On a roll from last night I have just done my 2 main awful hot spots: my desk, and also the "basket of doom" which sits in my kitchen which is the receptacle of so much crap.
Done.
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On a roll from last night I have just done my 2 main awful hot spots: my desk, and also the "basket of doom" which sits in my kitchen which is the receptacle of so much crap.
Done.
I'm new to this thread, but also have a clutter problem (which I hate) & any improvement over the years is being negated big time by baby in the house & lack of time.
Hey Tan Just wondering if you could get DD to help at all (maybe not!) & just set a timer for 10 min & do one drawer at a time. Would she respond to having a box to give to kids who don't have stuff? That might make it more positive? Could you race her to get a drawer each sorted out? / things put away?
If she won't play ball would it help you to do 10 min at a time each day you get a chance?
Just some thoughts, not sure if it would help! Good luck
point out to him that cardboard only attracts large, dirty ****roaches, and then rats that feed on them?:
Oh man... I've wanted to declutter my house for so long it's ridiculous. What I think would make a HUGE difference to me, is if I had somewhere to do my crafts/sewing/painting!!! Right now I have a desk taken up with very specific jewelry making stuff, and a little bit of block carving, but no room for my sewing machine. A shelf in our linen cupboard is taken up with my fabric stash and machine, and that stash only grows... plus the dining table is the only place big enough to set it up, and to cut fabric. Plus there's my easel, and the canvases, and paints..... argh. I would love a little shed out the back where I can go and drill holes in rocks and sew like a nutter. I mean, I've got everything fairly neat, and have already "decluttered" everything related to my crafts.... but it still exists. You know? Siiigghhh.... I think I'm living the impossible dream.
I think there is nothing like getting rid or everything when you MOVE!!! a year ago we moved from nz to perth and sold everything!!, we only came here with 4 suitcases. now a year on we are on the move again perth - vic and cannot believe all the crap we have accumulated over this time. We did our shed the other day and it's great!!.
Now for the house haha.
I forgot about this thread....
Righto so far this fortnight I've gotten rid of old bras I'd been handing onto - just incase....
cleaned out the bathroom cabinets
packed away clothes that don't fit....
Going to do the kitchen drawers next
old boxes that we moved with
craft stuff....
I have realised something since moving to a much larger house with lots of storage. We really do have too much stuff. I always thought that if everything was easily accessible that we would use it, but no that has not happened. I do admit that could be partly due to having young children and not have the time to do things such as sewing, but most of it is just plain clutter. We do not need as much space as we first thought, we need smart storage for those things we do need and multi purpose areas. I would so love to have a specific storage room rather than heaps of storage around the house. A compactus (often used for archiving) would be ideal and minimum storage around the house for the immediate use items.
Need to do another declutter here as it looks as though we will be moving and to a smaller property with very cupboards. Have to be more ruthless this time.
Helly - I know how you feel. Thankfully we had a little 'storeroom' (room full of cr#p) downstairs that my partner turned into an office/studio for me. It's small, but my little oasis away from the kids. I can see them, hear them, but they can't get in and make a mess. It is so de-motivating when you can't just get up and leave it - that you'll have to pack it away before the kids get to it.
My DH just cleared out our backshed - wanna borrow that? We had a HUGE weekend of decluttering - 2 x trailers and 1 x skip. Just broken bits and pieces. My DH is a "Gonna Need it/Want it/Fix it/Use it" kinda guy. So he keeps EVERYTHING...
I had a great day decluttering last week - motivated by the daycare asking for "Home Corner" stuff. Old kitchen ware, dress-ups, hats, shoes, everything I didn't want, they did. I filled 3 x garbage bags. Then I remember they wanted cardboard boxes too so I went through all the pantry and collect 4 x coles bags of boxes. Best motivator ever! Usually the boxes just sit, sit, sit, I have pretty plastic storage, but it never makes it. I am definitely a "So Wanna Be Organised I Buy Plastic Ware Every Week" girl, but then.... I'm a shocker for buying boxes, draws, hooks, things to motivate myself into organising. Then I never do it...
