De cluttering - rule of six

Dear Grannyactivist - I would love to de clutter my loft but my daughter lives up there. Does anyone know a charity shop that will take her?

Thought I would add my thoughts I'm.on a Dr clutter(meant Declutter)feeling good load of stuff not good enough for the charity shop got rid of yesterday like the idea of a memory box.I haven't yet got rid of counselling essays,but am dealing with my nvq remnants.My Plan is to have,a Zen room to retreat to.

I suggested we declutter for when DGC is born ( they live with us) but he refused outright, so I suggested we threw the broke stuff out ( mugs etc) but he refused again, so far the only thing I've managed to dispose of is a holiday souvenir that was badly stained & I only did that as he was out the day the bin men came so I added ti to the bag after he left.If I try to throw anything out mid week he will find it & take is out

Wish I could declutter even a bit

I'm like jalimavhad beautiful high heeled shoes and every month I threw a pair out I bought myself a new pair of smaller heels! Not exactly a throw out more of a reshuffle!!! But yes I'm having a clear out every time the charity bags drop through the door little but often! I will get there!!

If you find things and then wear them that is good. Will make you thing next time you go to buy something new "have I got something just as good in my wardrobe"

goose. This can't go on ! Is there a supermarket near you with recycling bins? I would suggest you get a bag and hide it somewhere then add unwanted bits to it which you then dump. Chances are he won't notice what's missing. If he does, just look blank.

Brilliant idea! We have lived in a four bed house with double garage for over forty years, cluttered up to the rafters, and there was not one single inch of spare space anywhere! We are moving shortly, so have been forced to declutter! At first, i just did not know where to start, but making a start anywhere is the obvious first big step, then it sort of snowballs and now i can't stop! I have an elderly friend who lives with even more clutter than we had but she refuses to throw anything out. I told here i had been to the tip yesterday with another seven bin liners full of rubbish and she was horrified, demanding to know what i had thrown away!! The laughable thing was, i could not remember most of it, out of sight, out of mind, just useless junk! I am sure it is good for you, i feel so happy and the house is looking lovely! It us wonderful to open cupboards and see some space at last!

An easy way to de-clutter is to move country! That way things have to go. I've moved country twice in the last thirteen years, since retiring, and it is very liberating. The first time I did leave a small box of 'stuff' at my son's home. Things I felt I couldn't part with but as I was with him when he moved house a couple of years ago he presented me with the box as he didn't really want to have that to move as well. When I looked through it I couldn't think why I had kept the things in it! So now I only have what I can move about easily with. No 'stuff' dragging me down or holding me back. New memories are made every day and they are far more relevant than things from years ago.

Anniebach if I had your poster and I absolutely had to keep it (????)I would mount it on the back of the huge mirror I have on my dining room wall. It could be seen occasionally every now and then and it wouldn't take up any room.
I am not sure why you feel you have to keep it though unless you really like it? In which case get it framed and put it on the wall - in a hallway or staircase if nowhere else. If you aren't desperate to keep it you should pass it on to someone who will treasure it.

I suppose I have become desensitised to parting with stuff now because that is precisely what it is - just stuff. A friend takes photos of everything she gets rid of and keeps her photos on a cloud which is very appropriate!

Some years ago I discovered a US website, Fly Lady.com, and found her very encouraging.
One of her maxims is 'You can do anything for 15 minutes' and she takes you gently in baby steps. Worth a look I think.
I'm still a flutterer rather than a high flyer but things could be much worse if I didn't try her methods at all. I've bought a few of her products, the sink unblocking clog cannon is very effective, the Rubba Scrubba is the best loo brush ever and her water bottles keep drinks cold, or hot, for an impressively long time. That's not, for me, what it's about though - the positive attitude and sharing of experiences are really good, rather like on here!
All the best with the decluttering, everyone!

Freegle (formerly Freecycle) is a really good way of getting rid of things you don't want any more - but someone out there will. People are often so happy to have your things. I've had lovely appreciative e mails afterwards. So much better than the dump!

PS Todayill try the Rule of 6, thanks, DaphneBroon!

DS1 (nearly 32) lived with MIL until he left school and then he came to us. His bedroom was our study/office, but now we can't get in there. I start decluttering the whole house every weekend, and one of these fine days I will finish. That might encourage him to start. He's Aspergers Syndrome, so doesn't cope with being pushed, but his bed collapsed some 5 years ago and we can't get a new one in until we get him organised. Anyone got any ideas?

