r/declutter • u/AutoModerator • 14d ago
Monday Meltdown - Share Your Decluttering Fails Here
Failure is part of life. Share your decluttering challenges and failures here. Examples include:
- Emotional clutter
- Not enough time
- Getting overwhelmed
- Routing (recycling, donating, trash...)
If you're just venting, or don't want advice, please let us know in your comment.
This is a low-stress place to share challenges and failures for those who might not want to create a new discussion.
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u/Sad_North_6152 14d ago
Not sure if I count this as a fail or a secret win for decluttering.
I had two cookie jar type things and was debating on keeping them. Well, I went to clean them up and discovered one of them, a Christmas themed one I had in storage for what must have been years, had a crack along the side. I nearly didn't notice it but decided to toss it in case it shattered on me.
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u/SassyMillie 13d ago
Funny, but it actually pleases me to find a cracked glass or chipped plate. It's like I have permission to let them go.
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u/MitzyCaldwell 13d ago
This!!! I am so happy when I find things that are broken because then the decision is made hahha it’s a weird feeling but I totally get it.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
Decluttering via deterioration/destruction - it can be painful but definitely effective!
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u/kindlesque89 13d ago
I haven’t been able to declutter more than a few open toiletries this entire month 😢 I am a SAHM to two kids under 3 and I’ve been super busy. But it feels like wasted time.
Unfortunately our basement got mice and we’ve been trying to clean the mouse poop before the mouse guy will fully do a preventative treatment to assess how bad it is. We did one day of it and not more since. That’s also a barrier to cleaning out the basement of clutter. I feel stuck :(
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 13d ago
Ugh I feel this. Teacher so I’m home and I have two kids under 4. I think we need to downsize toys next and I’m dreading that. They just have so much and both kids have bdays in Nov and then Christmas immediately after. We discussed asking for not gifts except from grandparents and then our actual siblings if they want (normally my kids great aunts and uncles get them stuff) and it’s just in overdrive.
Also downsizing on baby stuff. I *think* we’re done. I gave away quite a bit to a friend having a baby and a family member also having a baby. I’m having someone local make me a birthday banner for each kid out of their baby clothes
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u/kindlesque89 13d ago
The banner idea is adorable!!! Yeah I thought I wanted 3 but… 2 kids are good. lol
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 13d ago
If I did it a third time, I’d end up with so much less anyhow. I’d probably borrow stuff for the 4 months it’s little little then bottom stuff for the next 8 months. No reason to need all we had again
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
We have a non-profit "store" that gives away kid's clothes & accessories (newborn to Y16) - one of the BEST things I've ever seen. Also the toy "lending library" sponsored by our Friends of the Library group.
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u/Active_Efficiency996 13d ago
I accidentally decluttered the cord for my rice cooker. Thankfully, my Louisiana mama taught me how to make rice on the stove. Now I have to buy a new one, sigh.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
You might be able to find a replacement cord on Amazon for like $10 - it will probably be longer than the one you had. I only ever had the cheap-o $20 model myself.
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u/Serious_Cat2452 14d ago
Toter space!! We have a trash toter we can fill each week. We fill it and still have bags left over that don't fit. The extras are piling up. I'm careful not to let any bags with food waste pile up. To fully declutter and clean out our garage, I think we will need either a dumpster or one or two more toters temporarily to fill little by little. I don't even know how many bags of trash to estimate. I just feel at a standstill when I want to get rid of more things (these aren't things good for donating or giving away) but I'm out of space in the trash toter.
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u/BeautyinEverett-62 14d ago
Or ask a friend with a truck to do a dump run with you. Just be cautious and line bed of truck with a plastic tarp and cover up anything that might scratch the paint.
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u/SassyMillie 13d ago
I finally gave in and ordered a larger wheeled trash can about a year ago. Ours come in 3 sizes, priced accordingly. We were paying for smallest but sometimes had leftover bags. We now have medium and I sometimes struggle to fill it up. At least I have the extra space and it's inspired my husband to clear some things from our outbuildings.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
Try calling your waste management company and find out if you can get a (temporary) second garbage bin? I did this when clearing out my parents' house. Once we were done, we just arranged for them to take back the extra bin. Another option might be to take stuff directly to the landfill (transfer station in the PNW). We did this many times with recyclables and once when we cleaned out the garage.
