Decluttering your house.

[jaybee]

"Don't chuck that out, someone will buy that."
Puts on ebay.
7 weeks later...
Unsold ebay item list has entered the chat.

 

[BUDFORCE]

"Don't chuck that out, someone will buy that."
Puts on ebay.
7 weeks later...
Unsold ebay item list has entered the chat.

Yup, or that might come in useful one day, puts in loft, 10 years later still there.... Then agrees to throw it out.

 

[BUDFORCE]

The wife's terrible. Every cupboard is packed to the rafters with 'stuff'. Pantry, every kitchen cupboard, full. We are 2 people in a 3 bed semi. She wanted to join costco, our nearest is a 50 mile drive away,
"why do you want to join?"
"it's cheaper to buy in bulk."
"If we have to drive 50 miles each way is it really cheaper? And there's only two of us"
*radio silence*.

Before I started renovations, all 3 bedrooms were full of stuff. We just moved into our new bedroom and she,. reluctantly, threw out 8 heavy duty rubble sacks full of clothes. It does my head in. I pretty much live out of a single chest of drawers and I have 2 suits in the wardrobe, that's it. She buys a dress, wears it once and it lives in the wardrobe forever. She still had her dress from her school prom 14 years ago. Bonkers. To get her to clear it out I had to guilt trip a bit, we're starting a family, "where is the kids stuff gonna go if we fill all the rooms at the moment?", that seemed to work, for now...

Writing was on the wall though, her parents house (only 3 people living there) is a 6 bed detached over 3 floors, every single bedroom is full of 'stuff'. Double garage, no cars in it, again you struggle to walk through it.

It really does get to me though, puts me down.

Literally the same here mate.

 

[Derek W]

My missus 'Dining Room'

Before i got my hands on the place

After (still a work in progress as she's missing a couple of bookcases) but not the most recent.

Her study was in a similar state but I've sorted that out as well. It's ridiculous the transformation but in my mind I could have sorted (read as thrown out) the stuff in about 6 months but we've gone 4yrs going through the personal effects to get it to where it is today.

 

[Mysterae_]

My missus 'Dining Room'

Before i got my hands on the place

After (still a work in progress as she's missing a couple of bookcases) but not the most recent.

Her study was in a similar state but I've sorted that out as well. It's ridiculous the transformation but in my mind I could have sorted (read as thrown out) the stuff in about 6 months but we've gone 4yrs going through the personal effects to get it to where it is today.

Well done you, that's quite the transformation!

 

[rare]

I buy loads of old stuff to try and distract myself from my real problems. True story.

 

[Derek W]

Well done you, that's quite the transformation!

The issue she had was she saw a heap of mess and couldn't face it cos she didn't know where to start so i just dragged something out and said sort that. Bin, Sort, Keep. Rinse and repeat over several years and she's got two rooms out of it. Unfortunately some of the stuff in the keep / sort pile has been moved into other rooms so we need to work on those ones as well as get the attic sorted (needs some boards laid down so some stuff can be moved up there out of the way) but we're getting there. Sadly she's mental for Christmas so the next couple of months are a write off until that's over and done with!

 

[LuckyBenski]

Partner and I have lived in increasing levels of too much stuff for years. I'm getting increasingly fed up but it's hard to change habits, and it's hard to get someone else to change according to your plans.

We bought a house last year and it's somehow already full of mess and boxes, we haven't even finished renovating or decorating and it's too full to move. I fantasize about house fires.

I have a pretty clear plan of how I want the finished house to be and how to stay on top of that (living space is tidy, one room for projects, mess etc). But getting there is so hard when I've collected a lot of sort of "useful" stuff and no room to sort it out

 

[mattyg]

I have a 40ft container for storage of stuff I haven't thrown away yet.. Its costing £260 per month and whilst there are a few bits in there we need to store. Its 90% full of crap that I'll happily give away. Old restaurant chairs, Old modular "cinema" sofa etc... Not to mention the 4 rooms in our loft thats full of crap too....

 

[mattyg]

We bought a house last year and it's somehow already full of mess and boxes, we haven't even finished renovating or decorating and it's too full to move. I fantasize about house fires.

I feel the same. I'd be minted if the house burnt down.. I'd not be rebuying 99% of the stuff we have now..... Found a VCR the other. We've moved 3 times since that thing was last used... Why do we still have it?

 

[LuckyBenski]

Its 90% full of crap that I'll happily give away.