I try and throw away something every day and keep a bag/box on the go all the time for charity collecters who come by house regularly, just never review the stuff!! My throw away item might be just a spare biro top but that counts. I do believe decluttering can become as additive as hoarding.

If putting something into the attic, I try and select something else for removing/disposing. Also if new shoes bought, old pair must go.
I have small boxes for mementos of special people and also have a glass cabinet for other items of interest that are suitable for display such as my grandfather's silver cup won for football as a soldier in WW1.

I also have made good use of freecycle website even disposing of concrete blocks from a demolished wall and paving slabs. I just leave things at front of house or in porch and people can help themselves.

Yes it is sad after years of building up a family home. I hope in time to 'downsize' so the big job will be less by then. Also we were raised by parents who came thru WW2 with shortages and rationing. And before that, thriftiness and frugality were seen as great virtues.

I think Bezzer's talking about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo. Daphne - I was a bit of hoarder until I read this book, which was literally life changing. Please please please buy it and give it a go - am sure you won't regret it! And good luck!

I like the rule of 6 - it sounds so much easier than what I've been trying to do. Though how I work up the courage to unfriend people I don't know?

As I am downsizing and preparing for a move, I've been getting rid of one item on 1st,two on 2nd and so on so that I need to get rid of 27 items today. It's madness(my niece's idea - surely picked up from the internet)and I've coped better some days than others to be honest.

And I have been trying to get rid of stuff on and off for 3 years since my husband died. Why do we all accumulate so much which we never use?

Which book was that, Bezzer?

Not for me, sorry, Marie Kondo's sterile lifestyle is not for me. My "stuff" includes items of sentimental value, family items, possibly with financial value and things I like! I would rather shed a few bits as and when than do a radical clear out and end up filing the contents of my knicker drawer in colour order !
My rule of six will do me for now .

Two other helps for decluttering. Is an object useful or beautiful. If not, let it go. Have you worn or used the item in the last 6 months/year? If not, out it goes.

I just had to sort out my dad's house and it was hell. Please be kind to your loved ones and de clutter as you go. I had to look through thousands of photographs, the bulk of which were pointless having no one in them, just views of beaches, heaven only knows where. Bank account closed in the 1960's......defunct insurances, it as very distressing. I felt upset that he had left me with so much to do and faced with so many choices.

I made wrong choices too because of the deluge of things to decide about.

I am trying to be tidier myself in my possessions and thinking....and life is simpler and easier.

I am an 'if in doubt chuck it out kind of person' so I haven't got any clutter at all. Once my house was visited by the police as the alarm had gone off and my neighbour with a key let them in. They asked her is anybody lived there and told her to tell me it was the tidiest house they had ever seen - not sure if that's a compliment or not. Anyway I was just going to say that a dear friend of mine was recently widowed. her husband was an extreme hoarder and she has said that clearing this store has made her grieving process so much harder and more difficult as she goes over each piece and it is taking months.

In terms of clothes my daughter gave me a tip. Turn all your hanger hooks the wrong way round. As you wear something turn the hook the right way round. At the end of a month look at all those still the wrong way round.

Some will be seasonal keepers but some are just things you don't wear any more. Off to the charity shop with them. Worked a treat for me.

I also split my tops up into every day at home , but old but nothing wrong with them tops , then as they are worn if they are stained or such they never make it to the laundry , I throw them out. And a section with good tops suitable for wearing outside the house .

And no more come in without a similar number going out !!

Christinefrance,
My husband does exactly the same as yours, I put the bags ready to go to the tip, charity shop etc and he rifled through them- "why are you throwing that dress away- I like that on you?" Haven't worn the darn thing for about 5 years! " Oh, no I need that rawlplug!" Slight exaggeration on the rawlplug! DH keeps things "just in case"! I always de clutter when he isn't going to be around for a couple of hours and get rid of the bags before he returns!

I have Marie Kondo's second book "Spark Joy" and have just started sorting. I now have all my knickers and socks in one drawer and they take up much less room when folded her way. My daughter has just finished folding all her tshirts and they fit in one drawer. Its so easy to get one out without upsetting all the others. I too try to fill every charity bag that drops through the letter box. Where does all this "stuff" come from or is someone secretly adding to it while I'm asleep!!

Got several mugs and jars full of screws "we might need". DH doesn't do DIY!

Since moving, I've been trying [with not much success]to do a 1 in/1 out rule with clothes...