to wonder what is a normal amount of clutter?

[halcyondays]

What do most people keep or not keep by way of sentimental clutter?

and for practical items such as clothes, paperwork, spare duvet sets etc.?

Has anyone manage to reform from being a bit of a hoarder and is so what helped?

thanks

We have three sets for each bed, one Christmas, one winter, one summer. They're replaced whenever they need to be. The DCs bedrooms are Kallax-ed to within an inch of their lives so they've loads of storage space.

Our bedroom has wall-to-wall wardrobes and drawers so nothing is on show but perfume bottles on the dresser and books on bedside tables.

The lounge has a pretty large bookshelf and a huge dresser the DCs gaming stuff is stored in.

DH's office has one large bookshelf and a large filing cabinet. Everything is filed within a week of arrival and relegated to the loft after 12 months in the office. I'm militant about keeping stuff organised because DH's business means he's away often and I can't deal with papers everywhere.

The kitchen is organised because we store stuff we don't use often in the garage on racking.

I'm brutal about throwing stuff away (although I do have a box for each year of the DCs lives filled with their shite, which DH thinks is crazy - it's reports, photos, special pictures/paintings, school stuff they'll like to see as adults etc) and they're all in the loft, labelled. I also have a 'wow wall' in the kitchen with all the DCs certificates and fabulous stuff on so that it's not spread everywhere.

My only room that's not organised with military precision (expect for the DCs rooms because I don't want them to spend their lives hating me for my de-cluttering ways) is the spare room. At the minute the bed is covered in all of our winter stuff, shoes, scarves, gloves, ski stuff, a few other bags of goodness knows what and anything else in need of a quick home. It's like my very own Monica-cupboard - I'm totally organised except for that one room.

Rose - your opinions mean nothing to me. You're slagging off people for having autonomy over their own bodies on another thread.

I enjoy bedding. I'm disabled and bedridden a lot of the time, so I like being surrounded in something I enjoy the look and feel of. How strange to judge somebody on what they use on their bed.

if something doesn't have a function and it is just occupying place or taking up storage without ever being used again, get rid. For me it is a simple as that.

I have 2 sets of bedding for each bed (one in use and one for changing).

I use Freecycle a lot to shift things and also get a lot of stuff from there. Guess we are just not that much addicted to shopping and buying endless stuff noone needs. It is a mindsets.

I'm not sure how much bedding I've got, but I do need to have a cull. I have winter and summer bedding (crisp cotton for summer, brushed cotton for winter). Now the kids have moved out, we only need stuff for our bed, and the bed in the guest room.

All bedding, as well as towels, tablecloths and curtains, are kept in the airing cupboard.

I'm brutal. Everything that can be on line is on line. We have three sets of beddings and towels each. Every six weeks I do a sweep of plastic tat with a bin bag, the kids have never noticed.

Another vote for Marie Kondo. I suffer from anxiety and depression and have never been able to throw away anything "in case I need it". However the back end of last year I started really struggling when I was at home because everywhere I looked there was stuff. I started emotionally closing off when I walked in because I found it so stressful.

I started this year with a resolution to declutter (not just tidy away and organise which is how I had approached it before). A couple of months in I was recommended her book and it has given order to my approach and in just 8 weeks I have got rid of around 60 bags of stuff. The house still feels full but I honestly can't remember most of what I have got rid of.

I still have a little way to go but this was the best thing I could have done.

Good luck to you, it can be done xxxx

Marie Kondo was a game changer for me.

Items of sentimental value, especially clothes: I have only kept a few 'firsts' for each of my 3 children - first pair of shoes, outfit they wore just after birth etc. - small enough to fit into one adult-size showbox.

All other sentimental clothes are re-made into something new. Middle child is currently having a patchwork blanket being made with the help of all their baby clothes. Oldest (boy) had a patchwork soft toy made out of his. Youngest will get a cushion cover - fewer new clothes at hand for that one ;-)

Old toys find a new home in hospitals and state nurseries - that way I know they still carry on being loved long after mine have outgrown them.

I don't keep much other sentimental stuff. I do hoard craft items, but have vowed to not buy anything new this year and come up for uses for all my old stock first. It's working well so far.

I'm pretty ruthless with everything else and twice a year several bin bags are filled with old stuff no one uses anymore.

I really struggle with minimalist homes. Most likely people would say my house is cluttered but it makes me happy! I've been in a few houses where the only things on the kitchen worktop are a kettle and a toaster, the only things in the living room are a TV and sofa. It just feels so bare and clinical, not like a home at all. I don't keep "rubbish" everything I have I either like or it has a purpose.

