To find it impossible to declutter with 3 children in a two bed

[Littlebittiredoflife]

For the past two weeks we have been relentlessly decluttering, 12 bags have gone off to charity with another 12 in the bin/recycling. It still doesn't feel enough and with a 10, 8 and 6 year old living here I don't see how much more we could do. I keep reading decluttering is a key part to selling a home, especially if you can get rid of furniture but they'd be so sad to lose half their toys and we do all need clothes to wear. Please can anyone suggest what we can do to make an impact and keep up the motivation? I'm also aware the longer we take to do this the longer before we actually try to sell and it's getting to Summer which I imagine is a tricky time of year to sell with people going away.

Could you put some things into storage?

I have two words for you.

be ruthless.

Is there someone who would store some boxes for you while you sell? If so could you box up some things ready to move and store them out of the house, rather than having to get rid of things.

Can you hire a nearby storage unit and put all the winter clothes and 2/3 the toys into storage. Rotate the toys every week or so ....visiting the unit and swapping one box of toys with another for a week...makes the toys seem new and you look less cluttered. We did that once whilst we moved and it worked.

If its just their toys and clothes in the way, then buy some storage solutions to put their toys and clothes into.

do you have an attic?

Utterly ruthless and use under beds and height of room for storage. Board your loft out for storage too.

Toy overwhelm is well documented and actually negatively impacts their ability to play.

Clothes they don't need much at all especially if you get into the routine of doing a wash a day.

I feel your pain. First sunny weekend of the year and we promised to clear DDs room.

I am ruthless. If she hasn't touched it/worn it/used it in the last ten minutes, in the bin! 🗑️ I think you also need clever storage. We are looking at ottoman beds, 80s style over bed cupboards. Anything!

Break a leg!

Have you got a loft/ cellar. If so box stuff up and rotate it- summer/ winter clothes, toys etc. And agree- be ruthless. Parents are often more reluctant to throw stuff out than the kids!

Thank you for the suggestions. We got all the toys out and decluttered maybe 10%, they don't have loads but with 3 of them on one single bedroom it is hard. We already have ceiling height storage and no other storage other than the rooms (no loft etc.). To be honest it's probably our stuff too but the closest storage is over £100 a month for the smallest one (size of a hatchback so probably not even worth it). Paying for storage is probably something we need to consider though. Under bed is already full. We have storage solutions but these are the types of things estate agents have suggested we remove.

do you have family with a garage?

Is your house still feeling cluttered?

When you look around, does it look like there's too much stuff?

I think a key is to have clear surfaces, and a clear floor. If you don't use it, to part with it. For example, in the kitchen, ensure all the surfaces are clear of clutter, have as much put away as possible.

Is your entryway tidy and uncluttered? Having a place for everything is essential, too - so when the DCs have finished playing, they know where to put their toys. When they finish their homework, put it straight in their school bags, rather than leaving it on the table. Do you all follow the 'one touch rule'? It has transformed my life!

It is much easier to clean & keep everything tidy once you have decluttered, but then having reached that point, there are methods to help you keep an organised house too.

It might be that you have already done enough, it's hard to tell without pictures. Good luck with the sale.

Box up 40% of toys and put in the attic.
In a month's time swap them over.

Same with any out of season clothes etc.

If the kids didn't miss anything then get rid.

If it gets you another 10k for the house, £100/month for storage unit is well worth it

But to be honest, I wouldn't worry about removing furniture, I'd focus on making it look tidy and tucking things away. Buyers are able to use their imagination as well. Lots of houses around us have sold despite being messy and lived in.

Have you done the thing of trying to get rid of a percentage of everything in all categories? So if you group together 10 of the same thing and decide you’re only keeping half with scope to creep to 6/10?
so things like
mugs
glasses
towels
bedding sets
kids toys in categories such as
jigsaws
games
soft toys
dolls
cars

so rather than the kids saying no don’t get rid of jigsaws you’re saying you just can’t keep them all. Remind them there are always birthdays for new things!

No family within 2.5 hours drive. Everywhere is a mess with some bits needing to go but not sure how (like laptops that need data removed). Most things feel like they could be put away though, except all the toys which is why I've mentioned them. Probably need to get a good tidy done, it just all feels like to takes a lot of time.

It's not going to increase the value,. unfortunately our type of property is no longer desirable since WFH and obviously has limitations with no additional storage space.

How does the percentage work when it comes to toys like collection of paw patrol vehicles or a marble run? A lot of the toys are sets and none of us would want to break the collection. Even things like Lego and Playmobil, it'd be hard to decide what half to keep. But that rule did work well for kitchen and bathroom stuff!

I felt I was making no difference and then we suddenly reached a tipping point when it started looking better.

We don't have a lot of storage space either. My plan for viewings is to hide as much as possible in the cars . . .

We dumped many boxes in the garages of relatives. Plus stuffed the car full when it was viewing time.
Also sent some toys to Grandma's to play with when you go there.

You are talking yourself out of finding a solution.

A decluttered home will be easier to sell. It isn't just about asking price, it is also about buyer commitment.

You have three choices:
a) declutter permanently meaning dispose of items - people who do this don't worry about collections etc., they prioritise space
b) store items outside of your home until you move - people who do this tolerate the cost
c) store items better inside your home - people who do this tolerate the cost

If you don't want to do any of these things, you don't have to! But they are all doable.

but you could still drive a car load of winter clothes/toy sets, to a family with a garage
make it worth it
are you using under bed space

I think I’d focus on keeping the main communal areas (lounge, kitchen, dining room, hall) tidy and clean, but not worry about the kids’ room. Any viewer with half a brain cell will see you have 3 beds in one room and all the kids’ stuff crammed in there, and it will simply explain why you’re moving! If it helps for clothes, we bought some vacuum bags a few years ago when we lived in a small flat that were great for squashing winter coats, big jumpers, spare towels etc down to a smaller size that could then go under the bed/in a cupboard. If I was viewing a house, it wouldn’t put me off at all if it was a bit cluttered due to the family outgrowing it. What’s off-putting is dirt, mould, smells etc - just make sure everything is clean and things like dirty washing, muddy shoes etc are well hidden.

In our 2 bed before we moved I rented a storage unit and removed everything except one small tub of toys and bare essentials. Also removed out of season clothes, shoes and other things that we would want once we’d moved. We lived on the bare essentials in every way for nearly a year. It helped sell the house very quickly I feel, helped me keep it clean and tidy for viewing and made packing really simple. We got a skip too after a while of sorting and filled it. Then as we packed more things we took them to storage so we weren’t living in boxes.
It made the move easy and it made us think about whether we actually wanted to to keep things long term, and whether to move them into the new place.

I probably am putting up barriers but when family is so far away and either have similar storage space to use or several siblings still at home it's not really possible for them to take on anymore. It is making me realise why I'm finding it so hard as some of these are big barriers that we can't break down- like not having a loft. We could consider storage,.last time we looked the one down the road was full and next closest a twenty minute drive away but it is an option we'll have to consider more. We'll have to be more ruthless with the toys and clothes too!

What we are trying to sell is not a typical family home, so most people looking will find it hard to look beyond the kids clutter. Likewise the necessary WFH desk set up we have. There is also zero inbuilt storage here so everything we have encroaches on the room space and I think renting storage might be the quickest was to tackle this.