So this decluttering malarkey...

[Snap8TheCat]

What happens if you need everything but your house is still full and gets messy really easily?

Any tips?

What's a memory box?

How many people live in your house & how many lunchboxes do they need each?

I did a huge declutter , sent 5 boxes to the ymca!
The kitchen, I emptied all my cupboards of gadgets and bits.
Did I need 5 bun trays?
Mismatched Tupperware’s
I just bought a new dinner service got rid of the rest. Plastic serving dish things for xmas, that kind of thing.
Then cupboard under the stairs. Blitzed.
Living room. DVDs, apart from my favourites, cds. I have iTunes etc . All gone. Went through paper work , shredded the lot.
Spare bedding that’s not used, wrong size. Gone.
Clothes that I don’t wear, too small. Gone.
I have a rule. And have to be ruthless. If I don’t use an object for 3 months , I get rid. Not seasonal stuff of course, but everyday stuff.
Go through drawers in a regular basis , when was the last time you read that book? I now have space, not many ornaments . Makes cleaning quicker . Then when you go shopping and see something that catches your eye, stop and think , do I really need it? I’ve got a halogen oven to get rid of next.

I've been decluttering for 5 years now, and only just feeling like we're starting to see the difference. Kondo really helped.
But if it's a question of lack of storage, I found Pinterest great for ideas, especially in the kitchen.
I also was ruthless with the children's clothes. They were allowed to keep 5 of each items (except pants and socks) we do the laundry often enough that they don't run out of stuff.
Books- I finally realised a lot of them were for my "fantasy " self. I had to be realistic with what I actually wanted instead of all the "if I had time I would..."
I know you say you're a CM, but there's a few minimalist blogs with children who got rid of a lot of toys, and check out Montessori. They also advocate less is more. And they have nurseries following that approach.
Good luck!

Oh and the biggest aha moment was when I realised stuff had to fit in the space, so we had to be drastic and pick our favourite things and get rid of everything thing else, even though we liked them. So if you decide that you will have one kallax box of puzzles anything that doesn't fit in it has to go. We got rid of 70% of soft toys and the children have never mentioned them again.

Buy the kondo book, it’s been transformational for me. It sounds like storage isn’t the issue, but that you’ve too much stuff.

Could you post some pics of your house so we could help more?

If we're honest most of us have too many clothes and I've been meaning to adopt this strategy ( note meaning to - for a very long time ! ) one in -one out. If you buy a new pair of jeans, out go an old pair etc. Also spend an hour (week) turning every clothing item inside out. Then in a set number of weeks/months if that item is still inside out its obvious you no longer wear it so it can go off to the charity shop. Simples.

Our memory boxes are things like the kids baby books, special school work, school reports, a baby outfit each, our wedding photos etc etc

There are 5 of us in the house and it’s pretty small bearing in mind I work from home too.

I’d love to go minimalist with the toys for minding but I don’t think I have all that much to begin with. I use my walk through dining room as a playroom/diner and have 15 kallax boxes full and a toy kitchen. I look after 13 children across the week so need to have a reasonably decent range.

I have made a reasonably large to do list that I would like to plough through before Christmas but even looking at the list there doesn’t seem to be much that can be chucked out.

I do have the Kondo book but seems super extreme. I don’t want to go that sterile. I can’t afford to replace lots of things that I’ve chucked out that I end up needing again.

I'm with you Snap there's tonnes of stuff that I use, but only occasionally, BUT would cost a lot to replace. Like baking and cake decorating stuff. Use it about 8-10 times a year but it takes up a whole cupboard. Same for 'occasion' dresses (weddings, christenings). I have five, so that I don't wear the same one to events too often. But it would be £400+ to replace.
I wear everything in my wardrobe.
I don't have high up kitchen cupboard to put things on top of.
I don't want to get rid of packing crates/suitcases, as we will move within 12 months.
Ski gear - when DD is old enough, we will go again, would be hundreds to replace.

We don't have access to loft (rental) or a garage or utility to store things. Any stuff we get rid of is therefore a drop in the ocean. So I don't bother!

Kondo doesn't have to be sterile - it's what gives you joy so it's personal not prescriptive.

Another thing is to think of space and time as having a value too e.g. you have several big boxes of potentially useful stuff, you need a specific sized screw, you think you might have one and spend an hour looking through them and you have ones that are just too fat and too short so you go and buy the right size. Alternatively you have a small and labelled collection of screws in one place. Or you go full minimalist and buy the screws and dispose of the 47 extras.

I started over 5 years ago like letmesleep. I started with Flylady’s 27 thing fling. I remember thinking ‘who has 27 things to throw away?’ Well it turns out that I had much more than that (and still do).

I also think Kondo is brutal and have only really got as far as books.

