mydeclutterjourney - Tumblr blog

[mydeclutterjourney]

I'm not ungrateful if I don't use a gift...

This is a hard message to accept personally. I was raised to accept gifts and keep them and use them whether you like them or not. It's been incredibly difficult to go against this, especially when the person who raised me to be this way is the one gifting.

Anyway, this is to say that I donated a brand new red jacket that I my mother gave to me for my birthday. Last year, she gave it to me in the spring for my summer birthday, and by autumn when it was cold enough to wear it, it was too big. It was supposed to be a gift for a family friend and the gift for me was different red jacket, but I didn't like the original so my mother did a switcheroo.

But I held onto it for another 5 months unsure whether to offer it back to my mother. It had been ages so she couldn't exactly return it and get a refund. And if it was too big for me it would have been waaaay to big for the original recipient. So I finally plucked it from the cupboard the morning of a charity shop run and got rid of it.

I'm still hoping my mother doesn't ask after it, like she's been known to do about some gifts because the residual guilt is definitely still there but I value my space more than a jacket that wasn't useful to me (do I value myself more than the fear of upsetting people though?)

[mydeclutterjourney]

7 month reminder!

Edit: no progress at the storage unit. I am hoping over summer that my mother's stuff will get cleared. But I feel that due to circumstances, sibling 2's stuff won't get cleared completely and I will be the one still paying for it despite never using it. Kind of annoyed that I am constantly paying (in cash and emotionally, like this has literally affected my relationship with my partner) for other people's choices. But I guess that's family.

Setting a goal...

I'm setting what is potentially an unrealistic goal! I am paying for a storage unit which has become a family storage unit. My mother and one sibling have stuff stored in there. Funnily enough, I have nothing in there! I was aiming to have it empty and no longer paying for it in one year but I think that's too soon, considering I have a lot of decluttering to do at my mother's. So I am aiming for 18 months.

By the end of October 2024, I will have the storage unit empty.

[mydeclutterjourney]

8 month reminder!

Setting a goal...

I'm setting what is potentially an unrealistic goal! I am paying for a storage unit which has become a family storage unit. My mother and one sibling have stuff stored in there. Funnily enough, I have nothing in there! I was aiming to have it empty and no longer paying for it in one year but I think that's too soon, considering I have a lot of decluttering to do at my mother's. So I am aiming for 18 months.

By the end of October 2024, I will have the storage unit empty.

[mydeclutterjourney]

[mydeclutterjourney]

9 month reminder!

Setting a goal...

I'm setting what is potentially an unrealistic goal! I am paying for a storage unit which has become a family storage unit. My mother and one sibling have stuff stored in there. Funnily enough, I have nothing in there! I was aiming to have it empty and no longer paying for it in one year but I think that's too soon, considering I have a lot of decluttering to do at my mother's. So I am aiming for 18 months.

By the end of October 2024, I will have the storage unit empty.

[mydeclutterjourney]

I gave this dress set to my brother/niece yesterday. I offered to keep it and donate multiple times, I didn't want it to be an obligation or clutter for them, but my niece liked it so they've kept it. It's a bit too big for her at the minute, so maybe next year's holiday she will wear it.

This was a fancy dress from when I was a kid. I wore it literally once! But I'm hoping my niece gets loads of wear out if it, literally to the park even. Somehow it's easier to give slightly sentimental stuff to someone directly that to charity shops. But I think I got to the point where I could have given it to a charity shop.

Tiny dress, big problem...

I have a dress with cardigan and vest top. It's children's age 7 size, from when I went to a wedding with my godparents in the early 2000s I think. I pulled it out of the last box of clothing I had at my mum's some months back and she said "oh some things you have to keep forever!" and initially I was thinking yeah, I will keep this it's sentimental. But then I thought well I have nowhere to put it. Like I wouldn't even go looking for it to reminisce. I forgot I even had it until I pulled it out that box.

I've since lost touch with these godparents (tried looking them up online but no results) but I have a framed photo of them displayed on a bookcase, and I have stuffed animals I've kept from childhood that they gifted me (my absolute fave that goes everywhere with me to this day I got on my 5th birthday trip with them), so I don't need to keep a dress that I will literally never fit into again and have No Use For At All 😂

I will offer it to my brother for my niece. I imagine he will say no. It'll get donated after that.