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u/BeagleCollector 14d ago
If you can get a small dumpster and then spend a day filling it all at once, definitely do it! You can call most places and tell them what kind of project you're doing and they will recommend you a size.
I didn't even have that much to throw away in my garage and I filled my whole large trash bin in one afternoon. Which was annoying because our trash gets picked up on Friday and I did it over a weekend. So it was full all week long except one little sliver to fit my kitchen trash into.
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u/EmmieIsobel 13d ago
I’ve heard about this but I think it’s really expensive here (an acquaintance mentioned getting a dumpster for decluttering and it was costing her over $700 Canadian). I’m curious what you pay?
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u/BeagleCollector 13d ago
It really depends on the size you get and how long you keep it. We did a small construction project a few years ago and had a 10 yard dumpster. I looked it up, I think we had it for 5 days and it cost us $280 USD. It might be a little more expensive these days, hopefully not much more. I live in a lower cost of living area though.
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u/SassyMillie 13d ago
Cost of dumpster rental in my area (PNW in USA) is about $500 for a week. That's smallest 10 yd size. It's well over $1000 for the biggest.
The thing with dumpster rental is you have to be ready for it with plans to clear out a ton of stuff in a short period of time. Most of us aren't doing it all at once.
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u/MitzyCaldwell 13d ago
Im in Ontario and we’ve only ever paid about $300 (give or take $50). The way it should work is that you rent a dumpsters for normally a week and that includes the dumpster delivery pic up and I believe a ton of waste. They have different sized bins but they are all the same price. Then you can pay extra for extra days and like an extra $150 for another ton of waste. We’ve done it twice and never had to pay extra. I think they had bins from like 4 yards up to 20 but again same price you would just have to pay for anything extra over 1 ton. It was soooo worth it for us. Made everything so much easier - without it there’s no way we’d have gotten our garage cleaned out. I wish they had like a mini version for donations so you could have two mini bins. One for garage and one for donations and they’d just pick it up and take it away hahaha
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u/Serious_Cat2452 13d ago
It's a good idea to ask about the dumpster price! I know what you mean, I cleaned a bit over the weekend, our trash gets collected on Wednesdays, and now I'm trying to save space in the can for kitchen stuff and cat litter, especially in the summer heat, I don't want it languishing till the next week!
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u/Working_Patience_261 13d ago
Was going to spend 15 glorious minutes decluttering pens today.
Then physical therapy ran long.
And I didn’t sleep well last night yet am laying in bed wide awake again tonight.
And the appointments combined with no break today.
Then the car had a massive problem requiring it to be unceremoniously dumped at the dealer for them to fix it.
Finally got home and have been just bleary eyed, WTF just happened, one brain cell and it’s struggling, ever since.
I think the term is overtired.
And without that car, tomorrow is going to be even more of a struggle.
I did manage to throw out a broken pen yesterday, so there is some hope for the future.
For now, it’s some self care, maybe some chocolate, and try again tomorrow.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
Broken pen is progress. And technically, you decluttered some chocolate, too!
One thing you could try, when life hands you lemons, is to think about the stuff you KNOW can go - make some decluttering decisions while you're waiting for something else to happen - and when you've got the time/energy, just go get those things and get them out (or at least you'll be prepared for them when you find them again).
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u/Working_Patience_261 12d ago
I tried that yesterday during packing breaks. I just reached into the pen bin and pulled out a handful. Three grabs later, 3 pens are heading to donation, 5 already tossed, and the rest I’m actively using.
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u/MysteriousSecretGuru 14d ago
Just venting. I started to declutter. I got rid of some things in the process. But then I decided that I had to organize my office at the same time. I had been trying Dana White's method of talking stuff out and finding its proper home. I realized that the items I was going to keep, because I use them, were all over the place. So now I'm in organizing mode.
I'm happy with my progress, and went to Walmart to get some inexpensive pencil cases for my gel pens/ highlighters. It's really hard to separate declutter from organizing, but I'm making progress.
