De-cluttering, still at it, still no end

Maybee, I hope you feel better quickly. Arthritis and indigestion could both be linked to eating the nightshade family ie peppers, potatoes, aubergine, tomatoes. There are good subs, like sweet potatoes

For me, feng shui as in energy flow in a room, goes hand in hand with de-cluttering and I have moved my zero gravity everyday recliner into a corner, just a foot from where it was. It feels better from here but I have a trolley on my right, I bought several at a good price many years ago. Very useful but this one now feels and looks out of place where it is. I could put it in my hall I suppose and will need to work out an inconspicuous and safe way to have my things hand when I sit. I will never de-clutter those trolleys but sometimes things just need to be moved rather than removed from the house

www.black-by-design.co.uk/kitchen-dining-c1/home-bar-accessories-c21/drinks-trolleys-c45/normann-copenhagen-block-side-table-drinks-trolley-black-p725

Once upon a time, when I had the house decorated, I put felt pads under every stick of furniture and this morning I pushed a very heavy unit along my hard floor, to make space for my chair. I can move every bit of heavy furniture by myself, without making marks

I have a horn `cub plus` sewing machine cabinet to my left back, it contains a vintage bernina sewing machine and I cover the cabinet with a soft cloth to take the `hard` look away.

I have a window cill to my right, I could carefully use that as a resting place for some essentials and then actually tidy the other stuff away

I think sometimes I conflate de-cluttering and tidy storage and it becomes overwhelming

Almost done and shock horror still in my dressing gown

Window cill, I located a nice 3" tall white shiny lidless tray which is the right depth on the cill and the length is just right for the coaster to be direct on the cill. I now have room for bits and will be selective tidier

Laptop and phone and plant on my sewing cabinet

Trolley in hall and is doing a sterling neat job of shoe storage, I only have small feet. The big shoe tray can go

Feels good now and only item to be de-cluttered is a flat big shoe tray. Took me a couple of hours to get there

I've virtually given up on decluttering I'm afraid. I've put aside some bags to find a new home but DH is not the tidiest person in the world but he is the kindest so I leave things as they are. We now have my granddaughter and her fiance with us. They are reasonably tidy and one is a musician and it's worth it as the music is wonderful and I love having them around. Luckily we live in a detached house!

Athrawes, welcome

We are all different here with different circumstances, personally I am widowed and am in process of slowly planning ahead for the `what if` situations and following the mantra of `dying tidy` I do this for my AC and my DGC

I am in process of slow de-cluttering and am happy if I can do a bit at a time. I don`t look for de-cluttering jobs any more, often they just happen, as today

I am shattered now, doing a bit of feng shui stuff in my living room has been followed by me gaining another cubic foot of shelf space as well as knowing where small things are for my various hobbies. It is all positive

I’ve just cleaned my car. Covered in the stuff that comes off the Silver Birch trees in my neighbours garden. My partner swept the drive and the patio for me at the weekend and it needs sweeping again already. It all gets trodden into the house, too. It only seems to blow my way!And this is before the brown seeds appear. I’m seriously thinking of putting the house on the market but I’d have to declutter to do that. Can’t keep on top of the decluttering and the maintenance. It’s like one step forward and two steps back.

Maybe speak to an estate agent?
They could advise you, without it all being a guessing game for you.

Trouble is there's nowhere in my village that I could move to and I do want to stay here. I'd really like to enjoy may garden instead of constantly sweeping up these horrible seeds. The pine needles are a nuisance [I have to get my gutters cleaned twice a year] but controllable. The Silver Birch are now huge. I wonder if one of those lawn vacuums would help.

Why not pay someone to do it. Accepting as we get older that we need to pay people to do things that we previously did for ourselves is no big deal.

I recently paid a couple of lads to do some garden clearance for me. I had got behind because of our expected move, and DH's ill health. We are also getting the movers to do a lot of the packing for us when we move, for similar reasons. DH cannot do any packing and I am daunted by the thought of doing it all on my own. I have never had garden help before , nor had the removers do the packing for us.

MayBee70

Trouble is there's nowhere in my village that I could move to and I do want to stay here. I'd really like to enjoy may garden instead of constantly sweeping up these horrible seeds. The pine needles are a nuisance [I have to get my gutters cleaned twice a year] but controllable. The Silver Birch are now huge. I wonder if one of those lawn vacuums would help.

Maybee yes a garden vacuum would help greatly but in your case I would get a good quality powerful one, industrial as you don`t just have leaves. It will cost of course but should help make your garden manageable

Obviously the seeds are not going to stop, year on year and I would manage this by looking forward ie de-cluttering and also tentatively exploring areas within a radius from where you live. A vacuum would give you some breathing space

Your mind is overthinking, ie this and this and this, all at once and that has made everything overwhelming. Can I suggest that you face one thing at a time, starting with the vacuum cleaner to catch the seeds while they are fresh and crisp

If it is seeds on the lawn that bothers you most, I would definitely pay for a gardener. A powerful mower would also pick up and chop the seeds, you need to ask the gardener to take the trimmings away or at least bag them

I did that in the autumn. Paid some lads a lot of money to clear a load of stuff from the garden. I was pleased with what they did but a lot of it has grown back. But the seeds are endless. The garden was swept on Sunday and by Thursday was covered again. The car wasn’t driveable. The were all over the windscreen wipers. I’m on a very small pension and there’s a limit to how much I can pay out on a regular basis. It costs me a lot to have the gutters cleared twice a year. I’ve only just started paying a window cleaner but still have to clean the bird poo off them myself as it’s too dried on for him to do. Even though everyone takes their shoes off when they come in the house the seeds get everywhere. I have Hugg mats everywhere to try to contain them.

