Please help me declutter!

[lovethebeach]

Does anyone please have any hints or tips on how to declutter my house? We've got so much STUFF it's ridiculous.
I'm lucky to have the school holidays off so my aim over the holiday is to try and declutter but I just don't know where to start.
If any organised person has any good ideas I'd be so grateful.

And to get me in the mindset that it's OK to get rid of stuff I don't use and clothes I haven't worn in about ten years....

With ornaments etc - ask yourself, do I love this enough to dust it?

With gifts - a Kondo tip - the point of the gift was to be given and received so don't feel obligated to keep anything just because it was a gift!

Clothes (I find this really hard) - don't keep things you never wear just because they cost a lot.

Before buying any new clothes/duvet sets/home decorations now, I try and decide what the new thing is replacing, and then discard/donate the old item straight away.

Personally I found Kondo a bit much and not very applicable when you share your living space with other people and their posessions, as it's too all-or-nothing.
I've got a book by Sheila Chandra called The Toothbrush Principle - it's good because it explains that reason clutter gets left everywhere is because the 'correct' place that you have designated for that stuff is in fact wrong, which is why the stuff never gets put away. It explains how to find places for things based on how and when you use them. It's got bits on when to throw stuff out as well. I'm not that organised yet but definitely making progress!

The thing that has helped me is vaguely through Kondo considering that space has a value as much as things do. Also time has value.

So we have kept a tonne of random low price easily replaceable things in a big bag in the loft. If I need something like one of these things is it more sensible to hunt down big bag, go through big bag, hopefully but probably not put it away having failed to find thingy because the one I needed was slightly bigger than the one I remembered having. Then I go to the shop and buy the perfect thingy for £1.35 within 10 minutes. So by keeping stuff I have wasted time and I have too much stuff.

DH and I have come to a revelation on DIY gubbins - he can buy a big tradesman's pack of fixings which comes with proper storage and we will dispose of all the random jumble of screws, nails, bolts and panel pins we keep in the shed.

Clothes I did an initial Kondo sort out and then anything I find myself avoiding for anything other than temperature related reasons gets charity shopped.

As you can guess I found the Kondo system of sorting by category and keeping what you need/love (I do not love waterproof trousers because I would prefer the weather to stay nice when I'm outside but they are better than staying in or getting wet!)

Be ruthless, box up loads of things you haven't used in a while/don't love. Put them all away somewhere (if there's space!) for a few months, anything you haven't missed/looked for in that time goes to charity shop or wherever. It's liberating!

Once you start it just gets easier and easier!

I started decluttering in the last three or four months and to begin with I got rid of the obvious bits ie kids craft shite/paintings, there were hundreds, I photographed nice ones and threw them all away bar one or two. I chucked away broken toys. I charity shopped some t shirts that didn't fit.

As I went along I had some tit bits from mn about the kondo method and general decluttering advice and that helped make some of the harder decisions.

I've not regretted getting rid of anything. I photograph some sentimental bits but I still got rid!

It was a revelation to know and accept that my MIL enjoys shopping and buying us stuff but I had no obligation to keep the stuff. She has had her enjoyment factor already (doing the shopping) so I could charity shop it all. If she had to have all the stuff at her house she wouldn't buy so much!

Letting go of guilt and worry has been a wonderful side effect.

My kids are so much happier now we can keep on top of the tidying because there is just less stuff!

I feel I can make quick keep or chuck decisions now when before I have felt tangled up and unsure what to keep and what to through away.

Some things can live in a cupboard for 6 months and then I know they've got no purpose in my life and they can go.

If in doubt, chuck it out.

We'll charity shop too but not quite so catchy!

I bloody love chucking stuff out. I'm not at all sentimental though so possibly find it easier...

I'm trying now.

Just clearing out a cupboard with 2 unused decanters, a tureen etc on display in glass bit

Don't really use much but have the space. I find it hard.

Woodhill do you even want a display cabinet?

I definitely tried to get my parents to declutter years ago telling them that most of their stuff would be a burden to us when they pass away.

I have more than 1.

2 top kitchen ones. A dresser with glass top. A sideboard with 2 small display cupboards with glasses.

The one I am clearing is an IKEA cupboard which I keep stuff for entertaining in.

Some of the stuff is used btw but not all.

I don't think I want half of it tbh and some was palmed off on me by ils etc

Well done those who have got into it 😀 I'm going to start with my magazine rack and chuck anything away that's more than six months old, got loads of home magazines but haven't looked at them in ages. Then am gong to sort and get rid of some paperwork...

I just did it cupboard by cupboard, drawer by drawer. Sort of kondo but not as ruthless and I did not say thank you to any of my socks.

If you can do a kitchen cupboard in 10 minutes and can then either get to the tip or the charity shop that same day then it is helpful, as you make quick decisions and then the stuff is gone. The biggest cause of angst to me is not the chucking away pile, but the Ebay pile as it is the one that hangs around....

Those free Facebook pages are good too- we cleared out garage and shed one Saturday by literally posting pics on there 'free to collector' and the whole lot went in a few hours.

The hardest part is the 'sunk costs' bit, and seeing things as valuable when in fact, the space and freedom and clutter free life is priceless.

Chuck all your Home magazines and download Pinterest instead.

My DH is so keen on decluttering that I've banned the D word. Largely because he will identify the perfect time to spend half a day decluttering when I had other plans!

Yay I threw ALL my magazines away (apart from one - just in case we have some sub and I decide to sit in the garden) put away a load of paperwork and chucked some, sorted my knicker drawer and sock drawer and chucked some other clothes that I don't wear (will take to textile recycle bin today) so feel like I made a good start

Good start!

I read a thread about useless kitchen gadgets and lots of posters we're getting rid of them, but now I can't stop thinking about a toastie maker! Whoops!

Have put some China on eBay and found a new home (not mine) for an unused kitchen gadget.

Some of my clutter belongs to student dcs. Once ds goes back and dd reclaims her stuff I will discard the remaining items which are crockery and kitchen utensils.