Sunday 23 October 2016

21 Day Destash - Declutter - Challenge Accepted

The quote "A cluttered home equals a cluttered mind" is one I believe to be true, it is for me anyway. Having 4 kids, a hoarding husband and running 3 businesses from home has my house looking like something out of a horror movie.
Needing some extra cash at the moment has inspired me to do a big clear out, go back to basics. We simply have way too much stuff. A lot I will be donating simply to get rid of it, some I will be selling.

The house is small and we have made it smaller, no matter how clean it is it's still horrible to look at. I can't stand it any longer.
Join me if you like or simply follow the mammoth task ahead of me.
Some days will be allocated as rest days so I do not overwhelm myself and give up. Bigger jobs will be broken up across a few days.

Lets get this started!!

DAY ONE: Adults clothing - I have way too many clothes, who can relate? I often think I like that or maybe I'll wear that when the weathers better instead it sits in the drawer for another year.
I am going to cut right back with my clothes, many don't fit anymore, many are not my style even.
What I'll be left with (hopefully!)
3x Jeans/Pants
2 x leggings
5 x skirts/shorts
3 x dresses
2 x bathing suits
3 x jumpers/jackets
4 x short sleeved tops
4 x long sleeved tops
4 x gym tops
2 x each season PJ's
1 x runners
1 x work shoes
2 x dress shoes

Hubby's clothes well, we will see what he is left with, he hangs on to things until they're literally a rag.

DAY TWO: Kids clothes
The kids (mainly the girls, actually mainly Miss 11 have ssoooooo many clothes, I could probably fill a shop!
They will be reduced to (each):
4 x jeans/'pants (6 each for the boys who still need spares)
2 x leggings (girls)
4 x shorts/skirts
2 x dresses
4 x short sleeved tops
4 x long sleeved tops
3 x jackets/jumpers
2 x dress outfits

The last 2 days should have had a huge impact in the amount of laundry I have to do which I'll appreciate.

DAY THREE: Books
We are big readers, which I love but we do have a lot of books many which are not read anymore so I will be sorting these out.

DAY FOUR: Rest day  - we all need those!!

DAY FIVE: Girl's wardrobe
OMG how much do kids accumulate? So much stuff they don't play with anymore, things they don't even know they still have. 30 million drawings from kinder (I'll keep the good ones), scraps of paper, no doubt broken lunchboxes etc.
My 11 year old doesn't really play with toys anymore so she doesn't need any, she loves her books, colouring and drawing. Miss 8 plays with selected things but also is a big reader and story writer. Goodbye dreading Littlest Pet Shops that they've finally grown out of (thankfully we skipped the shopkins faze!)

DAY SIX: My wardrobe
I think I am dreading this more than the girls to be honest. It has just become a storage place for anything that has no place - if it has no place and isn't sentimental then why are we keeping it?

DAY SEVEN: Linen cupboard
This cupboard is half Christmas decorations ad half towels and linen.
Ill be getting rid of most of the Christmas décor and downsizing the linen to 2-3 bedding sets each and 2 towels each plus 3 spares. Who needs 30 towels really?

DAY EIGHT: rest day

DAY NINE: Boys room
The room I dread the most, ssoooo much stuff, so much broken, unplayed with etc. Downsizing a lot here. Keeping their favourite toys like cars and superhero figures but that's about it. I do need to buy them a smallish wooden toy box as they had a huge one that I got rid of but they don't really have anywhere for their stuff now.

DAY TEN: Girls room
Now that I've done their clothes and their wardrobe fingers crossed this shouldn't take too long, though miss 8's version of cleaning her room is to shove it all under the bed - out of sight, out of mind - nice try!

DAY ELEVEN: My room
Again now that clothes and wardrobe are done this should be a piece of cake.

DAY TWELVE: rest day - no doubt very welcomed!

DAY THIRTEEN: Bathroom
Goodbye 5 year old mascara and those shampoo bottles with just dregs left in them. This room is probably going to be the easiest as there is only 3 small drawers and one very small cupboard.

DAY FOURTEEN: Re-evaluate clothing
By now I'll have done a few cycles of washing so time to make sure I have only what was assigned in the first few days

DAY FIFTEEN: Lounge room
Xbox games galore, storage under the turtle tank - the turtle tank in itself is due for a clean. This is the room we wind down in on an evening, I want it to feel relaxing, to be comfortable for guests. Eventually we need new furniture but that is eventually, what we have works at the moment though bulky, I just can't afford to change it at the moment.

DAY SIXTEEN: rest day

DAY SEVENTEEN: Laundry
With less clothes this should be a breeze! Our laundry is tiny so it doesn't take much to make it look cluttered and overwhelming.

DAY EIGHTEEN: Pantry
The pantry needs a whole day in itself, not having much cupboard space it also holds some appliances. Lots of foods we don't use or need. Having just joined Michelle Bridges 12 WBT a pantry makeover is in order.

DAY NINETEEN: Kitchen cupboards & bench
The benches thankfully are usually pretty clear. I'm going to organise the cupboards so that they are more practical and get rid of anything I no longer use. I will also be doing the drawers, less stuff = less dishes right?!

DAY TWENTY: Dining room/craft area
Anything that doesn't belong has to go! Also craft items that are no longer used will be sold.

DAY TWENTY ONE: Enjoy! I'm all done :)


Wish me luck I know I will need it.