Feeling so despondent about decluttering - what motivates you or what can I do to help?

[Ragglefrock]

Living in a rented place with very little storage. I have a room I'm trying to clear so my children dont have to share rooms anymore. It's just taking so long and even when I'm not actually doing it Im thinking about it.
The amount of stuff in there is phenomenal:
CDs
pictures in frames
Books
school pictures in frames
crafting stuff in boxes and bags

That list is about a quarter of the stuff - the rest is an assortment of god only knows what.

It's a massive mountain. Help!!

There are lots of great blogs if you want some links?

Flylady is the classic declutter/cleaning website, if you can handle a bit of religion. She recommends 15 mins at a time.

What motivates me is how good it feels when it's gone! Once you give away/chuck a few things and get a bit of momentum, it gets much easier as it feels so great. CFs for example - do you ever listen to those? Rip them to a hard drive if so, and if not you could Freecycle or car boot them (suggest the former, faster and easier).

Links to blogs might be good thanks. I've seen fly lady before and go on pinterest a lot looking at tidy homes, decluttering etc.
I know I need to keep going but my entire heatt is screaming at me to go and cry somewhere.

I will try and persuade my OH to get rid of the cds as we have them electronically anyway!! I did suggest putting them in a folder type thing but he wasnt up for that.

Do one small corner at a time so that you can see the results quickly. So don't go through the whole house decluttering- instead, declutter, tidy and organise your nightstand and then keep it that way.

Www.zenhabits.com

I found a charity shop that collects. I book a collection and that gives me a deadline. It also means that stuff actually leaves the house as the hoarders don't see it lying around.

www.unfuckyourhabitat.com

Really straightforward advice!

Unless you're going to hang/display the photos and pictures then could you take them out of the frames and give the frames away, then store pictures in one album? Same goes for the cd cases - just keep CDs in one holder.

Sorry, missed that your husband 'isn't keen' on a folder. Well , tough shit, really? unless he comes up with a miraculous storage solution, then give him a deadline to sort them and after that you donate them to charity.

I had this issue with DH and CDs - we moved house twice in 2 years and the second time I realised the CDs had not really been listened to since we unpacked them - we had about 200 on bookshelves gathering dust.

Most were actually mine & I boxed them up to donate, but DH got very clingy and upset and claimed he listened to them etc.

We compromised on getting rid of about 40-50, then over time he realised he didn't miss them and we ended up getting rid of most of them. I'd say get rid of the whole lot rather than get folders, but folders are waaay better than nothing, all our DVDs are in two large black zippy folders in a cupboard, we chucked all the boxes.

I now avoid bringing DVDs or CDs into the house as I know DH will struggle to let them go, he is the son of two extreme hoarders so grew up in a house so full of stuff that he doesn't see the need to get rid of anything.

I am currently selling everything and anything on eBay. We're not terribly cluttered but there are things that have been hanging around for too long.

I use my iPhone, take lots of decent photos, write accurate descriptions and give things decent titles with lots of words to search on. I pretty much post most things to attract a wider audience but still offer collection only.

It's quite amazing how much money you can make.

An item DH and I fished out of a skip at the dump for free (and used for a short while) is currently selling for 20 odd quid. There are still two days to go...

Might rename myself 'Stig of the Dump'...

Old Mumsnetters will get that one.

dots didn't feel old until you said that! I think of Stif whenever I see "cool" walls made of jamjars...

Have you got dejunk your life out the library? It's quite philosophical. I'm about to reread to give me a boost as we're getting decluttered to move house. My problem is sentimental stuff - photos, letters, travelling memorabilia.

All my CDs and most DVDs, games, etc are in a big folder. DP is the hoarder so I share your pain. Agree with having one space cleared to keep you sane and also using a kitchen timer to see what you can get done in 10 minute chunks.

What folders do you use for DVDs? Can anyone link to them?

I use these:
www.caselogic.com/en/nz/products/cd-dvd-cases/view-all

That is the nz website cos that is where I am but they are in the UK.

Shamelessly place marking

I meant Stig of course?!
Yep, we used CaseLogic bought off amazon I think. Good for storing photos on disc too. DP hated watching me chuck the cases of DVDs, CDs and games though. He loves tangible stuff!

Keep looking at pictures on Houzz of decluttered places and trying to keep the faith. Also a big fan of baskets on bookshelves though, by the way. If you can't declutter, store prettily. Probably end up putting DPs gear in some old painted chest of drawers so I don't have to look at it at least!

Ace, thank you! Amazon have the 320 capacity for £24 so I think I'll get one to give it a go!!