De-cluttering, the never-ending process

granma47

But would it matter if your dinner service didn’t last long in the dishwasher? At least it would have had a bit of use, instead of just being kept ‘for best’.

Great post, madeleine45… full of wisdom…

I have moved 10 times in my adult life and every time I try and de-clutter a little more.
However I’m still trying to de-clutter more, I’m hoping to have many years left but I’m aware that my children will probably just throw many of my items out so I’m thinking I’ll save them a job and either give away items or sell them . x

We de clutter on a regular basis - love living in a tidy home and tend to only keep what we use regularly .

The Salvation Army have their own charity.
They feed and clothe the homeless.
Why would they give away perfectly good clothing.

If you are worried about donating, take clothing direct to the Salvation Army church.

Greciangirl

The Salvation Army have their own charity.
They feed and clothe the homeless.
Why would they give away perfectly good clothing.

If you are worried about donating, take clothing direct to the Salvation Army church.

Greciangirl
You obviously didn’t read my explanation as to why.
We don’t have the storage facilities.
Donations are coming in every day.
Good clothing is sold on site or eBay, or Market Place.
Rag is guaranteed money in the bank.
In the past 2 days I have bagged 30 kilos of rag. That is from one small shop.

If people wonder why some charity shops don’t accept electrical goods that’s because the person testing the goods has to be accredited. We are very lucky we have a volunteer who comes in. But that costs him £70 per year to keep that accreditation.

I am tidying an overlooked space today, at least seeing if I can compact stuff into a smaller space. I have a small cupboard, used to be a tv cupboard, ercol,small, low, pale oiled oak finish. It is nice and could be used anywhere, even as a bedside unit one day

It holds my printer inside and has some extra space. I will see today about moving the likes of A4, polypockets, postal bags etc. I may well be able to clear a whole drawer in my other tv cupboard which is longer. My tv got wider

I learnt the hard way, no-one wanted the large brown furniture when we did the first downsize from the family home. Everything bought since then has been modular and the same ercol finish in pale oak. They will fit anywhere

Grandma47 reading your post reminded me of my Wedgwood 'Ice Rose' dinner service. It was a wedding present almost sixty years ago. Used regularly when we were a family.. But for many years, unused. A few months ago I decided to start using this lovely china on a daily basis. I thought I'd risk it in the dishwasher. I'm pleased to say no harm has come to it. I'm enjoying meals using my dinner service regularly.
Great thread Karmalady.

Diggingdoris

I've lived in this house 52 years, so lots of clutter. Remarried 25 years ago so more stuff arrived with new husband. Then a few years back we both lost our parents so inherited even more clutter! So every shelf/cupboard/wardrobe is full along with a double garage. I don't know where to start. We are both from the 'it may come in useful one day' generation. Wish I had a magic wand!

Do you have family who might like to come and help you?

Or could you do what I know someone else did? He was, and now has, inheriting the family home. Every time he came and stayed, him and his mum would go through a few items.
After about 10 years, the whole house had been done. With them speaking about all the memories along the way.

I am not at the stage of inheriting yet.
Threads like this are thought provoking though.
I have taken in a few bits from a friend. But our house is not the same style as hers. So that has added to me being reluctant, when/if it comes to it, to take in much.

My mum passed, leaving a 3 bed semi and its contents. Luckily I had 6 siblings, 3 still lived in the NW and 2 were executors. The clearing was done very amicably, the brother and sister executors went around and made a list of items, then room by room we went around and said if we wanted something and that item was ticked off. By then we all had our own homes and the youngest took many essentials. It must be a near-impossible job with few siblings and they do have to be able to agree

I have cleared that drawer and anything to do with printing or padded envelopes has been put in the small printing cupboard. Re cycling is due anytime so stuff has gone out. I did rescue grippy liner for the drawer and that empty drawer now contains usables, essential oils, wax melts etc. That drawer could just be emptied and binned as it is now and will be one day, if I move and further downsize again. A possibility if dd moves in 5 years. I hope it is back to wales but who knows

