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Have you done your Swedish death clean yet?

(108 Posts)
minimo Wed 11-Oct-17 11:12:53

Apparently from the age of 50 - I'm a bit overdue in that case grin - we should be slowly clearing out our possessions so we don't leave too much for our family members to sort through. I understand where this is coming from but really it would be so morbid to look around a totally minimalistic home with none of things that have made my life what it is.
www.treehugger.com/cleaning-organizing/swedish-death-cleaning-new-decluttering-trend.html
What do the rest of you think?

MesMopTop Tue 06-Feb-18 10:40:35

Clutter really does drive me nuts. Nobody wants anything of mine, except my jewellery, photos and a couple of other things. If I lived alone I would live in an almost empty house. My DH, for some insane reason, buys me stuffed toys, ornaments and other sentimental type stuff. I would cheerfully Chuck it in the bin but because it was given with love, I don’t and I haven’t the heart to say stop buying me stuff that clutters up my space! I’ve got giant stuffed animals and teddy bears staring at me from the top of my kist. I think they know I want to do them in. And don’t start me on paperwork. I must have every bit of paper that had ever been sent to us. Please keep me away from the matches ?

henetha Tue 06-Feb-18 11:13:26

I think it's good idea, and for me now at 80, very appropriate.
Sometimes I wander around the house with a black bag and throw things out, and I've sold some stuff on ebay, but generally this house is one great big clutter! I feel ashamed!

jusnoneed Tue 06-Feb-18 11:38:33

My OH is a hoarder, drives me crazy! The stuff he 'collects' for some reason best known to himself is amazing. Postcards of here, he has even started printing off photos of the place from online. Watches - why? He has enough fishing tackle to start a shop. We have three sheds, apart from a couple pairs of my sons boots the rest of it is stuff he has gathered over the years (funnily enough it's often not the thing he needs to do a small job) and only this morning he has taken his old coats out to air them. 6 coats!
And at least another half dozen upstairs!! My son keeps saying he's going to get up in the loft to see what's there, OH won't let him..... who knows what he's hiding up there lol.
No one is going to want any of it when he's gone.
I have got rid of a lot of books now, kindle/ipad means I don't look at them - especially cook books. Lot of old craft stuff gone too. I don't have ornaments etc so none of that to worry about.

My Dad has gradually cleared stuff from his house over the last couple of years, he always asks if anyone is likely to want things before it goes. Lots of ornaments (dust collectors as I call them lol) etc that my mum had gathered, most people don't want stuff like that these days. Some stuff was sold at auction but most went to charity shop. Still some to go.

Katek Tue 06-Feb-18 13:03:09

I’m baffled as well. I always thought Newtonian mechanics were based on Newton’s Laws-motion, gravity etc., whilst determinism is defined in psychology as the philosophical theory of universal causation. I’d be interested if Nina could expand on her words.

Katek Tue 06-Feb-18 17:43:49

Oops! Wrong thread! Sorry everyone - am idiot! grin

MargaretX Tue 06-Feb-18 19:56:26

MOnica

Yes children do want the really older things. I want to give my dinnerservice away but I took the old Rosenthal Dinner service which belonged to DH's grandmother
I love it and as it only has 5 plates left I enjoy planning a meal for a few people.

SpringyChicken Tue 06-Feb-18 23:31:01

I relish small triumphs in decluttering the kitchen. This clutter stems wholly from my husband. Although he never cooks the meals and rarely prepares the veg, he is attracted to gadgets that he wants me to use. He has inherited this gene from his father who also didn't cook. Since January, I have ditched a pristine onion chopper and the toast rack. I must have caught him at a moment of weakness as he didn't bat an eyelid when I suggested they go.