now we've started: will this mess ever end?

[veryberrybug]

i live in a good-sized 2-bedroom flat with DP & 2 DDs. we moved in 6 years ago & the kids chose the smaller of the 2 double bedrooms. now they're 9 & 12, they've outgrown it, so we decided to swap rooms (which means they've got room for desks etc). i thought it'd be a good opportunity to declutter we did the swap 2 weeks ago, & they've been brilliant packing up all their stuff etc. but now we've got the big bits of furniture moved, all the bits of crap remain waiting to be sorted, & it's doing my head in. i'm torn between hanging onto stuff (ornaments, pictures, furniture) which is nice, i love & was a present, & my dream of an uncluttered house of loveliness with spaces between things ! how do you do it? how do you not end up with a house full of adoreable nicknacks where there's no even room to put down a cup of tea?!! all suggestions considered except burning the lot on bonfire night

Chuck it

what about the sentimental value though? or the feeling i may find another use for it?

Use freecycle for bits that are not valuable but that people will want, charity shop or chuck stuff. I'm in same situation but have hardened my heart and started getting rid and it feels so much nicer to have the space!

We're decorating at the moment , moving lots of stuff and I've already chucked out a vase and a bowl that I've had for donkey's years.

They were so familiar, but just handling them again, made me realise that I don't love them. They were given to me and they've just been around. I didn't actively choose them, iyswim.

Why not just choose the best picture/ornament for your new room? You could store the rest and see how you feel in a month?

aw thanks guys. i've decided to only put back in stuff i really want, rather than unpacking it all willy-nilly. i like the plan to box it up for a month & thereafter if i still don't want it charity shop. it'll be good to see if i actually don't miss it, & if i do to not be lumbered with regret putting me off ever throwing anything out again! it's hard to break the hoarding habit of a lifetime

With sentimental stuff you could always take a photo of it before getting rid? then you are still preserving the memory but losing the clutter.

I'm in the middle of a huge decluttering effort and I have to tell you it feels so so good to have less stuff. I've also noticed that I often feel guilty about binning things but once it's gone, that's it - I never think of it again.