It feels like we haven’t been at home for a weekend since well before the summer holidays.
In fact looking back, weekends at home have been few and far between and it has meant that the house has got a little out of control.
The kids love collecting all the paraphernalia that goes with our days out, from sea glass and shells from the beach, to leaflets and maps from theme parks and even badges and medals they earn along the way.
The trouble is, they just dump it on the side, or in a toy box and forget about it, leaving it to pile up and make a complete mess.
This weekend was our first weekend at home for a long time and enough was enough – we needed to have a clear out.
It is something I do before Christmas every year as even putting up a Christmas tree takes up lots of extra space we just don’t have. I left Hubby and the kids in charge of sorting out the toys and I headed upstairs to clear all the drawers.
I swear I only had a clear out in the summer but I managed to clear 4 large black sacks full of clothes. I spent some time putting the decent ones on eBay, but majority went to Cash4Clothes (I got a measly £12.50) or the Charity Shop.
The porch had also become a dumping ground and I enjoyed a rubbish removal trip to the tip to get rid of my broken parcel shelf for the car, Sebby’s old cot mattress, the empty cardboard box pile that has been building since they reduced our bin collections and his broken pushchair that I never got round to complaining about.
I have to say that the kids did a sterling job of sorting out toys and the local pre-school has got the benefit of some exciting new toys for everyone to enjoy. There are a couple more that Sebby and Eliza were reluctant to get rid of that I will have to sneak out when they are at school.
As for the pile of leaflets etc that was all mixed up with my blogging paperwork (this is why I am so disorganised) – it is sorted. I was brutal with some of the stuff but I think you just have to be, don’t you?
For the first time in a long time, the kids have a tidy, well organised playroom, tidy drawers with all their clothes neatly folded inside (I know it won’t last), space in their wardrobes and room for any new toys that Father Christmas may bring.
My blogging corner is clearer than it has been in a very long time and I have started adding outstanding projects to my new blog planner from Pirongs in a bid to get more organised……..review coming soon.
All I need to do now is move the furniture around and we are ready for our Christmas tree!
Do you have a pre-Christmas clear out?
I had a garage sort out last Friday with a whole car full of skip stuff and another load for 2 charity shops (1 of them didn’t want to take all of it) in amongst that was adults and kids clothing in 5 bin bags but like you said you don’t get a lot for them in those cash4clothes places and i decided before i spend another hour driving there and back for a tenner i might as well give it to charity and let them earn something. I still have got to sort out my eldest sons room but then its all done and ready for new toys soon! Decluttering feels pretty good and is something i do 4 times a year throughout the whole house!
You sound like you had a productive weekend. It takes me ages and it only seems like yesterday since the last massive clearout. Paperwork is my biggest bug bear.
I don’t know where all the junk comes from in our house. Gee collects anything from stones to leaves and like you I find them in every room in the house. Operation declutter has begun x
We (well, I – the kids were at school!) did this yesterday. I had been dreading it but their bedrooms look so much better now – ready to fill back up in a few weeks!
I don’t have a pre-Xmas clear out, but I probably should!
It is great that everything is so much tidier now. I do a clear out most months as its a good way of monitoring your stuff!
I am also a big fan of the pre-Christmas clear out! Otherwise it is hard to spot the decorations amongst all the rubbish! I know what you mean about cash for clothes. Me and the kids struggled down with a couple of bags and got £1.50. I just stick to charity shops now!
My mum always used to do a Christmas clear out I barely do. But is such good way to start the new year. I should start doing that soon.
I love to have a good clear out and get rid of old or grown out clothes. I only cleared out about 5 bag a few weeks ago but I am sure I could still get rid of more things 🙂
We are in the middle of the pre-Christmas clean out too!! Wish I’d never started though, my house looks worse than when I started!
I’m trying to. We’ve been trying to do the toyroom and study but we’re not having much luck at the mo. Only one bag shifted so far x
I do not have kids yet but I have so much to clear out in my apartment. I clear up every 6 weeks but not done the last 2 so I need a proper clear up
We have a clear out every season! It’s so incredible how much stuff you accumulate. One day I dream of living really minimalist. It’s amazing how hard it is to do though because things just keep turning up! x