What proportion of the stuff in your house could you get rid of that would have no impact on your life whatsoever?

[AHousefulofClutter]

For me, I reckon I could do away with about 90% of the stuff that's cluttering up my house and I wouldn't miss any of it!

We have too much stuff! Some of it accumulated by us over 40+ years of marriage (almost 40 of them in our current house, so we haven't had to have a good clear out for decades). Some of it is from my parents' house and some from DH's parents (all parents passed away a few years back).

I keep chucking stuff out, but the clutter never seems to get any less!

Almost exactly the same as you, including the length of time spent in this house! I am getting ruthless lately though because I'd like to think we might downsize once all of the children are finished at Uni. It's a battle with DH though. We had a huge outbuilding built twenty years ago, to house his office and his studio because I couldn't live with two bedrooms being taken over by guitars and amps. He now 'collects' hoards many things and every time I venture up there and take a look inside, I'm reminded of exactly why I went along with that decision when quite frankly we really needed new windows throughout the house at the time 😀

Decluttering is my hobby 😏
I was in a similar position to you and set about clearing it all out. A word of warning thought - it's taken me years to start seeing the clear spaces and empty drawers etc but it's so worth it.
I've not sold very much as my time was worth more but I've given a huge amount to charity. Very little was actually thrown away.
What was difficult to donate has gone on freecycle and I'm happy with that.

My advice is to start with whatever is in your eyeline that's annoys you on the day you have motivation to start and work from there. It doesn't matter what as every little bit helps lessen the load. Good luck ! 🤞

What a nightmare! My DH doesn't knowingly hoard stuff but he always buys more than we need - of anything!

I've just chucked out 7 laser printer cartridges, for printers that we no longer own. Three of them were still sealed in their transit bags, never opened. All bought by DH. None of them actually needed!

Probably about 50% . I do not NEED multiple bags but I have at least 20 . I do not need multiple plates , bowls etc as probably only use the same ones over and over , nobody needs ornaments or fancy glassware . More than 3 towels not needed or bedding or shoes . Just sooo much stuff . And unless I can give it a good home I am loath to give to charity shops that dont want it either or throw away for landfill. And still more and more stuff is being produced.

About 27 million books. They have been steadily accumulating for decades, and despite my occasional trips to charity shops, the total number progressively increases.

I’m not talking about carefully curated collections of literary masterpieces here. Just normal books. Generic novels, bought for holiday reading. Politicians‘ & sportspersons’ autobiographies. Cookbooks by forgotten celebrity chefs, etc etc. They take up too much space and I am under no illusion that any of them will ever be read again. We need a massive clear out, but there is a limit to how many charity shops will accept & actually binning them feels like sacrilege.

At least 50% before there’d be a negative impact but I can also see this the other way round as I think it would take getting rid of at least 25% to have a positive impact on our day to day lives- easier to keep clean and tidy, easier to find stuff (I waste so much time every day looking for things) etc. But so much needs to be gone!

Probably 7-10%. I don’t like clutter and get rid of stuff regularly.

I find too much stuff makes me anxious and some days I could just chuck it all out. Despite moving and decluttering constantly I still think I have too much. I spent a year going through my DGM house and I don't want that for my two.

But it's a process. I'm determined to have less and buy less (that's the key to it).

The trouble is in this world of organisation I often think if I had another cupboard I could put it away better but then I'd still have the stuff.

I've given away lots of stuff to very grateful people. Eventually when this house is finished and I've got much less stuff (again) it will be so much easier to clean.

Probably all of it! I only want 5% of the things I own. I detest people offloading their crap onto us too, but when we moved 5 years ago we had loads of offers for utter rubbish that is now our problem to get rid of.

Very little, probably around 15%. I do hold on to a few sentimental items and quite a few picture frames and ornaments because I think a home looks very cold without these things but I don't like clutter, and DH likes it even less, he'd do away with more stuff than me.