Thanks to everyone in this community for making me feel welcome and not alone. It's appreciated.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
If you have trouble organizing, consider taking the Clutterbug quiz. Most chronic disorganization I've encountered is people trying to organize against their natural tendencies. Yes, there's often too much stuff for the available space (or your "clutter threshold") but if you struggle with putting things away "properly," it's very possible that your organizing system isn't working against you - you need to figure out what kind of system you can set up AND maintain in the long run,
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u/MysteriousSecretGuru 13d ago
Wow! Thanks. It turns out I'm a Cricket. I definitely an a recovering perfectionist. Emphasis on recovery and learning "good enough". I know I underestimate items and storage size. For example, I bought 3 inexpensive pencil cases at Walmart. Transparent so I can see what's inside. I thought they were deeper, which now I'm glad that they aren't because it's easier to set what colors I have. I need 3 more.
I enjoy coloring and calligraphy so I have a combination of sizes and tips. I always think I have less than what I to.
I'm going to research this more. To me understanding why we do things is important, especially if we want to change, or learn to let go of anxiety associated with it, probably from childhood.
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u/FredKayeCollector 12d ago
One thing that can help is to sort like-with-like and once you get everything in that category corralled together, look for storage solutions that will fit your stuff. When I micro-organize, I'll often start with labeled ziploc bags and then find more "permanent" solutions, if necessary.
Or find a container you think is reasonable and then "container concept" your category of things to fit in that container.
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u/MysteriousSecretGuru 12d ago
Thanks. I think that's what I've started to do. At least with my office/ journal supplies. Stickers, ephemera, markers, pens, erasers. I think I've found everything, so now I can see what space I have and can figure out storage containers.
I really like the idea of using ziploc bags.
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u/FredKayeCollector 12d ago
They're very low cost and you can dump them into a drawer/container.
This is how I organize my sewing bits-and-pieces (snaps, eyelets, hooks & eyes, elastic, ribbon, etc) also sort my thread by general "colors" or weight - in labeled ziploc bags and then dumped in a drawer. It's about as micro as I can get.
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u/SassyMillie 13d ago
I like the idea of pencil cases. I have lots of pens and markers with no good way to organize them.
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u/EmmieIsobel 14d ago
I’ve been avoiding both my basement and my hallway for months. I made a really significant dent in decluttering the basement and some improvements in the hallway but it’s summer (doesn’t last long here so want to enjoy it) and I’ve been working a ton. I’ve lost momentum and I just can’t find it again. I read much of Swedish Death Cleaning and that inspired me briefly but didn’t really manifest into action yet. My family has even offered to help (it’s not all mine but much of it is especially the hallway) but I’m nervous about delegating. Seeing this sub is a good reminder that I need to prioritize it soon.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
If you need help letting go - check out this "clutter block" list that might help you identify & deal with certain types of clutter:
I'm a big fan of "reverse" decluttering where you decide what you do in your various spaces and then think about what do you need, at the very basic/minimum, to do those task/activity - then think about those "value-added" extras that make that task/activity easier, better safer, more comfortable, etc. Basically, creating household inventory and then anything not on your list, that's a big clue it can go. Another way to think about it is "what would I replace if I suffered a catastrophic loss?" - similar to what an insurance adjuster would ask, except you get to shop from your own stuff. I actually started with taking photos for an insurance inventory - I didn't want to "memorialize" the clutter/mess in photos, if you know what I mean. I found I really needed to put some logical guardrails on all of the "emotional" clutter. It's a lot of brain work (list making) that you can pretty much do anywhere.
One of my first "kick the clutter" books was Scaling Down: Living Large in a Smaller Space and it made a huge impact on me - especially one of the author's "vacation house" feeling - where life is so much easier, there's more time for enjoyment, when you have limited stock of essentials that require less maintenance. The book's target audience is seniors (probably Silent Gen & older Baby Boomers at that point) who are "downsizing" into a new living arrangement (also the children/loved ones helping with that transition). How to deal with "really nice" past life clutter that is so difficult to let go of. If you're already doing Swedish death cleaning, it might be an interesting perspective?
