cluttered; once something sits there awhile it becomes invisible.
You might be able to sell the golf clubs, those can be expensive. Or does trying to sell slow you down?
I go back and forth on that. Usually when I want to declutter I just want it all gone NOW, but we're pretty broke right now so I'm trying to see if I can sell enough to pay for Christmas this year. It's been pretty motivating so far. I cleaned out a coat closet just for the sale stuff so it's not adding to the mess while I wait for it to sell-a problem in the past. At least cleaning it out was easy; we haven't worn any of them in years so we obviously didn't need them..and there's a dry cleaner here that will take donations, clean them free, and donate to a coat drive for you....so in 20 mins I had an empty closet, woohoo!

How's everyone else doing this week?
 
#27 ·
Just got back from taking 6 trash bags and 2 boxes to The thrift store! Dh "cleaned up" while I was at work (which for him means cramming stuff in closets) and sent the 6 yo to clean her room without any sort of guidance so she made even more of a mess. In the process they lost something I'd already sold on Ebay. I do my best work when I'm mad, so at least I got a lot done. ;)
I even convinced dd6 to choose 10 favorite toys to keep in her room and store the rest in the attic, aka purgatory. If she doesn't ask for them in a few months it's safe to give them away.
 
#28 ·
Oh Stormborn that is maddening! I am glad I'm not your stuff because you would be coming after me with a vengeance! Good strategy for your 6yo, she will get way way more play out of six chosen toys than any number of distracting objects. Stick to your guns and you'll be glad you did.

My 13 yo recently did a pretty decent job on her room. Since then she has started an ongoing art project that has occupied her constructively for hours and hours, off and on for a few weeks. She already had those art materials, but never used them, and I believe that her decluttering opened the way for her creativity to flourish again.

I'm hoping that will work for me too :) Right now off to get rid of some more stuff.
 
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