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Original poster

Trying to declutter... this isn't good is it?

63 replies

listsandbudgets · 31/01/2023 13:15

I found the curtains I had made for the last house we lived in still bagged up from when me moved 6 years ago

I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them... and how did I justify this to myself ....

"We'll need them if we ever buy the house back again"

Of all the houses we ever lived in that one was easily my favourite but surely this is an excuse too far to hang on to the curtains!!

OP posts:
GuppytheCat · 31/01/2023 18:57

larchforest · 31/01/2023 17:10

I'm like this with flip-flops.

Every time I declutter I find one of a pair and daren't throw it away just in case the other one turns up. So every year I have to buy another pair.

Show quote history

DS has just accused me of doing this with his trainers.

Apparently that makes it my fault that he went for a run wearing one size 9 trainer and one size 13.

Stillamum3 · 31/01/2023 19:16

If you really love the fabric, could you make them into some Roman Blinds?

LibertyLily · 01/02/2023 00:29

I can sympathise...we still have the huge curtains I made for the house we sold in 2011. Of the three houses we've owned since, the curtains only fitted the windows of the middle one which we sold to buy this place in 2018. They are far too long for most of our current cottage-y windows and I don't want to spoil the view by hanging them in our newly transformed living room.....

But, I love the fabric and I also dream of buying our last house back!

In a similar vein - in 2007 we bought a fabulous copper fireplace hood from an Arts and Crafts house that was being modernised in Wimbledon. I was determined to use it in the house we were in the process of purchasing. Several house moves later it has never been fitted and we are now looking to move again in the near future. DH is trying to persuade me to sell it because we'll never use it. He's probably got a point - our last house (the one I dream of re-buying!) was Arts and Crafts style but we never got round to installing it there 🙄 - but I just can't let it go.

mathanxiety · 01/02/2023 02:39

@Catoneverychair
Sadly no - it's folded away with the decorations. But basically it's like a big cardboard box with an open top. The bottom is about 6x6 feet and the sides are about 8' high X 6' wide. There's a big 'buttonhole' in the middle of the bottom to stick the tree trunk into. Basically, I used straight seams all the way and the buttonhole is just a slash cut into the middle of the bottom with stitching all around to prevent ripping. I lay it out on the floor with the sides crumpled and the bottom flat and set the tree into the buttonhole, then pull up the sides like tree trousers.

Copperoliverbear · 01/02/2023 02:54

Even if you went back to the house why would you want old curtains, give them to charity. X

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 01/02/2023 03:07

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 31/01/2023 14:34

We moved into this house just over a year ago. There's still boxes to be unpacked.

I'm so tempted to just chuck em without even opening them. Surely if we haven't needed whatever's in them in a year, we never will?

Erm we moved house 7 years ago & there are still boxes waiting to be unpacked.........
However hopefully moving house again this year so will take them with me & this time open them!

Hups · 01/02/2023 03:17

I hoard curtains, towels and duvet covers. I have no idea why, maybe it's an addiction?
Maybe someone should set up a group to help us with our addictions, like curtains anonymous or something?
Talking of which ....does anyone else have a garage like mine that contains everything but a car?
Mine is so full of stuff, no longer used but can't be arsed to get rid of, that you would be lucky to fit a matchbox car in there.
I keep thinking I'll hire a skip, but the thought of going in and sorting it makes me think I can't be arsed.

motherofkevinnotperry · 01/02/2023 04:26

I'm starting again with the clutter in my house. I find it so stressful to be surrounded by stuff and so much better when I've had a good sort out.

Get them out your house and give them to charity.

Catoneverychair · 01/02/2023 06:44

@mathanxiety Thank you, I'm very bad at visualising but I'll try and replicate it. A great idea! I'm still hoovering up needles in the hallway...

This thread reminded me to get rid of the old duvets and covers I've been storing unused for years.

JesusHRooseveltChristSassenach · 01/02/2023 07:13

This thread has made me smile.

My mum died on Sunday and was bordering on hoarder as she hated waste and swore she'd use it all and it would come in handy. Became a bit of a running joke...!

Yesterday I started clearing out what was obviously unusable (stuff way way over the best before date so couldn't even donate it to a food bank and nothing I could use) and came across a bottle of rum which she'd bought abroad when my parents got married. Which was 20 years ago....! Biggest laugh was she was basically teetotal! 😂 So that's stayed because it made us all laugh.

Was especially hilarious when my brother opened a bottle of beer (she kept alcohol in for guests) and saw the date was 2013! 😂😂😂 It was even in the fridge. Fuck knows how that happened!

So far the oldest thing I can think of is a duvet set that was mine from when I was 4... I'm not in my thirties and have 4 children of my own! 😂😂😂

Gunna save this thread because I'm sure I'll be back with even more ridiculous stuff!

Thanks so much for this thread. The timing couldn't be any better and I'm genuinely smiling and laughing! ❤️

TheNoodlesIncident · 01/02/2023 08:52

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 01/02/2023 03:07

Erm we moved house 7 years ago & there are still boxes waiting to be unpacked.........
However hopefully moving house again this year so will take them with me & this time open them!

Show quote history

If I were you I would open them before moving and get rid of anything you genuinely don't need first. What's the point of taking stuff with you that you don't want? It's extra time and effort you don't need to spend when moving is hard enough...

We have tons of stuff in our loft. There are a great many boxes of Christmas decorations and I admit I need to cull a lot of that. But we also have loads of stored stuff that was brought from the previous house's loft, where it sat untouched. It's all DH's technical kit but he hasn't used any of it for over a decade. It needs to go! 😬

And incidentally I have cleared four or five boxes of loft stuff (DS's outgrown toys type) to Oxfam, and yet all the surplus stuff that is cluttering up there is somehow still mine, not DH's tech crap... 🤔Funny that

PuttingDownRoots · 01/02/2023 09:01

@JesusHRooseveltChristSassenach sorry for your loss and good luck with the clearance.

I know my mother has a 4ft Panda in her attic. Rather decrepit now. It was bought when I was a baby by my grandmother... there's a lot of emotion attached. My mum keeps mentioning she needs to give it to me... but I really don't want it. But it would break her hear if it goes to the only place it is fit for.

Their whole attic needs a good sorting out.

rookiemere · 01/02/2023 09:48

I'm useless at decluttering, but honestly the sheer joy I'm getting from walking into our forth bedroom now that everything has been taken out and it's being transformed into a guest bedroom, is immense.

I'm trying to hold that feeling to help me be more ruthless with other items, shoes are my kryptonite that I hate throwing out or giving to charity.

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