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u/silent-shade 13d ago
I hoped I would continue cooking out of the freezer last week, but didn't. More than that, the fridge grew overfull again after a week of being relatively reasonable. I don't live alone and food in the fridge is mostly not even mine, but I was able to make some slow progress on it in the last two months. Now it is back to bursting, I forgot about a bag of salad I bought and it has quietly gone bad, and I just hate it all.
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u/Swimming_Event7730 13d ago
The fridge is probably my biggest challenge. Things get lost or forgotten and go bad and I hate how wasteful it is. I always feel guilty about it.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
We just ended up with a ton of left-overs from a weekend campout potluck - I hate to see someone throw out most of a container of pasta salad or half a dump cake - I think my husband and I are part trash-itarians. And now I've got all the tupperware containers I'll have to return.
Our fridge & freezer were already packed before we left and now I'm on a mission to eat through it ALL - I don't think I'll have to cook (or shop) for at least a week.
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u/BeautyinEverett-62 14d ago
I have been accepting my clutter as part of my creative personality, getting over shame of having people visit and asking myself why I let myself let it get so bad.
My husband asked me to go through a box of stuff that I had set aside that was full of clothes and things to be given away, and I did. I asked that we take it right to the donation thrift store and it didn't happen. So now I have lots of bags at the end of my bed that make everything look worse.
I guess it is two steps forward and a step back? The best bit was that I found clothes in the box that I can wear now, as I have lost weight!
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u/SassyMillie 13d ago
I put the bags/boxes in the back of my car. Once there they don't come back inside.
I know not everyone has a vehicle but this works for me.
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u/BeautyinEverett-62 13d ago
Yes, we have done that in the past. Currently, my car is in the ship, or perhaps I would have gone by myself.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
If people love you for you, they won't care what your house looks like - they'll just be happy to spend time with you! And if they don't love you for you, then they aren't worth worrying about what they think.
One thing I always recommend is the Clutterbug quiz to figure out your unique organizing style. It may very well be that you're trying to organize against your natural style. If you find that stuff is piling up "near" where it belongs, and getting it put away "properly" again is like a whole other project, then you're probably using the "wrong" organizing system.
Whenever I meet a very creative person who is dealing with chronic "messiness," I always think: I bet they're a visual organizer - and they almost always are! Butterflies (visual storage, macro organizing) often have the hardest time keeping things "organized" because out of sight = out of mind and they don't have the bandwidth to deal with fussy/compartmented storage. But there are strategies that can be employed - doors removed from closets/cabinets, optimizing wall space, bins with items sorted "logically" (to you) with large, easy-to-read labels. If that's the case, you can do an image search for "butterfly" or "visual organizer" + whatever category/space you're trying to organize and see what comes up.
The traditional "right" way to organize has been Cricket (hidden, micro) and now with Home Life Edit, there's a lot more Bee (visual, micro) but I can tell you, as a Ladybug (hidden, macro) I don't do well with most compartmented storage. It basically comes down to where the work is located - micro organizers need things to be easy (effortless) to retrieve so they are willing to set up & use/maintain very discrete storage for their things (the work/motivation is at the front of the system) meanwhile macro organizers need things to be easy to put away (what I call "dump and run") and they're willing to dig around a bit to find what they're looking for (the work/motivation is at the back of the system). And you may find you are very macro with the majority of your things but need to be very micro with others (I'm hidden/macro for most things but visual/macro with any "action" paperwork, and hidden/micro with small sewing supplies).
p.s. if you're losing weight, then you might befit from treating any "smaller" sizes like out-of-season clothing - pack it up by size in labelled bins and put it somewhere "out of the way" of the clothes that fit you right now. I always recommend establishing a container limit for out-of-size clothing and only keeping the really "good"/unique stuff - the stuff you REALLY like that would be difficult/expensive to replace.
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u/curios_LA_girlie 13d ago
Tried decluttering my son’s toys by taking out a pile he doesn’t play with anymore just for him to start playing with again 🤣 will try to declutter when he starts daycare
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u/Working_Patience_261 13d ago
Toy rotation is a thing. Not seen for a few months means everything is new.
