More decluttering

Where do you all keep your shoes?

I'm fine if I know it's going to help someone else out, or that they may get some joy out of my more quirky clothes.

Most of my stuff, though, is cheap end, boring clothes.

Every time I decide to declutter I come up against all the stuff my DH is hoarding and all the DC's stuff which they have left here until they move to a bigger house.
My stuff is now sitting in the garage waiting to go to tip, charity shop etc.
I pity my DC when we are gone!

HAZBEEN my husband is exactly the same. He's made some effort I suppose, but the difference is unnoticeable. I have told him I shall be really cross with him if he dies first and I have to cope with the garage and his indoor office/workshop.

Well.. I got my plain Jane wardrobe from charity shops, so we must be legions .. ?

I'm still decluttering here, bit by slow bit.

I'm being hampered by the idea that I'm going to have to throw stuff that may "do someone a turn".

That aside, I have cleared everything off my big old bookcase and shoved it under my bed sold the bookcase for a princely £5, and now have a bit of wiggle room to carry on.

This is still on the theme of decluttering but in no way sad. A year after my husband died the children and I decided to clear out the garage as it was full and the loft. At the end of the week we had filled 3 medium skips of rubbish ,20 large boxes and 15 large bags for the charity shops. The children announced that their fathers legacy had been rubbish. He was 47 when he died dread to think how bad it could have got in the last 16 years.

Like I said it's not a sad post but could be used as a warning of what could happen lol. Happy decluttering everyone.

Whiff - an amazing amount to have ‘collected’ in just 47 years!

MissA did you ever find that missing coat?

It strikes me it will be the charity shops needing to declutter when they reopen and we all descend on them with our ‘goods’.

DH retired at the end of June and has wardrobes full of suits, shirts and ties. Yesterday he made a start on the ties, 36 in the charity bag and 20 left in the wardrobe !!!! He also added 5 shirts to the bag. At least he's made a start. He actually realised that he had a pile of polo shirts not yet worn. I mustn't 'nag' but we will get there in the end.

Juliet27 that was from when we brought the house 1985 until he died 2004. Which makes it sound worse.

So a 19 year collection whiff. Impressive !!

Hadn't realised that this thread was going again!.
Where have I been?

I did manage to re-home a large welsh wool blanket and a brand new cot mattress, via Freecycle, last week.
It does make such a difference how people respond to your freecycle posts.
A please and thankyou is nice, rather than just a blunt, I'll have it.

Anyway I've made a start, and a few things have gone to a charity shop.

rosecarmel is everything ok with you ? I was a bit worried when you said you had no furniture etc.

My business is loosely tied to the school year. So I have decided this summer that I will get rid of one thousand things before Michaelmas term starts. Some will be large, like coats, and some will be small, like old postcards. Had a good day yesterday and already over 70 on my tally chart. Two of our local charity shops have drop off points where you don't need to go inside, and a lot of paperwork will be shredded and completed in layers with garden waste.

composted, not completed

Well DD1 cleared out a load of toys; she brought them round to us so I sorted them out into sets. Sent photos of some to DD2; her younger children would like them but no idea when we’ll be able to see them again! So they’ve gone into the loft for now.
Then went to local Hospice (big) shop; queued in car for an hour but donated remainder of toys.
Then onto nearby tip with mountain of cardboard of ours and local DD-result of online purchases. V satisfying.

sodapop

rosecarmel is everything ok with you ? I was a bit worried when you said you had no furniture etc.

Reading her post again I get the impression she was about to rent/buy a new house which h as fully furnished

I've made a bit of an attempt at decluttering but so many of our charity shops are being used as dumping grounds for so much stuff that they've had to limit donations.
At the moment those charity bags which come through the door are handy but they're mainly for clothes. Few of them take books or bric-a-brac which is a shame. As for old clothes - I'm still wearing them!

Having decluttered 4 years ago when downsized to a cottage, I was surprised this week to be able to fill 2 bin bags with handbags!
We’re remodelling the ground floor, so room had to be made in upstairs cupboards. Fortunately the local cancer charity shop in our village took them.

I think I’ve bucked the trend and gained more “clutter” since lockdown started.
I still have Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and my Birthday cards on windowsills, and I keep buying vases full of flowers.

A jigsaw is always in progress in the dining room and bags of things I’ve bought / some will need to be returned.

The sewing machine is always out ready for use,

and the conservatory is cluttered with a broom, rose food, secateurs, a trowel - they never seem to make it back to the shed.

I don’t think God made me to be tidy. That’s my excuse. ?

Thanks Lucca

Decluttering in earnest now the local charity shop has reopened. The only way I can buy more stuff.

Tonight I have thrown away a tiny little drawer which came out of a sweet little key cabinet.
It has sat on my kitchen windowsill for around 2 years, because it had a few keys in it.

One set was my mum's, a single key to my daughters, and various ones that the council issue when they repair the door to the lobby yet again.

That is what I think they were, but they've all gone now.