I think that we all have to work out our own best way of decluttering which suits us.
To think that London, or anywhere else for that matter, does not belong to any one demographic
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Confessions of a hoarder
Author Gill Hornby finds herself, slowly but surely, following in her mother's footsteps - at least when it comes to items of sentimental value. Do you hold on to every one of your children's old drawings? Their old school blazer? Or are you (like Gill's husband) fond of a skip?
Author Gill Hornby
When my youngest announced one bedtime that he must have a cricket jumper by first period the next morning or else, it could have been tricky. Nothing we're not used to of course - the ingredients of a from scratch Thai prawn curry for food tech at 11pm was the most recent crisis but still, tricky... If my mum hadn't been round, that is. But fortunately she was and before he had even finished the sentence, whilst the "jump-" was still passing through his lips, she was squealing with triumph: leave it with her! She had just the thing! And in the space of ten minutes she zoomed out the front door and back again flourishing the ancient not-quite-whites of my brother. All quite sweet and rather boring until I point out that my brother was nearly 50 at the time. He hasn't worn that jumper since Harold Wilson was prime minister. And my mum had moved house twice since then.
My mother, you see, is a hoarder. Every scrap of evidence of our 20th century childhoods is still tucked somewhere around in her 21st century house. She wouldn't part with a thing. Not so much out of a sentimental attachment you understand: more because it might (a favourite phrase) 'come in'.
The place is like a wrecked ship or a Pompeii villa - preserved at the moment when the survivors had to flee.
She grew up in the war. Possessions mean something to that generation. They were hard to come by and easy to keep. Nothing should be chucked, ever, no matter how potentially unpleasant or dangerous. I wouldn't dare mention the ingredients of the Thai prawn curry, for example - who knows what's still in the fridge left over from the era of Edward Heath?
Her attachment to all this stuff has always been a family joke. Oh how I have mocked... Until recently. Because now my own children are starting to leave home, the third out of four is just doing her A levels and soon to make a run for it - and as the space opens up and the dust settles I look around and realise that, oh dear, I haven't thrown very much out either. Everything from baby clothes through Brio and S Club 7 posters and out to skateboards is still in its place and I seem unable to move it. The place is like a wrecked ship or a Pompeii villa - preserved at the moment when the survivors had to flee.
Why am I like this when I don't even have the excuse of having lived through rationing? Not because any of it will ever come in, that's for sure. My kids have grown up in a world of Primark and Amazon. They're never going to see the point of making do or mending, sad to say. No, the reason I keep it all is the sentimental, emotional one. Those childhoods of my children went by so very quickly that I think I keep all this stuff as a sort of aide memoir.
Occasionally a loose photo will bubble up from somewhere, be borne along on the tide and somehow come before my gaze and I gasp: I remember that. Or I will wander into a now empty bedroom, find a storybook or stocking filler and think: of course. That is who they once were.
I won't be able to get away with it for much longer. My husband is, in this respect a ruthless, heartless machine of a man i.e. he doesn't half like a skip. A massive clear out is almost upon us and, much as I dread it, I really must comply. Otherwise this won't be a house anymore but a museum. We will be living in the museum of our children's childhoods. And I will have turned into my mum.
Gill Hornby is the author of All Together Now, out now, £14.99.
By Gill Hornby
Twitter: @GillHornby
Our local household recycling plant (refuse tip) has big containers for cassette tapes CDs, DVDs and books. It's good to know they can be distributed or sold to raise some money for local charities. I took a bootful of tapes, books and CDs yesterday - what a liberating feeling. 
What a good idea; might just do the same myself [but in my own storage unit of course]. Just imagine if, in one of those storage hunter programmes, they opened one up and found a little old lady living there [bit like the one that used to live in Alan Bennetts garden] 
frantically reading the racing post and sending off her bets to Ladbrokes...
You mean to add to my Derbyshire Life magazines that the doctor wanted to throw away when we used to keep them at the surgery for people to read so I brought them home to add to the Countryfile magazines someone bought me a years subscription to one year ? [plus the boxes of old Beanos in the cupboard under the stairs....]
Elrel; I've got piles of old Observer magazines at the S.O.s that I kept thinking they'd be interesting one day [looking at fashion/cars/giant mobile phones etc]. Note the fact that I am now farming my rubbish out to other people 
. Older newspapers/magazines are always more interesting than current ones imo
Mark; if you DO read this please come to my house and take more stuff.....
[perhaps not my albums but you can have all of the cd's that I bought and only played once...]
Mcculloch29 He has a minimalist bedroom and you store his clutter.
It would black bags of his stuff on the doorstep at dawn with me.
Or sell his stuff on Ebay or a car boot sale.
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