Help me declutter

[PenguinBear]

I am rubbish at decluttering. I thought I'd start with the DCs stuff but I end up not wanting to throw out anything that I've bought them

I am also rubbish at throwing out our stuff too.. All tips welcome :)

Join the minimalism threads? The current one is 'moving forward' Most of us are only aspiring minimalists learning to declutter.
On one of the earlier threads, someone recommended reading 'Banish clutter forever'. It addresses why it's difficult for some people to make decisions about stuff. Ideally obtain it as an e-book or borrow from the library.
Do you know why you don't want to part with the stuff? (waste of money? concerned you might need it in the future? sentimental reasons?)
Also, being mindful about what comes into the house. Thinking about purchases carefully helps slow down the build up of clutter.

Set yourself a goal for example if theres something I want to buy to like a new bag and need £50 I go through all my clothes and ebay the ones i don't wear so much that way I raise the cash and declutter a little at the same time. This also works with the kids toys/clothes etc etc. If you feel it's hard to let go think about how good it will feel when you finally declutter and have more space/room.

I started with groups of things. For example towels, mugs or sets of bedding. Work out how many you actually need,then cull to tthis amount. It helps to see all of the items in one place and you are making a judgement in the round about your favourite towels (or whatever) rather than throwing out haphazardly.

Start with low emotion things (why I chose towels).

Revisit areas and groups. For example you might go through a dresser and only be able to get rid of a few things. But if you come back in a month or so, having worked on a few other areas in the meantime, you might find you spot more things that can go.

Thanks for the advice :) I always feel I need to declutter in the run up to Christmas to Make space for the influx of new toys etc.

Oh and I have a copy of banish clutter forever, didn't find it that useful but many did so if you want it just pm me and I'll post it.

Thanks Blossom, that's very kind of you. If I knew how to PM you I would!

Click message poster and you can sent a private message.

We're doing a declutter now. What's helped us make real progress is rather than what we used to do is dump things in our storage area and do that last we've this time looked at our storage area, redone that first, and now it's such a nicer space with most of the previously dumped stuff gone (or in the process of going). It helped a lot that we got our friends over to build extra storage and made a weekend of it with lots of friends. With that space fresh, we can now move space by space with far less stress.

I also created a little chart with each room, what we want to get done, what we can do ourselves, and what we need help with (typically getting rid of the rubbish). Then I can organize the latter, either with friends or with the council for really bulky things, and that gives me a deadline to do the former. We're now doing the kids room to prepare for the incoming, a lot more work that we thought but it's going step by step. Today as a reward for them getting it all up off the floor is letting them get new bedding at the shop.

I now have in my calendar a room or two to do every 2-3 weeks, enough time so I can get through an area properly and rest before the next, but not enough that it all creeps back and I get demotivated. Hopefully, we'll make it through everything this time, we're on our second area (bedrooms) now, at our rate we'll be all declutter by late spring. It's frustrating at times because part of me wants to just go to do it all now, but I know from experience that I burn out very quicky that way so bit by bit to make actual progress. I wish you the best with yours!

The Spork is dead right: don't try to do too big an area at once. I did this at the start of my decluttering, and I ended up sitting on the floor surrounded by mess, so overwhelmed I was in floods of tears! I found it was a lot easier to set a timer for 15 minutes, and declutter whatever size of area I could do in that time, then get a cuppa! Repeat every day, and you will win! As you do each area, think about storage, because if this is well designed, keeping a house decluttered is sooooo much easier.

A major enemy is sentimental attachment to stuff. My in-laws are sentimentally attached to EVERYTHING and their house is a tip, because throwing out even a pile of old newspapers is emotionally traumatic for them. Work out what your prize possessions are, allowing yourself only a few truly significant things. The point of decluttering is to allow you to enjoy those things in all their importance. Everything else is not just potentially disposable - it stops you from being able to live life to the fullest. So analyse: if you haven't used, worn, or got it out in the last 2 years, you probably don't need it. If you don't like it, you don't need it (yes, even if it was a gift). If it's a pain in the ass to use, you don't need it!

I'm doing this at the moment. It is stressful but a bit less so now I've started doing a little bit at a time. It is really liberating to realise you actually don't HAVE to keep every toy, book, piece of clothing forever and can either let someone else enjoy it, recycle or chuck it out if its no good to anyone. I recommend reading Banish Clutter Forever, its very easy to read and the ideas make complete sense. The bathroom exercise is particularly good.

I find DCs stuff easier - we have one cardboard box in the loft for favourite story books and the odd special toy that I want to keep. Eg Hairy Maclairy and a particular wooden shape sorter from when they were little. My mum kept loads of childrens books and my children have only been interested in a few of them as they seem so dated - which is of course part of their charm. The point is, you can't keep it all. My children like having their own toy sale - they set up a table at the front of the house and sit there one Saturday... they get some extra pocket money, people get bargains and they like seeing smaller children enjoying the toys they have grown out of. Anything not sold goes off to charity.

Ask yourself - why am I keeping this?
If I didn't have it any more what would happen?

Why do you want to declutter OP? Will you have more room or be able to find things that you need more easily? I find having the goal helps, I have looked at an item that takes up space and asked myself, what would I like more, that item or lots more room?

Stuff that I'm unsure about gets boxed up and put in one of the under stair cupboards, usually I don't miss the items at all and the whole lot goes to the charity shop/tip.