To ask what stuff you have to have out in the house that you'd rather not?

[toconclude]

Just some light relief from petrol angst.
Mine would be OHs running trophies which line the front of several bookshelves. I'm proud of him for being so fit and getting them, but they're all so fugly: tacky cups or blocks of wood ) resin with plastic 'medallions' glued to them. Why don't they offer something useful like a t-shirt?

Dog crates. Mounds of paperwork and books from dd’s school that she never bothers to sort and take in her office. Ditto crap dh prints out and yet to be dealt with paperwork. Dining table is large and all accumulated there.

Dd is older now and we had the house redecorated so there was a mass cull of an array of art from primary school on walls, toys, handmade ornaments etc. A selection kept for posterity. Trophies earned a few years ago for sports no longer participated in have been put away.

Now my house looks lovely for the most part as it’s to my taste, which is positively fantastic.

An extra computer, still plugged in and kept solely for certain precious reasons. It's attached to the main computer and printer so the printer will only talk to the old computer. Don't let me get too technical here, but to print from the newer computer involves unplugging things and replugging them. Yes the printer is wireless but he doesn't trust it to multitask (well he can't..)

Loads of bottles in the bathroom. I would like them all put away and brought out when needed then put away again but apparently that is unreasonable and unworkable. It’s doesn’t help that adult children have different shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste etc so we end up looking like a supermarket aisle of products.

@Stormwhale

The dogs ashes. I know it makes me an awful person, but there is no way to make a box of ashes look nice on a sideboard.

I agree. I keep my baby's ashes in my wardrobe. I wouldn't want them on display, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Dog stuff. Crates, sacks of food, the pen for the garden that I have nowhere to store so it sits folded up (mostly) in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong I love owning dogs, but all the crap that comes with them is a bind.

All my husband's unopened post and unsorted filing that has to be out on view or else he 'won't see it' but he still only tackles it 2-3 times a year, and then that's only to open the post and sort it into piles that he doesn't file for another 4-6 months.

Boxes and boxes of model railway locos, rolling stock, parts and landscape. Books about same. My upstairs hallway is lined with them. Plus 2 bedrooms full of the stuff.

I get whined at if I leave my crochet hook and ball of wool on the coffee table.

When we moved house DHs brother brought us this really ugly carving. Think it's African and supposed to bring good luck.
It's fucking heavy and hideous but DH likes it. Its even worse now because a part of it is broken.
I'm hoping as our son gets older he'll break the damn thing to bits (possibly with some help from me).

Tonnes of tech from DH’s work, a mixture of outdated products and unreleased ones that he brings home to test. All don’t work properly, fail to communicate with one another, restart at random etc.

DD’s “favourite toys” (a random cardboard box, a single sticker on a piece of paper). Also: Frozen paraphernalia. I could open a branch of the Disney store here. Argh.

DH would say about me that it’s my work stuff - I run a food bank and people locally tend to leave donations at my door. Which is lovely, but often means we open the door to find a metre-high stack of egg cartons or several large bags of allotment produce.

Growing up my father had 1:40 scale models of every piece of mining equipment ever manufactured by Caterpillar, liberally dotted about the house.

@Stormwhale

The dogs ashes. I know it makes me an awful person, but there is no way to make a box of ashes look nice on a sideboard.

@stormwhale I have a friend whose dog's ashes are in a beautiful box on the mantelpiece. I think it's disrespectful to their loyal and much loved pet not to bury or scatter her ashes. Perhaps you could start saying that?

Everything on the kitchen counters. I wish I could have totally empty ones, the toaster stresses me out being on show 😂

Countless framed pics of gchildren which arrive courtesy of DIL several times a year. I think its naff to have them all over every available surface; she thinks the opposite. So there they are for the sake of family harmony.

DHs James Bond and Batman model car collection, pewter dragon collection, Stargate SG1 action figures, Star Wars figures, Harry Potter figures. We're moving house in a couple of weeks and the amount of space his crap takes up is ridiculous! Just clutters the living room and bedroom!

During 1st lockdown we had a cull. Now it’s mainly paperwork and a weekly blitz to clear the surfaces of stuff that’s crept out onto the worktop/dining table/sideboard during the week.
It feels much calmer, and we’ve started displaying collections of stuff collected over years in display cases on the wall, so they aren’t hidden away (theatre and gig tickets, model car collection Etc.) nice to think they have a decorative and conversation starter purpose now!

@toconclude

Just some light relief from petrol angst. Mine would be OHs running trophies which line the front of several bookshelves. I'm proud of him for being so fit and getting them, but they're all so fugly: tacky cups or blocks of wood ) resin with plastic 'medallions' glued to them. Why don't they offer something useful like a t-shirt?

Race t.shirts are usually pretty crap quality, I have tonnes of them, though they do usually fit men better than women.

I used to have my running trophies on display, but people would think they were my sons' and I felt a bit of a twat saying they were actually mine.

Now they're all squashed willy nilly on a shelf upstairs generally collecting dust.

FWIW, I am very proud of my gold plastic woman on a plinth!

Currently, the cats litter tray area. He took agin to the new litter so started weeing on the carpet. I've had to put a load of puppy pads down under the trays. He is elderly, 19, so I forgive him.

An ornament of Chairman Mao holding a ping pong bat. Dh thinks it’s amusing.
An ornament of a mass murderer ‘amusing’? Hardly.
Imagine if someone put an ornament of Hitler on the mantelpiece.

Memorabilia definitely, cups and the like of his dad but have been relegated to the study at least.

Plastic storage containers. We have too many and not enough.

Old electronic chargers, wires and tech.

I have not allowed another toaster to enter the house ever since I put one on and a mouse jumped out . Its wee feet got burned on the elements I think

@Howareyouflower unfortunately DH is set on having her here. He took losing her really badly, so I dont want to upset him.

OH's electric guitars, amps, other equipment that hasn't been used for decades but which we have to keep, and have cluttering up a corner of the lounge apparently. As PPs have said, all my own stuff - absolutely fine

@longwayoff

Countless framed pics of gchildren which arrive courtesy of DIL several times a year. I think its naff to have them all over every available surface; she thinks the opposite. So there they are for the sake of family harmony.

Keep the most recent one out and archive the rest to stop them from fading 😉 In my house, it's dh's bike and associated bits in the dining room and Harry Potter Lego (and boxes) in mid- build which belongs to adult offspring.

Stop them from fading? Brilliant idea, I'll do that today. Thanks very much Rooby.

@cushioncovers

Everyone else's shit. Mine is ok though

This ^^

So, so much.

Antlers and yak chews the dog leave lying about.
A bassoon and a drum kit.
MIL’s childhood doll with scratched eyes and a wonky head. One night I’ll wake with a start to find she’s climbed down from the attic and is standing by my bed.
A Margaret Thatcher novelty nutcracker and a very valuable but very ugly large welsh landscape painting. Can’t sell it. Really display it. Both inherited from FIL, whose ashes we are also keeping until we can get to Switzerland to scatter them.

If it was just DH and me our house would be a temple to minimalism.