This is the crux of it for me - I'd give this stuff away if I had a taker who wanted it. But I can't bear to chuck it in the dump.

Even listing it online to sell or give away, costs time.

 

[aVdub]

Did a big clear out during COVID with 90% of it going on Ebay.
Timed it right and made some good money on a lot of kit I was going to throw out.

A few years later and you would struggle to give a lot of it away for free.

 

[Semple]

Why is it that when you declutter, the stuff that you throw out - that you've not needed for five plus years -suddenly is something you really need, and you have to go out and buy the same thing again! Really frustrates me!

A lot depends on the cost etc. I've got a friend who when he met his wife they were living in separate houses, and when they agreed to move into his, they had two sets of big furnishings - two sofas, two wardrobes, two beds, etc. Rather than sell or dispose of it they rented a storage unit for it all, probably costing him £200-250 a month. I'd guess it's been about 3 years now and they've still got it. The cost of the storage unit has massively outstripped the value of the furnishings inside.

 

[Semple]

My missus 'Dining Room'

Before i got my hands on the place

After (still a work in progress as she's missing a couple of bookcases) but not the most recent.

Her study was in a similar state but I've sorted that out as well. It's ridiculous the transformation but in my mind I could have sorted (read as thrown out) the stuff in about 6 months but we've gone 4yrs going through the personal effects to get it to where it is today.

Oh my, yeah that is bad. Some people do suffer from hoarding disorders, so good on you for managing that.

I think we're all pretty bad at collecting/storing stuff we don't actually need. My trick in places like the loft are to stick stuff you're not sure if you'll need in a box. In 12 months time if it's still there then it's good for disposing.

 

[Uther]

Did a big clear out during COVID with 90% of it going on Ebay.
Timed it right and made some good money on a lot of kit I was going to throw out.

A few years later and you would struggle to give a lot of it away for free.

People just aren't buying now. It's annoying,stuff that sometimes cost a fair bit of money originally, that is still useful just doesn't sell.
Put it on a selling page for token cash,nothing.
Give it away on a free page and people are queueing up.

 

[aVdub]

People just aren't buying now. It's annoying,stuff that sometimes cost a fair bit of money originally, that is still useful just doesn't sell.
Put it on a selling page for token cash,nothing.
Give it away on a free page and people are queueing up.

Sadly it has now gone back to the days of dealers and stealers.

 

[DanTheMan]

It's amazing how we can spend a couple of hours and clear out 5+ bin bags of stuff, yet it makes no noticeable visual difference to the house. The amount of stuff just stuffed in cupboards and forgotten about is insane.

I don't even have any hobbies or interests that involve needing 'stuff', it's mainly old clothes, tech and kids toys.

 

[cuke2u]

Has anybody embarked on a serious decluttering of their house of all the crap they've accumulated over the years?

Okay, I admit this is verging on mumsnet territory but please bear with me. I was watching Sort Your Life Out with the other half, that program where Stacey Solomon helps couples reduce the amount of stuff that's getting in the way and also has a splash of home improvement. Those households featured on the program are usually extreme cases but the meaning is there; why hold on to possessions you'll never use, wear or even fit in it again? You'll create space, possibly make some money selling some old tat and thinking a bit morbidly here, be less for your family to sort through should you leave this mortal coil first.

So yeah, I thought it was a good idea. Started with clothes which resulted in seven bin bags going to the charity skip and quite sparse looking wardrobes. Now it's my study's turn, getting rid of computer stuff that's out of date or no longer useful (3x centronics printer cables anyone?!). Next will be the loft which needs clearing anyway for a re-flooring soon. My Kilimanjaro will of course be the garage/workshop but that will probably be the most fun and worthwhile due to how I envisage the final result to be; accessible workspace and tool nirvana!

The other half's start hasn't been so great as sentimentality and wishful thinking ( ) gets in the way of her making any progress but she's keen.

Every time we move houses we declutter, it does slowly build up again but we have one rule and that is to keep the loft empty any anything other than a tv aerial.

 

[DXP55]

For a while now I have been sorting out drawers and binning bit's -Today was wardrobe where printer sits and I found these.

Nokia phone and manual for Motorola RAZR V3 and anyone remenber the Sansa clip.
Anyone who wants any of them say so and they can be posted.

PS They are junk so going out soon.

 

[Semple]

Every time we move houses we declutter, it does slowly build up again but we have one rule and that is to keep the loft empty any anything other than a tv aerial.

Do you buy your Christmas decorations each year?