Honestly, do you need to keep the stuff in your attic/loft?

[ArcticGrass]

We moved house just before Covid to a house that we renovated while living in it. For various reasons we shifted stuff without having a thorough clear out first. There’s stuff in our attic I haven’t looked at since we moved. Pictures that don’t look right in the new house, 2 taken apart double beds and mattress, my late mum’s crockery, a huge speaker system (DH we can’t throw that it cost me a fortune 30 years ago!)….

The obvious answer is no, then. Get rid. It's been five years.

There’s nothing in mine. We moved in a couple of years ago, the loft hatch is too small to put things up there so haven’t and won’t. I’d get rid of all the things you have mentioned, there is no point in having them.

There isn’t a law making you keep the stuff. Just get rid of it if you don’t need it.

We keep Christmas stuff and suitcases in ours and thats it. We are very brutal with getting rid of stuff. In our house if it's not a 'hell yeah' to keeping it it's in the bin/charity bag.

Furniture... if you aren't going to use it, it can go. If you have a 10yo who will grow out of a cabin bed next year... Will they want it? You can be the best judge

Why keep art you don't like?

Sound system... Will he use it again?

We moved in i 2021... I found a box of toys up there while looking for the Christmas decorations. Long outgrown!

I've never had a attic to collect crap in 🤣

Ours is pretty good now. I moved from a small house that was rammed full, with stuff from 20 years plus a parent going into care. Was able to get rid of 2.5 skips’ worth of stuff and tbh I don’t regret not sorting it before moving because it was pretty impossible in the previous house and it’s easy here.

My motto is ‘you never regret getting a skip’

Don't have a loft. Do have a double garage full of crap I don't want/need.

We no longer have a loft and it concentrates the mind. Do you really want to store that picture, suitcase etc. when we emptied our loft the DV were horrified when we asked if they wanted their stuff. DD had a collection of school bags! I advise people moving into their first home to nail the trap door shut. However DS has simply filled her garage.

We did 'Swedish Death Cleaning' five years ago and completely emptied our loft. (a consequence of having to clear DF and MILs houses after deaths and not wanting to leave it to our children). The weight lifted was immense.
We also downsized earlier this year and got rid of 2/3 of our possessions as they wouldn't fit the new house.
Haven't missed a thing, it's really freeing and I still might get rid of more 😊

We keep our summer / winter clothes up there . At each season dh goes up and gets it down ( packed in plastic boxes ) and I rotate them .

Christmas tree and decorations are stored up there .

Dh is a bit of a horder, so a lot of " Might be useful one day " is up there with " Might be valuable one day " and don't forget " Will eBay " when he gets time to do it !

If you haven't looked at it/ used it in a couple of years then you're unlikely to need it. It's a good habit to get into to have a semi-regular clear out and look at all the stuff you have, consider whether you still need it, and get rid of it if not.

I try to be quite ruthless and only keep what I need or things that are very sentimental. The 'but I might need it one day' feeling is strong but you just have to override it!

We have some stuff in storage but only because our place is too small for it. When we move we will get it out and use it.

My ceiling was starting to come down above my bed. I lived with it a while as it wasn’t drastic. Eventually we called in a plasterer. He nearly brained himself, poor chap, as two large boxes of post war ceramics tiles were hiding under the loft insulation. Obviously they were the culprits.

We keep things like suitcases, christmas tree and decorations, DD's uni bedding/crockery etc when she is at home. So yes, things we use. If you're not using it and having looked at it for 2 years, take it to the tip.

I can't even get up into my loft because I'm a wimp -it's a free standing ladder that has to be leant against the wall and then i'd need to haul myself up through the hatch.
The loft is floored though. Some of the stuff up there I want to keep - a wooden single bed frame, electric fans and other useful stuff.
But there's other stuff, like old computers, that I'd like to get rid of but my son wants to keep.
Seeing as he's the one who has the job of going up in the loft when necessary and he'll be the one to have to sort it all out when I die , then I'm not going to make an issue of it.

We keep Christmas stuff, suitcases and a bit of DS's stuff that he hasn't room for in his small rental up there. We used to keep loads of the stuff you describe but one day we got everything down into the front garden to sort out and took most of it to the tip

We have been in our house over 24 years, we have Christmas decorations and suitcases in ours. Even if the bed could be used in the future, I wouldn't keep the mattress in the loft.

According to my brother (who knows about these things) if we are talking seriously old computers not just broken laptops... they could be valuable

Are you married to my DH @ArcticGrass?

I would be happy if the loft was just Xmas decorations and suitcases. DH has a whole other approach. He’s more of a “Pop it in the loft for now” and it stays. And stays.

All of those things sound prime for letting go of.

I'm happy with everything we have in our loft. There's a Christmas area, suitcases & camping stuff, and a few boxes of the children's toys which DC weren't ready to completely get rid of. I'm in no rush to hurry them.

Boxes for electrical items, they get sorted and binned every couple of years, old accounts, Xmas decs and a couple of boxes of old school stuff. But nothing that’s actually a day to day type item.

No, probably not. I honestly don't even know what is up there anymore.

That's the place where all the things that are 'too good to throw away, but I'm not sure what to do with/am too lazy to sort out properly' live.

We use ours for Christmas/Halloween/Paddy’s Day decor, suitcases, summer/winter clothes and blankets storage and one box of DD’s childhood toys.

We moved home from forrin parts a couple of years ago and ruthlessly cleared loss of stuff before the move. Less possessions really is calming.

I'm trying to declutter at the moment and have been finding useful advice - this might apply here. Two 'tests' you can apply to decide whether to keep something -

• Have you used it in the last year? If not, you probably don't need it.
• If you saw it in a shop today, would you buy it? If not, get rid of it.

Sentimental things are the most difficult for me to get rid of. The advice I have found recommends keeping a representative selection of sentimental items only, e.g. three treasured things from your childhood.

Suitcases, christmas decorations, old photographs ... our loft is full to bursting!