But it's an attitude I'm trying to get better at challenging in myself. I don't need to keep things just because they were gifts and special at the time I got them. And I also am getting better at working through the guilt I get, especially from my mum, about this. So many things I've held onto for years but not used because she'll make little comments like this about keeping or using them.

[mydeclutterjourney]

So it's only 12 days into the year

But I feel like I've achieved A Lot. I've read 2 books I've had on my shelf for years, I've washed dishes almost every day, and I've started knitting on a project I've had waiting since 2018. I've decluttered 69 items, I've also achieved 2 decluttering goals and I've started on 2 other goals. I hope I can keep this momentum up.

[mydeclutterjourney]

Confession time.

Up until literally last year, I thought it was Unfuck Your Habit. I thought it was about building better habits to staying tidy and doing chores. It wasn't until I tried finding the blog that I realised it was Habitat lol

[mydeclutterjourney]

A tea towel has saved me so much space...

For the past few months, after emptying one cupboard in prep for a dishwasher, I've been struggling to fit all my appliances and kitchenware into the cupboards. I knew I needed to declutter some more things. But yesterday, I literally had the idea to put a tea towel in my wok so I could stack Pyrex dishes in it without scratching it. Ultimately, now I only have to get rid of one tupperware container to fit everything. Can't believe a simple tea towel optimised my space haha

[mydeclutterjourney]

Washed dishes and put out all the recycling. I'm not one for superstitions or spiritualism but I definitely wanted to start the new year with those done to set the tone.

Happy new year, all who celebrate this time of year. May our decluttering be plentiful, our habitats be unfucked, and our living spaces be maintained next year.

[mydeclutterjourney]

10 month reminder!

Edit: no progress at the storage unit. Sibling 1 suggested some time next year we clear it out, which I agreed because I don't want to keep paying for it, but Sibling 2 objected because they have stuff stored there and I know they can't afford to pay for it. Which is a different conversation entirely. But anyway.

Also my mum has been decluttering papers at home so we're making some progress there. Looking a lot more hopeful than I have the last few months but I still think there maybe some serious convincing to get my mum to part with 40 year out of date encyclopedias and VHSs my family has never sat down to watch together.

Setting a goal...

I'm setting what is potentially an unrealistic goal! I am paying for a storage unit which has become a family storage unit. My mother and one sibling have stuff stored in there. Funnily enough, I have nothing in there! I was aiming to have it empty and no longer paying for it in one year but I think that's too soon, considering I have a lot of decluttering to do at my mother's. So I am aiming for 18 months.

By the end of October 2024, I will have the storage unit empty.

[mydeclutterjourney]

Result! My mother has been decluttering!

My mother has told me of 3 separate time in the past few weeks where she has been decluttering. The first was out of necessity because she discovered some moldy items (hey, sounds familiar...) and got rid of some ruined shoes and clothes. The second was 2 weeks ago, where she emptied a filing cabinet she had, put most of it in the recycling. And the third was 3 days ago, she asked me if I wanted an outfit from my childhood because she was clearing out some stuff (to be fair, even though it was my outfit it was her stuff, I didn't even realise she still had it.)

I'm glad she has been able to let go of some stuff of her own volition.

[mydeclutterjourney]

To put the Christmas tree up this year, I had to declutter...

It started with getting the tree out of the linen cupboard. I had to fight past all the hanging winter coats. So I decided that the one winter coat I definitely would not be wearing again - the one from my school years, that I haven't worn since - was to go. I've put it in my fabric recycling pile, it can't be donated because it's a bit smelly and the lining is torn.

Then, to get to the decorations in the spare room, I had to move the stack of clothes I'd pulled out 2 months ago to be donated. So, I bagged those up and decided they were going to the charity shop ASAP, that day, no exceptions. There was a bag of books I'd pulled off my shelf to donate back in summer that I'd totally forgotten about in the spare room too, so I added those to go.

I also knew I had a few items in the cupboard under the stairs, a badminton set from childhood I never used, and some modular shelves from my previous flat that I haven't used for some years. And seeing as I was on a roll, I decided to tackle the last of the previous owners items in the cupboard. About 25 mugs and glasses in some wheely drawers that were in good condition but not to my taste or need were left, along with a trivet and a French press. The French press cracked as I washed it so it went in the bin. But I washed all the other mugs and glasses (and I don't even like washing my own dishes!!!!) and packed them in 2 hand towels I wasn't fond of to take them safely to the charity shop.