My mum's house growing up was extremely cluttered and still is, to the point of feeling very cramped, dark and dingy, even in a big house. She's one of those people that must utilise every single space, so much furniture you can't move, stuff all over the walls, hanging from the ceiling etc. It's made me extremely claustrophobic as an adult, growing up like that.

Now, my mums house... she could probably get rid of 99%!

@AHousefulofClutter

I've just chucked out 7 laser printer cartridges, for printers that we no longer own. Three of them were still sealed in their transit bags, never opened. All bought by DH. None of them actually needed!

You should have sold them on e-bay. One of my laser printers is "old", probably somewhere around 20 years old, and no retailers sell the cartridges anymore, so every few weeks, I look on Ebay to see if anyone is selling any. Every couple of months, I strike lucky and one pops up which I snap up as long as they're not asking stupid money. The last brand new ones I bought from a proper distributor were around £80-£100 and I usually pick up new/unused/sealed ones for around £50 these days, from people who've just found them in a cupboard somewhere, got a bargain the last time I got one a few weeks ago, for just £25!

As for house (and my business office), a few years ago I'd have said 90% was junk I'd never look at nor need again. We've had a real decluttering recently.

Did the office last year which resulted in several trips to the recycling centre, and burned out a couple of heavy duty shredders, and left the office looking pretty bare (which was nice!). In the year since, I can't say I've missed anything.

Since the New Year, we've been doing our house. Started in the loft and working downwards. Numerous trips to the tip, charity shops, etc., and we've got the loft and upstairs sorted. Had to suspend it for the downstairs and garage as we have to clear out MIL's bungalow to present it for sale, meaning numerous trips to charity shops and the tip as she was a hoarder, but that's virtually done now, so after Summer we'll tackle our house downstairs, garage and the garden sheds.

It's really liberating to clear all the clutter. And we've still not "Missed" anything we've disposed of or been caught out destroying something we've later realised we needed.

Bought another heavy duty shredder for all the home documents and MIL paperwork, which sounds to be on it's way out too!

Iv spent the last few months decluttering and I think iv got rid of about 50% of my stuff

we still talk about the broken tent we got rid of!

Due to circumstances outside our control we had to move twice in the last year and now hopefully temporarily live somewhere too small for our requirements. In the process I’d say we’ve shed about 80% of the stuff we didn’t actually need or isn’t useful. There’s more that could go though!

*eyes coffee table storage stuffed to bursting with miscellany

@SpottedDonkey Check out Awesome Books - they claim to sell/donate books to stop them from being destroyed. I've bought an awful lot from them (blush) but never sold any. I think they do buy books - or you could perhaps contact them to see if they would collect any you wanted to donate?

I'm.not a "stuff" person i have hardly anything personal so I could happily get rid of most stuff that's cluttering the house but its Dh stuff it drives me quietly nuts !

90% I’d live a very simple life if I could. And will once kids have gone!

@taxguruset up an alert on eBay! I’ve struck lucky a few times.

30% or so.. 20% of that is my.husbands rubbish stuff

I declutter regularly ...but his hobby is cluttering so its a revolving door situation

Most of it. Since my mother died last year leaving us with a house to empty, I have been systematically chucking stuff out so my kids don't have to do the same thing.

Probably 50%. I moved from a 4 bed to a 2 bed following a divorce. I was married to a hoarder so it was a relief to part ways with the stuff too. I put my furniture, books, etc into storage for 3 months while waiting to move into my new home. I honestly did not miss it. I do miss having a spare room for the overspill of laundry and the wardrobe. I am thinking of upsizing as I hate having to sell/donate/dispose of stuff immediately due to lack of space. I don't have too much stuff in the house...but the garage is a dumping ground.

That’s definitely worth investigating. Thank you!

70% DH’s stuff and 20% mine as I went through my stuff a few years ago and got rid of anything unnecessary. My DH has a tendency for hoarding and doesn’t want to get rid of anything. On top of our actual belongings we have tons of empty cardboard boxes in the garage because my DH thought we might need them… well, we haven’t/won’t.

i keep meaning to donate books
i did a clear out of clothes which was rewarding