So another small space done and with no effort. 2 hard backed books taken off a bookshelf. I doubt cs will take them as hard backs take up a lot of room, if not then I will shred all the inner pages for the creatures who live in my compost bins

I'm in my eighth house as an adult. Have sometimes left things behind and, at other times, acquired things. Divorce, remarriage, being flooded out of one, clearing my mum's house have all been part of it. Still have a few of my mum's things in the attic, a box of material/half done sewing projects, and a garage full of tools, gadgets, cables etc that my DH is promising to sort through. Not sure how we've managed to accumulate so much again when we abandoned so much after the flooding!

The comments on charity shop processes are interesting. A long chat with staff at the local Salvation Army was very reassuring. They have local projects to support and house homeless people, a large hostel and an outreach service for those in need in the community. They were very clear which items and clothing are diverted to the projects and what is considered saleable condition for the shop. It was also explained areas vary. The local hospice (huge) shop are happy to take electrical items as they have PAT testing available and also a local warehouse for storage. We donate items across a number of shops according to the item and the needs of the shop.

When we moved here we only brought what would comfortably fit. Ten years later that has changed and a there is a serious need to reduce the contents of the cupboards. I’m doing it gradually as I feel like it without pressure. My next task is to tackle cards from our engagement, wedding and significant life events. 56 years worth! The plan is to photograph them with several to a page print the outcome and store in an album with the givers details noted alongside. Next winters project will be to go through the many albums of old photos and reduce them by 80%. No one will want to look at the hundreds of images of views when we’re not here. All are stored in the computer but I do like something to hold and look through.

Gently does it works for me. I actually enjoy the process as long as I’m not feeling pressurised.

Out of my control are the three sheds full of Mr C’s ‘stuff’. It may seem odd but I'm happy to let those be as they are, the contents while largely unused are Mr C’s link to his abilities and competence, he’ll let go when the time is right for him. Our sons are avid tool collectors and would deal with them if needed.

We’re all different for sure. Each gentle sort through gives me pleasure, it’s also far easier to do it as a choice not a necessity.

I lie awake worrying about the clutter I will be leaving for my children to deal with. I have de-cluttered for two family members and know how exhausting it can be and yet a lot of my excess possessions seem to give me security and discarding them is hard. Maybe not having much as a child has made me a hoarder.

I lie awake worrying about the clutter I will be leaving for my children to deal with

This is something we all seem to realise nowadays. I’m sure it wasn’t an issue years ago. Probably our GP’s had less ‘stuff’, and family/friends were keener to accept furniture, clothing, bric a brac etc.

‘Keepsakes’.

But we all have much more definite ideas about what we want in our homes now.

Thank you cornergran, so very reassuring and I am glad you had that talk

I never wate my mornings so have done a bit more `spring` cleaning`. My new build had a fitted fridge freezer, the cheapest frosted type with 3 tiny freezer drawers. I have never switched it on but I use it for a lot of small stuff as I can reach to the back of each shelf. Spices, herbs, baking ingredients etc In fact it is incredibly useful. Nothing to be disposed of in there but it is now wiped and tidied and I have taken a couple of items out, to have in plain sight and to use

Me too cornergran, I have to admit that I am enjoying the process too. It is not that initial frenzy, there is no pressure on me as there was for moving.

Buffy

I lie awake worrying about the clutter I will be leaving for my children to deal with. I have de-cluttered for two family members and know how exhausting it can be and yet a lot of my excess possessions seem to give me security and discarding them is hard. Maybe not having much as a child has made me a hoarder.

Oh I wouldnt do that Buffy.

Over the years I have come to realise that different people see things differently.
We cant second guess how someone else will see things and deal with things.

Some things are easier than others to rehome aren't they? The thought of who has given them to us or even the money that we wasted on 'things meant to improve our lives'. One lesson learned though, I now use my nicest items instead of keeping for best!

