Clutter free help please

I am just remembering a favourite aunt who used to go off down the garden with newspaper and matches and regularly set fire to stuff including large pieces of furniture. She also took a hammer to the 'hated heirlooms' and now we often wonder if she rid us all of some fabulous treasures although at the time we just giggled, thinking it really funny.

It was obviously therapeutic!

Mermaid if all else fails perhaps you need to do some 'disappearing' now and again. Careful rearrangement is needed but it does work!

trisher I thought that was normal!

We moved recently and have spent a long time decluttering. I gave so much away to friends as well as to folk we didn't know. Much went to charity shops and homeless shelters and a fair bit went to the tip. It is such a relief not to be burdened by an excess of possessions!

We took as a warning to ourselves the predicament of an elderly friend, now in her nineties, who has never disposed of anything since "it might be useful to someone else if not to me" but she didn't pass anything on and has kept stuff so long that much of it is ruined because she didn't store it well. Now she is less able she can't deal with it herself and so others are having to do the job for her and she is full of regret about the waste.

I don't know if anyone has already mentioned it, but if you have a lot for a charity shop they may send a van to collect it. This happened when we were getting a new kitchen and had tons of stuff to give away.

I can't do this. For some strange reason as soon as I throw something out something happens and I need whatever has gone. I hunt around thinking i know I have so-and-so somewhere, and then remember it has been thrown out! Of course as long as I hang onto things I never need them!

DH is my problem. He won't get rid of anything!! He has clothes he has had for years and never wears; we have horrible pieces of furniture cluttering our smallish lounge that we have regular rows about because he won't get rid of them. They perform no function, other than gather dust and accumulate more clutter. I said not long ago I didn't like the way our lounge had everything in a row with no real shape to our room and he said it was the only way he could 'get it all in'. Surely that's not a good reason to keep things? Try as hard as I might, he won't listen to me and do anything about it and what he doesn't realise it really gets me down. I am about to sit him down again very soon and talk to him about a makeover for the lounge, but I'm guessing we will end up warring. Any ideas how I might be able to get him to shift his position?

We now go through the flat every 2 or 3 months so that things don't get out of hand and we try to adopt a 1 in 1 out policy.

We did it almost 3 years ago and it was an awful experience. Having said that, I'm glad we did it now so that we won't be in my parents' positions if, like them, we make it into our 90s. We have lost a few things which I'm sorry about but in the grand scheme of things they won't matter.
One of the things I found most difficult was getting rid of things I thought might be of value. I found auction houses were quite happy to advise and eBay was another good source to give an idea of value. Anything under £30 went to charity shops, and no, I didn't have anything which will appear on Antiques Roadshow in the future.
Grit your teeth, it will all be worth it.

Whilst I am still able to get out and about I have a full diary of classes, hobbies, clubs, social dinners, holiday abroad, visits to relatives and friends etc. I seem to only have time to correspond, buy flights, various types of tickets, etc and no time to sort.

I decided the best thing to do was to get into some good habits. So now I give away to people with families any large kitchen dishes which I would only use occasionally, I make sure if I buy new clothes I put an equal amount into the charity bag etc. So basically I am trying for a status quo and no increase in volume.

Once a year I have a professional declutterer come for 4 hours, we go through the house, choose what to tackle and get on with it. I try to have her visit a day or two before my cleaner is coming so that I have someone to help me finish up.

Last time we did souvenirs from travels abroad that I was not displaying and would not need. We put these in boxes for a charity for their raffle or tombola. On one occasion I did clothes on another one books. Once, one area of type of thing and thats me for the year.

Have you tried Freegle? Most towns have one - just Google "Freegle" + your town. You can enter the things you want to give away, or answer some of the "Wanted" notices. Its aim is to encourage recycling rather than sending things to the dump. You don't given your address away until you are satisfied that someone really wants what you are advertising.

Yes must start the clear out. You are all an inspiration. Must also lose weight. Have just looked at last year's summer clothes and they filled me with depression. Will make a start today. Promise.

Just sat down for a cup of tea and a ' quick ' Look in here and had to smile at this thread. I have spent the morning having a good old sort out. Day in day out I wear the same few outfits. I have a large amount of clothes that fall out of the wardrobe when I open it - so I don't. However woke up this morning and thought today is the day. Took out everything that was piled up and sorted summer/winter. Boxed up everything I still love but doesn't fit (dieting at the mo ! ! It will fit soon...... honest ! ) And everything I am indifferent too (even new still with tags ) will be off to the charity shops. I can now get into wardrobe which means access to my clothes = result ! On a roll sorted out the airing cupboard so more donations.

A new book???? More clutter!!!!

I am really untidy but in my head I long to be tidy. Desperation has set in. I have just purchased a book on Amazon called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: The Japanese Art. I must be serious as I purchased the hard back version.

Thank you loopylou for the information.

