I have always been a hoarder. My parents are both hoarders so I have always grown up in cramped spaces, surrounded by STUFF and MESS. I have wanted to change for a long time but any attempts to declutter I found too hard as it would inevitably lead to painful decisions about what to throw (very little if I could help it) and trying to find a new home for the stuff I'd keep.
There are two roots to my hoarding problem; 1) I have an awful memory and so I am terrified of forgetting the important things like my DC's milestones, special occasions and things like that. My solution is to hold on to the things associated with events like holiday brochures, ticket stubs, travel tickets, etc etc. I have even saved balloons and party decorations from all my DC's birthdays. Essentially, I'm living in the past. 2) I don't like waste and convince myself that my crap will be worth something if I could just get round to selling it (but I never find the time as my life is consumed by tidying around my stuff).
And then along came a catalyst - I decided I want to get a family dog. I can only describe it as nesting but I've gone into overdrive wanting to sort my house out. I always hated bringing friends round to my house when I was younger as it was so messy and now my DC are experiencing the same. I've realised that I'm forcing my family to live in my giant memory box. This feels like such a shift in thinking for me.
In just a few days, I've thrown dozens of bags of stuff and rubbish and donated redundant furniture to the charity shop. I'm going through cupboards crammed with random things, often it's just been shoved in do I can't find anything anyway. I've even started decorating which would have been impossible before given how much stuff I have. I have invested a little money into smart storage solutions, just cheap things like shelf baskets and cupboard stands but it's already making a big difference. I'm now looking at every corner where I can create better storage.
The picture is of my kitchen at the moment having just cleared a ton of stuff from the top of the shelves. The counter top pretty much looks like that all the time. I might use this thread as my inspiration and document my progress in photos. I'm feeling really proud of myself and very positive that I might kick this bad habit for good. Just thought I'd share this for anyone in the same boat who wants to change.
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This chronic hoarder has seen the light!
50 replies
MessyBedMessyHead · 24/04/2017 12:46
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