To have such a problem with storage?

[SoFishy]

I have just paid £££ to dump a pile of stuff in a self-storage facility, with a view to moving house eventually. It feels great to have that particular heap of stuff out of the way but the house is still cluttered and there is just too much stuff. I just wish there was somewhere to PUT STUFF but we have no garage, no loft, no cellar, no spare room. One small storage cupboard and a boxroom that I need as a study (work at home) - otherwise it would be a storage space. 3 bedrooms but they are all on the small side.

I would really like to move and have a spare room, a garage and maybe a utility room. However I feel really guilty that somehow a 3-bedroom house just doesn't have enough space for 4 people's stuff.

It's not a hoarding issue, though me and DP both do have quite a bit of hobby-related stuff (things like fabric, tech and musical instruments) I am good at having clearouts and chuck out/charity shop a lot of stuff as regularly as I can. And we are not madly materialistic and try to keep kids' presents at birthdays and christmas fairly manageable and stop relatives from going mad.

It's stuff we shouldn't actually be getting rid of - everyday stuff like the hoover and steam mop, DIY things and tools, camping stuff that we use often, clothes and shoes being stored as handmedowns, toys and games, even the 3 tubs for putting recycling in - there is nowhere to put them! They just stand around in hallways or get stuffed under furniture.

I just want to know if I'm normal, do normal families have too much crap everywhere, and/or WIBU to move to get extra space?

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Looking for advice on keeping things organised or making the most of a small space? Check out our round-up of Mumsnetters’ life-changing storage boxes, space-saving tips, and decluttering hacks. MNHQ.

[SoFishy]

I remember being in my 20s, single and renting and wondering why people made such a fuss about storage, I didn't see the point of it! What was there to store??? Now I'm constantly trying to find a solution.

[mumofboyo]

We have crap everywhere. We recently moved to a larger house with, oddly, less storage space.There's an area under the stairs that is right in front of the side door, so you can see it as soon as you walk in. It does my head in! We're the same as you in that we have no garage, cellar or spare room and, as it's rented, no access to the loft. I try to be ruthless and chuck out stuff we don't need or use but get moaned at for doing so. I always say no when people try to foist their unwanted crap onto us but dh seems unable to. That annoys me as well!

[Ronmione]

We are the same, stuff everywhere and like you not stuff that needs to be. Chucked bit stuff we use irregularly like fans in the summer. I stored the dc's Christmas presents in the car for 2 months because there was no where else to put them

[Pipbin]

There is just the two of us and we have a loft, small outbuilding, linen cupboard and two understairs cupboards. We don't hoard much stuff, but DH is a collector of stuff.
However all the storage is full.
There is so much stuff you need but don't need out all the time: Christmas trees, vacuum cleaners, ironing boards, suitcases......

[PleaseJustShootMeNow]

Moving to a bigger place is pointless. Trust me, the crap just expands to fill the void.

We used to live in a tiny 2 bed with stuff everywhere. I dreamt of a bigger place with space to store stuff. Then we emigrated and houses here are huge. We have 3 huge bedrooms, a full height walk in attic (like the ones in American horror films) and 6 basements rooms and they're all overflowing with junk.

[NotGoodNotBad]

Do you have outside space, e.g. front garden? If so put the recycling tubs out there, and have one small one indoors that you empty into the proper ones regularly.

Otherwise I see your problem, 3 bedrooms for 4 people and no other storage is not much these days (compared to way back when people really had very little stuff).

[SoFishy]

Thanks :) although it's kind of depressing, this is what I wanted to hear really because I don't want to think it's just me!

What if we moved and I kept up my declutttering ways? What I would really love is to have stuff stored properly - in a sensible anal system so I knew where it all was and could find anything I wanted, without having it in my face all the time. I dream about a garage lovingly lined with shelves with a place for everything.

The big recycling creates do live outside, with narrower ones for inside because they go in the hall and the full-size ones would be too big to squeeze past. But this pisses me off too because sitting in the garden all the time, they get wet and covered in slugs, boak. Then I get slugs on me when I go to get the recycling ready for collection. Again, in my dream garage they have their own special, dry, out of the way corner.

I can't believe I fantasise about storage systems

[Nocomet]

Stuff does indeed expand to fill more than the space available.

We have two big bedrooms, one small bedroom, a study, a sort of store room come pantry, good size kitchen, smallish lounge and a big dining room. Car and a half garage, workshop and three sheds!

We still have too much stuff!

Some is hoarded clutter, but a lot is hobby related and some of it is actually used (also some of it belongs to the water sports club, but that's actually the most organised and least annoying stuff).

[wobblyweebles]

We put our junk in the basement. Depending on the season we put either camping or snow gear in the garage where it's easily accessible. The rest of the house is pretty much junk free.

I think as long as you have one or two fair size areas for storage then you can be organised enough to keep the rest of the house reasonably uncluttered. When you have no storage then it's really tough so don't be hard on yourself OP.

[Longdistance]

This is a bug bear of mine too.

We have a loft boarded, the garage is quite full, a shed, and an under stair cupboard. All full to bursting.

I must admit, that some stuff is on ebay, and I'm gonna do a car boot soon.

The dds toys are everywhere. It's out of control, mainly to do with grandparents buying stuff, and godparents spoiling them.

I've run out of ideas of where to put stuff.