If in doubt........Chuck it out. Works for us.

I really want to empty my loft I don't have much up their of my own but my son who now lives permanently abroad has several large plastic boxes of school and UNI 'stuff' up there , he often says I must sort that stuff out next time I come but he's been through it twice and has got rid of some stuff but his school/UNI stuff and some of his deceased Dad things are still there I'd feel bad getting rid of it but what the heck am I supposed to do with it? I can't send it to him it would cost a fortune.
Any suggestions gratefully received. Some really good suggestions for decluttering here I must say. Sorry maybe I should of started my own thread.

I take your point Lupatria but having cleared out my MIL flat and helping an elderly neighbour with her house there is no way I'd leave everything to my daughters to do. Its quite upsetting apart from time consuming
Am gradually minimising Present task is scannning photos and reducing the ridiculous number of albums of people and places the FEd won't want when I'm gone
One article I read suggested you photograph things-e.g cards before you ditch them .

I have found that it's easier if you have someone to help. Even if they don't do anything just being there is good. My daughter and I often work together. There is always one of us can do the charity shop and council tip run when we are done.

decluttering is not for me!! i've spent YEARS building up the collection of things i have and i'm not letting them go easily.

i moved house from devon to dorset about 30 years ago and it took me a month to empty the loft - and quite a lot of it went straight from that loft to the loft of our new house.

when i left my husband and moved half a mile away we went through the loft and, you've guessed it, my "share" went straight from that loft to the loft in my new house.

when i had the loft insulated, my daughter and son in law emptied said loft and i gradually got around to sorting things ......... couldn't do it quickly as i had an operation to replace my knee.

after the sorting out, i chucked loads of stuff out, gave stuff away on freecycle and sold one or two things BUT the rest of it all went back into the loft!!

there are things up there that i don't use but don't want to get rid of - a stool i made at school when i was 11, a set of mugs brought as a present by one of the foreign students i used to have, christening outfits that both my children wore, my teething ring, etc, etc including my text books and files from university.

all the surfaces in my house are filled with "things" - things which give me happy memories. i don't want to sell, give away or chuck anything. i'll leave that to my children to sort out when i'm gone.

I have a timer and I set it for 15minutes, I have 3 bags or boxes and label 1 throw away, 1 put away and 1 give away. ( I got the idea from FlyLady.net) I do the decluttering until the timer goes off then have a break - I learned "Don't take out more than you are able to sort before the timer goes off!"
If you feel up to doing more then after a break set the timer and do another 15minutes. If I tried doing it all at once I'd be so scunnered I wouldn't want to go back to doing it for again! If you put on some good music while you do it than can help.
And as FarNorth said "There are also a lot of useful ideas for free at www.flylady.net/
Good luck!

Should read ensuite

I don't need de-cluttering, more like a fire!

You need to decide whether you want to make money out of your clutter, let other people make money out of it or send the lot to landfill. Unless you want to pay to declutter I suggest that the little and often route is the most practical without a car.

Keep an eye out for recycling bins in shops. There is a charity clothing bin in my local TKMaxx. I usually have a plastic bag on the go and I tidy clothes into it and take it in when it's full. Anything which is a size too small gets chucked now as I have been the same size for some years now.

The DGD's school has occasional charity fundraisers which need unwanted nearly new stuff, so I drop in the bric a brac that I know will just take up shelf space in a charity shop but will be eagerly snapped up by my DD's friends.

Rescue animal charities will take clean but shabby bedding and towels. You can drop that off a bag at a time.

There are quite a few places keen to take books - often not charity shops, but some community cafes or doctors surgeries have a small bring n buy book shelf.

If you want to raise a bit of cash, why not organise a table top sale at your local community hall or church? A bit like a car boot sale but without the car! Most halls have tables included in the rental hire and if you link in with a fundraising group you could get them to offer home made cake n teas.

We spent about a year de cluttering before we downsized but we still had too much stuff after we moved. I looked at every piece of furniture, divided into yes,no and maybe. We took the yes' and maybes. We ebayed, asked around, gave lots to friends children who were setting up home and became some of the best donors to local charity shops. I really enjoyed giving stuff away knowing it had another life, so didn't feel too extravagant when we bought new more fitting stuff. We also went through the photo albums and gave each child a set of photos to keep with family tree stuff, nothing worse than not knowing who is in which pic. It's very relaxing having done it, we felt a little like newly weds again, we can tidy the house in half an hour, the garden likewise and spend our time on hobbies, going out and entertaining. I sometimes have a pang about my old house but not when I visit a friend in a large draughty and cluttered similar house. Really like double glazing and ensuing!
There's a very good long essay/ short book by Linda Grant called How I murdered my library.

p.s. I am in Peterborough.

I am also a wizz at de cluttering, if you want some help.
Also any old clothes, bedding or out of date food I can take to the homeless shelter.