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Decluttering and home maintenance

Decluttering and home maintenance

When MI crisis happens, keeping house can take low priority. But having a messy house can further dent what is often an already low self esteem. Build up of grime follows and rodents have a field day in inaccessible places.

Getting that 2 minute job done (that has been annoying you for years) can lift ones spirit.

I have slowly been decluttering and tidying up our house. The progress made thus far has been achieved primarily by persistently dealing with one item a day.

What has often kept me going has been the encouragement from others @Faith-and-Hope, @Smc @Determined @Shaz51

This tip passed on to me today. Hang all your clothes in the wardrobe with the hanger back to front. As you wear them, return them with the hanger the right way round. In 6-12 months review all items that remain on back to front hangers with a view to donating/selling them.

1400 replies

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In response to: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Hi @Former-Member

Work in progress, as they say 🙂

Going away this weekend so not much will be done in the house.

Plenty of time for that next week/weekend.

🙂

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

@Radleritis

Weekend break = 🙌

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Donated a jigsaw to the op shop that I had finished with (was bought 2nd hand to start with).

@saturnzoon @Sophie1 wondering if this is a tactic used in your households, in my family it was a case of nature calling 😀.

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

@Former-Member Giggle yes dishes seem to be non existent to MsS at moment .. although she couldn’t resist an Alan key to put the new spare bed together today - a lovely big king single instead of a kids single bed ... this is the spare room bed that I often end up in when she snores lol ... so super happy ... I also cleaned out and de cluttered spare room a bit more so feeling pretty good about that ! Makes me want to sort and tidy even more 🙂

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

@Sophie1

Continued progress = 🙌

Alan key vs dish washing = no contest.

New bed = 👍

I posted off an op shop find to my mum today so that is off the table. Have two other items set aside that I am hoping to donate over the weekend.

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Here's a tip that may work for some 😀😀😀

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Meh.... we tried that one. After repeatedly asking them to pick up their toys, and warning them of the consequences, I packed everything on the floor into boxes and put them away until they started keeping what was left tidy. Didn't work.

As adults they're not too bad at keeping things in order. Maybe because letting it get out of hand has the intrinsic "punishment" of not being able to do what you want to do (can't find things, lack of space etc.) and also the added thing of the landlord gets unhappy when they do a rental inspection.

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

@Smc I don't know it would have worked at our place either, but it did make me smile .. like your lot, we could happily live without things.

I think you have got it in one ... consequences occur on their own accord without external input.

Have noticed Mr Darcy has put things in spots that really do not suit just so they are out of sight.

Have just thought of a possible temporary solution to one of our challenges - where to put office supplies and some of the other things until they get a permanent home post renovation. In regards to the latter, we are ready to roll as the bedroom/office area quite straightforward, kitchen will take more time/thought but every builder we have rung has said 'hope you are not in a hurry ...'.

In response to: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

We got a 2nd hand tallboy today, the house has some old style wardrobes, but not any shelving or drawers for socks, jocks, trousers etc.

Outgoing was some Reg Grundies not fit for an ambulance trip and a small quilt I had put aside to pass on finally left the building.

In response to: Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Re: Decluttering and home maintenance

Have started cleaning out a back shed today. It's a job that's sat for way too long. The shed is in an awkward spot, so we don't use it. I want to relocate it just a little bit so that it will hopefully be more functional for us.


The contents weren't actually "ours" as such. It has things in it that belonged to the friend we bought the house from. We used some of what was in there with her permission, but sort of left the rest. Some of it we knew she wanted to collect, but mostly it was simply "out of sight, out of mind". Not helped by the assorted cartwheels our life has thrown in our direction. And she died a few years ago... so I guess what's left is now ours.

So finally starting to tackle it. Baby steps.

Pulled out a basket which turned out to be mainly propagating sand and rubbish. Rubbish gone, sand in a pot ready for me to use, rather nice basket set aside to clean down and do some small repairs.

Next, a square tray. Had a bag of fertiliser in it that I guess I'll just scatter around. Not something I'd usually use. I prefer manures. Another bag breaking into bits of seed raising mix. Totally dried out, so I picked out the plastic bag bits and tipped it into the worm bin. Once they've mixed it in to other stuff, it'll be fine on the garden. A few hose fittings, some chinaware oddments and jars. Some useful, others probably not. A bunch of seashells (nice... will keep those), and a fishing reel that seems to be totally seized up. If Hubby agrees that's the case, it goes in the bin.

There's some short bits of timber in there. If they're no use, they're firewood. Three bags of cement that, as well as being old, got soaked in flood water. A glass terrarium that might be worth bringing back into service, some tools and tool handles. And lots of little things that will be a mixture of "keep", "pass on" and "rubbish".

561 - 570 of 1,400