Maybee, I think deep down that you know the answer. Getting older can make people unfit, unwell and tired. Time to seriously think about the next stage.

That’s why I’m trying so hard to declutter. It all starts with that. I’ve always been a collector and I have to remember that it has given me joy over the years. It’s sad that so many things are now just sitting on shelves, still loved by me but with the threat of ending up in land fill hanging over them. I’ve always been so healthy; old age has come as a bit of a shock and hit me hard.

Perhaps the shock of finding you are no longer able to deal with life the way you did, and how hard it has hit you, is perhaps the thing you should deal with first. Think about seeing someone to talk this through with and come to peace with. Then, and only then, should you start decluttering, you might then find it so much easier.

My house is a trip hazard because of the clutter. Growing up I was always fascinated by old stuff in peoples houses and I need to come to terms with the fact that my grandchildren aren’t interested things like old box cameras etc. Annoyingly losing my Facebook account means that I can’t now take part in the groups I used to belong to eg Ladybird Books, which I collect.

I have been side-tracked with preparing to go away next week on a midweek break with my ACs and their families. It's incredible how much stuff you need to take for a C/Parcs break. We are each taking a meal for the evenings plus extra bits for the GCs who may or may not eat the same meals as us. Wine and whatever booze we like plus soft drinks, tea, coffee, the list is endless. I have a freezer box to pack with bits I've been given to transport and I was nominated to bring cleaning bits and pieces, foil and the like. I know we won't come back with much of it but already I'm at five shopping bags, freezer box and suitcase that I'm in the middle of packing. That lot in itself creates clutter until it goes in the car.
However, the GCs games have been tidied away into the bottom of the wardrobe, put another item on Vinted to sell, Some of DHs trains have been packed away into boxes - still lots to do in his train room, camping gear to be sorted, and lots of random rubbish to go too. So the clutter is dwindling slowly - too slowly!!

I’ve been distracted by finding a new series, The Great House Revival. Four seasons to catch up on. Another programme in which I can watch people create calm out of chaos. And I sit watching it whilst sitting amongst chaos; ever the procrastinator. At least there’s no danger of me becoming pregnant which all the people in these programmes seem to do! I actually feel better today than I’ve felt for ages. Must be the better weather.

What does everyone do with camping gear? (swampy mentioned it). I've got quite a lot I want to get rid of. Probably a good time of year / weather to do it! I'm just not sure how much to ask for it, it's so long since we bought any.

I did take the boys' festival tents to the charity shop & amazingly they accepted them

valdavi Why not put it on ebay and see what someone will pay.

We have one of those big(ish) event shelters we used in our antuque fair days. We are going to erect it in the garden when DD visits, photograph it and then ebay it (buyer collects)

Thanks - I'll probably do that, Ebay with 'make an offer'. I'll invite DS & D-i-L round to eat & help me put the tent up for photo, DH will say he's too busy & it is quite big.
Mum has an event shelter / small Marquee, it does the circuit of the village, when people have special birthdays they borrow it for the party. You should get a good price for it I reckon.

I think we should also consider re-used in our own home to save bringing something in

I have just used 1m of pima jersey cotton stash to cut out 4 pairs of knickers, alovely colour and I have already taken gorgeous white stretch lace out of stash. Also 2 pairs cut from a wrapover jersey cotton top that I made but never wore. It is not much space regained but tiny steps will do me

Any work on my garden has been put on hold as the undercover potting area of my garden has a Robins nest; very precariously made in a scrunched up plastic bag. I wondered why the Robin kept flying out whenever I went into it to get some soil. Need to keep an eye on the dog when they fledge.

I throughly tidied out the garden shed and wood shed yesterday, I am leaving a certain amount of stuff for our house buyers, getting rid of a lot of things, that will not be needed in our new garden.

As a result the Boot Sale pile has grown larger and we will be off to the tip this afternoon.

My son has been declutterng my garden, including the shed. I now have room to move some gardening tools from the garage to the shed.
Today’s task has to be sorting paperwork in my study. I’ve neglected this for too long, so that it has become a major task.

It is cooler and damp today and a perfect day for some de-cluttering. I am going to work on my wardrobe but need to make notes as everything is hand made

Viscose items are in the line of fire, I often use cheap viscose/rayon fabrics for toiles, garment testing, I do not like these fabrics next to my skin, nor the way they crease.

I will only keep the actual paper pattern if I like the style on my short stature and will make it again in future in a decent linen or cotton

I went to bed with that aim last night and it is still there today, that is me sorted. I have been waiting to be in the right frame of mind to do this important job

Did you get your paperwork sorted cabbie? I am well behind with mine