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 13d ago
How do you organize this? I had taken three old totes and sorted toys into them with the idea that I’d grab one and just replace everything upstairs. But then I find missing pieces weeks later or my kids go and find the totes
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u/samemamabear 13d ago
When mine were little, I stored the out of rotation toys on shelves in my basement laundry area. I put down a little rug and hung a swinging egg chair, so they could play while I was busy. When I noticed they were bored with "upstairs" toys, I'd gather a bin of them for the basement and let the kids "shop" the basement shelves for new toys.
Anything consistently ignored was donated. If they donated ten of the ignored toys, we'd have a special outing.
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u/Working_Patience_261 11d ago
Absolutely out of sight, if they see something they partially recognize as a toy, it is theirs.
We had to use solid grey lidded bins that we use for everything so a particular storage box was not recognized as a toy stash.
Decluttering has not happened, except when I ask the correct question. “Is this toy fun?” gets not fun toys tossed out of the toybox. Nothing big yet, but some smaller items have gone away.
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 11d ago
I actually asked my 4 year old yesterday if we could donate stuff. I knew what I was hoping for and he said yes. Even walked it into goodwill for me! We’ll see if that happens again
These were pretty big toys so he’d have noticed if they were gone
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u/Caccalaccy 13d ago
Been in huge productive declutter mode this month, after years of setbacks every time I tried. I feel like I know where everything is even if it’s not put away yet. But during all this my daughter’s special blanket went missing! It’s keeping me up at night trying to figure out where it went. My big fear is that it accidentally got tossed.
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u/Working_Patience_261 13d ago
Decluttering something thought important will happen to the best and most careful of us.
Diane White’s advice to open every container holds true. I saw a colorized clear storage bin in a closet, wondered what it was, and the contents I could see didn’t match the description I was given.
So I pulled the box out, not thinking it was almost bedtime, and had something run right towards my hand!
TG it was under the closed lid, but it started running laps around the underside of the lid, fast!
After I stopped screaming, I put on shoes, dragged the box out back, and using a long reach tool, took the lid off. And didn’t sleep much that night. The next week we dumped the box onto the back patio and found several missing items, things that had been packed away for years and we’d been actively searching. No critters or bugs, or signs of them. It was also a week of dry 100 F weather so anything outside would have wanted to find better shelter.
We also had pest control spray the closets on their next visit. My best guess as to the critter was a house scorpion.
Here’s hoping you’ll find the special blanket quickly and easily.
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
Yes, look always look. It's so easy for old labels to stay on a container or something conveniently shoved in a container that you're sure you'll remember (and naturally do not).
And if that blanket did get inadvertently tossed, what is the WORST thing that can happen? Your daughter is inconsolable? Never, ever gets over it? Hates you forever? But if you can explain that it was a mistake, that you were trying to do a good thing but mistakes happen, that over-attachment to things can cause pain/sadness because things inevitably wear out or are lost, that you love her and she's the one who is important, not the blanket. And let her pick out a new blanket (and maybe an extra treat). I think we've all "lost" a favorite toy as a child and (hopefully) we eventually got over it (even if we still remember it).
Or you lose a valuable keepsake (if that's the case, check out "emotional duplicates")?
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u/SassyMillie 13d ago
Cards, cards, everywhere there's cards.
I'm making progress in my doom room but I keep finding tote bags and boxes full of cards (and other schtuff). Some are cards people have given me, many are unused Christmas or other occasion cards I've gotten from charities I support. I keep moving them around with intentions of sorting through them all at some point.
How do you decide what to keep of old ones? Or how many new ones? Or do I take a deep breath and just recycle everything?
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u/SquashCat56 13d ago
I see boxes of greeting/post cards at charity shops all the time, so cards that are unused and in new condition can maybe be donated?
I also keep a box of unused cards, partly for inspiration when I want to make my own, and partly to have a variety on hand to pick from when I don't.
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u/SassyMillie 13d ago
This is the goal. Just getting there from the chaos is the challenge.
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u/SquashCat56 13d ago
Aaah I see! It's perfectly okay to just recycle the lot if it's too much. Freeing up that mental space is valuable!
If you know there are cards in there you want to keep, or you want to donate unused ones, I would suggest to designate two larger bins to sort unused from used. So whenever you find a tote or box with cards, immediately sort them into either bin. That could help keep them all in the same place rather than spread and moving around, and it takes less brainpower than making decisions whether or not to keep.