And Lucy - I think everyone has a BASKET OF DOOM - unfortunately, I have about 5 and 3 draws worth. And when you really look at it all, WHAT IS IT??? Bits and bobs off things.
I also have an "Action Station", which is our old baby change table. It is just as you walk in the door. Baskets for everyone in the house on top, with calendar and incoming mail. (Technically I should open mail, mark on calendar event or payment, and go and immediately file the paperwork). Pegs for "school notices/excursions/tuckshop" stuff. Key hanger (I am a shocker for losing my car keys). Then underneath, on middle tray, all school bags, 'yoga bag' (cobwebs and all), beach bag etc. Then a basket underneath for school shoes. Also a 'four hook hanger" off the side for school jumpers/coats. Also an "Out Going" basket, for all those things you borrow/get/need to give back to friends, family. For eg, my mum gets parcels to our house. So I put it in the OUT basket and she knows to check there everytime she drops in. It is really, really handy, especially for school notices and shoes and stuff. But also is the worse place for dumping stuff.
Just have to keep on top of it and clear it out/take action every week. I find the baskets really handy because if there is something I need my DH to do, (handyman stuff "BLUE JOB!"), I write it on a sticky and put it in his basket. (Fix knobs, leaky tap...) He usually takes more notice that way than me nag nag nag.
Hope you all have a great decluttering day ladies!
I'm excited!! I'm doing a major toy declutter & study declutter this week :D
Until yesterday we had a library which had basically a lounge & book shelves which was virtually never used. Sooooo we have moved the computer desk in there & we're making what was the study into a toy room. Now I get the fun job of dumping all of the rubbish from the study & getting the toys all organised. A friend of mine got those storage cubes from Go Lo really really cheap last week, so I'm going to grab some of those & set our toys up properly. This is going to be fun, I'll get my loungeroom back finally!
I've just finished reading Corinne Grant's book "Lessons in letting go, confessions of a hoarder" - I could have so easily have been writing the book myself!
It made me think about just WHY I hold on to things and I came up with a few reasons.
1. I hold on to countless body lotions, soaps, candles, and other useless things because they were gifts and I've always been worried that the people who gave them to me would hate me forever if I threw the stuff out.
2. Things remind me of times in my life. It's ok to keep one or two things from different times, not a whole box, or 10 boxes worth. OR, take a photo of some items and then get rid of them - I can look back on the photos of the things to remember.
3. "it might come in handy one day" - if it hasn't come in handy yet, it probably never will. If I get rid of it the world wont fall apart. And if down the track I need the item, I can always get a new one, or borrow it.
So, after reading the book, I went through a few boxes in the garage, and guess what! I threw out almost the entire contents of the boxes, without a second throught. There was nothing at all worth keeping. I couldn't believe what I had been holding onto.
So, I'm now going to try to put everything into reality, not expect to have it all done in a certain time frame, but just do a little at a time. One or two boxes, or a drawer, or cupboard. And if it gets too emotional for me to let something go, then I'll just stop and do something less painful and then wait until I'm feeling a little emotionally stronger to deal with my hoarding demons and eliminate the clutter in my house.
i am in the processes of "decluttering"!
i have a bad problem of either not being able to throw things out, or not being bothered:shhh:
this week i have gotten rid of 6 garbage bags of toys that are hardly ever used, and will never be missed! also 2 bags of clothes, but then found another box and 2 striped bags full:o:shakehead: so will be going threw that during the week (already made a start on it!) then once all the clothes are sorted ill be going threw the kitchen and laundry cupboards, i know there is atleast one section of the kitchen thats just collecting dust!
im determined this tim to get rid of it all, the fact ive already passed on so many toys is a prommising start! (not that the kidshave noticed!)
I went through a box that was about to go into storage in preparation of the move, I threw out everything in the box. Have one or two more boxes like that to go through. Moving is a great way to declutter. I've been throwing out, giving away, selling stuff.