Declutter

Elliepops, I do understand your comment and no offence taken , but we were talking modern quality furniture, some less than 4 years old. I appreciate that it was picked up by a van. The van wasn't that big ( this was a tiny 2 bed new build house that was being cleared) and the man and young lad that cleared the house did a fabulous job packing it so well it only needed 2 trips, to a destination 10-15 minutes away. The thing is nobody had mentioned the charge until they arrived that morning with the paperwork. A lady had come 3 weeks previously to note down everything that was to go, and indeed was saying things like "can we have that too" to a box of stuff I'd got ready to take to local charity shops in town. The rubbish we took to the dump, clothes and linens to the local charity shops. As I live 200 miles away and was there specifically for this clearance I couldn't challenge it in any way. I just think it should have been clear from the start.

have you thought of an auction house for your furniture which you don't need? BHF do take furniture around here. At our tip there is a corner for things which might be recycled.
Greatly admire what you are doing and wish you well.

Don't want to be unkind to janipat. Everybody thinks their own or their parents stuff is of the best quality and will sell easily.
Charities will come and collect,but they are trying to make money for their charity.
That means hiring vans,removers,more items more it cost cost.them .
Best quality items are very often old fashioned and large. Nobody wants them nowadays.
Ornament collectible are a personal choice.
None of my kids,except maybe a grandson,want any of my stuff Thankyou very much. Sad,especially things that I think are wonderful. But, why should they want the stuff I have chosen. Don't mean to offend.

When I was clearing my father's house some 9/10 years ago the British Heart Foundation in Devon charged me £150 to collect most of the very good quality furniture, all kitchen equipment (oven, washing machine, fridgefreezer as well as china etc) Chinese rugs, and collectible ornaments, which they would sell very easily. Then they had the cheek to say did I want to add a donation! I politely declined.

When clearing his father's house, my DH contacted one of the charities - AgeUK or British Heart Foundation (can't remember which). They gave him a list of things they would take, so we sorted those out and they sent an independent company round with a van to take the things away.

The company was so helpful that we called them back later to clear the rest of the stuff once the good things had gone. Of course, they charged, but they did a really good job.

I needed to get rid of a lot of things when I moved eight years ago. I was selling a five bedroom family house and moving over 100 miles away back to my home town. As I planned to live with family for six months while I decided where to buy, I was putting everything in storage and had no intention of storing years of family clutter!

It was very hard trying to find suitable "homes" for everything. Charities I contacted did not want electrical items or large pieces of furniture, I was not physically capable of making several trips to the charity shops with small items and my children did not want very much of their rubbish.

My son sold a few things on Gumtree for me then I held a garage type sale over a weekend. We put everything I needed to get rid of in the garage or on my drive and let people help themselves, I only asked for a charity donation if they wanted to. I was able to put up a few adverts locally at no cost so there was a steady flow of people rooting through my belongings. I made sure two of my children helped me as I felt a bit vulnerable on my own.

A lot went that weekend and I raised over £200 for charity. I had arranged for a skip to arrive on the Monday and everything left went straight in it, along with loads of my clothes that I no longer wanted. It was interesting to see how much disappeared from the skip over the next few days before it was collected - and I lived on a quiet road on a housing estate, not on a busy through road!

I wasn't happy about having to use a skip but I wasn't prepared to pay storage fees for unwanted things.

This is too exhausting along with the emotional side of things for you to do on your own, even with the help of some friends Lucky

In the past when I had to do this, I called a clearance company explaining what I needed done. I put red stickers on what was to go, plenty black bin bags for small items and the chaps who did the work were so very helpful.

There is no mad rush for you to do this so, day to day, maybe one room at a time, go through, stay/go then you will be ready for stuff to be taken away.

Remember to make some ‘me’ time. I know you love music and reading so either of those to help you wind down and relax?

Good luck- I did this four years ago, and started months before my move. I found the best thing was to de clutter according to category rather than by room- so all the glassware, for example, all the books etc. British Heart Foundation collected furniture, and smaller things I gave to Debra, because it’s quite a small charity. I found Marie Kondo’s book very helpful. I know lots of people think she’s nuts, but I found it a very practical system.

I cleared my Mum's house after she died. I was driving in those days and made many trips to the tip.
Then I asked a house clearance company to take the rest.
Before I got rid, I asked family members if they wanted anything. I was her Will executor.
When we left France we managed to sell several things, both locally and on the french equivalent of ebay.
There might be Emmaus in your area - they come and collect and donate to poor families.
Again many trips to the french tip, gifts to friends etc.
Luckygirl bon courage, and ask your family if they would like anything.

All good ideas - I will now start sorting stuff - 'onest guv

Contact the local British Heart Foundation in some areas they will come and collect. The Salvation Army usually need duvets for their homeless projects, toys and kitchen equipment may be of interest to your local women's refuge?

I had to sort and get rid of an enormous amount to move. It took months to go through it. I would ask in your local charity shops for one who will collect. It might be two different charities for furniture and other things. I put masses of extra rubbish out for the dustmen most weeks and paid someone to take away the final bits. I don't drive so couldn't go to the dump.

Locally we have a cancer charity that will take furniture, they use an old cinema as a store to sell from. They collect. Maybe one in your area? They take some electrical items too, can be tested by one volunteer.
Old quilts etc are often wanted by animal shelters.