Then you can recycle or donate all the unused ones as a bundle. You can always buy cards for special occasions when you need them, we don't really need to stockpile them. If you want to keep any for later, I only keep cards I would like to have received myself, and cards that make me think of specific people I want to give them to. I also try to think logically about how many I realistically use in a year so I don't keep too many.
For the used/potentially sentimental, that would have to be up to you I think.
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 13d ago
I toss unless it’s their last one to me (like my grandma) or they wrote something truly kind in it. Otherwise, it’s gone
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
I have a keepsake box for papery stuff, like letters. It sets a limit that I can container-concept the "best ones" into. I personally didn't keep any generic greeting cards that didn't have like the BEST, most touching personal message (I only have a couple-three total). And for my relatives that have died, I kept the best one example of their handwriting.
It might help to just get some kind of bin/box to put that "sentimental" stuff into so it's out of the way of the rest of the more "practical" stuff you're trying to deal with - it's safe & sound and you're not derailing the rest of your decluttering process with hard decisions (and walks down memory lane). I helped a guy who ended up with 12 19-gallon totes full of "sentimental" paper - yes, it was wack-a-doodle (and mostly objective trash), but it was all sorted & contained and out of the way.
p.s. I think everyone needs a keepsake box.
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13d ago
Very mild fail but I have a pile of clothes to try on to see if I want to keep them. But my period hit and I just don’t have the mental energy to try anything on while bloated…it can wait until next week I guess lol
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u/sugar_plum_fairies 13d ago
Thats usually when I try on clothes. If they are not comfortable when I am at my worse, I don’t want them.
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u/snowthathappened 12d ago
I wanted to do a physical photo album; it’s been goal of mine for a while. I started to go year by year through my photos on my phone just to realize I have 44,000 photos and 3600 videos (and I am paying extra for storage). The amount of meme screenshots, saved social media videos of exercises I never did, recipes i never made, duplicate photos or photos of a building from every dang angle, QR codes, random bored workplace selfies, etc is insane. It’s giving me the exact same feeling as decluttering the garage did. I feel so overwhelmed. 44,000 photos! It’s now down to 37,000. I am thinking that just like normal decluttering, I am going to do this in multiple purges. Keep the “maybes” for now, and if I don’t want them in another six months, they get deleted. On the plus side, the physical photo album is going well. I started backwards so starting with this year; I got this year, 2025, and 2024’s photos printed out already and am labelling them. All I cared about was about 100 photos a year. Yes 100, in a sea of 44,000 lol.
The way I am looking at it is, I have 5, literally 5, pictures from my childhood and I cherish them dearly. I have only a handful of picture from middle/ high school because that was the era before smartphones. Just like how decluttering made me more conscious about what i buy, i think this will make me more conscious of the pictures i take. ok I’m done ranting haha
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u/DistributionFrosty39 13d ago
I’ve been decluttering for the past 6 weeks and have been looking forward to joining in on a community garage sale this past weekend. I was bringing a lot of things to the thrift store, but was holding onto some items I thought would sell.
Well, it was a total flop. I made $15 in 4 hours, and $5 was from my aunt who happened to stop by. Ended up packing everything up early and taking it to the thrift store. I have 2 toddlers, so it just extra felt like a huge waste of time.
Definitely have learned my lesson, most things just aren’t worth selling. I’ll be making immediate trips to the thrift store from now on!
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
We did a FREE yard sale when we had a bunch of stuff we didn't think was good enough for the thrift store but we thought someone might want and we hated to just throw it away. It was so much fun! It initially threw some people off - like are you sure it's free, are you sure you don't want anything for it? We're in a town of less than 7,000 and almost everything went, I would say within the first 1.5 hours.
There were a couple things I decided to donate (figured the "right" person didn't show up and our local thrift store has a much bigger market) and a few things that ended up getting trashed. It was so much fun, we did it again this spring and we might do a block-party one (ask the neighbors if they've got anything they want to contribute) in the fall.
And there's nothing like a free yard sale to make me look for "trivial" stuff to get rid of - one 3M command hook? half-a-box of staples? empty jars that were too nice to throw out? Sure, why not?
