Decluttering

I just move things around and then put them back [usually in a different place]. I am constantly tidying up/decluttering and the end result is that I can't remember where I've put anything ...

..at the moment if anyone came into my living room they'd say I had a serious problem . The S.O. buys the paper each weekend; I never have time to read it but scan through it putting articles on one side to 'read later'. They mount up until I eventually throw them out [without reading them]. I can't even get rid of dvd's/cd's that I've bought, watched/listened to and never want to watch/hear again.

I move things from room to room in the hope they'll somehow disappear! This morning, I de-cluttered the sitting room bookshelves, and now there's a big bag of books blocking the front door. They'll go in the boot of my car and I'll drive them round for a bit till someone wants to put something in my boot, then I'll bring them back in the house!

I have the same problem. Last year I decided to sort out all my books ruthlessly discarding any I knew I wouldn't read again, so I ended up with two bags full sitting in the hall ready to go to the charity shop. They would have stayed there until I changed my mind and put them all back on the shelves had not my sister in law arrived and volunteered to take them away to the charity shop for me - so I didn't have time to change my mind, and no I haven't missed them!

My mother was obsessively tidy but nothing rubbed off on me I am afraid. When I visited my parents when they were alive, I could not leave anything behind because it would not be there when I returned. Oh to be like that.

At least if I put books and clothes into a black bag to take to the charity shop, I do it almost immediately. it is just the doing of it. This has spurred me into action.

My mother too! My sister and I used to joke that she could see dust on a skirting board at 50 yards. She could too!

My dad was in the services so we had to be ready to move at any time so Mum never allowed clutter to build up. Any books I had read were immediately given away, so maybe that explains why I hang onto things.
Mums kitchen work tops were always completely clear, whereas I leave things out where they are easy to reach for. She would have a fit if she saw my house now.
Also I remember her down on her knees scrubbing the kitchen floor, a steaming bucket containing Flash, bleach and disinfectant, and she plunged her bare hands in with the floor cloth and scrubbing brush. I used to shudder watching her. I just slosh a mop round mine.

My mum threw all of my things away when I left home [even my teddy ]. I'm sure that's why I now hang on to everything.

Yes, mrs mopp, I know what you mean about a services upbringing; my mother too used to clear everything out as we went along. I was afraid to put down anything down for too long in case it disappeared, passed on to some other family. I was constantly being told I was "too old for that now, aren't you?" as I missed things!! No wonder we grew up hoarders!

You don't want that book any more!
You've read it haven't you!
Put your things away or they'll get chucked out if I see them lying around!

Oh it was ruthless...

I think I've answered my own question here, but it's a comfort to know I'm not alone.

mrsmopp another Services upbringing here, also lost all my books and toys etc every time I turned my back it seemed, and yes, I can't declutter to save my life either. I've got a great bag of stuff in the utility that's been waiting to go to the charity shop since November. Every time I clear a cupboard or whatever, all I do is put it in a tidy pile on the floor or whatever until I get fed up vacuuming round it and find the whole pile a new home. Can't we find a way to help each other out of this? DS is tidiness personified and used to come home from school and ruthlessly go through cupboards - it was great.

Same here. When my son went to uni I had to phone the man who was in charge of his hall one day. We after we'd spoken he about whatever it was I'd phoned about he said 'he's very tidy, isn't he!'. Mind you, I've still got all of his notes in boxes under a bed and two wardrobes full of his clothes. I need my kids to come round and say 'mum, throw that out; when you're gone I'll throw it out anyway'. Then again I often think about a chair that was in my ex's parents house that must have been thrown out; it is so retro and in vogue now, I bet it would be worth a fortune.

I remember a chair!! I had a little pink wicker one, and was particularly fond of it as my elder sister couldn't squeeze her big bottom into it, so it was all mine. Until the day I came back from school to find it was now the girl down the road's

My problem is that I get half way through sorting out clutter, get fed up and decide to put it all back. And it NEVER FITS! Why does taking something out of a cupboard make it grow twice as big and become a completely different shape?

Yep; put everything back on the shelf [in a slightly different order] turn round and there's nother load of stuf that I've missed. Currently going through the old music maazines that were in the drawer with the cd's [articles about Kurt Cobain and 'new bands that are going to be big..the Strokes and Arctic Monkeys'; obituary for George Harrison].

We are de cluttering and I have lost one of my good boots Oh said he had checked charity bag It might be in there or it's gone to the tip I will have to buy some more Did not want to buy boots this year urgh You bet it will turn up when I get some new ones

Yes! And if I send stuff to the charity shop I sometimes think longingly about it for ages!
Got to start soon, no cupboard space left.

And I still wish my Mum hadn't given away my older brothers' train set, she thought I wouldn't want it because I was a girl!
Do you think if your mother was a declutterer it makes you want to hoard and vice versa?

As a service wife for many years, I understand what some of you are saying, but I seem to remember that, for some reason, most of our moves were during school holidays, so my lot packed their own stuff. The older they got, the bigger the removal vans.

Having recently moved to a slightly smaller house, we decluttered like mad, first to market the old house, then, here, to get rid of things for which we had no room. But is accumulating again....We have a huge double garage, and incredible loft space, so at least "it" is out of sight.

Does anyone else find that things you have throw out/sent to charity shops come back into fashion and you regret it. It's always happening to me.

I will have a big 'sort out' when I retire so I can throw out all my work clothes. Until then there is never enough time to go through things - clothes or otherwise. My weekends seem to be taken up with grandchildren.

My DD has just sold some cups and saucers for me and I'm now keen to get rid of a few more bits and pieces. I'm starting small. I had to stop DH from purloining the space left in the cupboard though. His mantra seems to be "see a space and put something on or in it!" His study led someone to believe we'd been burgled. How embarrassing was that!!!!

My DH's mantra is "Parkinson's Law prevails in our house". The more cupboard space there is the more I fill it. Just decluttered and emptied a cupboard so why is it full again?
But it could all be worth a fortune - one day.

When I moved here, I just filled the loft with the stuff moved from the loft in the previous house. I decided to empty the loft and there it is, ready for inspection. I did this a couple of years ago and I have never regretted it. I just have to start on the 2 wall to wall wardrobes.