Someone please give me the strength I need to chuck out all the junk that surrounds me..............

[bramblina]

......and all the clothes I will never, ever wear again. I am somewhat a hoarder, and my house seems about HALF the size it was before we had kids I am drowning.....please help me.....

Other half is you have to stop buying stuff, too.

Totally do it!! I had a serious declutter before I had my baby. Even reduced the amount of plates, mugs etc so everything fit neatly in cupboards.

Clothes wise I allowed myself on canvas storage bag ( ikea ) and everything else went. So I have a few smaller things if I ever get into them - special shoes etc. bit mostly they have gone.

Then I treated myself to wicker storage boxes and expedit for toys.. Everyone comments in how I keep the house tidy. There's not enough stuff to clutter it up.

How about starting slowly. Just take on one bag / box / shelf in a day. But have a plan - charity, bin or give away. If you are into Ebay then you cld do that but only if you hv the time. All the best.

I feel your pain I am still holding on to so much stuff.. I have stuff bagged up on the stairs ready for car boot but I need to sort more stuff before I do the car boot and I need time to do this. I work 5 days a week and I like to spend time with dd's at the weekend.
I would love a clutter free house.

Tip for clothes; hang all the hangers backwards and set a date in approx6 months time (or whenever suits you). As you wear/wash/hang up clothes put them on hangers the 'right' way round. Anything left hung backwards you know you haven't worn so assess whether it's worth keeping (black tie seasonal etc).

A good system is the BUS system, which is:

Is the item?

Beautiful
Useful
Sentimental

If the item in question does not fit in any one of the above categories, then its time for the item to find a new place to live (Sell, charity, recycle or trash).

The hardest part is not convincing yourself something is useful when you haven't used it for 5 years, or that a cinema ticket from your first date is sentimental (which of course it will be, but you don't need a scratty bit of paper to remind you of your past)

I used to have a hard time with binning stuff, and I still have a weakness with clothes (everybody has a weak spot - something the struggle to part with) but for the most part, I am now ruthless, and a clean and organised home is far more beneficial than owning junk that you forgot you owned.

Another system is the one in, one out policy. For every item you bring into your home, one item has to leave. I actually don't find that system all that helpful, but, whatever works for you.

HTH

Also, get some large boxes/bags and label up charity/friends name (for passing on kids stuff)/bin/etc.

Line then up and start filling

Make sure they do get moved on though and don't just add to the clutter.