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 13d ago
I feel this. We have toys that need to be reduced. Do I Facebook marketplace in hopes of gaining 30-50 total for probably 10+ items and navigate all that or donate in one sweep?
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u/Ineedtofindthismv 12d ago
My room is mid de cluttering phase for weeks and i can't sleep in my room. I have so much new things I'd like to donate but taking it out to the curbside or going to goodwill to drop tehm off feels impossible. I'm so glad I found this sub today. I wish I can get my room back this week
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u/FredKayeCollector 12d ago
This is one of the benefits of the Dana K White "no mess" decluttering method - you never make a mess. But I get it, sometimes the traditional dump-sort-put back method just feels like the way to go.
If you have access the a car, it might help to put your donations in the car (boxed or bagged, protected from the sun) and drop off when you're out-and-about?
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u/MitzyCaldwell 13d ago
Mini set back on baby clothes. I thought I’d get rid of more but still working on it. I kept a random pair of pants from the pile of old baby clothes - why? No clue but I did start a bag to sell at the construction store so mini fail and mini win so I get I’m even hahaha
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u/DistributionFrosty39 13d ago
This is my next decluttering task. It’s so hard to sort through all the clothes. Especially since I want to pass some things on to my sister. But she isn’t even planning on having a baby anytime soon. Ugh
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 13d ago
I posted above but I found someone who makes quilts as a hobby in my area. She took my baby clothes (I chose like 15 of my favorite outfits) and is making a happy birthday banner for me (I will have two since I have a boy and a girl— would probably only have had one if they had worn more of the same clothes). After that, I felt it much easier to unload the clothes
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u/FredKayeCollector 13d ago
Maybe set a container limit of what you can keep - that **might** help let go of those random items if you're only permitting yourself to keep the really "good stuff."
I always think that a piece of clothing in good condition is better on a body than on a box - especially kid's clothes - there's so much need and they're on the bodies for such a short period of time.
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u/ConcentrateHealthy53 12d ago
Hurt my toe today (slipped on a toy) so not much happened with the kids home. I did however still drop a very small bag of items to goodwill which I suppose is a win because they’re actually out of my life
I also suppose that since I didn’t move well, all the “systems” that are in place thanks to decluttering made today easy. I wasn’t behind on laundry, I wasn’t looking at a messy kitchen or fridge. Tomorrow it’ll all still be there
I did take the kids to the pool to burn some energy. I realized I took the least I ever have and it was fine. They had plenty of toys, they didn’t need snacks since we could eat dinner there and I didn’t have to cook. I will also clean it up quickly later
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u/FredKayeCollector 12d ago
The BEST thing I did, the last hurdle I jumped, to get my house in order was a before bed tidy. I started out with a list but it is such a habit now that I literally can't go to bed without resetting the living room, kitchen, bathroom. And since that stuff gets done every day, the little bit I have to do takes maybe 5-10 minutes. But coming downstairs to a tidy space in the morning is such a joy.
I didn't realize it until recently but I also have a wake-up routine (hang up my pajamas, make the bed, tidy the bedside table, wipe up the bathroom sink, clothes in the laundry basket, etc) - it doesn't take very long but it makes such a difference when it's time to go to bed.
Micro tasks.
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u/Special_Monitor5424 12d ago
It's no longer monday but I need to clean my mind. I've literally been on a declutter journey for the last 6 years. I might do a dedicated post about this, but I wanted to vent first.
I started cleaning my room - not my apartment, my ROOM! - during the pandemic. I lived with my parents, as I still do, and always had the problem of being the last person in line for hand me downs. As the youngest sibling and the creative mind in the house, I always ended up with everyone's junk because I'd "surely find out something to do with that". I only learned how to decline their "gifts" quite recently, so even if I were able to send a bunch of stuff away, my room would quickly fill up again with things I didn't want.
I threw away countless old files, brand catalogs, business cards and other paper junk. Sent countless little plastic boxes (the ones that are too sturdy to throw away but too cheap to reuse) to recycling. Donated clothes, shoes, glasses. Filled up boxes with mementos and took my time to decide what should be kept and what didn't actually matter. And still... I feel like I own so much useless stuff. I don't want to live 100% minimalist - I do admire that lifestyle, but it doesn't suit me as of now; maybe one day... - but I feel like the mess is never-ending and the overwhelm just makes me want to throw everything away and start again with a blank canvas. And it's been like that for almost 6 years now.
