De-cluttering, the never-ending process

Callistemon21

I have loads of photos on CDs but no CD player 🤔

You know there are people who can put them on a flash drive for you?

We recently found five old films taken by MrA's DF back in the 70s and someone transferred them onto a flash drive for us. It was a waste of money because there was nothing on them worth having, we already had most of the photos, but I suppose if we hadn't done it we would always have wondered. And probably still have the films sitting in a box.

This morning I went through a drawer, sorting Christmas cards. DH had a habit of buying cards without checking what we had already got, and I found enough to last for years, especially given that I seem to send fewer each year, because people have died or moved on without contact details, or for some, an email worked better. I shall see if my daughter wants any, but they are all religious and she is not.
I have also found lots of wrapping paper, again more than I will ever need, as I give very few actual gifts these days.
Also, strangely, lots of envelopes without the cards.

AreWeThereYet

Callistemon21

I have loads of photos on CDs but no CD player 🤔

You know there are people who can put them on a flash drive for you?

We recently found five old films taken by MrA's DF back in the 70s and someone transferred them onto a flash drive for us. It was a waste of money because there was nothing on them worth having, we already had most of the photos, but I suppose if we hadn't done it we would always have wondered. And probably still have the films sitting in a box.

Thanks - I might get the DDs on to the task!!
They'll know what to do.

DH did pay quite a lot to have an old ciné film put on to DVD ages ago but it was not very successful, a complete waste of money.

We have hit a snag. The broken sink won't be replaced until later today, so the men aren't coming, which might delay everything by a day😩. I wall-mounted some rechargeable lights in the spare room using the sticky pads they came with, and one fell off, taking the new paint with it. Luckily the decorator is using that paint today (all the bedrooms are the same colour) and has agreed to touch it up, but I could kick myself. I just want it all to be over now.

I don’t trust sticky pads of any kind to hold things up. I’ve never found one that does what it’s supposed to do.

Command strips are excellent. I have pictures and mirrors held up with those, but these weren't the gummy glue Command strips use - they were more like double sided tape.

When I've finished everything in the room and have decided where the furniture is to go long-term, I will put them back up using Command strips.

MayBee70

I don’t trust sticky pads of any kind to hold things up. I’ve never found one that does what it’s supposed to do.

I bought some which were supposed go be very good and used them to hang a picture on the wall next go the bed.
DGD was startled when the picture fell on her 😲, luckily it was only a light canvas print.

Did you leave the strip to 'set' before sticking the picture to it? It's tempting not to (well, it is if you are impatient like me ), but you should put the wall bit up first and leave it for 24 hours, then attach the picture after the wall ones have gripped.

Probably not!
I wouldn't have used it for a picture with a frame and glass, nor put such a picture on the wall next to a bed.
I stuck it back and it's still there, years later.

(She might have been doing gymnastics on the bed

CALLISTEMON21 also if you do not have a DVD drive on your laptop/computer you can buy an external one (I bought one from Argos about £28) or you can play your photo cds on a dvd player through the tv. But yes, a usb stick is the easiest and even those you can usually stick in the back/side of the tv and look at your photos.

Thank you

Yes, the old PC had a DVD/CD drive but our newer one doesn't.

We had young visitors at the weekend and the only crockery that hit the tiled floor was what I dropped. They are obviously over the plastic or baby china stage. Now I have two plastic storage boxes to sort through and dispose of. This job is never-ending.
Christmas cards next, I did the wrapping and ribbons last week and from now on anything I send I will try and get it wrapped by the company. A whole drawer full of age-appropriate wrapping paper and tags is ridiculous, only me to blame why did I buy the stuff.
DD told me I will not get a school Christmas t-towel this year, one of the few things I would like to keep as she has missed the ordering date along with the photo. I despair I keep an album for each GC and fil them when the new one arrives.

I have had a couple of command hooks fail on me, one on wood and one on tiles, both areas were cleaned with spirit and they were not holding anything too heavy

Any pictures etc I put up the old fashioned way, by drilling and by using special plugs because the interior wall layer is mainly thermalite blocks, which is what is used in new builds these days

I'm not sure what to do about the lights, as the point of them is to avoid chasing walls or having cables, yet sticking them up only works if they will stay put and take the stain of having the bulb removed every few days to recharge.