After a quick run to the charity shop I had to tidy the cupboard under the stairs. But I decided to be done with it once and for all. I tackled a doom bag and doom basket of items from my old car. I've had my new car for over a year and a half now, this one has a much smaller boot so I couldn't keep all the things I used to in there. And I'd been constantly thinking how I needed make space for the old items, but one look in this bag and box, and I knew I would be fine without them, like I had been for the last 18 months, so I got rid of an old white hard hat that had faded so badly it looked smokers yellow (and I don't smoke), some car air fresheners and a P plate from when I first passed my test (7 and a half years ago!!!!), a bottle of febreeze because my work gear and hockey gear would stink out my car, old cable ties, clingfilm (why did I have clingfilm in my car??? I remember past me putting it there but I can't remember WHY), a battered hole punch, an outdated highway code, old designs, a bunch of werthers originals wrappers (even now you could probably Hansel and Gretel your way to me with these 😂), hand-wash, multiple packs of almost dry wipes, a suction phone holder and some empty bubble wands. So much random stuff. (That reminds me, I should probably clean out my car.)

I got 3 plain hi vis vests out of all of that to donate (I'm already drowning in hi vis from work, I don't need any more) and some some old branded hi vis to recycle. Also 2 lengths of chain from a construction job 6 years ago I haven't managed to repurpose yet, along with some spray paint and engine oil to recycle too.

Phew. What a day. From 10am til about 4pm tidying and clearing things. The tree did go up eventually and I have less stuff in my home, so it was all worth it.

[mydeclutterjourney]

11 month reminder!

Edit: literally no progress. Looking like I might have to take some of my sibling's items so I can declutter my home :/

I should probably schedule in days to declutter at my mother's so I can make progress.

Setting a goal...

I'm setting what is potentially an unrealistic goal! I am paying for a storage unit which has become a family storage unit. My mother and one sibling have stuff stored in there. Funnily enough, I have nothing in there! I was aiming to have it empty and no longer paying for it in one year but I think that's too soon, considering I have a lot of decluttering to do at my mother's. So I am aiming for 18 months.

By the end of October 2024, I will have the storage unit empty.

[mydeclutterjourney]

The villain...

Dana K White explains her container concept sometimes by saying let the container be the villain. So I'm employing this in the case of the sibling who has stuff stored in my home. I can't keep this stuff out in the middle of my room, it's a trip hazard and a health hazard because it's gone moldy.

So my house (the container) and the situation (the mold) are the villains, not me. I am allowed to ask someone who is in a bad situation to collect their things, because if I waited for things to get better I could be waiting forever. And it's also not fair to me to have to keep hold of stuff especially when it's getting in my way and could make me sick. I feel bad about it but I'm not the villain. I want to make my house comfortable and I can't do that if it's overflowing and full of spores.

[mydeclutterjourney]

5 things turned into 16 things...

I decided this week I would try to pick 5 items from each room of my home and dispose of them, donate them or put them away elsewhere in the house. I did my bedroom and en suite on day 1 and day 2 respectively. But because I missed day 3, I decided on day 4 I would double the items in the bathroom to 10. And then I was on a roll, so I picked out another 6 taking my total to 16. There were a few empty containers, some expired medication and quite a few hair products I've never gelled with (pun intended).

But with how easy it was to rustle up 16 things to get rid of yesterday, I've decided I'm going to start planning in 5 thing declutters in smaller areas of my home. Instead of looking at rooms as a whole, I'm going to look at 5 things from my dresser drawers, 5 things from my wardrobe, 5 things from my bookcase etc. I still have way too much stuff, I can't display things nicely and it's very easy for me to default back to mess, so this will hopefully reduce items in concentrated areas. It will also combat "project mentality" where I only actively declutter if I can see a large amount of things to go at once.

[mydeclutterjourney]

Been watching the Carla Project on YouTube lately. It's got me feeling very inspired as she helps her friends declutter a space, sometimes in 4ish hours. Makes me think that if I could get the family together we could totally tackle the bedroom at my mother's in a day. The only issue is that I don't think my mother is that open to decluttering yet. She says she wants to but I'll ask what about this old shower curtain that you can't use as a shower curtain any longer and she'll say oh I'll keep it for a picnic blanket...