Calendargirl

^I lie awake worrying about the clutter I will be leaving for my children to deal with^

This is something we all seem to realise nowadays. I’m sure it wasn’t an issue years ago. Probably our GP’s had less ‘stuff’, and family/friends were keener to accept furniture, clothing, bric a brac etc.

‘Keepsakes’.

But we all have much more definite ideas about what we want in our homes now.

Indeed.

We know our daughters don't want our clutter, brown furniture, bric a brac, stuff forced on us by parents and grandparents.

They know what they want, stand firm. Clear out will happen, here.

I have three large plastic boxes of family photos including my grandmother's and mother's old photos. If I went through them I could probably get rid of half of them especially the ones of views. There are some really interesting photos of people from the early 20th century in the boxes. I don't know who they are. Some distant relative no doubt. I am loathe to throw these in the bin but don't know what else I can do with them.

I am considering doing photo books, where you scan your old photos and you can have them made into proper books. Need to do more research on how to do this though.

I also struggle with books. I have four full bookshelves of books. It is very rare that I re-read a book unless it is non-fiction so I don't know why I keep them all. I just like looking at them on the shelves. I am trying to get rid of some of the older ones but do like to keep books by the same authors so that I have the full set of their work.

I generally give clothes and small stuff to our local hospice, though they did get quite picky during Covid when everyone seemed to be decluttering.

Our local BHF will collect items of furniture, including sofas etc if they have a fire label

I have also sold or given stuff away on Facebook Marketplace.

I am never sure how long I need to keep official paperwork though.

pinkcosmos. I scanned photos and was also able to write in books that I created via blurb. They are lovely, I have 4, including one that my husband made from his photos when he was winning prizes. I also have his family, my family, our family. I bought all of them for my three AC and they now have family history at a glance. My siblings each bought the book appropriate to my family, our parents from their childhood and courting days, grandparents, us siblings as children etc

www.blurb.co.uk/

Sold a caravan last year that was kitted out with everything for the kitchen, sewing stuff, first aid, cleaning materials, mops bucket brushes etc etc. So now have house full of double of everything. Recently donated some things including the kettle. Guss what, mine broke a week later.
It's difficult to declutter large dishes dozens of plates etc as there are only 2 of us here. But family come to stay en mass usually 5 or 6 at a time including DGC as we live on the coast.

Like Kumberbear I went through old photos and I removed the ones of places that we had visited and saved just the ones of people. I still need to organize the ones of people by timeframe and label them. I sort of regret throwing out all of the photos of places. I am a member of a couple of vintage photo groups on Facebook and it is amazing to look at old photos of famous places in a city and see how they have changed over the years. Oh well! I can't keep everything!

I made buns yesterday, I only made them because I had delved into my baking cupboard and it is a yummy way of de-cluttering that area, albeit slowly

There is a hard backed book that I unearthed, bought it three years ago. Some of my books will be read first, would never read again and they will go. So far so good. Slowly slowly

I am liking that someone mentioned spring cleaning, at my stage of de-cluttering it is how I am treating the small areas that I am tackling now. Two birds with one stone and not going in to de-clutter but fully aware of de-cluttering as I go and I am find items that way

My big kmix sounded very iffy when I was kneading bun dough yesterday, my heart was in my mouth. If it does expire than I am going to have to be very strong to avoid buying another, or similar but what a waste that would be at my age and alone. That decision would mean another big change for me and yet another psychological adaptation to circumstance change

I don’t really hoard stuff, and I always feel good after a good clear out.
But I do have trunks full of photos, thousands of books, although I have taken quite a lot to the charity shop recently, I also have tons of stuff left behind from when my grandchildren were living here.
It’s an odd feeling when you realise you never need to buy another glass, mug, tea towel, etc, because you have enough to last if you live to be 100
You spend years accumulating, then start to get rid of it all.

I don’t really hoard stuff

But you have ‘trunks full of photos, thousands of books, and tons of stuff left behind from when the GC were living here’.

To me, that isn’t ‘hoarding’, but like most of us- just with ‘stuff’ from the past that we feel need sorting and deciding what to do with.

I think so many of us are in a similar situation.