I am moving to rechargeable table/bedside lamps all over the house, but am not sure what to do about wall mounting lamps. I think I might get this one screwed to the wall, which will obviously damage the wall and be semi-permanent, but will be secure. I use command strips for pictures, but when they are up they stay up. Unscrewing a light bulb on a regular basis might be asking for trouble.

Anyway, back to decluttering. I have found a bag of school reports and photos (for my children, not mine!) and don't know what to do with them. I doubt they will want them, but worry that they might regret my throwing them away later.

I am of the, if they dont want them, I still keep them!
I figure they do not take up much room.

That's how I've looked at it up to now, but I'm trying to talk myself out of that way of thinking. Single items rarely take up much space on their own, but the cumulative effect is clutter.

I showed my 18 year old grandson some old school badges and a prefect beret of mine thinking he would just laugh and tell me to get rid of them but when I went to put them in the bin he said No Granny you can’t throw them out! I guess I should have said Well you keep them then.

I have a coat, a very warm thick and heavy coat with a hood and I wore it two days ago for only the second time. I am going to bite the bullet with this one, it will do someone very well and I am going to pop it into the salvation army collection point. They will re-home it well

It is far too heavy for me and it will release a decent amount of space in my spare wardrobe. Cost a lot from lands end but my mindset is to let it go as a charitable donation to a person in need

Doodledog

Anyway, back to decluttering. I have found a bag of school reports and photos (for my children, not mine!) and don't know what to do with them. I doubt they will want them, but worry that they might regret my throwing them away later.

I should offer them to the AC, but if they don’t want them, throw them out. No point in keeping them, is there, if they aren’t interested?

We have just replaced the carpeting in our three bedrooms,with cushionfloor. It’s been a drawn-out process as it involved screeding, fitting and decorating the rooms.

Been putting stuff back today, trying to be more sensible about what we should keep. One of the spare bedroom wardrobes is used to store various ‘stuff’, e.g. bulbs, household items, box files….. Have outed a fair bit of useless items.

At least I know where more things are now. Must keep up the good work.

I am in the process of putting a lot of things back, and sorting out more to get rid of in the process. It's difficult, as there are two rooms still waiting for furniture to be delivered, so I need to keep them as empty as possible, but at the same time I need to empty what is in there so that the old can make way for the new. It's like a game of Tetris.

We are getting there though, although the kitchen has hit snags and is taking a lot longer than planned, which is keeping a fair bit of downstairs out of commission too.

Doodledog

Anyway, back to decluttering. I have found a bag of school reports and photos (for my children, not mine!) and don't know what to do with them. I doubt they will want them, but worry that they might regret my throwing them away later.

I am with you, Doodledog. Whenever my children visit, they always mention that I need to declutter, but not their stuff they left at my house, haha. I will rather keep theirs and let them decide when the time comes.
Even I declutter my house each year, it seems that I still collect things over time. While I was browsing, I found this article, which is quite useful. Sometimes, seeing from a distance with objective view helps me from being too tangled with emotion.

silvercare.org.nz/home/home-garden/decluttering-made-easy/

That’s interesting, Kayl, and welcome to the gang .

I have the final push on Wednesday as the last lot of furniture arrives. I have emptied a wardrobe to get rid of it in time for the new one arriving, but there are still boxes of ‘homeless’ items in there, as it is the last room to be finished. I’m not sure what to do with them - I know that if they are left there they will attract more ‘stuff’ and the room will become a dumping ground again, but they don’t seem to have a natural home. This will be the trickiest bit, I think. The items have survived several purges as each room has been done, so I don’t think much can be disposed of, but I’d really like the space to be clear.

I am awake at stupid o’clock again and am not starting now, but will have a good go at it when I get up.

I’ve just been at my partners for two weeks. A quite minimalist place that I pretty much decorated. Coming back to my cluttered house rammed with family memories is overwhelming me and I’m just looking at the mess. I have toys everywhere that were meant to be for the grandchildren to play with but I didn’t see them throughout the pandemic. They still come here for the odd day during the school holidays. My kids never wanted to visit my parents because there was nothing for them to play with so I have been a bit obsessive about having toys here. I can’t really afford to give everything to charity shops and can’t face parting with the rocking horse. I don’t know where to start.