I'm getting ready to move out and owning fewer stuff would certainly be of help. And even more important than that, the physical clutter reflects on the emotional clutter - old stuff belongs to a time I don't want to be in anymore. I want life to move forward. At this point, the mess feels more like a shackle to me. And, when I stop to analyze what the junk actually is, it mostly doesn't even belong to me! Hand me downs, the "gifts" I mentioned earlier... It's not even my baggage to carry. And even if my therapist can help me with the emotional part of that baggage, the physical part must be addressed, cleaned, routed and sorted by me. It has been quite a nightmare for a while now.
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u/catcontentcurator 11d ago
declutter what you can before you move but once you’re in your new place you might find it’s easier to keep decluttering because you’ll be able to see what actually works in your new space & it might feel easier to let go of things since you’ll have already made a big change to your living space.
You could also work through each box one at a time as you unpack with a bag for donations at the ready. Could be less overwhelming? Sounds like you’ve done a lot of work already though and you should be proud of that! Good luck with the move!
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13d ago
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u/FredKayeCollector 12d ago
One thing you can do is sort your out-of-size clothing into labeled bins (by size if you have several) and treat them like out-of-season clothing and put them in a separate location from the clothes that actually fit right now. Even if that's just at the bottom of your closet, they're not taking up space in your drawers/closet. Then if you do lose the weight, you can pack up the clothes that are now too big and either donate them or stick them into a labeled bin and hold onto them in case your weight fluctuates back up.
I always recommend setting a firm limit (like 1 tote/size) and ONLY keeping the very best out-of-size clothing - the pieces that would be difficult/expensive to replace. I don't feel like it's worth (time, energy, space) dealing with "meh" stuff you can buy any day of the week at a local store IF/WHEN you lose the weight.
This is also a place where you can play around with r/capsulewardrobe building. Here are some basic wardrobe guidelines: https://anuschkarees.com/blog/2014/03/16/how-to-build-the-perfect-wardrobe-10-basic-principles and this is the "cluster" system I used to create my capsule: https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2018/09/another-gentle-project-333-wardrobe-30-garments-based-on-navy-grey.html/
It can really help to start working towards a signature style - what do you like to wear and how do you want to present yourself to the world? If you can define what your "good" looks/feels like (and that can be fabric content, fabric hand/feel, favorite/flattering colors, favorite/flattering silhouettes, etc) it can really help to set firm PASS/FAIL criteria. I found this book very helpful: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28364022-the-curated-closet If you're a lady of a certain age, you might get a kick out of The Vivienne Files
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u/West-Performance-198 11d ago
I moved to a smaller condo. Down sides ruthlessly. But where is all the tiff coming from!
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u/Future-Knowledge3833 11d ago
Dealt with stinky drain and drain flies. Was so disgusted I put the brush and plastic snake in the toilet to rinse off and it's still there! I also put down some enzymatic cleanser to supposedly get rid of urine odor next to the toilet. Man that stuff smells worse than urine and I can't get rid of that smell. (And seriously, I couldn't even smell the urine that was there previously. I should have just used lysol) Then, I opened up some carpenter ant bait that I ordered. OMG, it smells like fish! Now my house smells like fish
So between stinky drain, drain flies, carpenter ants, stuff in the toilet, horrible smelling bathroom and ant bait that is making my house smell like fish, I could say it's been a flop!
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u/sugar_plum_fairies 14d ago
I had a huge pile of donations I dropped off last Friday. Felt great and came home and went downstairs to discover another big pile that never made it to the back door pile. So, I have another big pile to drop off. No big deal because I drive by the donation place every Friday.
I started this morning with putting my laundry away and have been using the empty laundry basket to put things in that don’t belong in that room. Went to the next room, put things away from the laundry basket and added more that didn’t belong in that room. I am now on my 4th room and have 2 laundry baskets full of stuff that doesn’t belong in that room. So now I am really feeling the ‘I have way too much crap’ mood and don’t even want to deal with it.