The turning point for me has been to chuck out the storage... and then the stuff has followed.

Another revelation is that once something has gone, you will never feel guilty about it again.

I kept things I ‘needed’ for various hobbies but never had time for those hobbies because I was always tidying or couldn’t find the stuff anyway!

Keep the stuff that gives you joy. If that’s 100 plates, then enjoy! If 2 spare duvets give you joy, who can argue?

What you need is a packing party. Pack up everything. Even toiletries. Make sure to label boxes well!As you actually need something, you take it out, use it then put it into its cupboard/drawer. After a month ( or whatever) assess what's still left in the boxes

Genius 👌👌

Despite having a lot of stuff and looking very cluttered, I am quite an organised person and usually (almost always) know where things are. We have nothing in the loft (it’s not boarded out and no ladder) and we don’t have a garage just a shed.

But who honestly has time to pack up everything? And where am I supposed to put the boxes? I’ll go mad looking for things that I know I own and have to go out and buy more in the mean time, meaning I have even more stuff!

You seem to be making excuses for every suggestion given.

Start small, one room, get rid of what you think you can, and then move on to the next room, and then once you have been around the whole house then start again and be a bit more brutal.

There will be things you could get rid of that you (or one of the kids) might have used again at some point, but getting rid of it will pay more back in terms of space and calm and all that that offers. You need to balance up your need for space Vs your need for a specific item.

I find it really hard to believe you NEED everything in your house!

I can always find something in my mess and when I tidied would be when something would get lost.

One aspect of Kondo is keeping like things together. Now I can tidy and find stuff. And when I need to tidy, things go in their homes instead of shoved in cupboards.

There is so much support on these threads-they have changed my life!

I don’t think the OP is dismissing suggestions or making excuses. For many there is a real issue here which is not as “simple” as getting rid of things.
Many people will talk almost obsessively about why the plan to do etc but that is as far as it will ever go.
This Kondo thing is too much. Homes should not be sterile places that look as if you have wandered into a Next room set. Rooms like that are dead. Balance is all.

...what they plan to do...

Agree I’m not dismissing suggestions just for the sake of it. You’re telling me how to declutter but I’ve done that and what I’m left with is still a lot of stuff! I’m not keen on chucking out stuff only to buy it again weeks or months later. It’s wasteful.

Ultimately we probably need to be a much tidier family

I think a two pronged approach. Storage need to be top notch. Built in shelves, all cupboards efficiently fitted out, loft boarded, hooks everywhere etc.

Then scale down your stuff so it fits in the space. Some people just tend to accumulate stuff and gadgets. Others improvise with what they have.

We have downsized our house this year. I had to go through stuff imagining I was starting from nothing and what would I choose. Everything surplus to that suddenly looked like it didn't deserve house room even if it was expensive /in good nick. Facebook sell/swap/free page did the rest.

It's nice to have your things but you have to balance that against the effort of living in clutter. If you have a home on the small side that will be your constant challenge.

Have you got anything you could sell? I find eBay addictive and once I start selling and the pennies come rolling in, I find myself searching the house for more stuff to sell!

Agree with the comments about not getting rid of stuff you don't use often but might come in handy; I hate the thought of having to spend money to replace something I chucked out. I have a very full and well-organised loft and garage!

I find the idea that kondo is extreme or too sterile odd, it’s not about getting rid of stuff, it’s about choosing items in your life that bring you joy (however you interpret that!) and respecting/looking after them.

Anyway, OP you said you’ve purged belongings but still the house is full and gets messy easily - so it’s a storage/organisation problem?

Which areas get messy first? I find that clutter attracts clutter. For example, there’s an end of my kitchen worktop where I set my ‘command station’ - a file for current paperwork, to do lists, diary, magnetic whiteboard etc - but because it was stuff on a countertop, it attracted more stuff because it was easy to dump a few things there without it looking too different, and before long there’s a heap of papers/change/receipts/the dogs medicine/letters I meant to post/random toiletries I emptied out of my handbag and it’s a mess.

I strip it down and keep everything possible ‘away’ either in drawers or in baskets/boxes/containers etc so even if they are out on display random clutter can’t join them. Having a place where everything lives is the key.

I’m a little addicted to organising videos on YouTube. There’s tonnes. I’ve stolen loads of good ideas from there.

Don't buy anything for a while. Unless you need it and when you do, buy something that could be used for different things. (e.g. white vinegar spray instead of glass cleaner, ...)

Group what you have into similar things so you can see what you have multiples of.

Charity shop/recycle/sell clothes that you won't wear again.

Put all the just in case I might need it stuff together and leave it there.
Review after a few weeks. If you have too much clutter you won't find it anyway when you need it. So get rid.