Day One: 6 hours and 1 injury later...

I am writing this from my bed, those of you in the UK might look at the time and tut but there is a very good reason why I am here and not still decluttering so bear with.

Following the advice in No More Clutter, I didn't jump straight into physically decluttering. A slow and steady pace is key, as we explored in the Hoarding Habits post there are many ways we hinder our own progress.

So I started by doing a Clutter Tour of my house. The aim of this is to go around and open each door, yes even the cupboard that never gets opened because of the fear of an avalanche of papers (we all have one it's ok to admit it), and assess the needs of each area in terms of functionality and the ambiance you want for each area. So armed with my phone camera and my trusty notebook (new, I cannot resist stationery, although purchased before this decluttering journey started she says in hasty defense) I hit each area in my house. It was not a happy experience but nor was it utterly soul destroying which I imagined it would be. I noted down colours, ideas, and key words for each area to remind myself of what I wanted the house to be like.

I decided that my main focus would start on my daughter's room. Well technically it's the spare room but after thoroughly rejecting her light, airy comfortable room (the one room that was, for a while, clutter free) she decided she wanted to move into the bigger bedroom. This had been the plan from the start but she hurried things along a little. One of the main benefits of her being in this room was the double bed. We were not blessed with a child who sleeps so co-sleeping is now second nature to us. We did decide, however, that we'd prefer her to stay in her room rather than coming into us, hence the need for the double bed.

That room had become the general dumping ground. I mentioned in an earlier post about my hobbies? Well my husband is worse. In fact he doesn't have hobbies, he has fads. Hobbies last, fads don't. He gets into something, buys all the gear.... and gets bored thus adding to the piles of stuff in the spare room. Currently in there is a full size dart board, home beer making kits & bottles, electrician course materials and a thousand of odds and sods to do with computers (he works in IT). Not only do I have no clue about what these things are for I have a sneaking suspicion he doesn't other.

So my key words for this room are: light, space, fun, toys, play, relaxing.
Colours: white, yellow, pink, light blues

© clippasafe.co.uk

Her room needs to house a lot of toys so I have been looking into creative storage solutions but crucially it has stopped there, I have not gone into a mad rush to buy lots of storage without fully assessing what is needed once the room is cleared. I have bought one thing, which is a soft toy hammock to hang on the wall, this I find a brilliant idea and I cannot wait for it to arrive.

One other major thing to tackle in this room is the colour. It is red. It's a red room and anyone familiar with Jane Eyre will know that's a bad thing. In a moment of inspiration (madness?) my husband decided that he would paint the room red, but leaving one wall white. A subversion of the feature wall almost, breaking down the societal pressure to conform with one wall of colour and three without, rebelling against the confines of the Dulux oppression.... no I can't pretend anymore, it's a sodding red room. The room is also North facing so as you can imagine it's always dark. So once the room is decluttered out comes the paint cans and it's going back to white.

So what have I actually achieved today apart from an injury*?

Well the room is 70% decluttered. I am recognising the success of that instead of focusing on how much there is left to finish. I have discovered that I am actually quite strong and perfectly capable to dismantling (for that read destroying) a bookcase and taking it to the recycling centre. I have cleared two car journeys worth of clutter to the aforementioned recycling centre today. I have made a potential £50 through Music Magpie clearing out all our old CDs and video games we no longer play. Well done me.

What I am left with is our massive collection of books. As I mentioned before I am an avid reader of crime fiction. Our next job is to see whether it is worth using the We Buy Books website (please do comment below if you know of a better system) or whether they should just go to the charity shop. I am tempted by the former and making a donation to the charity instead of sending a lot of books they might otherwise struggle to sell.

What do you think?
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*said injury is the twisting of my knee. I had an operation on it 11 years ago to fix the problem of it suddenly giving way. Didn't work very well so is prone to twisting. I am now lying here with a fetching pack of frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel. Decluttering doesn't get much more glamorous than this!