Calling all hoarders out there......why?

[muriel76]

My DH is a bit of a hoarder. Some of his family are the same but particularly his mum, she seems to keep everything. They both like to also display pointless things ie books that will never be/never have been read etc.

Don't get me wrong, it is not a big deal or anything but I do want to understand why. It's hard to understand as my mum is the complete opposite and I am the same. DH and I have agreed to give the house (another!) big clear out and it would help me to hear a hoarder's view!

(Obviously I have talked with him about it many times BTW, I am just looking for other people's more neutral insights)

Thanks for any replies.

Oh well done! I am on my phone so wont write much, too difficult!
Thanks for the encouragement and you are right. 7 bags of clothing. :) I will get back to it, I promise. You lot are great!

Ooo babies! You're winning! You're onto the emotional stuff! Eeek. Great to have DM to help. What kind of stuff is in the pile? And do you have an ideal outcome in your head? Like allowing yourself one box of treasure?

Yay, c'mon girls! :)

AM I winning !? Yeah :)

Looks awful in my dining room. My previously cleared and used every meal time table has boxes on it again BUT hopefully for the last time (I'll do the clothes upstairs)

I have been working hard all morning and I have the following.

A. Three boxes 1/3 full each. One for each DC with special pictures and christening presents and birthday cards in.

B. Small box with all our engagement and wedding stuff (including all my honeymoon things including confetti...awwww)

C. Small box of other 'stuff' Letters from childhood, cards and other rubbish precious things.

D. Pile of photos which need scanning and either displaying or adding to above boxes.

E. LEFT TO DO. File Box of warranty and other house things, to be sorted through and reordered. Big box of 'stuff' for me to sort put, stuff from my childhood.

:)

"do you have an ideal outcome in your head?"
My ideal outcome is one box for each DC (i.e. three) and one big box with all DH and I's stuff including wedding and our childhood stuff.

Those four boxes will fit nicely stacked up in the gap between the big wardrobe and the wall. OK, it is still clutter in a way.

But surely everyone has some emotional type stuff somewhere ?

I think that is pretty impressive - I have ahem, more than one box of childhood memory stuff.

Wow babies! I am dead jealous!
I'm moving my business warehouse in a couple of weeks, so packing up stock and shelving etc. But..... Big hoard of weevils stuff in the far corner. Something like 50 boxes. my lovely warehouse helper is gonna help with the initial sort, took a peek in a box today, just as a toe in the water, a letter from my mother dated 9th dec 1979, i was 10 yrs old and had been at boarding school for one term. I cried. My helper said her parents had NOTHING from her childhood, so she was a bit sad that she had nothing to remind her. Interesting to have 2 extremes.

no no no, it's all too much like hard work, the more you tidy and minimise the more there is to clean. hoard and pile, if it's recyclable then do so, if it's rubbish throw it out but otherwise pile it up, each addition to the pile covers a bit of dusting you won't have to do again. eventually nobody notices the dust as there's just too much stuff, it looks wildly eccentric and it's the easiest way to create natural styling.
and when something really needs cleaning it's so satisfying working through long forgotten stuff with all their attached memories and cleaning proper amounts of filth.

Prunella, prunella!! You're on the wrong thread hun! We're all on the hoarding wagon, do not tempt us off with your siren call of eccentric piles of interesting stuff.

Yep, on the hoarding wagon Yep.

weevilswobble, the ONLY thing standing between me and having 50 boxes of stuff, is having no warehouse space to store it in !

I have been in the loft today and going through (time consuming) cards...I've chucked lots, but kept more and I'm going to get there!!! place is still a tip though.

Good grief I draw the line at the attic...it has spiders. Brave you.

I sold an enormous Encyclopaedia of the World at the car boot, as it took up about 4 inches of bookshelf, regret it now. DD doing a history project. Arghhhhhh.

weevilswobble, You have the internet. Your DD can look up all the information she needs and it will be up to date with all recent historical discoveries which the book wouldn't include...plus you have 4 inches of cleared bookshelf.

No chuckers remorse here This is a win win situation. :)

I have still not address my last couple of boxes on the dining room table TBH it won't get looked at until Monday, so why worry about it, LOL

On the bright side my knee is healed enough to start the C25K again, so I did Week 3, Run 1 yesterday and it was so much fun. :)

The thing is, I have very little storage space and the loft is low and taken up by a very big water tank bang smack in the middle! I have to reorganise it so that I can keep some tatt put some nice bits away that I just can't chuck!

Lots of storage space just puts the job off for another day. Little storage space makes you face it here and now!
I've just put all but the latest NT and Eng Heritage guide books in the recycling and got all the 'touristy/ day out/ visity info' from 2 boxes down to one tidy basket.
(small victories!)
On the plus side, one of the English Heritage magazines, all of which i've kept, has a great 5 page Roman article! Yay! History project homework here we come!

I'm still going...have done smallish bits today and have a small carrier bag of boys clothes to go so far...

Gores? Whores? Why the change?

Yeah Solo another bag packed and ready to go.

I am so tired I am staring at the rain outside, baby asleep in pram in hall...I need to get the ironing donebut worried I'll drop the blasted thing on me ! Arggh Wake up.

No decluttering done but I am keeping on top of stuff so far, just need to wizz around kitchen before lunch and catch up with the neverending laundry pile.

it's just a seasonal namechange...thought it was quite good for Halloween...woooOOOooooo!

Aww babies! Times like that ya just gotta curl up on the sofa with a blanket and gi sleepies! Hope you get a nice early night!
WoooOOOooooo to you too gores! Lol

*go not gi!

Sooooo, we've pack up all the stock and all the shelves at the warehouse and all that remains is weevils hoard of lots and lots of stuff in the far corner......gulp.....time to face it! My lovely warehouse helper is gonna help me, not exactly in the job description, but then the treat of a lovely spa treatment shes gonna get isnt either!
Will report back tomorrow!
(she calls it my Monica cupboard! You'll get that if you've watched Friends)

Well done weevils :)