Vacuum seal bags are good for storing stuff that you might not need for a few months. What works for me is everything having a place. I'm quite ruthless with paperwork too. I don't see the necessity in keeping years of utility bills or bank statements.

Marie Kondo, this totally changed my mindset around “stuff” I probably declittered 1/3 of our “stuff” in 2015 and it’s never crept back up. I have become much more ruthless as I get a genuine serenity/ peace of mind feeling living with less clutter. Honestly I do get that that sounds really wanky! A lot of the MK method sounds bonkers too but I found it easy enough to pick and choose the bits that would work for us and discount the rest.

*decluttered

Thank you ICantCopeAnymore. I have several duvet sets and they're quite different and they make the bedrooms look quite different.
I did think that I should get rid of some of them but maybe now I won't.

I'm a reformed hoarder, I hate clutter now.
Paperwork: current bills only. Payslips are kept until P60. Online billing as much as possible. Our household paperwork only takes up 2 box files.
Bedding: 3 sets per bed
Sentimental keepsakes: the DCs have a baby box (shoebox sized) with hospital bands, scan pics, babygro and a few cards from people when they were born.
DH and are not sentimental but I'd kept so much stuff from school, old books/ diaries/ uniform. That was freeing.
Clothing: I keep a bin bag in my wardrobe to throw clothes that no longer make me feel great which goes to the charity bin when full.

Don't do it, Mike! Bedding can change the whole look of a room. It's a pleasure for me to lie in bed with a lovely set of bedding - the more choice the better!

I've never been shamed for it before though

The chuck things away philosophy only works for those with security of income.

I agree with that, though I am trying to become less cautious and presume most things I won't miss. I struggle with minimalists I have known.

Elderly relatives: no gifts possible. Even a small framed photo of their grandchildren becomes excessive. I don't think I do them a favour to buy them wine every time, either. I can't afford the stuff they might most like (tickets to Hamilton ).
Traveller friends: moan about how skint they are. Never buy anything in advance (eg. at jumble sale) then have to buy their kid expensive shirts at (some random place they stopped at) b/c they suddenly ran out of clothes.
Another friend: Kids crying b/c Dad threw out their favourite toys (he deemed clutter, rescued from bin by Mum).

How much of something is acceptable? I have too much stuff and it is getting me down. I have read Marie Kondo (more than once) and get it, but is there any way of putting a number on things?
For example, things that are actually nice and are used and bring me joy (like, say, new fluffy bath towels, plates, jackets, skirts, jeans etc )?

Things that you use regularly surely get to stay?
Kondo is about stuff that doesn't get used.

No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get away from clutter. On surfaces, in cupboards. Stuff gets thrown out but then we get more stuff. Argh!

Marie Kondo defo helped me. I like it because it's not minimalism and you can keep things you like. I do like some clutter. Not too much.

Kondo isn't just about getting rid.

Yesterday, I opened a drawer and took out an ice cream scoop. I use it maybe 1-2 times per year. However, that is regular for this item iyswim.

It's about keeping what brings you pleasure, or keeping what has a specific use. If 20 items of the same thing give pleasure, then keep them all. If it doesn't bring pleasure to keep so many, then cut back. If an item is functional, it may not actually be pleasurable, but the 'pleasure' is retermed 'useful'.

By the end of kondo, you may be surrounded by 1000s of items that bring pleasure, or be living a minimalist lifestyle. The main thing is, you have cut out the rest

Kondo = only keep what brings pleasure or is useful (like the ice cream scoop!). With the useful items, you only keep what you need - I don't have 4/5 ice cream scoops, I have just one.

That's pretty much what William Morris advocated.

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

MK has just updated it.

Nothing wrong with updating it...

And she talks through the process so that people who struggle can follow the method (like losing weight, if it was easy everyone would do it).

Of course there's nothing wrong with updating it. I was just pointing out that it wasn't a new concept.

I don't think anyone has said it is?

I think when you cannot clear the surfaces in the centre of the room, you have too much clutter. That is my rule of thumb. And if the centre seems to be getting smaller and smaller that also means there is too much clutter, how every many boxes it is neatly stacked up in.

It depends how large your living space is really, whether something is clutter or not. Clutter is what stops you living functionally.

I think people lose sight of what is necessary for their happiness or what their house is actually for. It is for them to live in. One man's clutter is another man's "nest". It is a sliding scale of what functions, is hygenic, allows that person to sleep eat and socialise successfully.